Scenes from Colombia: The Chocó

This first Chocó tour was a great success. But it couldn't have been any other way: the Chocó is one of the most diverse regions in the world! 

By visiting different altitudes in the western cordillera, from at sea level near Bahia Solano, to mid-altitude at the ProAves Las Tangaras reserve, to high altitude at La Eme and near Jardin, we maximized our chances of encountering an impressive number of birds! And the final list of birds is indeed impressive, including Black-tipped Cotinga, Black-and-gold Tanager, Indigo Flowerpiercer, Red-bellied Grackle, Chestnut Wood-Quail, Munchique Wood-Wren, Black Solitaire, Olivaceous Piha, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Black-breasted Puffbird, Yellow-eared Parrot and so many more! 

We visited several feeding stations, offering great photographic opportunities for Empress Brilliant, Violet-tailed Sylph, White-Booted Racket-tail, Purple-throated Woodstar, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Orange-billed Sparrow, Red-headed Barbet, and more! Even a Clouded Tiger-Cat (Oncilla), a rarely seen mammal, has been visiting one of the feeding stations. 

 We also found an amazing number of plants, butterflies, moths, crickets and others. Actually, we even took the very first picture in the wild of a blooming Pleurothallis globosa, a very rare orchid described in 1994.