My drive to the south was fairly uneventful. As I detailed in the Intro post, I had planned on completing a big loop around Medellín and as such, there was not a shortage of driving for me to complete. The afternoon and evening would be devoted to getting to the town of Santa Rosa de Cabal, and from there, navigate up into the mountains to "the" Indigo-winged Parrot spot.
The winding mountain roads were made slower by the numerous trucks crawling along them. Eventually I made it out of the mountains and onto a straighter road. Except by then, I had to contend with numerous long waits when the road siphoned a single direction of traffic at a time due to construction. On a few occasions, I had to wait for 15 minutes before my lane was allowed to proceed.
But eventually I made it to Santa Rosa de Cabal in the dark and I loaded up on the essentials (groceries, water, and of course some cold beers). The drive into the mountains was fine at first but eventually I had to turn onto a narrow rocky track that climbed high into the hills. This was one of the rougher roads that I traversed this trip and there were some sections where I had concerns about the capabilities of the rental car.. But I made it, only bottomming out about 15 times along the way! I would certainly recommend taking a high clearance vehicle if anyone else is planning on driving this route. And if there is rain, do not even bother.
It was almost 11 PM when I finally arrived at my designated camping spot for the night. Isolated in these mountains it was no surprise that no vehicles or people passed by. It was a chilly night though, since my warm clothing (a toque, gloves and long johns) and "sleeping bag" (a quick dry towel) were not sufficient for the night-time temperatures at 3000 m elevation. But alas, morning came soon and with it, the bird song.
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| East of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
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| Great Thrush - east of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
The Indigo-winged Parrot is one of the most threatened parrot species in the world. In fact for 91 years it was thought to be extinct; in 2002, a very exciting announcement was the rediscovery of the species in nearby Tolima province. There had been curious reports that may have been of this species on a few occasions in the years leading up to the discovery. Since then, a few further populations have been rediscovered. Even still, likely fewer than 250 mature individuals remain. The population at Santa Rosa de Cabal is possibly the most accessible one, especially since the area is currently safe.
Long story short, I did see some Indigo-winged Parrots but they were far from satisfying looks. From the viewpoint depicted below I observed three individuals flying past. And a bit later, one more bird cruised directly over my head about 300 m north from here. Some birders get lucky and watch Indigo-winged Parrots perching in trees here, but in my ~4 hour vigil, that was not the case for me.
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| East of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
But there were other birds to point the camera and binoculars at. This species is the Páramo Seedeater. It prefers forest edges at this elevation and especially areas with bamboo, but does not seem to be too common in many areas. I followed around a pair of them for some time.
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| Páramo Seedeater - east of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
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| Páramo Seedeater - east of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
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| Páramo Seedeater - east of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
The sun crested over the ridge sometime after 7 AM, helping to ease my shivering. It was glorious.
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| East of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
A Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan also appeared at the tip of a mossy branch, appearing to be equally pleased with the sun.
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| Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan - east of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
Other than a couple of cowboys that I passed on my walk, I had the entire area all too myself. And it was just a beautiful morning in a gorgeous corner of the world! That is the great thing about birding. You really get to see so much of a country that a typical tourist will not experience. If it was not for the Indigo-winged Parrot, why else would I be here?
Hummingbirds were frequently noted as well. Sparkling Violetear, Tyrian Metaltail and Mountain Velvetbreast were the common ones, but I also found a single Mountain Avocetbill which is a species that has eluded me for a long time. And a bit later, a female Purple-backed Thornbill appeared at the end of a branch.
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| Purple-backed Thornbill - east of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
Other great birds during my walk included a Crowned Chat-Tyrant, several Hooded and Lacrimose Mountain-Tanagers, a few Hooded Siskins and some singing Chestnut-naped Antpittas. This Great Thrush was being too photogenic to not take its picture.
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| Great Thrush - east of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
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| Golden-fronted Redstart - east of Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia |
Satisfied with my morning, I drove back down the road to Santa Rosa de Cabal, going slowly and generally having a much easier time of it than during my ascent the previous evening. I did not stop very often, though I saw a "year bird" in Crimson-rumped Toucanet. I found a hotel on the outskirts of Manizales with good wifi and took the afternoon and evening off.
The next morning, I was up early again to complete the short drive to Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados. I had been here on two previous occasions; once with some friends during my 2015 birding trip to Colombia, and once only a few weeks earlier, while leading the Quest tour to Colombia. This time I had one main goal in an endemic species that had eluded me on both previous trips. The Rufous-fronted Parakeet.
Endemic to the central Andes of Colombia, the Rufous-fronted Parakeet is possibly the world's only parrot that lives high in the páramo grassland habitats of the Andes. In these harsh environments, the Rufous-fronted Parakeet feeds on grass seeds, fruits and flowers. But they can be tricky to find since they do not seem to spend too much time flying overhead. I had some intel on some good areas to check for them and arrived at my chosen location, the Hotel Mirador del Kumanday, not long after dawn.
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| PNN Los Nevados, Caldas, Colombia |
I parked by the buildings and walked down the gravel path, keeping an ear out for the distinctive calls of the parakeets. Luck was on my side this morning and within minutes I thought I was hearing the birds. A frantic few seconds of scanning ensued. There they were, feeding in the grasses.
Unfortunately the group of 16 was rather skittish and eluded my efforts at closer photos, but I enjoyed them from a distance. A little later, they flew past nearly at eye level with the mountains in the background. Just a little too far for great photos, but I was still pretty thrilled!
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| Rufous-fronted Parakeets - PNN Los Nevados, Caldas, Colombia |
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| Rufous-fronted Parakeets - PNN Los Nevados, Caldas, Colombia |
With most of the day still at my disposal, I headed up to the National Park gates which can be a reliable location to spot the Buffy Helmetcrest - truly an iconic species of this mountain. After all, it had been five years since I had laid eyes on one (we had missed this species on the recent Quest tour).
I enjoyed a delicious coffee and spent an hour watching the Tawny Antpittas, White-chinned Thistletails and a single male Buffy Helmetcrest. As the building was under construction I was not able to access the patio where it is easy to scan across the páramo. The trail was also out of commission since some workers were busy there as well. I was relegated to watching from the roadside but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
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| Tawny Antpitta - PNN Los Nevados, Caldas, Colombia |
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| Buffy Helmetcrest - PNN Los Nevados, Caldas, Colombia |
For the rest of the morning, I drove to the Termales del Ruiz hot springs. Instead of paying the steep entrance fee to visit the hummingbird feeders, I parked my car here and went for a nice long walk down the road. The habitat is gorgeous here and this is something I have wanted to do for a while. I just have not had the time before.
This was an excellent choice and even though it was approaching mid-morning, the birding was pretty great. I struck out on Pale-footed Swallow which is sometimes seen here. But there were many other things to see.
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| Hypanartia lindigii - near Hotel Termales del Ruiz, Caldas, Colombia |
Undoubtedly my highlight was a Mountain Avocetbill that fed on some tubular pink flowers for close to a minute. It would cling to the side of the flower before feeding, a neat foraging strategy.
I finally managed my first photo of a White-browed Spinetail, but had no similar luck with the multiple Páramo Tapaculos that were singing from the thick, mossy vegetation beside the road.
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| White-browed Spinetail - near Hotel Termales del Ruiz, Caldas, Colombia |
Several Golden-plumed Parakeets cruised overhead in tight formation and later I re-discovered them feeding in the canopy of a tree. A Red-crested Cotinga perched next to a Smoky Bush-Tyrant (not a bad one-two combo). A Black-backed Bush-Tanager popped up beside the road for a brief moment. Somewhere out in the distance, a Páramo Tapaculo's voice rang out. But mostly I watched small flocks of Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers with a few other odds and ends mixed in.
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| Purple-backed Thornbill - near Hotel Termales del Ruiz, Caldas, Colombia |
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| Pale-naped Brushfinch - near Hotel Termales del Ruiz, Caldas, Colombia |
I finished my time in Los Nevados by having a nap in my car on the side of the road, and then checking unsuccessfully for Andean Lapwings in the agricultural fields on the way down. The rest of the afternoon was spent driving east and then north to the town of Victoria, located in the foothills of the Magdalena River valley. I would be exploring a nearby reserve in the morning. I found a cheap room in a hotel just off the main square, had a delicious four-dollar dinner at the restaurant next door and prepared for an early start to the next day.
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