Wednesday 2/16/2022 – We both slept a little better last night. Today was a “moving day”, we were in the SUV by 5:45 for our drive to Bosque de Niebla. Daniel had spoken with another of his guides who told him that the mountain road was in really bad shape, so we decided to drive back down to Cali, then over and back up a different road. He thought the driving time would be the same with better, faster roads, but it turned out to take quite a bit longer and we didn’t arrive to Bosque de Niebla until 7:30 a.m. No problem though, as it was cloudy and the target bird for the morning, Chestnut Wood-Quail was a little slow to arrive at the feeding area.
Bosque de Niebla is a relatively new birding site but had amazing gardens and well-thought-out viewing platforms for Tanagers and the Wood-Quail. We started our morning on the Tanager platform which was built with photography in mind. It had some very nice perches for birds to land on as they came in to feed, which allowed for great photos.
After about 30 minutes on the platform we were called to a breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit.
Shortly after finishing breakfast we were told that the Wood-Quail had arrived in their feeding area, so we enjoyed great looks at these normally shy birds.
Then back to the tanager platform where we continued to enjoy amazing looks at not only tanagers but also barbets, motmots, toucanets and others.
We left about noon and went to a nearby restaurant for lunch.
The restaurant featured outside seating on a covered, raised deck, with dozens of hummingbird feeders attached to the deck rail and overhang. At any time Teri could have reached out and touched hummingbirds that were either feeding or perched on the rail.
I ordered fried Tilapia which sounded like an easy meal, but when they brought out a whole fish, eyes and all I knew that I’d be picking my way through a lot of bones.
Luckily Teri had ordered a grilled chicken breast, which turned out
to be three large pieces and she shared.
We then went up to an older birding site in the area, Finca la Alejandria. It featured many of the same birds but was put together very differently. While Bosque de Niebla had virtually all of their feeding in a compact centralized area, Finca la Alejandria had over a hundred separate bowls of sugar water scattered over hundreds of yards of trail and garden. It was difficult to know where to sit and where to look, as being in one area meant that you were missing another.
Our target bird was the Blue-headed Sapphire which occurs only at this site, and after a few “It’s over here, now it’s over there” moments we got very nice looks at it.
We found another North American breeding bird here as well. This Swainson's Thrush will be returning to the northern states and Canada in April.
From a viewing and photography standpoint the first site was easier, but both had amazing birds. It was hard to estimate how many total hummingbirds were at the feeders at Finca la Alejandria, but it was certainly hundreds.
We left around 4:00 for a longish drive to Buga, where Daniel dropped us off at a very nice hotel. It turns out (I suppose to save money) that he stays at a different nearby hotel where they have an account.
We met him for
dinner at 7:15 and then parted ways until the next morning.
Next Time: Day 4 Journal
What a fun post! Big leaf, beautiful sapphire bird and a whole fish. That head would be the end of my appetite for awhile! I'm trying to gear myself up for lobster this summer in Maine.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t find that fish very appetizing either. Unfortunately, every time we ordered fish it came with all the bones. We’re not used to having to pick through the bones.
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