A Land of Contrasts

Our duties in Bolivia were not over.  After completing successfully the first part of the XII International Course on Advances in Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy in La Paz, it was time for the 40 of us participants from 18 Latin American countries to take a 1-hour flight to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in the Amazonian lowlands.  It was a drastic change: Santa Cruz was hot, flat and green... nothing to do with La Paz.  After arrival, we had little time to visit the main plaza, including the impressive Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo and the surroundings.

Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo, Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Again, the activities of the course demanded all our time and concentration.  We had talks to attend, topics to discuss and workshops to get done at the Hospital Universitario Japones.  Every participant prepared topics in advance concerning common gastrointestinal diseases in their countries and, at the end, we presented a set of conclusions and recommendations to implement back in home.

My working group at Montero

Then it was time for the social projection of the course, we left behind the busy Santa Cruz city and moved to the town of Montero, some 50 km to the north.  There we performed endoscopic studies to the population in two intense journeys.  We stayed out of town, in a immense resort with wooded areas, a natural lagoon and lots of facilities.  My own cabin was pretty close to the lagoon and to a jogging track rich in wildlife.

I did early morning walks along this track, and the number of species was quite impressive. Not only birds, but also some mammals, like White-tailed Deers for example.

White-tailed Deer female

I got some new species for my life list of birds.  Some where straightforward, but others were more difficult to ID... for example those Thrush-like Wrens... I was not aware that the subspecies present there was essentially unspotted!  I also photographed some common species in the ground of the resort, check them out:

Limpkin

Rufous Hornero 

Burrowing Owl

Some of the new ones were quite common too, like these Velvet-fronted Grackles that I thought first were cowbirds until I heard them, or the Red-crested Cardinals that were everywhere.  These cardinals (two species in the resort) are not related to the northern cardinals nor to the grosbeaks, but to the colorful tanagers.

Velvet-fronted Grackles

Red-crested Cardinal

And talking about colorfulness.... one of my last lifers in Santa Cruz was a famous bird, icon of the tropics and probably the most common one in advertisements concerning paradisiacal beaches and lush forests, even in countries were this bird is not found (like Panama): Toco Toucan:

Ooops, wrong photo!

Toco Toucan

Yes, I know... is a terrible photo, but I got great views through my bins.  The bird stayed just few seconds, but it was enough to see every detail.  After all, I spend 10 days in Bolivia, a country full of contrasts, new friends and exuberant wildlife... and I hope to be back soon!

Last day in El Palmar

After an exciting previous day with Harpy Eagles, we decided to bird again the forests beyond the Rio Grande, which separates the states of Bolivar and Delta Amacuro in eastern Venezuela. We were joined by Carlos, a colombian merchant who kindly took us up to the place in his car.

The four of us walked the main road for a while, stopping wherever we detected activity... and we found some before it started to rain! A single mixed flock contained Spotted, Flame-crested, White-shouldered and Bay-headed Tanagers, Slaty-capped Shrike-Vireo, Black-spotted Barbet and at least three or four Golden-headed Manakins (sorry for the bad photo... it was raining).

However, we were puzzled by the presence of rotten fruit deliberately hung in the trees along the road... soon we met the guys who did it: three entomologists (two japaneses and one from Barbados) who were collecting tiny butterflies, and that was their way to attract them! We chat for a while, hearing interesting facts about the mega diversity of the place. By that moment, the group of people in that corner of Venezuela was particularly diverse as well, with two japaneses, a barbadian, a mexican, a panamanian, a colombian and -only- one venezuelan!

But the best of the day was about to come. In a flowering tree, Blas showed us a tiny hummingbird perched high, in some exposed branches: we were astonished after verifying with our binoculars that the bird had rackets in its tail: a male Racket-tailed Coquette!!! What a life bird!!

After the coquette, the activity declined and the rain was imminent. It was well beyond noon and we decided to take a road close to El Palmar (the way to La Palma). The short walk resulted in many new species to our growing list, including Purple Gallinule, Plain-breasted Ground-Dove, Blue-tailed Emerald and good looks at White-headed Marsh-Tyrants, both male and females, as well as their nests. The male is so distinctive that it can be identified easily in my distant photo!

With the last lights of the day, Blas showed us a colony of Burrowing Owls, and soon, a pair of these terrestrial owls perched atop the posts of a fence. Great way to call it a day!

Back at Blas' house, in company with some of our new venezuelan friends, we enjoyed some cool drinks and celebrate for the birds and the friends. It was our last night at El Palmar and we already felt it like home! Can't wait to return my friends!