2007 Tour Narrative
Note: The following Tour Narrative covers all three segments of our Venezuela intinerary in 2007.
The Amazon:
Our tour started with a visit to Junglaven Jungle Camp in the Amazon of southern Venezuela. After an exciting flight in two small planes above untouched rainforest we landed at our remote lodge and the fun began. We quickly became familiar with the birds around the camp which included such colourful characters as Green-tailed Jacamars, Channel-billed Toucans, Swallow-winged Puffbirds, Yellow-tufted Woodpeckers, and Yellow-rumped Caciques. A boat trip on the adjacent ‘big lagoon’ the first afternoon revealed Sunbitterns, Black Caracaras, Crestless Curassows, and Gray-necked Woodrails. Around camp at dawn the next day several of the camps ‘specialities’ showed up almost straight away – the mournful calls of Long-billed Woodcreepers drew our attention to these magnificent creatures and we were soon watching them at close range. A fabulous Amazonian Umbrellabird flew right into camp and fed in a cecropia tree just above our heads. A group of lively Green Araçaris glided into the same tree adding colour as well as spectacle to the scene.
We set off into the forest on our first excursion, bouncing down the track in the camp’s old Toyota truck. Just a few yards in we stopped to watch our first pair of Black Curassows walking away from us in stately fashion glancing back occasionally over their shoulders. After a couple of miles the truck dropped us off and we started to walk back to camp. The forest all around us was filled with exotic bird calls and we gradually started turning these into sightings – Black-headed Parrots, White-tailed and Violaceous Trogons, Black Nunbirds, Gilded Barbets, Many-banded and Ivory-billed Araçaris, a Scale-breasted Woodpecker, a Ruddy Spinetail, Amazonian Antshrikes, a Brown-headed Greenlet – but then the bird we had all been hoping for ran onto the track – a Grey-winged Trumpeter! It saw us and ran out of sight around a bend. We played the call and it reappeared, followed by not one, not two, but about a dozen others! They stopped in the middle of the track and clucked and chuckled to one another, peering at us and presumably discussing what these strange creatures were that had appeared in their rainforest home. We had stunning views through the ‘scopes. Success on our very first morning with Junglaven’s major speciality.
We wandered back towards camp elated, and all agreeing that it couldn’t get any better than this – but it could! Only a few hundred yards from the trumpeters we heard a loud call in the distance – a ground-cuckoo! We played the call and it went silent – so much for that. We looked at some other birds for a while and then it called again – much closer. We played the call again and waited. Then another bird called on the opposite side of the track about a hundred yards closer to camp. We walked towards it and positioned ourselves on a bend where we could see well in both directions and
we watched the track. Then Barry spotted one on the forest floor walking towards us – he signalled and we all watched with bated breath as not just one but two Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoos walked out of the forest onto the track, stopped briefly to look at us looking at them and then ran on into the forest towards the third bird that was still calling. Amazing!
But it still wasn’t over - later that morning just before leaving the forest, we hit an antswarm and could hear the calls of the obligate antswarm-followers snarling away in the forest. Some of us glimpsed Rufous-throated Antbirds with their big blue eye rings and so after a celebratory lunch with cold beers all round we head back into the forest and spent the mid afternoon watching the antswarm with its attendant woodcreepers and antbirds. And then to finish off the day we took another boat trip on the ‘Big Lagoon’ where Ishmael our trusty boatman took us to see an Agami Heron and we found for ourselves Cinnamon Attila, Silvered Antbird, and White-crowned Manakin.
To be fair, not all days at Junglaven were quite as exciting and bird-filled as this one, but over the next five days we saw an amazing variety of Amazonian birds which ranged from Great Tinamous in the forest, through Pied Plovers, Yellow-billed and Large-billed Terns, and Black Skimmers along the rivers, to Scarlet and Red-and-green Macaws on the savannahs. Other local specialities included Rupurumi Hermit, Blackish-gray Antshrike, Cherrie’s Antwren, Pale-bellied Mourner, and Yellow-crested and Black Manakins, while birds that Sunbird had never seen at the camp before included Green Heron, Sand-colored Nighthawk, Ladder-tailed Nightjar, and Coraya Wren. The mammals on the boat trips also merit mention with six Southern River Otters and eleven Giant Otters on the same morning, as well as Pink River Dolphins. So a great visit to Junglaven which still holds fabulous birds even if the camp itself is starting to show its age a bit.
The Tepuis:
The next section of the tour visited eastern Venezuela - initially the lowlands around El Palmar and then the Escalera and Gran Sabana in the famous Tepuis region. The major attraction in the former is always Harpy Eagle and once again we weren’t to be disappointed. Our local guide Xavier had an active nest staked-out and this year it was possible to driver our 4x4s right up to the site. A four-month old ‘chick’ was present in the nest when we arrived, looking massive and not at all chick-like. But when the adult male flew in later in the morning we realised just how much bigger and more massive he was - an awesome bird indeed. Most years we have to make do with just seeing a ‘chick’ so it was great this year to see an adult too.
The rainforest in the El Palmar area also holds a wealth of other species of course and this year’s highlights included point-blank views of a Lined Forest-Falcon, a lovely Great Jacamar, a male Red-necked Woodpecker, a beautiful Ferruginous-backed Antbird, lekking Screaming Pihas, and nesting Cayenne Jays. We also found a very active antswarm that we visited on two afternoons with a family party of perhaps the ultimate antbird in attendance - the stunning White-plumed, which we watched at our leisure on both days.
We then moved on to Canaima National Park and the famous Escalera road with all its pan-Tepui endemics. We started as usual with a visit to a Capuchinbird display ground where these massive cotingas amazed us with their bizarre calls and behaviour in their scattered lek high in the rainforest canopy. Cotingas continued to provide major highlights with stunning views of male Guianan Cocks-of-the-Rock, calling White and Bearded Bellbirds, nesting Pompadour Cotingas, and perhaps rarest of all, a Dusky Purpletuft - a seldom seen and little known species. As to the pan-Tepui endemics themselves we struggled a bit this year, perhaps due to the very hot and dry conditions which meant
that very little was singing along the Escalera after about 8.00 in the morning. Nevertheless, we did see a reasonable selection eventually including Tepui Swift, Rufous-breasted Sabrewing, Velvet-browed Brilliant, Peacock Coquette, Tepui Spinetail, Roraiman Antwren, Black-fronted Tyrannulet, and Olive, Scarlet-horned and Orange-bellied Manakins. Other highlights here included Orange-breasted Falcon, Blue-cheeked Parrot, and Guianan Toucanet, while in the lowlands nearby a walk through the Guianan rainforest revealed Blackish Nightjar, Tufted Coquette, Black-tailed Trogon, Black-spotted Barbet, a wealth of antbirds including White-browed and Scale-backed, and best of all, a Rose-breasted Chat. So our time in eastern Venezuela was both very enjoyable and very productive with 324 species being recorded in this ten-day section.
The Main Tour:
The start of the main tour this year was somewhat different from usual as after our flight to Merida in the high Andes we drove straight across the tops to stay at a new lodge close to the La Azulita road called Estancia La Bravera. This private lodge is unique in Venezuela in having banks of hummingbird feeders in the garden. While this is commonplace in the USA, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and southeastern Brazil for some reason it has never caught on in Venezuela. Our host, Jorge Davila set his feeders up last year and the place has been inundated with hummingbirds ever since. Along with the expected species in the garden, such as Collared Inca and Orange-throated Sunangel, were Venezuelan ‘rarities’ such as Buff-tailed Coronet and Gorgeted Woodstar. We spent much of our first day watching the feeders but also took a break to walk the road nearby where Crested Quetzals performed well, and Rose-crowned Parakeets, a Venezuelan endemic, were numerous.
The following morning we walked the La Azulita road as usual finding some great mixed-species flocks that included Pearled Treerunner, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Olive-backed and Montane Woodcreepers, Variegated Bristle-Tyrant, Mountain Wren, and Saffron-crowned and Black-capped Tanagers. We also encountered a Band-tailed Guan which is endemic to Venezuela, nesting Black-mandibled Toucans, and more Crested Quetzals, but Golden-headed gave us the slip this year. After a lunch surrounded by hummingbirds, we return to Merida that afternoon and next visited the Pico Humboldt trail where cotingas featured once again with great views of Golden-breasted and Green-and-black Fruiteaters. Antpittas proved a frustration as while we heard three species only one or two people glimpsed any of them. More cooperative were Andean Guan, Longuemare’s Sunangel, Masked Trogon, Rufous Spinetail, Russet-crowned Warbler, and Merida Flowerpiercer.
Our day in the paramo zone on the high tops was very successful. We saw a Bearded Helmetcrest briefly almost as soon as we arrived though had to wait quite a while for it to return to its favoured tree. Endemic Ochre-browed Thistletails were nesting nearby and gave stunning views, while Black-breasted Buzzard-Eagles soared overhead and Andean Siskins tinkled in the nearby bushes. We had to make two visits to the valley below Pico de Aguila but our persistence paid off and we eventually saw Streak-backed Canastero, Paramo Pipit, and Merida Wren very well.
On then to the eastern slopes and the Santo Domingo Valley. Here the Band-winged Nightjars in the hotel garden were almost too easy this year. But the following morning the Torrent Ducks made up for that by proving elusive, at least initially - we finally tracked down a couple of pairs and saw a few young ones as well. Our walk to the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek was enlivened by a Green-fronted Lancebill, a Red-headed Barbet, two Scaled Piculets, and acrobatic Cliff Flycatchers, while the display by the cocks-of-the-rocks themselves was simply fabulous – eight adult males in the trees at close range squealing loudly, puffing themselves up and bowing to one another in turn. The next day in the Upper Santo Domingo valley we enjoyed roadside flocks of tanager and warblers, including the
endemic Gray-capped Hemispingus, finally spotted two Red-crested Cotingas sitting lethargically in the top of a tree, and were then surprised and delighted by a Sword-billed Hummingbird feeding in some flowers overhanging the road – the first sighting in Venezuela for David of this spectacular species.
Next we moved down into the lowlands and headed out across the llanos to Hato El Cedral. En route we stopped at the Rio Apure and walked across the bridge to look for Pink River Dolphins. Several were feeding just under the bridge and we watched them from above as they dived and surfaced. The flocks of waterbirds alongside the road increased in size and colour as we progressed and it was hard not to stop at ever pool to scan through the flocks. But numbers at the ranch always exceed everything along the road with the exception of Limpkins and Snail Kites which have very specific requirements. We made sure to stop for those and then headed for the main show. We weren’t disappointed as the flocks of birds at the ranch were vast once again and included many species of heron, three storks, seven species of ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Orinoco Goose, three species of whistling duck, countless waders, terns, skimmers, and far more birds than the mind could take in.
Our time here was filled with overwhelming numbers of birds in every direction. Highlights are too numerous to mention but included Pinnated Bittern, Agami Heron (four in views at once!), Yellow-knobbed Curassow, Sunbittern, Hoatzin, Boat-billed Heron, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Scarlet Macaw, and the endemic White-bearded Flycatcher. The only bird missing was Zigzag Heron which despite being regular during our previous few visits hadn’t been seen since the end of January. And on the mammal front there were hundreds of Capybara, White-tailed Deer, more Pink River Dolphins, Savannah Fox, and best of all a Giant Anteater. We then spent a day travelling east and then north to the coastal mountains, making a few stops en route for such varied and wondrous creatures as Horned Screamer, Pale-headed Jacamar, Orinoco Saltator.
Our final stop was Henri Pittier National Park - a fantastic mountain range covered in pristine rainforest. Here our days were spent on cool mountain roads at mid-elevation searching for more of Venezuela’s endemics such as Groove-billed Toucanet, Blood-eared Parakeet, Guttulated Foliage-gleaner, Venezuelan Bristle-Tyrant, Golden-winged Sparrow and the gorgeous Handsome Fruiteater – our fifteenth cotinga of the tour. The best of the endemics was probably Scallop-breasted Antpitta which came right out over the road for us early one morning - a species seen by very few birdwatchers, the call of which was unknown up until three years ago. Other highlights in the park included Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Black Hawk-Eagle, Pavonine Cuckoo, Moustached Puffbird, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Black-backed Antshrike, Lance-tailed and Wire-tailed Manakins, Flavescent Warbler, and Rosy Thrush-Tanager.
We finished off with a morning at Colonia Tovar, the German colony on the cross-country route back to the airport. Here we found yet more endemics including Black-throated Spinetail and Caracas Tapaculo, and some of the group saw a Slate-crowned Antpitta.
So to sum up, a fantastic month in Venezuela with in excess of seven hundred species encountered. Great birds, wonderful scenery, some lovely accommodation (and some basic places too!), excellent food (especially Carlos’s picnics), and really good company. Lots of fun was had by all!
- David Fisher
Updated: August 2007