Interlude In Villavicencio

Laura and I had just experienced a very busy few weeks and we needed some time to catch up on life. If we were visiting Colombia as a quick vacation before returning home, we would try to maximize every possible waking hour. However, since we are sort of perpetually traveling at the moment, we have to go at a different pace. And sometimes we need a few days (or a week!) to do laundry, edit/upload photos and bird recordings, write blog posts, prep for future legs of the trip, connect with family back home, and decompress a little. 

Our next big adventure was coming up in less than a week's time: the small town of Inírida, located in the Orinoco River basin near the Venezuela border. And so we booked a very cheap rental car from Bogotá, drove down to Villavicencio at the base of the eastern cordillera of the Andes, and checked into a beautiful apartment (complete with a washing machine!) which we had rented for five nights.

White-chinned Jacamar - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

One reason that we chose Villavicencio was its proximity to some excellent birding locations. Of course, we did not plan to keep ourselves holed up in the apartment for the entire five days. We needed to spend at least a few mornings in a tropical forest searching for wildlife. Villavicencio was home to several potential life birds, unlike any other locations within a few hours drive from Bogotá. 

Bosque Bavaria is the most well-known birding spot in Villavicencio. This gorgeous forest is located just outside of the city and ranges from approximately 400 m to 900 m in elevation. We had visited Bosque Bavaria for a morning during our 2020 trip to Colombia and you can read about that visit here. 

Aphelandra sp. - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

January 24, 2022

Laura and I arrived at the hotel on January 23 and most of the following day was spent taking care of the aforementioned errands. By mid-afternoon we were ready for some nature and so we spent the last hour or two before dusk exploring the first section of forest at Bosque Bavaria. 

 Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

Every day while traveling, Laura and I pick our "Bird Of The Day". It is fun to look back on previous selections and reminisce about past travels, while it also provides an incentive to try to get out into nature for at least a few minutes, even on those days where we are stuck in the city or busy with other things.  

Green-backed Trogon - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

We found a few small flocks of birds, many of which were new for our year lists since it was our first time exploring east of the Andes in 2022. Laura's Bird Of The Day was a handsome Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, while I settled on a Yellow-billed Nunbird which also happened to be a new one for my Colombia list. 

Yellow-billed Nunbird - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

As dusk approached we heard the distant whistle of a Cinereous Tinamou while a mixed flock containing Cerulean and Blackpoll Warblers, Buff-throated Woodcreeper, Scaled Piculet and others moved through the trees. A few hours in the forest was just what we needed after a day spent staring at computer screens.

Common Squirrel Monkey - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

January 25, 2022

We switched things up and spent the morning exploring Bosque Bavaria, with the afternoon devoted to other tasks at the apartment. Despite a slightly late 7:30 start we enjoyed a fairly birdy morning in the forest. 

Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

One of the species that I had mentioned to Laura as a possibility at Bosque Bavaria was Great Potoo. I did not know the exact location where this species is reported from, but there are enough eBird checklists containing it that we remained vigilant. Laura has a knack for spotting potoos and other cryptically-plumaged birds and so she made it her mission to find a Great Potoo. 

It was never in doubt. She needed less than an hour until excitedly proclaiming that she had found one!

Great Potoo - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

I had several main target species at Bosque Bavaria, birds which I had never seen before. The first one to fall was a vocal Spot-backed Antbird but it refused to allow itself to be seen. A little while later I locked onto another life bird, this time a Red-stained Woodpecker working a trunk high in the canopy. I would end up finding this species a few more times in the subsequent weeks, but the first is always special!

Red-stained Woodpecker - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

The one bird that I was aching to see over any other was the White-chested Puffbird. This unique looking puffbird is thinly distributed in the Amazon, preferring to sit quietly in the lower and middle levels of tall forest. Despite a considerable effort, we struck out. You can't get them all! Even though we dipped on the puffbird, we had many other highlights including numerous year-birds. Gray-chinned Hermit, Yellow-browed Tody-Flycatcher, White-chinned Jacamar, Black-faced Antbird and Blue-tailed Hummingbird were some of the standouts for me. 

White-chinned Jacamar - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

Late morning sunshine quieted the bird activity but it spurred the insects to appear in numbers. Butterflies, moths, leafhoppers, wood-cockroaches and others vied to have their photos taken. 

Paratropes phalerata - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

Penelope's Ringlet (Cissia penelope) - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

Xanthyris flaveolata - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

Unidentified leafhoppers - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

This beautiful numberwing butterfly was quite a showstopper! It was rather wary and this was the best photo that I could manage. 

Astarte Eighty-eight (Callicore astarte) - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

I loved the metallic green colour of this wasp. 

Chlorion sp. - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

January 26, 2022

I returned on my own to Bosque Bavaria the next morning, making sure to arrive in the dark to catch the dawn chorus. This proved to be a good idea since I heard my first ever Lined Forest-Falcon. In true forest-falcon fashion, it remained a heard-only encounter. 

My luck with the puffbird finally turned this morning. I somehow spotted one sitting quietly, deep in the forest. It tolerated my slow approach, allowing me to take a series of photos. It was still quite dark out and so I had to resort to flash (my Nikon's low-light capabilities are not great). Target acquired!

White-chested Puffbird - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

I focused my efforts the entire morning along the first stretch of road at Bosque Bavaria since our walk to the higher elevations on January 25 had been far less productive. This proved to be a good idea. I connected with a number of interesting species including my first Olive Oropendola and Many-banded Aracari for Colombia as well as Pectoral Sparrow, Blue-fronted Lancebill, White-browed Antbird and Ruddy Quail-Dove. 

Pectoral Sparrow - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

I keep track of all the bird species that I have photographed and it was a great day to add to the list. In addition to the Pectoral Sparrow and White-chested Puffbird pictured above, I also photographed four other species for the first time: Spot-winged Antbird, Masked Tanager, Gray-chinned Hermit and Black-faced Antbird. 

Black-faced Antbird - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

Nobody said the photos have to be good to count...

Masked Tanager - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

Spot-winged Antbird - Bosque Bavaria, Meta, Colombia

January 27

Having seen all of the birds I had hoped to at Bosque Bavaria, Laura and I spent the next morning birding the lowlands east of Villavicencio. Villavicencio is situated at the edge of "lol llanos". Translated to "the plains", this vast area in eastern Colombia and adjacent Venezuela has little natural tree cover, consisting of grasslands interspersed with woodland and forested riparian corridors. Most of this region has been converted into pastures for cattle grazing. The birding can still be good in these areas, especially in places where grazing is done at a low intensity, allowing more plants to flourish. 

Yellow-crowned Parrot - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

We woke up early, leaving Villavicencio behind as the red orb of the sun slowly crested the horizon in front of us. Twenty minutes later we arrived at our destination - a gravel road that heads south off the main highway, leading to the town of Santa Rosa and beyond. 

Dwarf Cuckoo - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

These open, disturbed habitats can be filled with birds, especially in the areas where woodlots and creeks are frequently found in the landscape. We spent quite a bit of time early in the morning at one small bridge, originally stopping to check out a Hoatzin that we had seen while driving by. 

Hoatzin - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

Upon exiting the vehicle we began noticing many other species - Dwarf Cuckoo, Russet-throated Puffbird, Scaled Piculet, Grassland Sparrow, even a flyby Scarlet Ibis. 

Russet-throated Puffbird - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

The frequent truck traffic was rather annoying but the birds did not seem too bothered by it. I had hoped that this gravel road would have only occasional vehicle traffic, but that just doesn't seem to be the case anywhere in los llanos. I should have known since several quarries are located at the bottom of this road. 

Scaled Piculet - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

Whistling Herons are strongly associated with the plains and we found several of them joining the Cattle Egrets in the fields. 

Whistling Heron - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

The Rufous-fronted Thornbird was high on my wish-list for this morning. During our only other visit to this part of Colombia (back in 2020) we had heard a Rufous-fronted Thornbird but did not see it. Luckily, we were able to fix that situation this morning. This furnariid makes massive stick nests in the trees here in the llanos. An easy way to find a thornbird is to simply wait at a stick nest for a few minutes. 

Rufous-fronted Thornbirds - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

Rufous-fronted Thornbird - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

The day was warming quickly while the wind began to pick up in intensity as well. The clock was ticking and the birding would only be productive for so long! Some of the other highlights for us included our first Little Woodpeckers for Colombia, a Pearl Kite, several Purple-throated Euphonias and a Double-striped Thick-knee. The hoped for Burrowing Owl failed to materialize, however. 

Little Woodpecker - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

One of our last "good" birds of the morning was a Striped Cuckoo at the edge of a field. It did not seem to mind at all that we were but a mere five meters away, providing us with some incredible views and photo opportunities. 

Striped Cuckoo - road to Santa Rosa, Meta, Colombia

The time was approaching 10 AM and the birdsong had really quieted down while the wind whipped across the landscape. Content with our sightings we ventured back into the city. However, we had one more stop in mind - a viewpoint of the Río Ocoa just outside of town. 

Río Ocoa, Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia

This is a site that is best visited early or late in the day, though I suppose you could say that about any part of the lowlands. Our brief midday stop was still productive, though. Highlights included White-faced and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, seven species of shorebirds, Capped Herons, Roseate Spoonbills, a Pied Water-Tyrant and a noisy group of Oriole Blackbirds. 

It had been a fairly productive four days in the lowlands, though I must admit that I probably spent too much time exploring and not enough time chipping away at the to-do list. Big surprise, right? 

The next day we had to return the rental car to Bogotá since we would be flying to Inírida soon afterwards. Our plan for the morning was to visit a site high up in the mountains where the endangered Cundinamarca Antpitta is coming into a feeding station. Stay tuned...