Mitú - Sendero Mitú Cachivera

March 4, 2022

Laura and I enjoyed a sleep-in to 4:45 this morning which was a nice change after the previous morning's shenanigans.  Our destination was one of the two trails south of town that both access white-sand forest. We had visited the other trail on our second day - Sendero Bocatoma - and today we would visit the other, known as Sendero Mitú Cachivera. This trail is literally in Miguel's backyard (he lives in the community of Mitú Cachivera) and he knows this trail better than anyone. 

Felix dropped us off at the bridge outside of town where Miguel was waiting for us. Birdlife was quite active even though the sun had not yet risen, and we hustled through town to get to the forest before too much time had passed. We did pause briefly at a streetlight where a healthy selection of moths remained from the previous night's festivities. 

Citheronia hamifera and Rothschildia erycina - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Along the way I trawled for Point-tailed Palmcreepers with my Bluetooth speaker. The habitat looked good with several tall Moriche Palm stands present in the town. This strategy surprisingly paid off and we soon had our first lifer of the day in our binoculars! Photography, however, was a little hopeless, given the foggy conditions. 

Point-tailed Palmcreeper - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

The first stretch of the trail looks very similar to Sendero Bocatoma, and indeed these trails are only around 700 m from each other. The birdlife is very similar to that found at Bocatoma and we tallied many of the same species, including Spot-backed Antwren, Imeri Warbling-Antbird, Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin and Black Manakin. 

 Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Emphatic chip notes from the edge of the clearing were expertly identified by Miguel as originating from a Fiery Topaz. We found this species on two other occasions later in the trip, surprisingly. Everyone seems to visit Puente Lata for their Fiery Topaz experience (just as we had the previous day), but in my limited experience the species is not uncommon at other sites. But the views probably won't compare with the show that the Fiery Topazes put on at Puente Lata. 

Fiery Topaz - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Though the species were quite similar to that at Sendero Bocatoma, we were not complaining! It is not every day that one gets to watch Black Manakins and Black-throated Antbirds. 

Even the plants were beautiful and unique. This next one is a species of vanilla orchid, known as Vanilla pompona, and it is one of the species used for vanilla flavouring. I was surprised to read later that Vanilla pompona is listed as an Endangered species, according to the IUCN. 

Vanilla pompona - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

We entered the first large clearing and accidentally flushed a dark nightjar which settled by the forest edge. It was a Blackish Nightjar, a species which we had heard before (and seen eyeshine from) in Guyana, but which we had never viewed well. And there was a surprise. Not only did we get to observe the adult, but there was an overgrown baby Blackish Nightjar with it as well! I only managed photos of the adult and we did not hang around too long to minimize our disturbance. 

Blackish Nightjar - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Blackish Nightjar - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

A fruiting tree in the same clearing was home to several frugivorous birds including several Spangled Cotingas, a Short-billed Honeycreeper and some Red-legged Honeycreepers. 

Spangled Cotinga (male) - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

In the avian world, one can describe a lek as an area used for communal displays by males of certain bird species. Grouse are famous lekkers, though other birds such as the Ruff, a type of sandpiper, and the Kakapo, a type of parrot, also utilize this strategy. One might be surprised to hear that certain hummingbirds commonly lek as well. 

We heard the rhythmic chipping of several Great-billed Hermits, signally that a lek was nearby. With a bit of stealth we were able to observe several of the males as they called incessantly from their perches. 

Great-billed Hermit - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

The sun was rising high in the sky and the bird activity had started to dwindle. Little did we know that we were about to experience not one, but two incredible moments with birds. 

Up to this point we had had an extremely productive trip and I had found many of my top target bird species, including the Yellow-throated Antwren, Gray-bellied and Chestnut-crested Antbirds, Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin and Azure-naped Jay. I still held out hope for three additional mega species: the Gray-legged Tinamou, Tawny-tufted Toucanet and Bar-bellied Woodpecker. And these last two birdswere giving me fits. Despite keeping an eye (and ear) out everywhere, and periodically trawling for them using playback, we could not find them. This was not too surprising as both species are thinly distributed and easily missed on a trip to Mitú. Still, I held out hope. 

 Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

We passed a large clearing (home to Pied and White-necked Puffbirds) and re-entered tall forest. I played the call of the Tawny-tufted Toucanet once again out of habit, but this time a response stopped us dead in our tracks. Laura was the first one to notice a bird responding - "Is that the toucanet!?" she whispered, and I quickly paused the playback. It was! 

Giddy with excitement, we followed the source of the sound until Miguel spotted the toucanet perched in the canopy. Hands shaking, I fired off a series of terrible "record shots" and grabbed some recordings of the bird. It was pretty ratty looking, but a Tawny-tufted Toucanet all the same. 

Tawny-tufted Toucanet - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

This species does not appear to be common anywhere, and Mitú is no exception. Most of the records seem to be from the Pueblo Nuevo area so finding one here was quite a nice surprise for us. The toucanet remained in the canopy for a few minutes, giving us "walk-away views". 

Tawny-tufted Toucanet - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

It was nearly time to turn around so that we would have plenty of time to hike back slowly before meeting Felix at the allotted time. We continued a little further into the forest before retreating. And I am glad that we did!

Just minutes after the Tawny-tufted Toucanet, a huge raptor flushed from the ground in front of Miguel and alighted in the midstory of the forest. We repositioned ourselves to obtain a better view. And we couldn't believe it. Staring back at us was a Crested Eagle!

Crested Eagle (immature) - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

We were completely flooded at this rare sighting and I fumbled with my camera, blowing the focus on most of the photos. Eventually, I settled down and grabbed a few reasonable frames, then went back to the binoculars for face-melting views. 

Crested Eagle (immature) - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Readers of this blog may recall that Laura and I had found an adult Crested Eagle in the forest a few weeks earlier near the town of Inírida. At the time it was our lifer, and that experience stood as one of the year's biggest highlights up to that point. Yet here we were, staring face-to-face with another Crested Eagle. This one was an immature, which perhaps explains its lack of fear of us. Before it flew back into the forest I took my favourite photo from the encounter. 

Crested Eagle (immature) - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

We saw it a few more times over the next five minutes, usually just a massive eagle-like shape in the canopy of the trees, until it moved out of sight for good. 

Anything else this day would just be a bonus. The great sightings kept coming, though they paled in comparison to the Crested Eagle and Tawny-tufted Toucanet. We found our lifer Yellow-browed Antbird and Cinereous Mourner, and spent some quality time with a Straight-billed Hermit and Gould's Jewelfront. 

Yellow-browed Antbird - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Straight-billed Hermit - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Gould's Jewelfront - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

A small mixed flock contained a pair of Long-winged Antwrens, giving us our first good look (and photo ops) of this species. 

Long-winged Antwren (female) - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

By this time, we had to really hustle if we wanted to meet Felix at the trailhead without being too late. Though every now and then, something would catch our attention (avian or otherwise) and delay us by a few additional minutes.

White-crowned Manakin (female) - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

White-chinned Sapphire - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Red-dotted Planthopper (Lystra lanata) - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Aechmea angustifolia - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

Palicourea ostreophora - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

The birding had really slowed by the last kilometer of the walk. The sun burned down in the open, stunted white-sand forest, and beads of sweat dripped down our foreheads and soaked our shirts. Miguel and I found a female cotinga (carrying nesting material) at the last big clearing and called Laura over to check it out. This appeared to be our first-ever Purple-breasted Cotinga! Compared to a Spangled Cotinga, she shows conspicuous scalloping, as well as a complete white eye ring. 

Purple-breasted Cotinga (female) - Mitú Cachivera, Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia

And with that, our morning hike had come to an end. We were a little late to meet up with Felix but he was in good spirits and eager to see the back-of-camera photos I had of the Crested Eagle. Laura, Miguel and I had encoutered over 110 bird species during our morning hike, a pretty solid total (to be fair, we had been gone for nearly eight hours). Again, Laura and I took the rest of the afternoon off; we had earned a bit of a rest!