Colombia 2023 - Day 7

8/28/2023 Monday

First of all, I want to apologize for the long gap between posts. I've lost my mojo with regards to getting the blogs written, but I'm going to try to get Colombia finished up ASAP!  I still have Ecuador to do, and we've got a lot of trips planned in the first half of 2024, so wish me luck!  Mark

We left our hotel at 5:30 to drive up into the beautiful mountains above Soata.  These mountains are not as high as the mountains we'd visited previously and were covered with oak forests. 

One of the first birds we saw was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. This is a species that we have in the US, but it looks somewhat different here and may eventually be declared a different species. We'll see. 

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Plain-breasted)

We also saw several Golden-fronted Redstarts.  In the area north of Bogota they have white faces, which makes them look old to me. In most other areas their face is entirely yellow/gold. Some authorities consider the varieties to be two different species, but for now they are still officially considered one. 

Golden-fronted Redstart

In one location a group of Green Jays worked through the trees. We have Green Jays in South Texas, but they look a little different than these South American Green Jays. Again, some authorities believe that there are two different species. I am sensing a trend here...

Green Jays (Inca)

The weather was cool and the forest healthy and beautiful. While not technically a Cloud Forest, the area was moist and the trees covered with moss, ferns and bromeliads. 

Our primary target for the morning was the Mountain Grackle. In Texas we think of grackles (Great-tailed Grackles primarily) as pesky nuisance birds that congregate in large noisy flocks and make terrible messes in parking lots. However, most of the worlds' grackles are better behaved. And in the case of Mountain Grackle, shy and hard to locate!

We made numerous stops along the mountain roads calling and listening for the grackles. In one place we had a strong response and could tell that they were moving in the forest below us, but ultimately they slipped away without us seeing them. Such is the challenge of birding. 

We saw several other good birds, including a Capped Conebill eating mistletoe berries, a Cinnamon Flycatcher, and a Mountain Cacique, not to be confused with the similar size and color Mountain Grackle!

Capped Conebill

Cinnamon Flycatcher

Mountain Cacique

We returned to our hotel about noon, checked out, had lunch at the same place as yesterday. This time Teri and I split the chicken breast with mushroom sauce and it was still a lot of food. They don't let you go hungry in Colombia! We were on the road at 1:15. 

We traveled high up into the Paramo (above tree line) once again, making many stops hoping for Green-bearded Helmetcrest but had no luck. We did observe many Andean Siskins and Brown-backed Chat Tyrants, and also had good looks at Andean Tit Spinetail.

Andean Siskin - male

Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant

Andean Tit-Spinetail

We were a little surprised to find Carib Grackles on a farm fence at this high elevation. These grackles originate in the Caribbean Ocean and only recently have expanded their range into Colombia. The habitat in the high elevation of the Paramo could hardly be more different than their native Caribbean islands!

Carib Grackle - female

Carib Grackle - male

It was a long drive to the town of Tunja.  We arrived about 7:30, and decided to skip dinner as we'd had a big lunch. We did stop at a bakery/cheese shop to buy breakfast for the next morning. 

The hotel room was clean and comfortable and we got ourselves cleaned up and went to bed.   

 Next - A Colonial Tour and Enchanted Garden!