RN Bellavista is located at around 1000 m of elevation and provides forest habitat for a handful of desirable bird species, some of which I had not seen before. These included several Colombian endemics - White-mantled Barbet, Beautiful Woodpecker, Velvet-fronted Euphonia and Sooty Ant-Tanager among them. The euphonia I had seen once before (no photos), but the others would all be new. In addition, RN Bellavista is an excellent location to look for the range-restricted White-bibbed Manakin, a bird found in some dry forests of northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuelan.
In a few of the trip reports that I had read online, the authors mentioned that the birding can be very slow here. But I did not find that to be the case at all. Because I was on site by dawn, I experienced the morning chorus of bird-song. I also discovered several mixed flocks and overall, high bird activity.
My first target to fall was Sooty Ant-Tanager as several made their presence known by song while I walked down the main track through the reserve. Soon, I was face to face with a small group of them. The lighting was terrible but I took a few record photos anyways, fully expecting to improve on my photos later. In fact, these were the only Sooty Ant-Tanagers I came across either at RN Bellavista or anywhere else in my travels!
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| Sooty Ant-Tanager - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
The manakin activity was also good and I heard my first White-bibbed within half an hour or my arrival. Taking a track that split of the main road to the right (east) a few hundred meters north of the entrance, I found a lot of bird activity in an open clearing. White-bearded and Golden-headed Manakins were lekking, and chasing off individuals of the other species.
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| White-bearded Manakin - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
Then a small green and red bird popped up - a Striolated Manakin! A long overdue lifer which I was pretty happy to enjoy through my camera and binoculars.
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| Striolated Manakin - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
This clearing proved to be a good area for Velvet-fronted Euphonias as two pairs flit in the trees above me. They remained a little too far away for good photos.
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| Velvet-fronted Euphonia - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
I returned to the main road cutting through the forested reserve and later, found a small side-trail which let me view birds through the open understorey. I managed to sneak up on a trio of Ruddy Quail-Doves, found a few Checker-throated Stipplethroats which is a candidate for Oddest Bird Name, and watched an Olivaceous Piculet going to town on a tiny twig.
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| Checker-throated Stipplethroat - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
Even in the dark undestorey there were some butterflies flitting about. This one caught my eye. It is a type of tigerwing which I have yet to identify.
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| Tigerwing sp. - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
My luck with manakins continued and I discovered two female White-bibbed Manakins. The second individual stuck around for photos, enabling me to observe the subtleties of its plumage. Male manakins are usually unmistakeable but the females can be quite tricky to identify!
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| White-bibbed Manakin - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
I began to head for the exits after a very productive morning but a flock of Black-chested Jays were reason to pause. This was fortuitous since they caused me to notice a pair of White-mantled Barbets high in the canopy. Barbets are one of my favourite types of birds and I enjoyed five minutes with these ones before they disappeared out of sight.
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| White-mantled Barbet - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
There was one last surprise in store. Some rustling in the trees grabbed my attention. Tamarins! The little group of them moved through the trees, inspecting the branches and under the bark for morsels to eat. This species is the Silvery-brown Tamarin, an Endangered species that is found in parts of northern Colombia. Habitat loss and capture for the pet trade are the main causes for this species' decline.
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| Silvery-brown Tamarin (Saguinus leucopus) - RN Bellavista, Caldas, Colombia |
It was just after 10 AM when I left the reserve following a very successful morning. Among 74 bird species, I had found almost all of my main targets, only missing Beautiful Woodpecker. And I would have more shots at that species later. My plan for the afternoon was to cut east across the Magdalena River Valley with my final destination being the town of Puerto Pinzon and the Blue-billed Curassow Reserve. That will be the topic of my next post!
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