Trip to Santa Marta Mountains in Colombia

Looking toward Santa Marta Mountains, Minca, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 3, 2020

I just returned from a brief trip down to the Santa Marta Mountains in northern Colombia. The Santa Marta Mountains are an isolated mountain range that has a high number of endemic species and subspecies including three species of warblers found nowhere else (White lored Warbler, Santa Marta Warbler and Yellow crowned Redstart)...more on the warblers for the trip at the following link.  Beyond the warblers there are about 17 other endemic species of birds as well as several subspecies that may be raised to full species status in the future. The entire trip lasted just five days (Monday-Friday) so some endemics and near endemics were certain to be missed. I flew down to Barranquilla and then was driven over to the small town of Minca at the lower elevations of the Santa Marta Mountains where I spent my first night. I got a few lifers at the airport and during the drive along the coast.  I arrived not long before sunset at my lodging but still found a few new species for the trip around my cabin before I headed for bed.  I set up my brief visit through Multicolor Birding Colombia operated by Pablo Valencia and got paired up with an excellent guide, Breiner Tarazona.  There was an issue early on with email correspondence with pablo but once I got contact through WhatsApp information flowed much smoother and quickly.  In the end it all worked out very well and would highly recommend both the company and the guide to provide great service at a good value.

Santa Marta Antbird, Cerro Kenedy Oriente, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Barred Antshrike, Cerro Kenedy Oriente, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Yellow backed Oriole, Cerro Kenedy Oriente, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Scaled Piculet, Cerro Kenedy Oriente, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Black chested Jay, Cerro Kenedy Oriente, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Golden winged Sparrow, Cerro Kenedy Oriente, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Rusty Flowerpiercer, Bellavista, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Santa Marta Blossomcrown, Bellavista, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Crowned Woodnymph, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Band tailed Guan, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Crowned Woodnymphs, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

The first full day began early with the guide and driver picking me up at 5:30 to start the drive up into the mountains. The roads were as expected in the mountains in South America...very rough! We made it to our first stop after about an hour of driving and we walked along the road picking up species one after another. After a bit under a mile we had picked up 49 species including several lifers  with such varied species as Golden winged Sparrow, Black crested Jay, Scaled Piculet and Scarlet fronted Parakeet. We also had incredible looks at the endemic Santa Marta Antbird as it stayed in the open for a long period (at least for an antbird). We stopped for lunch at a hostel and then continued our journey up higher with our next stop at Bellavista where we sat for an hour trying to get some hummingbirds at a flower garden. Unfortunately our stop corresponded with the stop of another birding group and I’m sure all the activity of the humans kept some of the birds back out of view. Nonetheless we still found at least some including Santa Marta Blossomcrown and a Santa Marta Brushfinch as well as a couple Rusty Flowerpiecers. A walk up the road just past the flower garden produced a couple of calling Santa Marta Tapaculo (never did manage to see the birds which is not unusual for tapaculos). We arrived at El Dorado Lodge around noon where we had lunch and then took some time off from the guided part of the tour. I explored on my own for a couple hours and turned up loads of hummingbirds at the feeders plus a Band tailed Guan and a couple of Lined Quail Dove walking their way through the forest.

White lored Warbler, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Masked Trogon, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Blue naped Chlorophonia, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Southern Emerald Toucanet (Santa Marta), El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

White tipped Quetzal, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

Golden Grosbeak, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 4, 2020

I met the guide again at three and we explored some trails around the lodge hiking about a mile during which we ran across a number of new species with the highlight for me being one of my target species, White lored Warbler. It took some time to final get some marginally good photos as the species likes to stay in the dark jungle tangles and seldom stays put for very long. Other notable species seen included the local subspecies of Southern Emerald Toucanet, Sierra Nevada Brushfinch, White tipped Quetzal (at nest) and Gray throated Leaftosser and several others. After dinner at the lodge we got some great looks at a Kinkajou and some night monkeys that come in every night for some bananas. Overall for the first full day I had a total of 28 life species.

Santa Marta Warbler, Cuchilla San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Santa Marta Parakeets, Cuchilla San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Scarlet fronted Parakeet, Cuchilla San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Yellow crowned Redstart, Cuchilla San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Yellow bellied Chat Tyrant, Cuchilla San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Black backed Thornbill, Cuchilla de San Lorenzo-Estacion Experimental San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

White throated Tyrannulet, Cuchilla de San Lorenzo-Estacion Experimental San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Golden breasted Fruiteater, El Dorado Preserve, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Sunrise, Cuchilla San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Pico Cristobal Colon, Cuchilla San Lorenzo, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Wednesday began very early with a departure from the lodge at 4:20am to make the drive up to the higher elevations in search of more endemic species including the remaining two target warblers. After a back breaking hour and a half drive up some very rough roads we arrived just as dawn was breaking and we had a fantastic sunrise while looking toward the snow covered Pico Cristobal Colon, the tallest mountain in Colombia at around 5800m (18,700 feet). It was a bit cool at our location at around 2500m but thankfully it was fairly calm. We heard a Santa Marta Warbler singing and after a bit of searching we got some decent looks and I got a few photos of this skulking species. This warbler is the toughest of the three to find so we were happy to turn up a pair early on. The guide said the species can usually only be found very early in the day and after that becomes nearly impossible to find. We added a few other endemic species including a hummingbird usually found at a higher elevation...a Black backed Thornbill. One of the rarest species we had were at least half a dozen Santa Marta Parakeets that are quite endangered and not always easy to find. Several other lifers were also added with most of those being endemic to the Santa Marta Mountains. After a short walk along the road we returned to the vehicle to have a quick breakfast which was interrupted by a singing Yellow crowned Redstart. It showed fairly quickly at a distance of perhaps 30 feet and then did something unexpected...it flew directly at me and landed just above my head. The bird was almost at arms length and was too close to focus on with my camera so I had to back up to get frame filling shots. It stayed very close for several minutes and I took many photos. Eventually it hopped down out of sight but continued to sing occasionally. With the remaining two targets seen and photographed we started out descent back down the road with a few stops including a research station and a walk along the road.

Slate throated Redstart, El Dorado Lodge, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Blue capped Tanager, El Dorado Preserve, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Cinnamon Flycatcher with nest material, El Dorado Preserve, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

The guided part of the morning was over around 11 so I had a bit of time available to me to explore some trails on my own before lunch and I headed out on the same trail we covered the previous afternoon and I had many of the same species but better looks (and photos) of some of them.

Santa Marta Woodstar, Bellavista, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Santa Marta Blossomcrown, Bellavista, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Long billed Hermit, Bellavista, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

White rumped Hawk, Finca Cincinati, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

Lineated Woodpecker, Finca Cincinati, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

After lunch I met the guide and driver again at 2:30 and we headed down in elevation to try to pick up some lower elevation species we missed the previous day on the way up to the lodge. We finally caught up with the Santa Marta Woodstar that we missed on the previous day at a small flower garden which also featured several other hummingbirds plus some nearby Rusty breasted Antpitta calling but never coming in close enough to get a look.  Another walk along one of the roads produced more species for the trip including some raptors.

Santa Marta Screech Owl, El Dorado Preserve, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 5, 2020

We were out until after dark and made a successful attempt to find some owls before returning to the lodge for dinner. A stop along the road below the lodge produced two Santa Marta Screech Owls plus some night monkeys. A very long day indeed but very productive with lots of good stuff with a total of 17 life birds for the day.

Groove billed Toucanet (yellow billed), Finca Palo Alto, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 6, 2020

Streaked Xenops, Finca Palo Alto, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 6, 2020

Yellow legged Thrush, Finca Palo Alto, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 6, 2020

Barred Forest Falcon, Finca Palo Alto, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 6, 2020

Steely vented Hummingbird, Hotel Minca, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 6, 2020

White vented Plumeleteer, Hotel Minca, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 6, 2020

Whooping Motmot, Hotel Minca, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 6, 2020

White necked Jacobin, Hotel Minca, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 6, 2020

The last full day thankfully didn’t start quite as early as the previous day. We had breakfast at the lodge at six before heading down to some lower elevation sites attempting to pick up some species we missed before. We walked along the road below the lodge as well as a few roadside locations on the road to Minca where we had lunch at Hotel Minca with its many hummingbird feeders. Along the road I added new life birds including Streaked Xenops, Groove billed Toucanet and Crimson crested Woodpecker plus a pair of Barred Forest Falcons. The feeders at Hotel Minca produced three more life birds including Steely vented Hummingbird, White vented Plumeleteer and Whooping Motmot. After hanging around the hotel feeders for quite awhile we continued our journey down the mountain where I was dropped off at my AirBnB south of Santa Marta where I added yet another new species with a pair of Bare eyed Pigeons viewed from a balcony ten stories up.

Yellow Oriole, Gaira, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 7, 2020

Bare eyed Pigeon, Gaira, Magdalena, Colombia, Feb 7, 2020

I added a couple species on my final morning with Yellow Orioles from the balcony early on and a Cocoi Heron on the drive to the airport in Barranquilla.

Now for the overall numbers from the trip. Over the course of the entire trip I had 173 species with 59 of those being life birds bringing my overall world total up to 5170. Now back to the realities of life (including catching a cold at the end of the trip) for a little while before headed out again to warmer locales.  More details on warbler specific info can be found at the following link:  Santa Marta Warblers.

Full album of photos from the trip at the following link.