January 22-February 1, 2025 with Jesse Fagan & Roger Rodriguez
This tour is designed to sample a medium-sized portion of the Magdalena Valley, through which the impressive Magdalena River flows. The Magdalena River is the main river of Colombia, the largest river in the northern Andes, and has its source where the Andes split to form the Central and Eastern cordilleras. The tour switchbacks its way north crossing the valley several times, visiting sites in the foothills of both mountain ranges, but also one or two stops in the lowlands. This is the territory which inspired One Hundred Years of Solitude with its mountains and valleys, water and sun, and fantastic creatures. We, too, felt inspired after our 8-days in the valley, having recorded 342 bird species, and a bunch of "fantastic" critters, and experienced several memorable cultural and food events. Read on!
The tour started in Bogota, at the comfortable Movich Hotel, which some participants were already very familiar with as they were connecting from a previous tour. However, we didn't spend too much time in the capital of Colombia, the most congested city in the world, and headed out well before dawn to get ahead of the traffic. It seemed we went up and down for a couple of hours as we crossed several intermontane valleys before finally descending into the Magdalena Valley and eventually reaching our first stop at Mana Dulce. Located at the base of the mountain range, in its rainshadow, this is a dry forest site typical of scattered forest patches in the lowlands. It was a fun first stop and the new birds came flying at us (literally and figuratively): Whooping Motmot, White-bellied and Jet antbirds, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Gray-headed Tanagers, and others. We continued on after lunch, with our first crossing of the Mighty Magdalena (some of you were napping at this point!), climbing into the eastern foothills of the Central Cordillera with a brief passing of Roger's hometown, Ibague, finally arriving to our hotel. Before Ibague we made a stop for the Saturday combo: hotdog and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black! The next morning, we left our hotel in the dark and began our hike with headlamps. Our destination was Ukuku Lodge where we would spend most of the day. It was a good hike (ha!), and despite being a little out of air when we arrived, the birding more than made up for this little inconvenience. The endemic Tolima Blossomcrown was around the orange teacup flowers, and we eventually caught up with the skulky Yellow-headed Brushfinches. They were quite a chore! We had some really good mixed species flocks here, too, with the likes of Barred Becard, Blue-necked Tanager(s), Streaked Xenops, Brown-capped Vireo,... (Was it Tree 1, Tree 2, or Tree 3?). Thanks to our hosts, Truman and Anni. After two nights above Ibague, we dropped down into the Magdalena Valley and continued north with stops in the town of Armero (we did bird, but also observing the tragic history of this place), El Hato, and Mariquita, eventually finding our way again on the east slope of the Central Cordillera, in the town of Victoria.
Victoria is a typical bustling Colombian foothills town with a central plaza and a towering Ceiba tree, a town dedicated to coffee production and light tourism. Thankfully, the town has created a small protected reserve, Bellavista RN, which is home to a number of interesting bird species. We targeted with success White-mantled Barbet, Beautiful Woodpecker, White-bibbed and Striolated manakins, and the snazzy Sooty Ant-Tanagers. Our local guide, Aturo, was great here, too. A bit further north we found ourselves in the lovely Rio Claro canyon. The waters were a bit muddy (not so claro from recent rains) when we first arrived, but they eventually cleared up during our stay. Our first full morning birding on the entrance road was filled with lots of new birds and great views. It started with a pair of Antioquia Bristle-Tyrant, a very rare and local Colombian endemic. Then, Western Olivaceous Flatbill at a nest, followed by Bay Wren, Broad-billed Motmot, and Gray-cheeked Nunlet, along with 70 other species that we would encounter this morning! However, there would be an encore to this day. We returned in the afternoon after the heat of the day and relaxing siesta to walk up the main river trail, the canyon narrowing on both sides of us as we continued up. There was a super cooperative pair of Magdalena Antbirds before we arrived to our stopping point: the Oilbird Cave. We had the entire place pretty much to ourselves and waited until dusk before we started to hear the growling cries of the Oilbirds. A fishing bat was spotlighted as it zipped by just above the river's surface. Soon after, fluttery objects began to move at the cave entrance, a few individuals at first, then hundreds, and before we knew it the sky overhead was filled with Oilbirds. We watched them briefly in the spotlight, and in the nightvision scopes (!), but mostly we just took in the spectacle naturally, our eyes eventually adjusting to the dimming light. The sounds and soft moon created an unforgettable moment for us. We walked back content, but did the scorpions steal the show?
For our last three nights of the tour, we crossed once again the Mighty Magdalena, and climbed into the western foothills of the Eastern Cordillera above the coffee and cacao town of San Vicente de Chucuri. We stayed at the beautifully located ProAves Reinita Cielo Azul Reserva Natural, or the Cerulean Warbler Reserve. This lodge is ideally situated between humid montane forest and coffee fincas. The two habitats provide a lot of forest and protection for resident songbirds and migrants alike. The first morning we focused on the lower sections (in the coffee and cacao) between the reserve and the town. This is where the group became members of the elite Century Club. The Century Club is recording 100+ species in a morning of birding. Our final total of 104 included real goodies like Double-banded Graytail, Niceforo's Wren (our top bird of the trip!), and lots of Cerulean Warblers. Our final day of birding was spent up high on the famous Lengerke Trail. Well, famous for birds, for sure, but infamous for the slick cobblestone steps! This trail was built in the mid-19th century by a German, George Hernst Heinrich von Lengerke, to move coffee and cacao from the foothills and mountains to the lowlands for export. The trail is 32 miles long, but this morning we only sampled the first few hundred yards. First stop was at the interior forest feeders where Black Inca put in an appearance as well as Lined Quail-Dove at the cracked corn. From there, we slowly picked our way up the trail. It paid off as we had excellent looks at the endemic Parker's Antbird, and fleeting glimpses of Magdalena Tapaculo (and glimpse of a tapaculo is a win). Plus, at least one person saw White-bellied Antpitta! The next day we finished in Buccaramanga with flights back to Bogota. It was a solid ending to a fun tour up the Magdalena Valley.
Thanks again to this group for a most excellent adventure in Colombia. I hope to see you again on future tours, and thanks for choosing Field Guides for your birding travels. Thanks to our fantastic local guide, Roger Rodriguez, and our safe and capable driver, Jovanni (Solutions in Colombia), plus everyone else who helped us along the way to make this a most successful trip. See you again on the birding trail!
Also, check out the Critter List:
MAMMALS
1) Silvery brown Tamarin (Saguinus leucopus) = Seen a couple of times at Victoria and near Rio Claro. Endemic to Colombia.
2) Red-tailed Squirrel (Sciurus granatensis)
3) Colombian Red Howler Monkey (Alouatta seniculus) = Heard and seen at Rio Claro.
4) Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) = Now introduced into the Magdalena Valley, no thanks to Pablo Escobar.
OTHER STUFF
1) Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus)
2) Yellow-striped Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates truncatus) = We found one at Armero. Endemic to the Magdalena Valley.
3) Redtail Coralsnake (Micrurus mipartitusi)
4) Opisthacanthus elatus = The large scorpion we found blacklighting at Rio Claro.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/337826
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cmv25TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Jesse Fagan (aka Motmot) from Panama City, Panama