SEARCHING FOR HIGH ALTITUDE ORCHIDS NEAR BOGOTÁ
Trip Report – June 23, 2016 – by René Montero
Altitude: 2750 MASL
Number of travellers: 3
Length: 1 day
Starting: Bogotá
Ending: Bogotá
Pace: Moderate
Physical Difficulty: Easy
Tour Type: In Situ Orchid Tour
Overview
This area is one of Jaguarundi Travel’s classic routes for one-day “In situ Orchid explorations” in the surroundings of Bogotá, east mountain range.
We left Bogotá early in the morning (5:30 AM); after about 40 minutes of driving, we had our first stop for breakfast at La Calera town, a very nice typical “Arepa” and a “Caldo de Costilla” (rib broth) served in a typical restaurant.
After 1.5 hours from Bogotá heading north, towards Guasca municipality, we got to the entrance of “El Encenillo Biological Reserve”. Taking a short deviation of about 15 minutes of dirt road.
The area is a private reserve that has about 200 hectares of land in conservation, where part of it was used as a limestone quarry until 1992. The “Encenillo Reserve” is located between 2,800 and 3,200 MASL and conserves Encenillo forests (Weinmannia tomentosa) and the fauna and flora associated.
The exploration was about 4 hours, and we were searching mainly for Orchids and practicing some macro photography techniques. Nevertheless, we were open to registering some birds. After midday, we returned to Bogotá.
Observation
It is very important to mention that there is a greater diversity of species in the place, but due to the time of year, the species that were flowering and that were visible were reported. For this reason, it is possible to report other species if the reserve is visited at other dates of the year. Some species bloom all year round. Masdevallia strumifera had a closed bloom; that is why it was not photographed.
Orchids List
Lepanthopsis peniculus (Schltr.) Garay
Pleurothallis talpinaria Rchb.f.
Pachyphyllum sp.
Fernandezia sanguinea (Lindl). Garay & Dunst.
Pleurothallis aff. coricardia
Lepanthes renzii Luer
Specklinia latilabris (Foldats) Pridgeon & M.W. Chase
Masdevallia strumifera Rchb.f.
Pleurothallis phalangifera (C. Presl) Rchb.f.
Pleurothallis bivalvis Lindl.
Pleurothallis killipii Garay
Lepanthes aff. gargantua
Fernandezia hispidula (Rchb.f.) M.W. Chase
Elleanthus maculatus (Lindl.) Rchb.f.
Stelis sp.
Birds List
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) 2
Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) 2
Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans) 1
Glowing Puffleg (Eriocnemis vestita) 1
Chestnut-crowned Antpitta (Grallaria ruficapilla) 1
Rufous Antpitta (Grallaria rufula) 1
White-throated Tyrannulet (Mecocerculus leucophrys) 1
Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant (Myiotheretes striaticollis) 1
Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca fumicolor) 1
Red-crested Cotinga (Ampelion rubrocristatus) 1
Brown-bellied Swallow (Orochelidon murina) 2
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 1
Great Thrush (Turdus fuscater) 2
Golden-fronted Redstart (Myioborus ornatus) 1
Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager (Anisognathus igniventris) 1
Blue-and-black Tanager (Tangara vassorii) 2
Rufous-browed Conebill (Conirostrum rufum) 1
Black Flowerpiercer (Diglossa humeralis) 1
Andean Siskin (Spinus spinescens) 4
Yellow-bellied Siskin (Spinus xanthogastrus) 5
