Return To Colombia

Our three weeks in Canada flew by far too quickly but on the evening of January 7 we were airborne. Our destination: Colombia. 

Colombia is a country that we have visited together on two occasions. First, in the fall of 2019 we embarked on a scouting tour to southern Colombia for Quest Nature Tours, and then we returned to Colombia for two months to begin 2020. I had also traveled to Colombia for a three-week hardcore birding trip with a few friends back in 2015, representing my first trip to South America. 

Despite spending more than three months in Colombia previously, the possibilities of novel habitats and species remain nearly endless. This is what happens when a country hosts as much biodiversity as Colombia does! One region of the country that we have not visited is the Amazon and so we have some plans in the works to explore a few separate locations in the far east of Colombia - more on that later. 

Saffron Finches - El Topacio, PNN Farallones de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The Chocó lowlands are high on my list of favourite places in the world and so we hope to spend a decent amount of time there as well. These forests west of the Andes stretch from eastern Panama south through Colombia into northwestern Ecuador. Despite heavy deforestation, there are still vast swaths of Chocó rainforest remaining in Colombia. My previous exploits in the Chocó regions include a few days along the Montezuma Road in Risaralda Department, Colombia, a few weeks in Ecuador (mainly in the western foothills but a couple of days in the lowlands), and two trips to Darién in Panama. There is still so much to see, even if one focuses mainly on the birds with everything else as by-catch.

Meriania speciosa - El Topacio, PNN Farallones de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

In a bid to explore more of the Chocó, we initiated our 2022 Colombia trip by flying to the city of Cali. Located in Valle del Cauca department in the southwest of the country, Cali is the only major Colombian city with access to the Pacific coast. Therefore, it is a major urban and economic centre, but it also provides access to relatively pristine Chocó forest. 

Our first day was a bit of a write-off. We took a red-eye flight from Toronto to Bogotá, slept in the airport for a couple of hours and then caught a domestic flight to Cali. We picked up our rental car and completed a few errands, but sleep deprivation caught up with us and we took it easy for the rest of the evening. 

Following a sleep-in this morning, we headed south and then west from Cali to explore a mountain road that meanders into Parque Nacional Natural Farallones de Cali, located in the western cordillera. We did not have any big target birds this day; really, we were just looking forward to re-familiarizing ourselves with some of the common birds of the Andes. 

Golden Tanager - El Topacio, PNN Farallones de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The area we chose to explore is called El Topacio, and it includes a few trails that wind into the forest. The drive in took a bit longer than Google Maps indicated. It was a Sunday after all, and this road is popular amongst cyclists. When we were in Colombia in 2020 we always had to be aware of this, planning to visit certain areas on weekdays to avoid the cyclist rush. Since the pandemic began, it appears that cycling has massively increased in popularity - at least, that is our suspicion given what we observed on the road to El Topacio. We witnessed literally hundreds of cyclists, perhaps more than 500 over a 10 km stretch of road. I have never seen anything like it! We slowly crawled up the narrow road and eventually made it to our chosen site. 

Laura making friends with the parking attendant

We found a cheap place to park the car for the day, grabbed our cameras and binoculars, and started to walk up the road. 

Road to El Topacio, PNN Farallones de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

And there were birds! Right away we found a nice mixed flock. We reacquainted ourselves with woodcreepers, flycatchers, hummingbirds, trogons. Laura's favourite, the Blue-necked Tanager appeared, while we also saw some old friends from Canada like Blackburnian Warbler, Canada Warbler, and Swainson's Thrush. A crisp White-winged Becard provided excellent views, and we enjoyed watching a pair of Guira Tanagers as they foraged. It felt great to be back in the Andes!

White-winged Becard - El Topacio, PNN Farallones de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Our hike up the road didn't produce any spectacular rarities and they were all species that we had seen before, but that did not bother us one bit. When you haven't seen a Red-headed Barbet for several years, one will certainly bring a smile to your face and cause you to gaze through your binoculars for a good while.

One of our favourite finds during our brief walk was an Andean Cock-of-the-Rock that I noticed just off of the path. I am usually pretty terrible at spotting birds sitting still on a branch, especially compared to Laura's incredible skill in this category of birding. The only reason that I spotted this one was because it was, well, bright red!

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock - El Topacio, PNN Farallones de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock - El Topacio, PNN Farallones de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

We reached the entrance gates to El Topacio only to be turned away by an employee. The trails were closed today, the explanation being something about trail maintenance. So we retraced our steps back to the car, finding a whack of species on the way down including Yellow-bellied Siskin, Scrub, Golden-naped and Metallic-green Tanagers, a Blue-naped Chlorophonia and an Apical Flycatcher (our first Colombian endemic of the trip). As it was now midday, a number of brightly coloured butterflies appeared, flitting through the dappled sunlight. 

Blue Doctor (Rhetus dysonii) - El Topacio, PNN Farallones de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

We collected our car and joined the main road to drive back down the mountain. The cyclists had cleared out, but now the road was an endless lineup of vehicles, full of weekend warriors heading up to swim in the crystal clear river whose footprint the road paralleled. We were glad to get out of there as it was absolute mayhem. At least our morning walk had been productive and relatively quiet from other people!

Though it was now the heat of the day, we drove south to the town of Jamundí to check out a few rice fields. These flooded areas are not only ideal for the production of rice, but they attract high numbers of birds. 

Arrozales de Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

The day's only potential new bird species for me, the Tricolored Munia, is sometimes reported from these fields. This is actually a species from the Indian subcontinent that has been introduced into the Americas. It is established in various locations in the Caribbean, as well as in parts of Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. 

Little Blue Heron - Arrozales de Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

We enjoyed our time at Jamundí, finding bird activity to be quite high despite the time of day. All three whistling-ducks were represented in good numbers.

White-faced Whistling-Ducks - Arrozales de Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Fulvous & Black-bellied Whistling Ducks - Arrozales de Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Several hundred Blue-winged Teals were also present, and I picked out a female Cinnamon Teal with the bunch. Shorebirds were not in especially high diversity with just Black-necked Stilt and Lesser Yellowlegs joining the Southern Lapwings. Other birds of note included many Yellow-hooded Blackbirds and Spectacled Parrotlets, a Plain-breasted Ground-Dove, a family of Gray-cowled Wood-Rails and three species of ibis - Glossy, Bare-faced and Buff-necked. 

Spectacled Parrotlets - Arrozales de Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

As we were on our way out I spotted a whirling flock of finch-like birds in a weedy field. Munias! There were over 30 of them present, and they were all Tricolored Munias as far as I could tell. They were a little far for photos, but close enough for great scope views. A nice way to cap off a good day. 

Tricolored Munias - Arrozales de Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Tomorrow we head into the mountains where many tanagers and hummingbirds await. It should be fun!

Isla Cozumel

It was hard to believe that our time in Mexico was coming to a close, but we had seen so much in the past five weeks. To close out the trip, we booked two nights on the island of Cozumel. 

Originally, our plan had been to stay on Isla Cozumel for three nights, but we had to rejig our flights back to Canada and it cut one night off the total. Even with only two nights on Cozumel we had no problem finding all of our target birds, though an extra night would have been nice so we could explore a few other areas. 

One aspect of island biogeography is that islands are perfect laboratories for speciation to take place. Populations of an organism that somehow end up on an island are now reproductively isolated from the source population, and over time may evolve and change without gene flow occurring between the island population and the source population. Given enough time, the island population is unique enough that it may be determined to be a new species. 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Cozumel ssp.) - Isla Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Isla Cozumel is approximately 19 km east of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea. At roughly 478 square km in area, it is the third largest Mexican island. And, like many islands around the world, it is home to a number of species that are not found anywhere else; species that have evolved over time on Isla Cozumel. 

Bird-wise, these include three species: the Cozumel Thrasher, Cozumel Emerald and Cozumel Vireo. The Cozumel Thrasher used to be common on the island but it may now be extinct. There have not been any confirmed reports since 2004; its demise accelerated by a number of factors including predation by introduced Common Boas (Boa imperator) and habitat degradation caused by hurricanes. The Cozumel Emerald and Cozumel Vireo are both common residents on Cozumel, however. 

Cozumel Emerald - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

In addition, there are several other forms that may or may not be distinct enough to be considered unique species. These include subspecies of House Wren, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Bananaquit, Great Curassow, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Western Spindalis and more. 

Rufous-browed Peppershrike (Cozumel ssp.) - Isla Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Laura and I changed things up and rented bicycles for our two days on Cozumel. Despite incurring two flat tires, this was a great way to see the island, a more economical option compared to renting a car or a scooter. 

One benefit of cycling on Cozumel is that it enabled us to see some wildlife that we otherwise would have missed, such as this Yucatan Rust-rump Tarantula that was crossing the sidewalk. 

Yucatan Rust-rump Tarantula (Tlitocatl epicureanus) - Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Laura and I only birded for part of our visit on Cozumel; we also allocated some hours to the beach and snorkelling. The only site that we explored thoroughly was the abandoned subdivision located south of San Miguel de Cozumel. I am not sure the story behind this subdivision and why it was abandoned, but the paved grid of roads provide access to decent woodland habitat. 

Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Laura and I easily found Cozumel House Wrens and Cozumel Emeralds in several locations throughout the abandoned subdivision. The entrance road was the best for the wren, while the emerald seemed reasonably common throughout the actual subdivision. 

Cozumel Emerald - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

House Wren (Cozumel ssp.) - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

The Cozumel Vireo is said to be the most common of these three species, but it was our final Cozumel endemic to fall (not counting the thrasher, of course). We found a pair in the abandoned subdivision at 20.456145, -86.960404. A pretty unique looking bird, and one I had been looking forward to seeing. 

Cozumel Vireo - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Two other targets of mine were the Caribbean Dove and Caribbean Elaenia. The dove was a little tricky and the only ones we actually saw flushed from the roadside before a great view could be had. The elaenia was a little more accommodating, however. This species has a somewhat disjunct range; mainly the Lesser Antilles, but also San Andrés and Providencia, the Cayman Islands, and the eastern Yucatan Peninsula and offshore islands of Belize. They, too were quite common in the abandoned subdivision, being one of the few vocal birds at this time of year.

Caribbean Elaenia - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We found most of the unique subspecies to Cozumel Island, not counting the very rare Great Curassow. The endemic rufivertex subspecies of Yellow Warbler shows a rufous crown, a feature that can be used to tell it apart from the migrant Yellow Warblers that appear in the autumn. 

Yellow Warbler (Cozumel ssp.) - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Here is the endemic intermedia subspecies of Yellow-faced Grassquit, which has less extensive black on its chest compared to the mainland birds. 

Yellow-faced Grassquit (Cozumel ssp.) - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We only found one Rose-throated Tanager (endemic subspecies cozumelae) and it did not really cooperate for photos. 

Rose-throated Tanager (Cozumel ssp.) - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

And lastly, the endemic benedicti subspecies of the Western Spindalis. 

Western Spindalis (Cozumel ssp.) - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

I returned to the abandoned subdivision on the evening of December 13 for one final attempt at the Yucatan Nightjar. While I waited for night to fall I explored some areas on bike, finding my first Black-throated Blue Warbler for Mexico as well as a Collared Peccary in a makeshift garbage dumping area.

Collared Peccary - Subdivisión Abandonados, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

And finally, it happened - I lucked out with the nightjar. It repeated a few iterations of its song thirty minutes after the sun had set. I hung around in the area, waiting and listening, but it would not come any closer and I was unable to obtain a visual on the bird (the location of the bird was north of 20.457748, -86.958607). This was my last Yucatan endemic, though it remained heard-only alongside the Yucatan Poorwill. 

December 14, 2021

With all targets acquired, Laura and I enjoyed a bit of a sleep-in before hitting the road on our bicycles. We chose an area not far from our location - a planetarium that also seemed to be a popular birding spot, based on eBird. Laura still had two "lifer" possibilities on Cozumel - Swainson's Warbler and Green-breasted Mango. 

Ovenbird - Planetario Cha'an Ka'an de Cozumel, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Unfortunately, we were unable to turn up a Swainson's Warbler along the short trail behind the planetarium, though there was a nice selection of wintering warblers present. We staked out some orange flowers directly behind the planetarium as well, and while a single Green-breasted Mango buzzed us, we were unable to obtain great views. Several Cozumel Emeralds provided a nice study. 

We slowly made our way back to San Miguel de Cozumel to return the bikes, stopping along the breakwall to scan for shorebirds, terns, and gulls. 

Birding in San Miguel de Cozumel, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Our last birds of interest were a few Ruddy Turnstones, flipping rocks only a few metres from us along the rocky shoreline. 

Ruddy Turnstone - San Miguel de Cozumel, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Ruddy Turnstones - San Miguel de Cozumel, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We returned the bikes, walked back to our AirBnB (picking up some delicious ice cream along the way!) and were driven to the ferry docks by our generous AirBnB host. Our ferry motored back across the channel to Playa del Carmen. Laura and I enjoyed one last night in the area and made use of the rooftop pool at our hotel. The next day we boarded a bus to the Cancún airport, and we had no issues flying back to Canada. 

Laura and I really enjoyed our time in Mexico. We tallied almost 530 species of birds (including nearly every one of the big targets!), found a handful of snakes, enjoyed a nice diversity of cuisine, met some amazing people, and had no issues at all in five and a half weeks. My only regret is that we were unable to do any mothing and had limited time devoted to searching for snakes. I'm already perusing eBird to help formulate a plan in west Mexico, whenever my next trip to Mexico will be! 

Yucatan Endemics And A Rare Rail

December 10 (continued)

One of the more famous birding locations in the Yucatan Peninsula is a pot-holed dirt road that begins outside of the city of Felipe Carrillo Puerto and travels eastwards into Reserva de la Biósfera Sian Ka'an. Publicized by Steve Howell in his "A Bird-Finding Guide To Mexico", Camino Vigia Chico has the advantage of providing habitat for many of the Yucatan Peninsula's endemic species, is infrequently traveled, and is a relatively short distance from Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and other locations along the touristy Riviera Maya. Birders visiting one of these resorts will usually pick Camino Vigia Chico if they have a free day to go birding. 

While there are many other excellent birding sites in the Yucatan that share a lot of the same species, in our experience, Camino Vigia Chico is a worthwhile site to visit. Laura and I overnighted in Felipe Carrillo Puerto and spent a magical evening and morning birding the road, finding almost every single one of our target birds. 

Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We arrived with just over an hour remaining until sunset, parked a few kilometres from town, and began walking. The only potential new species for me here were the Yucatan Nightjar and Northern Potoo, while Laura had a half dozen other possibilities.

Yucatan Jay - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We quickly found a few of Laura's targets - Green-naped Sparrow and Stub-tailed Spadebill. A noisy flock of Yucatan Jays alighted in the trees above the road, giving us our best views yet of this beautiful species. 

Yucatan Jay - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

As night fell, a different set of birds added their voices to the soundscape: whistles from Thicket Tinamous, quiet hoots from White-tipped Doves, the distinctive cries of Laughing Falcons and a Collared Forest-Falcon. Even a Crested Guan called from somewhere off in the distance. Once night fell we listened for Yucatan Nightjars and played tapes occasionally. We were not successful, once again. We heard at least seven Yucatan Poorwills, though we failed at finding one of them perched. 

We tried one last overgrown pasture surrounded by forest, hoping for a Yucatan Nightjar, a species which prefers forest edge habitat. Again we failed but this time we heard a distant Northern Potoo, and then a second one! We walked closer until they were high in the treetops on either side of us and I captured a few audio recordings. Given the dense foliage it was impossible to obtain a visual, but it was an incredible experience.

December 11, 2021

Laura and I returned to Camino Vigia Chico for another kick at the can. I made sure that we were on site pre-dawn for one last Yucatan Nightjar search but that was in vain, once again. As dawn broke we parked the car and walked up the quiet road. 

This was a morning to remember. The weather conditions were perfect, the road was devoid of other humans, and the birding was phenomenal. Early on, we found two lifers for Laura - Black-headed Trogon and White-bellied Wren. 

White-bellied Wren - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We hoped for an antswarm since they often produce interesting species including Northern Barred, Tawny-winged and Ruddy Woodcreepers. Early on we found a Northern Barred-Woodcreeper in a mixed flock, away from any ant swarm. 

Northern Barred-Woodcreeper - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Hooded Warblers were one of the most common birds in these forests, here on their wintering grounds. 

Hooded Warbler - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Several mixed flocks contained desirable birds like Gray-collared Becard, Yellow-billed Cacique, the white-browed subspecies of Carolina Wren, Mangrove Vireo, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Stub-tailed Spadebill, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing and White-bellied Emerald. We did quite well for Yucatan endemics as well, turning up Rose-throated Tanager, Gray-throated Chat, numerous Black Catbirds and an Orange Oriole. 

Gray-collared Becard - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Black-headed Trogon - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

An interesting call from the undergrowth drew my attention; seconds later I was staring at a pair of Mayan Antthrushes walking quietly on the dry leaves! This is a bird that I had only seen once before, an individual at Tikal in northern Guatemala. Antthrushes can be quite shy so to observe one walking out in the open, only a few metres away, was memorable. This was another new species for Laura as well!

Mayan Antthrush - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We took a mid-morning break at one of the open cenotes found alongside this road. A tranquil setting with no other people around.

Cenote along Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Blue-spotted Comet Darner (Anax concolor) - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Argia sp. - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Laura and I tried the pygmy-owl trick after hearing the beginnings of a mixed flock. Numerous species popped up after hearing the sound of the pygmy-owl, but the "best" bird was a real Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl that came in to check out the perceived intruder. 

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We turned around to retrace our steps back to the vehicle, remarking on how successful the morning had been. The only thing that could make it better would be an ant swarm attended by our final remaining targets - Ruddy and Tawny-winged Woodcreepers. As if on cue, an ant swarm appeared! And both of our target species were accounted for too. The Ruddy Woodcreepers provided some entertainment, as three or four individuals were in view for quite a while. The single Tawny-winged Woodcreeper was a little more sneaky but eventually we both managed satisfactory views, while I took my first ever photos of this species (just record shots, however). 

Tawny-winged Woodcreeper - Camino Vigia Chico, Quintana Roo, Mexico

To cap off an excellent morning on the road, Laura spotted a Black-cowled Oriole with a small mixed flock as we were driving out. This was her eighth and final life bird along Camino Vigia Chico, and our 86th species for the morning. 

That afternoon we rolled into the town of Cobá. We had done so well at Camino Vigia Chico and had no remaining target birds there, other than Yucatan Nightjar (which we had dipped on the previous evening, in perfect conditions), and so we moved on to Cobá. We visited one of the cenotes outside of town, having it pretty much to ourselves until the late afternoon rush of tour buses arrived, our cue to leave. 

Cenote Tankach-Ha - Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

December 12, 2021 

Laura and I visited the shores of Laguna Cobá at dawn. Spotted Rails are known from this lake, finding habitat in the marshy edges. But it is a species that can be very difficult to find, plus I assume that they are "taped out" at Laguna Cobá due to constant birder presence. Laura and I had heard a Spotted Rail a few days earlier in Campeche but observing one would obviously be so much better. 

Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Flocks of Orchard Orioles streamed by, heading south through the cattails lining the lake, while Limpkins and the occasional Ruddy Crake called from various locations. 

Limpkin - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Limpkin - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Several Ridgway's Swallows (a form of Northern Rough-winged Swallow endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula) were flying low over the lake. Compared to the migratory form of Northern Rough-winged Swallow, the Ridgway's Swallow is larger and lankier with black tips to the undertail coverts.

Ridgway's Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

We made our way over to the south edge of the lake and immediately heard and then saw a Ruddy Crake. This was the first time that either Laura or I had laid eyes on this elusive species, a bird which can be common in suitable wetlands but which stays out of sight. We watched it for some time as it balanced on lilypads and searched for things to eat. 

Ruddy Crake - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Ruddy Crake - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Then, we heard it. A few rhythmic beats that you almost feel in your chest - a bird call that we were very familiar with, after playing the tape so many times in Campeche. A Spotted Rail! Laura first sighted the bird but it was about 20 layers deep in the cattails and rushes. With time, it slowly emerged from the vegetation, eventually stepping out into the open!

Spotted Rail - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

For nearly ten minutes that rail remained out in the open, allowing us to take in its remarkable plumage. 

Spotted Rail - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

This was not at all what we were expecting, and a huge highlight of the trip. What an incredible looking bird!

Spotted Rail - Laguna Cobá, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Eventually, the rail decided that it was time to head back and we watched it slip away into the vegetation, presumably into the labyrinth of tunnels and narrow pathways that only a rail knows about. 

We drove to Playa del Carmen and returned the rental vehicle without issue. From there we walked over to the ferry docks, paid our tickets, and took the ferry over to the island of Cozumel. My final blog post from Mexico will cover our few days exploring Isla Cozumel.