Explorations of an Ecologist: Otún Quimbaya

Friday 28 February 2020

Otún Quimbaya

Next up was a visit to Otún Quimbaya, a reserve that encompasses a swath of forest alongside the raging Río Otún. This too was a place that I had visited for a night in 2015 and I was excited to return!

Just before crossing through a gate to enter the reserve, we got out of the van to stretch our legs at a bridge that traversed the river. Despite the mid-day temperatures, the birding was excellent and three riverine specialties appeared – White-capped Dipper, Torrent Tyrannulet and a pair of exquisite Torrent Ducks. We watched the duo navigate the turbid waters with ease.

Torrent Ducks - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Otún Quimbaya is famous among birders as an easy place to find the endemic and range-restricted Cauca Guan, a species which numbers only in the hundreds. Fortunately, they are common in the reserve and around the lodging. We noticed quite a few while we relaxed during our first afternoon/evening.

Cauca Guan - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Red-ruffed Fruitcrows are another one of the target birds here at the reserve and they too are very easy to find around the lodge clearing and along the entrance road. Taking good photos, on the other hand, was a bit trickier and I did not come away with any excellent ones.

Red-ruffed Fruitcrow - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Surrounded by lush vegetation, this clearing is an excellent location to view tanagers, chlorophonias, and flycatchers, while raptors occasionally soared overhead. This Yellow-bellied Seedeater was quite tame, ignoring the onlookers in its quest to eat as many seeds as possible.

Yellow-bellied Seedeater - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

We birded the road for around three hours in the morning before we had to depart for our next destination. Luckily we had an early start since a cavalcade of cyclists began to appear in droves as the morning wore on. It is apparently a very popular route! But we enjoyed sifting through mixed flocks, or even just listening to the sounds of the forest.

Tawny-bellied Hermit - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Cauca Guan - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Quite a few bird species that are endemic to Colombia can be found at Otún; in addition to the Cauca Guan, we encountered Multicolored Tanager, Stile’s Tapaculo, Parker’s Antbird and Chestnut Wood-Quail on our morning walk, with some of these species heard-only. The Stile’s bucked the trend for tapaculos and appeared alongside the trail, allowing great looks and even some poor photos!

Stile's Tapaculo - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Of course there were many other non-avian species to train our binoculars on. A family group of Colombian Red Howlers passed through the cecropias above us while a South American Coati shuffled across the road, disappearing into the adjacent vegetation. The much hoped for Mountain Tapir refused to materialize, unfortunately.

Colombian Red Howler Monkey - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

We noted two species of Anolis during our walk. Anton's Anole (A. antonii) and the vividly patterned Speckled Anole (A. ventrimaculatus).

Speckled Anole (Anolis ventrimaculatus) - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

This interesting insect is Cyrtonota moderata, a type of tortoise beetle that Laura spotted on some roadside vegetation.

Cyrtonota moderata - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Laura and I always joke that all parrots and parakeets are black, since they always appear that way when heavily backlit against a white sky (the only way we seem to see most of them). But a small flock of Golden-plumed Parakeets obliged the group by landing in some nearby trees to feed. An awesome species, and so good to finally have the opportunity to study its plumage up close (and to see the actual colours!).

Golden-plumed Parakeet - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Laura and I led a very productive night-hike after dinner. We only went a short distance down the road from the lodge but came away with many great sightings. For some the highlight was the eye-level view of a Colombian Screech-Owl, though for me it was undoubtedly this tiny snake which I am still trying to work out the identification of. I think it is in the genus Atractus.

Atractus sp. (tentative) - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Below are a few invertebrates and amphibians that we came across as well.

Long-horned Beetle (Cerambycidae) - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Stick Insect (Phasmida) - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Pristimantis sp. - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Stick Insect (Phasmida) - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Pristimantis sp. - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Dung Beetle (Scarabaeinae) - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Laevicaulis alte - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Compsus sp. - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

Anton's Anole (Anolis antonii) - Otún Quimbaya, Risaralda, Colombia

We also set up our moth sheet for a few hours in the evening. The temperatures dropped lower than I anticipated and there was also a bit of a breeze, which combined to keep the numbers down. But of course there were a few interesting things!