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!

More Córdoba's ovenbirds

During my last trip to Córdoba, central Argentina, Jorge (avespampa.com.ar) showed me both endemic and widespread bird species.  I already talked about most of the endemic ovenbirds we saw (read this post).  About the widespread species... well, I was impressed by the number of furnariids (ovenbirds) that form part of the common Córdoba's avifauna.  I have to say that I really liked this scene.

This is the nest of one of the most common furnariid around Córdoba, the Rufous Hornero.  It looks exactly like the traditional ovens still in use in some parts of interior Panamá... and certainly in other parts of the world.  I took this photo of Gloriela and Gabrielle (then a 3 months-old baby) next to an oven in a little town close to Penonomé (central Panamá).

Amazing!  Now the name makes sense, since there are no horneros in Panamá.  In fact, there are almost no furnariids at all in central Panamá where I'm used to bird... well, not until the woodcreepers were included within the furnariids.  Yes... officially, the woodcreepers ARE ovenbirds, like this Narrow-billed Woodcreeper that we saw in chaco habitat close to the town of Quilino.

Certainly it looks pretty similar to some woodcreepers of the same genus here in Panamá.  But to be honest, I don't feel well naming these birds ovenbirds...; the tit-spinetails, on the other hand, is another story.  We saw two species: a Brown-capped Tit-Spinetail in Pampa de Achala and a group of Tufted Tit-Spinetails near Quilino.

In spite that ALL of the ovenbirds I saw were lifers for me, most of them belong to widespread groups. What I mean is that I've seen horneros, tit-spinetails, canasteros and cinclodes in other parts of South America.  That's why for me it was a great satisfaction to see members of completely new groups for me, like the Brown Cacholote (sorry, no photo)... and also unique ovenbirds with no obvious close relatives and absolutely GREAT names, like Firewood-gatherer and Lark-like Brushrunner.

Come on!  The brushrunner certainly was the most weird and spectacular ovenbird in the surroundings.  I dreamed of seeing this bird long before landing in Argentina... and I have to admit that at some point in the day I thought I would not see it; but Jorge always reassured me saying that this species was common, that it was only a matter of time, that this bird is peri-domiciliary.  By the end of the day, we headed to Quilino and then Jorge pointed them to me, yelling "Crestudos", it spanish name.  A group of four brushrunners were right by the road, close to a house as he predicted.  Some stayed in the ground, others flew to a nearby tree.  The Lark-like Brushrunner was the last lifer for the day... what a great lifer!

P.D.: I mentioned that the brushrunner was the last lifer of the day... but not THE bird of the day... that title belongs to an endemic... stay tuned for details!