This past week I was in Cali, Colombia to participate in a medical mission with United Hands for Health. When not working at the hospitals, our group stayed at the Club Campestre de Cali, a country club of the grandest sort. Each morning before the buses departed and most evenings when we returned from the hospitals, I managed to sneak in some birding.
The first thing I noticed is that, especially in the morning, the light for taking photographs was very challenging. Difficult to describe, it was sort of a diffuse gray light with lots of glare. A more skillful photographer would have known how to deal with the light conditions more effectively. I just did my best. I did have one afternoon of birding around the club and the light for these photos was not quite as challenging.
Since this was not a birding trip there is little narrative to go with these photos. In no particular order the photos below are the best I took. Some birds will be familiar to many and others not so familiar. Remember to click on the photo to see a full-screen image.
The first thing I noticed is that, especially in the morning, the light for taking photographs was very challenging. Difficult to describe, it was sort of a diffuse gray light with lots of glare. A more skillful photographer would have known how to deal with the light conditions more effectively. I just did my best. I did have one afternoon of birding around the club and the light for these photos was not quite as challenging.
Since this was not a birding trip there is little narrative to go with these photos. In no particular order the photos below are the best I took. Some birds will be familiar to many and others not so familiar. Remember to click on the photo to see a full-screen image.
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| Black-bellied Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata) |
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| Blue-headed Parrot (Pionus menstruus) |
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| Black-billed Thrush (Turdus ignobilis) |
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| White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) |
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| Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) |
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| Rusty-margined Flycatcher (Myiozetetes cayanesis) |
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| Yellow-headed Caracara (Milvago chimachima) |
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| House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) |
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| Scrub Tanager (Tangara vitriolina) |
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| Bare-faced Ibis (Phimosus infuscatus) |
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| Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) |
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| Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) |
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| Colombian Chachalaca (Ortalis columbiana) - the only endemic I saw. |
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| Grey-necked Wood-Rail (Aramides cajanea) |
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| Vermillion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) |
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| Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) |
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| Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana) |
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| Spot-breasted Woodpecker (Colaptes punctigula) |
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| Striated Heron (Butorides striata) |
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| Shiny Cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis) and Giant Cowbird (Molothrus oryzivorus) |
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| Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) |
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| Same Lineated Woodpecker after it flew to palm tree |
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| Blue-gray Tanagers (Thraupis episcopus) |
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| Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola) |
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| Straight-billed Woodcreeper (Dendroplex picus) |
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| View of golf course with background |
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| View from nature trail on the Club Campestre grounds from which I took some of my photos. |
These are not the only birds I saw on the grounds of Club Campestre but I could not get a photo of all. Also, there were birds that I could not identify. I'll be adding a couple of brief videos to this post and I'll have two additional blog entries: one of the non-bird creatures and another of my birding day around Km 18 and San Antonio.
