23 Feb 18 - Colombia: An Afternoon At Rio Blanco

After an hour & a half of driving from Santa Rosa, we arrived at the gates to the Rio Blanco reserve. This is an excellent area of woodland which has been protected as is a water catchment area by the local water company.

The entrance sign: I wouldn't recommend shorts in the tropics, as they result in a much higher chance of insect bites

There is a small accommodation building inside the reserve that would have been great to stay in, but we stayed in the nearby city of Manizales: it was about a thirty minute drive to the entrance. It was a real pity that we couldn't stay in the reserve, as it would have been great place to stay. I don't remember hearing whether there wasn't enough accommodation for the group or there was another reason. While we had a decent hotel in Manizales for a couple of nights, we found we weren't able to get into the reserve on the following morning until after it had got light. We had a few hours of Birding in this excellent reserve before it got dark.

Broad-winged Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Black-billed Mountain Toucan: This was our second Mountain Toucan of the day & even better this was a Tick

Powerful Woodpecker: Female. A record shot of my first Powerful Woodpecker. Females have a predominantly black head, while the males have a bright crimson crest

Golden-fronted Whitestart: This is the chrysops subspecies of Golden-fronted Whitestart. We saw the white-faced ornatus subspecies at Cerro Guadalupe on 19 Feb 18

Grass-green Tanager: This distinctive Tanager occurs from Colombia to Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia. It's a pity it is in the shade as the chestnut-red face isn't as clear as it was in the forest

Beryl-spangled Tanager: This is a relatively widespread Tanager which occurs from Colombia & Venezuela to Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia

Slaty Brush-finch: This species occurs from Colombia & W Venezuela to Ecuador & Peru

I think we were all looking forward to returning the following morning, especially as we knew there were some treats on the menu: breakfast was to include some worms. More in the next Post.