Parque Nacional Natural Sumapaz protects a wide range of Andean ecosystems south of Bogotá. While the park is set up for conservation and therefore has no public admittance, a good road heading south from Bogotá eventually reaches the park and cuts through it, providing some road access to the sensitive paramo habitat that is protected by the park. Laguna Chisacá is a favorite area amongst birders as it is possible to see many special species here, including Bogotá Rail, Apolinar’s Wren and Green-bearded Helmetcrest – all endemic to a small part of Colombia. I had seen the rail before, but the wren and helmetcrest were potential new species (along with the range-restricted Bronze-tailed Thornbill).
This was our destination for the morning and we navigated up the paved road, dodging cyclists along the way. The drive from our AirBnB property took about an hour. We tried to limit the number of birding stops on the drive up since we had had a late start to the morning (Laura and I were both getting over an illness, and we had also experienced a late night when we arrived in Bogotá a day earlier). One of the brief birding stops was to photograph some Grassland Yellow-Finches.
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| Grassland Yellow-Finch - Usme, Bogotá, Colombia |
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| Grassland Yellow-Finch - Usme, Bogotá, Colombia |
By the time that we had reached the paramo it was a bright sunny day with a brisk wind, keeping birds low in the bushes. The area seemed very dry with almost no plants flowering. This did not bode well for hummingbirds. At least the scenery was gorgeous!
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| Parque Nacional Natural Sumapaz, Colombia |
The lake itself had a number of birds on it – Andean Teals, Andean Ducks, and American Coots – while a few Greater Yellowlegs and a single Noble Snipe fed busily in the shallows just south of the viewing area. Across the road was a smaller marshy area that held some of the same species, and later we heard a Bogotá Rail calling from here. We never did see one, though.
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| Parque Nacional Natural Sumapaz, Colombia |
I had read from previous trip reports that the best way to find birds here is to tromp through the páramo, especially near the lake and wetland. However, the park was very well signed that it was illegal to leave the roadside and explore in this habitat. Numerous park rangers were on guard, making sure that everyone abided by the rules. We parked the car and began to walk up the road. Right away we found a few Apolinar’s Wrens in a little flock alongside several dapper Rufous-browed Conebills. Awesome!
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| Apolinar's Wren - Parque Nacional Natural Sumapaz, Colombia |
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| Rufous-browed Conebill - Parque Nacional Natural Sumapaz, Colombia |
Later on, we stood just off the roadside and scanned the marshy lake, hoping to see a hummingbird. It was strangely quiet for birds, apart from Glossy Flowerpiercers which frequently flitted up out of the vegetation. But Laura came through and spotted a hummingbird – a male Green-bearded Helmetcrest! We soaked in the views and could see his crest and, when he turned his head, his green beard. We enjoyed the views for about a minute before the hummingbird disappeared.
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| Green-bearded Helmetcrest - Parque Nacional Natural Sumapaz, Colombia |
Unfortunately, that single helmetcrest was the only hummingbird we observed in the páramo, and my third main target, the Bronze-tailed Thornbill, remained out of sight. The birding was tough but we slowly picked up new species. Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, Many-striped Canastero, and Andean Tit-Spinetail among them.
We returned to the lake to enjoy our lunch and to complete one final scan for hummingbirds. This was unsuccessful and so we were soon on our way. Despite dipping on the thornbill, and only seeing the one helmetcrest, we were both pretty pleased with how the morning turned out!
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