Laguna de Sonso

Laguna de Sonso is a large wetland located within the floodplain of the Río Cauca, about an hour's drive north of Cali. This is one of the last vestiges of wetland around the Rió Cauca as the rest has all been drained and modified by humans. While formerly the lake was wide open, the recent proliferation of an introduced water hyacinth has almost completely closed off the remaining open water sections of the wetland. However, an abundance of wildlife can still be found in the general area. 

Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Laura, Alexis, Maria and I overnighted in the city of Buga, and we visited the area early on January 15 for a morning of exploration. 

January 15, 2022

For the first several hours of the morning we explored the entrance road, heading south off of Highway 40. This dirt road had some deep potholes but overall it was relatively easy to navigate in our small car. Several open ponds right at the beginning of the road held promise of numerous waterbirds. I pulled over and we scoped the area. 

Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Cocoi Heron - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

We noted six species of shorebirds around the edges, flocks of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks overhead (and some with babies in the ponds!), a half dozen Snail Kites, most of the expected herons and ibises, and much more. 

Neotropic Cormorant - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

A Neotropical River Otter munching on something provided some excitement, though I botched my photos. Luckily, it would not be my last chance to photograph an otter that day. 

Striated Heron - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Osprey - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

We continued a short ways down the road until a flash of rufous blasted across our path and alighted low in the scrubby vegetation. "Little Cuckoo!" I blurted out. This is a species that I had never properly acquainted myself with, having heard only one individual beforehand. As you will read in this post, it ended up being a spectacular cuckoo day!

Little Cuckoo - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

We left the car on the side of the road and explored on foot since there were birds everywhere. Great and Bar-crested Antshrikes, Jet Antbirds, Spectacled Parrotlets, Slate-headed Tody-Flycatchers, Gray-cowled Wood-Rails and a Grayish Piculet were just some of them. 

Spectacled Parrotlet - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Jet Antbird - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

A passing worker on a motorbike informed us that the reserve was closed for the day due to maintenance. This was rather disappointing as we were looking forward to our visit, which we hoped would include some time up on the two observation towers. At least the birding along the road was great. Perhaps this would mean that I would not connect with my two main targets at Laguna de Sonso, the Horned Screamer and Comb Duck. 

 Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

A small side trail along the entrance road meandered a short distance into the wetland. Our choice to explore this area with our rubber boots was fortuitous, as Laura and I managed two lifer mammals in the course of ten minutes! First, a Capybara, and then a family of Tayras! The Tayras were a little too quick for photos, but I managed some obscured ones of the Capybara, the largest living rodent species on earth. What a neat animal...

Capybara - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Another Neotropical River Otter periscoped up to check us out. 

Neotropical River Otter - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

We ran into another Little Cuckoo here as well. Nemesis bird one minute, dirt bird the next!

Little Cuckoo - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Curious pink egg masses were attached to many branches and roots just above the water line. I later found out that these are produced by a type of apple snail (Pomacea sp.) We later observed a Snail Kite carrying one of the full grown snails. Their uniquely hooked bill assists in procuring the escargot delicacy. 

Apple Snail (Pomacea sp.) egg masses - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Snail Kite with Apple Snail (Pomacea sp.) - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Despite the reserve being closed, we found a small trail that skirted around the entrance and followed a dyke southeastwards into the wetland complex. For several more hours we explored along this dyke, finding numerous birds and pushing our eBird checklist past 90 species for the morning. 

Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The bird activity was steady throughout the walk, no doubt due to the assistance provided by the overcast conditions which prolonged the good birding hours.  

Oriole Blackbird - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

I earlier mentioned that it was a good cuckoo day. Laura came through with an excellent find - a Dark-billed Cuckoo. Despite having a widespread range in South America it is one that can be tough to come across. This was my first really good look at one while it was a lifer for Laura. 

Dark-billed Cuckoo - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Alexis spotted a Striped Cuckoo while we also heard a Squirrel Cuckoo at one point for a four cuckoo morning (six, if you count Greater and Smooth-billed Anis, which are technically cuckoos!). The one big miss was the hoped-for Dwarf Cuckoo which is supposedly pretty common in the area. 

Striped Cuckoo - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

A massive bird flying distantly over the marsh grabbed our collective attention. We quickly realized that only one species could appear so gargantuan at this location - a Horned Screamer. Luck was on our side and it made a beeline for our direction, eventually flying close to our position (but behind some trees). This poor attempt was the best photo that I could manage!

Horned Screamer - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Just as we were leaving the area, we paused to watch a Streaked Flycatcher finagle a huge cicada, which it eventually swallowed. It looked like it needed a sip of water afterwards. 

Streaked Flycatcher - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Streaked Flycatcher - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Streaked Flycatcher - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Streaked Flycatcher - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Before departing the area and heading westwards to our next destination, we backtracked a little along the busy Highway 40 to view a different section of the roadside wetland. Laura excitedly called to us that she had found two more Horned Screamers! I set up my scope and while they were too far for decent photos, it was a much better (and more prolonged) view than before. We were even able to see the long keratinized structure (the "horn") that both birds possessed. While the Horned Screamer is a fairly widespread Amazonian species, there is something special about the first encounter with a truly unique bird. 

January 17, 2022

The four of us had continued westwards to Embalse Calima after our time at Laguna de Sonso, and we spent two days in the area exploring Reserva Río Bravo. I'll feature that in my next post. 

After dropping off Maria and Alexis at a bus station near Embalse Calima, Laura and I returned again to Laguna de Sonso on our way towards the Cali airport. We had some unfinished business at the laguna - namely, the Comb Duck. 

The Comb Duck is a truly ridiculous looking species of waterfowl. They are massive, goose-sized birds, and the males exhibit a large black knob on the bill. This would be a new species for both Laura and I. While small numbers can be found in the Cauca river valley, they can be a little tricky to track down. 

We only had a short time to search and so we began at the small ponds that I featured initially in this blog post. We struck out. Some promising wetlands on the north side of Highway 40 were up next and this time we had success. Amongst the numerous ibises and whistling-ducks I spotted a very distant, lone, blueish-black and white duck. Comb Duck!! I ran back to the car to get the scope and had just set it up on the bird when it vanished behind some vegetation. It did not reappear. 

Laura and I noticed a truck rumbling past in the distance on a rough gravel track so we figured we would try to make our way over there in hopes of some better views of the bird. 

Comb Duck site - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

This was a wise choice as not only did we re-find the Comb Duck, but there were eight others with it in the flooded field!

Comb Duck - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Comb Duck - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Though our attention was largely focused on the ungainly Comb Ducks, we noticed a few other birds in the wetland including several Cinnamon Teals (a lifer for Laura). 

Cinnamon Teal - Laguna de Sonso, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

And with that, we headed back to the Cali airport to return the rental car. A little while later, we were on a plane bound for Medellín where further adventures awaited.