 |
|
| |
 |
| (Reserva Reinita Cielo Azul) |
| |
| To learn more about the Cerulean Warbler Reserve, visit the ProAves Colombia page. The following information was adapted from the American Bird Conservancy and ProAves websites. |
| |
One of the reserves owned and operated by ProAves Colombia, the Cerulean Warbler Reserve is 3 hours from the city of Bucaramanga, the capital of Santander Province in Colombia’s Magdalena Valley.
Because of Charlotte Goedsche’s work with the Cerulean Warbler here in the western North Carolina mountains, we at the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society have established a working relationship with the Cerulean Warbler Reserve to help protect this declining warbler at the core of its winter range. We hope to help the reserve buy any available adjacent land, start a merchandising line of T-shirts, coffee cups and postcards and even send an intern down to work at the reserve. We also plan to have regular tours down to the reserve. For more information about any tours, please contact Simon Thompson at Ventures Birding Tours at 828.253.4247 or through the website at www.birdventures.com. |
| |
 |
| |
| The reserve was established in 2005, with support from Robert Giles and the American Bird Conservancy. A 45-acre shade coffee farm was added to establish a comfortable lodge and develop Cerulean Warbler Conservation Coffee. The reserve now buffers the recently established Yariguíes National Park. |
| |
 |
| |
| This reserve, on the Magdalena valley slope of the Eastern Cordillera, contains two major zones: a lower area of shade coffee plantations, excellent for Neotropical migrants and an array of residents, and an upper area of good subtropical oak forest containing many Eastern Cordillera specialties. Both zones have many interesting birds and several productive days may be spent birding here from the excellent reserve lodge. This fabulous 545-acre Colombian oak forest reserve is a small but significant relict of a unique ecosystem that has been devastated across the Eastern Andes of Colombia. A sad reflection is the extraordinary concentration of threatened bird species at the site, including the highest number of Critically Endangered species in the Americas (Gorgeted Wood-Quail, Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird and Colombian Mountain Grackle). The reserve and surrounding shade coffee farms are also a mecca for North American migrants, including a core wintering area for the rapidly declining Cerulean Warbler. |
| |
 |
| |
| The very comfortable reserve cabins are nicely appointed with private bathrooms and are located in a pasture with scattered trees and a view across the flower-filled gardens. Delicious meals are served in the nearby main house. Indigo-capped Hummingbird, White-tipped Swift, Bicolored Wren, Turquoise Dacnis and a variety of Neotropical migrants can be seen from the balcony of the cabins. The shade coffee and cacao plantations below the reserve are excellent for Neotropical migrants between October and March. North American migrants wintering at the reserve include Olive-sided Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Canada, Cerulean, Mourning, Black-and-white, Yellow and Golden-winged Warblers, American Redstart and Summer Tanager. |
| |
 |
| |
| Some of the star birds at the Cerulean Warbler Reserve include such Colombian endemics as Gorgeted Wood-Quail, Chestnut-bellied and Indigo-capped Hummingbirds, Black Inca, White-mantled Barbet, Parker’s Antbird, Upper Magdalena Tapaculo, Turquoise Dacnis, and Colombian Mountain Grackle. Also found in the area are Highland Tinamou, Spectacled Parrotlet, Moustached Puffbird, Bar-crested Antshrike, Recurve-billed Bushbird, Chestnut-crowned Gnateater, Yellow-throated Spadebill, Rufous-naped Greenlet, Yellow-tufted Dacnis, Black-headed Brush-Finch, Yellow-browed Shrike-Vireo. |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
