COLOMBIA: TINAMU DAY 2

 March 19, 2023

I was up and out by 6:30 AM to see the morning birds with Bob. It was definitely not as impressive as I expected, and the birds we saw were similar to the day before. However, it was nice to be out in the cool morning air appreciating the glorious scenery.

The reserve folks had sprinkled some bird seed along the driveway that attracted dozens of small birds.

Saffron finch

I came back at 7:00 as Savannah was just waking up and took one of the coldest showers I've ever taken. Seriously, I think there was ice in it.

I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as this little bird who took a bath near the door to our room:

Breakfast was two overcooked eggs, a tough arepa, a nice roll, some cheese and butter, and orange juice. Then we waited for about an hour for a Spanish-only guide, Fernando (who is supposed to be one of the best guides at the reserve), who had gone into town to pick up a translator. 

Bob, Sav, and I headed out with the two guides and another couple. It was slow-going, but I got pictures of a lot of beautiful and unusual plants and flowers.

That crazy pink and purple thing on the right is a type of bromeliad and is known as the "matchstick plant."

On the left is a type of anthurium, and on the right is a "walking iris."

I have both of these in my garden at home--hydrangeas and bottlebrush tree! 

I've seen houseplants of these: iresine, aka Herbst's bloodleaf, and spathiphyllum kochii, aka the peace lily.

Some king of fungus on a tree trunk and an uncoiling fern frond. 

I think this is lulo, fruit often made into juice that we had tasted earlier in the trip.

After an hour or so Sav and I headed back to our room for a bit of a rest.

I spent some time admiring the wide variety of hummingbirds attracted to the feeders on the grounds. (There are four in this photo. Don't miss the one on the lower feeder.)

Here's a better photo from Bob of the white-necked Jacobin hummingbird in the picture above.

I also watched an Andean squirrel scamper across the lawn.

When Bob returned, we had a lunch of roast beef, potatoes and yuca, and rice, along with a bowl of chickenless chicken noodle soup and a small square of fruit jelly for dessert. Tinamú isn't going to win prizes for its cuisine.

Sav and I joined Bob and the two guides for a two-hour walk in the afternoon. It was hot and humid, but Bob was able to add quite a few birds to his list, and we saw a totally different kind of Andean foothill scenery.

The trees were gigantic--like the redwoods in Northern California. I tried to capture their majesty with a video, but it doesn't do their skyscraper heights justice.

This was a lovely walk. The canopy was not as dense as other places we had walked, allowing lacy patterns of light to decorate the wide path. Graceful bamboo leaned provided some shade as well.

Emerald, mint, sage, forest, jade, kelly, pine--there were a million shades of green. Green is usually a cool color, but we definitely were not feeling cool.

I mentioned these leafcutter ants before. They were amazing to watch.

My walking buddy:

When I first saw the plant on the left, I thought it was some exotic species of pineapple. It is related to the pineapple but is not edible, and it is an invasive species in this area. On the right is a heliconia, which I could never remember but Savannah could, which was helpful. One of its common names is "lobster claws." 

I think these pink and purple bananas are edible, but not as good as yellow bananas.

So many bananas!

Some are fed to guests, and some are peeled and put out to attract birds.

Spiral ginger and beehive ginger, my two favorite flowers. These were growing near our room.

Dinner was quite good--fried fish, vegetables, rice, and banana chips. Mind you, we all tended to cover the food with bottled Aji salsa. Savannah in particular is a hot pepper sauce fan.

There were serious birders there.

The following are Bob's photos of some of the other birds we saw on our afternoon walk. For more photos, see his blog Cannundrums.

Blue-headed parrot

Common potoo

Mustached puffbird

Tropical screech owl

Brown-throated parakeet