A real long shot!!!

Back in 2010 we included a tour to Munchique National Park in the hope that we would see the enigmatic Colourful Puffleg (Eriocnemis mirabilis). Since no-one had been birding up there for at least ten years it was a real log shot. However, without trying it we would never know. Our strategy was to start where the type specimen had been found by John Dunning back in 1967 and work it from there.

Quite remarkedly we found this adult male holding territory within a very short space of time. It spend much of its time sat on nearby perches while intermittently heading off to some nearby flowers to feed before returning to its perch.

We actually visited the area two days running and we saw this same individual on both days.

Another particular highlight for me was the excellent views e had of several Spot-fronted Swifts (Cypseloides cherriei) which appeared to be flying up from the pacific lowlands in the company of White-Collared and Chestnut-collared Swifts.

Unfortunately since our tour here, the area is now one of the very few places you cannot currently visit in Colombia due to ongoing security problems. Let's hope this changes in the near future.

Welcome

The aim of this blog will be simple!

I will use this space to post updates from my tours as they progress along with photos I have taken. I will add comments about how some of the photos were taken and share the good (and bad) experiences I have encountered while photographing birds.

My first tip will have to be: ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CAMERA!

This photo of a Yellow-headed Manakin almost didn't happen. On this occasion I had left my camera on the bus, though in mitigation my focus was to find this very rare and localized species for my clients. Having found the this adult male much quicker than expected, and posed perfectly still only a few feet in front of the group I cursed the fact my camera was 100 metres away. Fortunately, the driver was able to run back for me, grab my gear and get back for me to take this shot of a rarely photographed species!


As for the photo itself, light was not great in the understory of the cloud forest, but fortunately for me, the bird sat still enough for me to get the shot with 1/4s exposure on ISO 400.