Finally, we had to head back into the heat of the mid afternoon sun on the Guajira Peninsula. There had been a bit of a breeze by the coast, as well as, some shade. But we lost both of those benefits once we got back to the bushes. But first, there was the chance to check the Birds feeding along the estuary.
Fish drying on a local boat
Little Blue Heron: Adult. A bit easier to identify compared to a white youngster if one turned up in the UK
Tricoloured Heron
Great White Egret: The white phase of Great Blue Herons also occur in Northern Colombia, but they have pale yellow legs & pale blue lores
Scarlet Ibis dropping in by two Snowy Egrets
The habitat was even more arid than where we had been in the morning
A close up
Buffy Hummingbird: This had been a Tick in the morning, but I hadn't managed to get any photos
Green-rumped Parrotlet: They occur in arid Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and arid Northern Brazil
Grey Kingbird: A species that occurs from the coastal SE of the US, to Colombia & Venezuela & the Caribbean
Brown-crested Flycatcher: A species that occurs from the SW of the US, through Central America to Colombia & Venezuela to Brazil & Northern Argentina
Tropical Mockingbird: Running off with a large berry
Tropical Gnatcatcher: Another common resident of this arid scrub
We ended the day, walking along a short track in the failing light as it was a roosting site for Rufous-vented Chachalacas. We were successful in seeing, but not photographing, them.
Cattle Tyrant: The light was just about good enough to photograph this Cattle Tyrant on this large pile of rotting fruit
We had the final evening cooling down back at the Hotel La Jorara. There was a final pre-dawn start so that we could be at a site for Chestnut-winged Chachalaca at first light. We were successful in seeing them in the trees before the dispersed to feed. After that, we had a final couple of hours of Birding in some mangroves at the Isla Salamanca National Park, which produced my final three Ticks of the trip. However, I've no photos from this final day, as I wasn't expecting to do a lot of photography & the cameras were packed. In the end there was more than I had expected. After a couple of hours in the minibus, we arrived at Barranquilla airport around lunchtime. As Brian & I were checking in, we asked if they had any earlier flights back to Bogota & managed to get onto a flight that was departing in about two hours time, rather than early evening. There was just time for a rushed final drink with the others before we headed off for the departure gate. It was a good flight to Bogota & gave us the afternoon & evening to have a leisurely meal & final chill out before getting our international flights. Brian flew back to the UK & I caught the late evening flight to Chile for the next part of my adventure. Little did either of us know that this was the last time we would see each other. I spoke to Brian a few times after I returned home in May & was planning to visit him later in the Summer. Sadly, he had a sudden & fatal heart attack at Porthgwarra in late July.
Brian: Thanks for another great trip with many happy memories