Urabá In Colombia's Northwest: Night Hiking and Day 3

January 20, 2022 (continued)

For many birders, as the afternoon turns to evening they prepare for a relaxing evening followed by an early bedtime, in anticipation of waking up early the next morning to do it all over again. But for Laura and I, the party is just getting started once the sun slips over the horizon. It can be tough burning the candle at both ends but it is all worth it. We only had one night planned at Leonar's finca where beautiful Chocó forest surrounded us, and we were determined to make the most of our short time here.

I set up my moth light and sheet and we dined on a delicious meal that Leonar had prepared for us. Donning flashlights, rubber boots and cameras, we headed out into the forest. What nocturnal surprises awaited us?

As always, snakes are the main goal for Laura and I during our night hikes. But there is so much else to see in the rainforest at night and we had many distractions while we waited for the first serpent to glow in the flashlight beam. 

Omaspides sp. - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Enchophora sp. - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Banded Owl-Butterfly (Caligo atreus) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

The diversity of the insects and arachnids in a tropical forest blow me away, and there are always many to admire.

Laura spotted this incredible leaf frog clinging to the underside of a heliconia leaf. This is the Gliding Leaf Frog (Agalychnis spurrelli), a species that has two disjunct populations: one in Costa Rica, and one in the Chocó of western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. It is in the same genus as the familiar Red-eyed Treefrog. 

Gliding Leaf Frog (Agalychnis spurrelli) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Gliding Leaf Frog (Agalychnis spurrelli) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Gliding Leaf Frog (Agalychnis spurrelli) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Gliding Leaf Frog (Agalychnis spurrelli) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Sleeping lizards are usually well represented during night hikes. Below are two species of anoles that I photographed. 

Anolis sp. - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Scalyback Anole (Anolis notopholis) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Scalyback Anole (Anolis notopholis) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

During some night hikes we are unable to find any birds at all. This time, we nearly reached double digits. These included two species of vocalizing owls (Crested and Mottled), a pair of insomniac Marbled Wood-Quails calling from somewhere deep in the forest, and a number of roosting birds. The Thicket Antpitta was our favourite since it was the first time Laura and I had seen one well. 

Tawny-crested Tanager? - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Thicket Antpitta - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Thicket Antpitta - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Our luck with snakes started to turn and the first one made an appearance: a gorgeous little Fer-de-Lance.

Fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

We also encountered an Imantodes cenchoa, known as the Blunt-headed Treesnake. The proportions of this species need to be seen to be believed. Laura and I probably see this species more than any other snake in the Neotropics but it is an easy one to appreciate!

Common Blunt-headed Treesnake (Imantodes cenchoa) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Common Blunt-headed Treesnake (Imantodes cenchoa) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

I was lucky to be hiking with Laura and Carlos since they were finding all of the snakes! The third individual of the night was the only "lifer" for Laura and I, and what a beauty it was. Behold the Cloudy Snail-eating Snake (Sibon nebulatus). 

Cloudy Snail-eating Snake (Sibon nebulatus) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Cloudy Snail-eating Snake (Sibon nebulatus) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

While I was kept off the board with the snakes, I did provide one main contribution: a caecilian! These incredible amphibians are notoriously difficult to identify and there are likely many undescribed species still out there. We took this individual back to the finca to count its rings (a key identification critereon) and photograph it, and we released it back in the exact same spot a little while later. I have yet to put in the work to identify it to species.

Unidentified caecilian - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Unidentified caecilian - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

As we approached a swift-flowing creek, we heard the telltale calls of Torrenteer Frogs (genus Hyloscirtus), a treefrog that breeds alongside these types of watercourses. We quickly found two individuals. 

Hyloscirtus sp. - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Hyloscirtus sp. - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

The night was getting late (by our standards!) but we pressed on. Luckily, the snake gods were generous and they provided a small fossorial species known as Ninia atrata. This genus is often reffered to as the coffee snakes. 

Ninia atrata - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Ninia atrata - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Arguably, the prettiest snake was saved for the end. Carlos spotted this beautiful Tropical Flat Snake (Siphlophis compressus) alongside a creek. 

Tropical Flat Snake (Siphlophis compressus) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Tropical Flat Snake (Siphlophis compressus) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

We trudged back to the finca with our memory cards full and our eyelids heavy. But sleep would have to be postponed for a little while longer. The moth sheet was full of interesting creatures, most of which we had never laid eyes on before. Here is just a small selection of the haul. Needless to say, I will be dedicating many hours of my future identifying as many as I can. 

January 21, 2022

The original plan had been to wake before the sun so that we could be in the forest in time for the dawn chorus. This was obviously not in the cards after the late night, but by 7 or so we had began our hike. 

Leonar's finca - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

It was a cool and overcast morning but birdsong was a little subdued. Early highlights included a pair of Lemon-spectacled Tanagers and a vocal Spot-crowned Antvireo. We rounded a bend and flushed a brown furnariid of some kind. It played hide and seek with us but we eventually saw it well: a Striped Woodhaunter. This shy species was new for Laura, while I had encountered it only twice previously. 

Striped Woodhaunter - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Striped Woodhaunter - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

A little while later I heard Carlos frantically calling me over. Clearly, he had found something good. And he had: a Pacific Flatbill!

Pacific Flatbill - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Pacific Flatbill - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

This species is a Chocó endemic and one that I had wanted to see for a while, especially after striking out in the San Cipriano area earlier this trip. Compared to the more common Olivaceous Flatbill, the Pacific Flatbill has brown instead of yellow in the wings, a less pronounced eyering and duskier underparts. It is found in lowland and foothill forest west of the Andes from northwestern Colombia to northwestern Ecuador. 

Pacific Flatbill - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

In this photo, you can see why it is named as such.

Pacific Flatbill - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Carlos and I continued on to a different area higher up to search for two of my remaining targets, the Rufous-crowned Antpitta and the Lita Woodpecker, while Laura headed back to the finca to catch a much-needed nap in the hammock. Unfortunately, our quest for these two Chocó endemics was unsuccessful but we enjoyed the scenery and found a Bocourt's Dwarf Iguana. 

Bocourt's Dwarf Iguana (Enyalioides heterolepis) - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Our walk back out from the reserve was considerably less birdy than the walk in had been. This was partly due to the time of day, but also because we were trudging a little bit after having very little sleep the night before. We stopped at one point to investigate the vocalizations of a Royal Flycatcher as it was a lifer for Laura. Other highlights on the walk back included a flyover Rose-faced Parrot, a calling Club-winged Manakin, yet another Baudo Oropendola and some Blue-chested Hummingbirds. 

Royal Flycatcher - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia

Just as we arrived back at the main highway a young King Vulture gracefully soared overhead. It had been an excellent couple of days in Reserva La Bonga! We grabbed a colectivo taxi back to Apartadó and checked into our hotel. Sleep came easy that night...

King Vulture (right) and Black Vulture - Reserva La Bonga, Antioquia, Colombia