The biggest and most popular ProAves lodge in Colombia is the El Dorado Lodge in the mountains above Santa Marta. People come here for the glut of Colombian Endemics, many of which aren't too difficult to find, but are isolated to this small mountain range. Hardcore birders can probably get most of their targets by spending 2 nights here.
Link or more information on El Dorado: http://www.ecoturs.org/?lang=en&page=eldoradobirdreserve
It's a rough road to get to the lodge and most hire a 4X4 to get there. My brother and I rode on the back of motorcycles with our packs for an exhausting, back-breaking trip that saved us some all important beer money. An adventure to be sure. And after staying in a dirt-cheap shed with bunk beds (with a scorpion and a rodent) we were ready for a plush birding lodge.
Views at and around the lodge.
Feeders are a main attraction at any birding lodge and hummingbirds were plentiful.
Black-backed Thornbill (Endemic). A single bird, not always at the feeders. It can be seen higher up the mountain in the tops of Eucalyptus, but the views are not often good.
White-tailed Starfrontlet (Endemic) at the feeders. Male and female.
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Anybody who has birded the tropics will be familiar with this Green Violetear.
And the slightly larger cousin, the Sparkling Violetear
And the handsome Brown Violetear
The very common Violet-crowned Woodnymph (depending on classification, a subspecies of Crowned-Woodnymph). Male and female.
I will cover the endemics of the area on my next post.
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