I finally made it back to Colombia for my second visit and again used the guide services of Pablo Florez. I went with my friend Martin Jackson. We visited Inirida on the Orinoco, Santa Marta of course, Guajira Peninsula on the Caribbean coast, and a couple of National Parks around Bogota.
Much of the trip was on or near the water - in the Orinoco basin, Caribbean coast and some mountain lakes and streams. We did see a lot of herons, egrets and ducks that we have in the USA, so I did not bother to photograph them. So here are the more interesting ones. The first 3 were in the Orinoco part of the trip.
The 17" Large-billed Tern (Phaetusa simplex) was the only gull or tern we saw in the Orinoco region which was very surprising to me.
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| Large-billed Tern |
The beautiful 21" Capped Heron (Pilherodius pileatus) with his long plumes and blue face, he is an easy ID.
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| Capped Heron |
Lastly is the peculiar 24" Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin). This prehistoric looking bird is endemic to Amazonia. It is the only bird in its family.
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| Hoatzin |
The 2 interesting ducks were in the Andes. The 18" Andean Teal (Anas andium) is a gray brown bird on paramo lakes
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| Andean Teal |
The exciting duck was a close encounter with the 16" Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata). We stopped on a bridge across a 30' stream where the guide had seen the ducks before. Well as luck would have it, the pair was about 30 yards upstream from the bridge. As we watched, they swam and drifted down until they were right below us.
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| Torrent Duck |
The last 3 birds were on the Caribbean coast in northeastern Colombia. There is a flamingo preserve, but at the time of year we were there, we were lucky to find a half dozen birds. Here is an adult 47 " American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber).
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| American Flamingo |
and a juvenile.
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| American Flamingo - juvenile |
The 24" Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) is white as a juvenile and then gets his color as he matures. There is some question if the White Ibis and this species are a single species. Time will tell as details are worked out.
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| Scarlet Ibis |
The last was the 39" Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens). This is an immature with all the white. It is always a treat to see these pelagic birds.
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| Magnificent Frigatebird - juvenile |
We also saw a Parasitic Jaeger but I did not get a photo. It seems so far south for that species.
Happy birding and photography,
David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com
photos copyright 2006 - 2021 David McDonald
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