8/25/2023 Friday
We enjoyed breakfast at the same local café as yesterday, and then headed to Parque Puente Sopo, a nice mixed activity municipal park.
Our main target was the endemic Bogota Rail. Rails are notoriously secretive marsh birds, and this one is found in only a few locations around Bogota. The previous "go-to" spot on private land had a new owner and visitors were no longer welcomed. Daniel had heard that this public park might have them and so we were here to give it a try.
There was a walking trail that circled a marshy pond area, and we set off along this trail. Within just a few minutes we spotted a rail making its way through the marshy grass, and sure enough it was a Bogota Rail.
There were several Bared-faced Ibis working the same area as the Rail, and a couple of Silver-throated Spinetails (another endemic) in the shrubs next to the water.
Another section of the park had a large open pond where we saw Andean Ducks, which are very similar to the Ruddy Ducks found in the US. At one time they were considered to be the same species.
Once we finished at the park we headed to a place called Laguna de Fuquene, arriving around noon. The target for this location was a small brown bird called the Apolinar's Wren, an endemic with a small distribution in Central Colombia.
Daniel mentioned the possibility of trying to find this bird from shore, but when we arrived we saw that a program to remove invasive Water Hyacinth had really torn up the shoreline. So Daniel went to Plan B, hiring a boat to take us out to less disturbed areas.
As we waited near the dock we spotted a rare Spot-flanked Gallinule, a bird commonly found in Chile, Argentina and Southern Brazil, but with a small presence in Colombia. We were lucky to see it.
While we were out we found a few Yellow-hooded Blackbirds, which are virtually identical to our Yellow-headed Blackbirds.
On the other hand, we also saw American Coots, which are the same species we have in the US, but these look a little different with a yellow area on their bill.
We had some driving to do after finishing up at the lagoon. We stopped at 2:00 for lunch at a roadside sandwich stand, and then at 4:30 in the Villa de Leyva town plaza for coffee/hot chocolate at a sidewalk café. The 3.5 acre plaza is the largest in Colombia and one of the largest in South America. Most town squares are more parklike with grass and trees, but this one was entirely stone. Perhaps the high elevation here was a factor?
We finally arrived at Rogitama Lodge at 6:00. This is a property owned by a retired doctor who has taken what was originally a cow pasture and restored it to forest over the past forty years.
It had been a long day with a lot of driving, so we were happy to get into our warm, comfortable beds.
Next - Two new hummingbirds and another new hotel.
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