COLOMBIA August 2009 |
From August 23 to 29, 2009, Sheridan Coffey and myself birded central Colombia using Medellin-based birding guide Pablo Flores Valencia click here to email Pablo.
We had two encounters with the endemic* Andean Squirrel Sciurus pucheranii; this first one was on the La Romera Watershed Protection Park road, southeast of Medellin. :
This second one was between La Suiza and El Cedral in Ucumari Regional Park near Pereira. :
* NOTE: although currently described as endemic to Colombia, Dave Sargeant and I saw one on Cerro Mongus, northeast Ecuador in December of 1996. I have a strong memory of that animal as it looked unusual (compared to the squirrels I am used-to in the UK and Texas) in that the tail was less-full and the nose a bit more convex; at the time I was told that no squirrel occurs in Ecuador at that elevation. Having now seen Andean Squirrel, I am certain that this was indeed what we saw up at the treeline on Cerro Mongus (c. 11,000 feet) .