Saturday 2/19/2022 – Breakfast at 6:00, and on the road at 6:30. We headed back up the road toward Otun-Quimbaya SFF. We immediately saw a couple of Andean Motmots, and then a Crab-eating Fox walking on the road. The weather was much better than the previous day and things were off to a good start.
As always, click on any picture for a sharper, enlarged version.
We got to the top and Daniel took us in to the forest and played a call to lure in the Hooded Antpitta. This very rare little bird had been discovered in the area and was our target for the morning. A couple of birds immediately responded back to the call, and Daniel spotted one of them. We had good looks and I got several decent pictures of this rare endemic Antpitta.
We then walked a short distance up a trail to a bridge over the Otun River. This was the fourth different bridge over this river that we’d been on, and we never ceased to be amazed at the power of the river as it pounded its way down the mountain.
We birded our way back down the mountain and returned to Hotel Kumanday at 12:30 for lunch and to pack up.
We left around 2:00 and headed for Cameguadua Marsh.
We arrived there at 3:00 to find it hot and sunny. The recreation area around the marsh was run by the local water district, and we were required to have an escort as we were entering the restricted area. Most visitors used a small lake at the front of the complex for swimming, boating, picnicking, etc. This lake was full of fresh, clear water and seemed very nice. The larger lake in the restricted area contained mostly run-off from the nearby city of Chinchina. The lake was muddy and a bit smelly, but was covered with Blue-winged Teal, Bare-faced Ibis, and a variety of Gallinules, Cormorants, and Shorebirds.
There was some nice dry forest around the lake, and we spotted a rare Dwarf Cuckoo that showed well for several minutes. There were many other good birds in the forest and surrounding grasslands, and we birded until it was nearly dark at 6:00.
We arrived at our hotel at around 6:30 and got checked in. Daniel lives only about 30 minutes away, so he headed home, and we had dinner in the hotel restaurant at 7:30.
We were pretty tired after a long day with a hot afternoon, so were happy to get showered and go to bed.
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