Cartagena: Wildlife and Nature

As I mentioned in a previous post, Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) was the center of the Gastroenterology and Digestive System Endoscopy of the Americas last month, gathering health professionals, professors and Nobel Prize winners as well.  Despite the intense academic schedule, I was able to escape for a couple of hours to enjoy the nature and wildlife offered by the Colombian Caribbean coast.

I hired a taxi and went to the Guillermo Piñeres Botanical Garden, less than a hour to the south of the city, in Turbaco.  The nine hectares property protect part of the native vegetation and wildlife of the region.  I did some search in advance because, as you know, I was interested in birds, and the site didn't disappoint... I saw and/or heard 45 different species, including three lifers (Glaucous Tanager, Stripe-backed Wren and the endemic Chestnut-winged Chachalaca.

Stripe-backed Wren

Chestnut-winged Chachalaca (Endemic to Colombia)

I published more photos in my eBird checklist and invite you to check them.  Besides the birds, the place was really good for herps.  I know nothing about reptiles, but at least some common ones are easy to ID.  The place was moist enough to sustain a healthy population of iguanas, frogs and other reptiles.

Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

Common Basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus 

Rainbow Whiptail (Cnemidophorus lemniscatus)

Yellow-striped Poison Frog (Dendrobates truncatus)

The mammals were well represented too, with agoutis and Northern Amazon Red Squirrels as common sights in the forest, but more impressive, I was fortunate enough to cross a troop of Red Howler Monkeys that were quite curious.

Northern Amazon Red Squirrel (Sciurus igniventris)

Red Howler Monkey (Alouatta seniculus)

The taxonomy of the Red Howler Monkey is vexed.  Some authorities split the different populations into different species and call this form the Colombian (or Venezuelan) Red Howler Monkey (ssp. seniculus).  Full species or not, it was nice to find this peaceful inhabitant of the forest and to have a little taste of the rich wildlife and biodiversity that Colombia has to offer!

Cartagena: Cultural and Academic

Last month, thousands of health professionals related to the Gastroenterology and the digestive system Endoscopy met at one of the most interesting and lovely cities of the world: Cartagena de Indias in the northern coast of Colombia.  The PanAmerican Digestive Disease Week took place on September 10th to 13th with a high academic level.  Essentially, all you need to know as a Gastroenterologist and/or Endoscopist was updated at several sessions, courses, talks, workshops and hands-on trainings held in the modern Cartagena Convention Center "Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala".

Cartagena de Indias was a great setting for this event.  There is always something to do in the city... walk within the walled town with its plazas, or above the impressive wall itself, enjoying the colonial architecture, or taking a journey to the past to pirates tales at the Castillo de San Felipe (and its impressive tunnel system -- recommended), drink a coffee at the historic Getsemani neighborhood, or eat a traditional fried fish with coconut rice and avocado salad in Boca Chica beach... you name it!

Many of my colleagues from Panama and all over America attended this great event... it was nice to see some old friends again and to listen my professors, textbooks' authors and worldwide authorities in the matter at their lectures.  Certainly, my major highlight was to meet a personal hero... a person who changed the world's gastroenterology for ever by establishing the relationship of the germ Helibacter pylori and the peptic ulcer disease (and winning a Nobel Prize by the way): Barry J. Marshall.  Hearing the story of how he did that (with co-author J. Robin Warren) was sublime! C'mon, that's the story I tell each semester to my young Medicine students... but charismatically told by the protagonist himself!

Barry J. Marshall

From Marshall B. Helicobacter connections. ChemMedChem 2006; 1: 783-802

OK, saying "to meet" is not exactly accurate... once he finished his lecture, most of the audience gathered around him to speak with him and get some photos; it was crowded!  However, I ran across him the night before at the welcome cocktail and got a nice photo with a legend. Not only that, I found out that he is a blogger too (check his blog: What I know and what I think I know).  He has not posted for a while, but to have something in common with a Nobel Prize winner is something special.... just another reason to keep blogging!

Memories of a great trip

Click here to enlarge into an interactive map

In retrospective, the experiences during my last birding trip to northern South America were simply overwhelming! It is not everyday that you have the chance to visit THREE different birds-rich countries... and with friends! My great friend and birding companion for ALL the trip was Rafael Cortes, who organized most of it. Above is a map with some of the sites that I visited in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador during my three-weeks trip... click on it in order to open an interactive map with Google Earth, where each site have one or more links to a specific post in this blog. Lets talk about some numbers: 18 days of pure birding, nine flights in total (including the 15-minutes flight connecting Maturín and Puerto Ordaz in Venezuela), many different type of habitats, ranging from savanna to paramos, wetlands to lush cloud forests, llanos to amazonia... and more than 500 birds species!

Scarlet Ibis in the colombian llanos

We saw such emblematic birds like Bogotá Rail, Harpy Eagle, both Guianan and Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks, both White and Bearded Bellbirds, Andean Condor, Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe, Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, Toucan-Barbet, Cream-colored Woodpecker and many more!

Harpy Eagle

But one group of birds deserves a special mention... we saw in total 63 different hummingbirds species! Some of the gems included in our lists were Racket-tailed and Festive Coquettes, Black-bellied and Green Thorntails, Crimson Topaz, Rufous-breasted Sabrewing, Purple-throated, White-bellied and Gorgeted Woodstar, Sword-billed Hummingbird, mind-blowing Velvet-purple Coronet and Giant Hummingbird.

Velvet-Purple Coronet

Not only birds... the trip was also rich in mammals, including four monkeys species, two agoutis, Boto (Amazonian River Dolphin), Prehensile-tailed Porcupine, Tayras, Báquiros (Peccaries), many tracks of big cats, and so on...

Common Squirrel Monkey
(Playa Guio, Guaviare, Colombia)

And all sort of critters, ranging from poison dart-frogs, to tarantulas and even giant earthworms!

Do Giant Antpittas eat giant earthworms?
(BellaVista, Ecuador)

I'm pretty sure that time will pass before I have the opportunity to make such a big trip again... what a memorable experience!

Rafael and Jan Axel with the Antisana Volcano as background

Birding Laguna La Maria

It was our last day in Guaviare department (Colombia), and already spend half-morning admiring the fantastic rocky formations at Sendero Puentes Naturales.  For the rest of the morning, our guides Luis Fernando ("Lucho") Galindez and Derly Blandon suggested to visit a trail known as Sendero Laguna La Maria, starting at San José del Guaviare, which passes through several habitats, including the shores of the mighty Guaviare river, and eventually reaching a tall forest.  We (Rafael Cortes, Mauricio Rueda and me) agreed, despite it was still an eight-hours drive back to Bogotá.

The crossed the first part of the trail with the car, inspecting the sand bars of the Guaviare river, seeing both Large-billed and Yellow-billed Terns, many herons, Yellow-hooded Blackbirds and a target bird for Rafael, a nicely patterned Pied Lapwing.  My photo is only for record purposes because the bird was quite distant.

We began to walk, watching several new birds for our lists (including my life list of course): Slate-headed and Yellow-browed Tody-Flycatchers, Turquoise Tanagers, Yellow-bellied Dacnis, many Great-crested Flycatchers, Red-stained Woodpecker, Gray Hawk and many more.  One of the birds we saw was a species that have eluded me so far in Panama (and elsewhere): a Little Cuckoo.  We saw at least two individuals of this smaller version of the common and widespread Squirrel Cuckoo (thought not so closely related).  In the photos you can see its red eyering.

Once in the forest, the activity was low... but the forest was very impressive and we only regret about not having enough time to explore it adequately.  

Mauricio and Rafael entering the forest

Anyway, we found a mixed flock with White-flanked Antwrens, Gray-headed Tanagers, a Chestnut-winged Foliage-Gleaner and a beautiful male Pink-throated Becard... however, it was the impressive Long-billed Woodcreeper who stole the show!  An individual stayed more than 15 minutes, allowing many photos.  This species is half-way between the scythebills and the more "normal" woodcreepers.

We got a nice surprise during the return journey along the same trail.  At a bridge, we stopped to watch some mixed activity, when Lucho noticed that something was watching us... a sleepy Prehensile-tailed Porcupine was no more than three meters above our heads!  It is unusual to find one of these during a birding trip (actually, during ANY trip).

We still had a date in downtown San José del Guaviare: Lucho's wife invited us to have lunch in their house... and it was simply excellent.  After a wonderful extended weekend in Guaviare, we had to say good-bye to our new friends, with the promise that we will return... and I'm looking forward to it!  In the long way back to Bogota, I kept inspecting the fields (we were crossing the llanos after all), resulting in my last lifer of the trip: a magnificent Buff-necked Ibis standing right next to the road (compare with the Black-faced Ibis we saw in Ecuador).  What a great bird to close my huge list... and what a GREAT TRIP!!!  

Geological curiosities of the Serranía de la Lindosa

After an exciting second day in Playa Guio (Guaviare department, Colombia), for our last day we visited a nearby place known as Sendero Puentes Naturales (natural bridges trail), part of the Serranía de la Lindosa.  We entered the trails passing a bridge over a very nice creek.  

The area is of Precambric origin, similar to some areas that we visited in Venezuela (specially the "mirador"); however, this place exhibited some VERY curious rocky formations, with funny names as well.

"Chair"

Jan Axel in the chair

"Bed"

Jan Axel in the bed

Just like the sign indicated, the habitat transition was quite evident, from bushes and scattered trees, to a secondary, more dense forest and finally a high canopy forest.

We walked through a dense forest, with rocky soil... and thanks God our guide Luis Fernando never told us the moment when we were crossing the "Puentes Naturales"... it was only when we started to descend that we realized that the "Puentes Naturales" are narrow rock corridors (bridges) formed thanks to the erosion produced by the river over millions of years... easily these formations (three bridges actually) are suspended over 30 meters or more!

Puentes Naturales

Under the Puentes Naturales

Over the Puentes Naturales

As you can see, there are many things to see and experience in this world!  And the day was not over yet!

From left to right: Luis Fernando Galindez, Rafael Cortes, Jan Axel Cubilla and Mauricio Rueda

Finding "El Payaso"

The group of birders conformed by Rafael Cortes, Mauricio Rueda and your blogger host were already taking a well deserved rest at our cabin in Playa Guio (Guaviare department, Colombia), after an intense walk through a variety of habitats in the morning.  I decided to spent the rest of the afternoon birding close to the cabins, along with Mauricio and our guide Luis Fernando ("Lucho") Galindez.  The strategy was to take some chairs of the dinning hall and to wait in a nearby patch of forest.  This turned out to be a good choice since we spied many species of birds just standing quiet and waiting.  Again, a two Black-fronted Nunbirds appeared from nowhere, very close to our feet... I think they had a nest close... but we didn't look for it.

While seeing a flock with antwrens and woodcreepers passing by, we started to hear soft blows against a trunk... surely some kind of woodpecker.  Mauricio moved slowly, trying to find the source of the sound, while Lucho and me stayed watching the flock.  Then, Mauricio desperately tried to gain our attention, whispering our names as loud as a whisper can let you (surely he didn't want to scare whatever he was trying to show us) while taking photos.  We hurried to reach him... and there it was: a glorious Cream-colored Woodpecker above our heads!  First we saw its back... but then the bird turned its head almost 180º, showing its conspicuous red cheeks!

This bird was the main reason why Rafael wanted to visit this place... our main target, the créme de la créme... but wait a second... Rafael was not with us... he was taking a nap at the cabin, some 50 mts away!  I ran to the cabin, crossing a field while yelling his name (certainly I looked like a mad man).  Rafael hurried to dress up and ran to the site I was pointing to him... however, once there, the bird was gone (as usual).  A pair of Purple-throated Fruitcrow was a consolation prize... but you know that feeling of frustration when you see a MEGA bird and your friends do not?

We returned to the cabin, while Lucho returned to San José del Guaviare.  We were seated in the balcony of the cabin when two birds landed on the tree right in front of us... two Cream-colored Woodpeckers!!!  And this time, Rafael was with us... watching, enjoying, photographing the birds!  Both male and female were feeding with fruits... the female (without red in the head) was more confiding, letting us to approach quite close in order to take more photos.

The excitement was so that nobody cared about the Spot-breasted Woodpecker, nor about the male Scarlet-crowned Barbet that were feeding close to the woodpeckers tree.

The male Cream-colored Woodpecker was a little more shy than the female, always staying high, always in the move and in the shade... however, I managed a couple of good shots.  Those red cheeks are the reason why the locals call him "payaso", meaning clown.

I can't imagine a better way to call a day... not only we saw a spectacular bird, but also my frustration became joy because Rafael saw his dreamed bird!