INTRODUCTION
This page records the birds and animals seen during a trip to Venezuela from October/November 2015. The tour started with an overnight stay in Caracas followed early the next morning by a flight to El Vigia and transfer by car to the small town of La Azulita. Two days exploring the area around La Azulita yielded a small number of good photographic opportunities, but the subsequent transfer to La Bravera at an altitude of 2700 m was highly productive for hummingbirds at the feeders there. After 2 nights at La Bravera we returned to lower altitude to the town of Tabay, just outside Merida where we explored the Humboldt National Park and unsuccessfully searched the Chama River for Torrent Duck. Our next destination was high in the Andes Mountains at Mifafi (3383 m) to experience the Paramo, with its unique vegetation. Following a few days of dull, cloudy weather our visit to the Eagle’s Peak at 4300 m was blessed with sunshine and blue skies.
Descending down the other side of the mountains we followed the Santo Domingo River to Altamira and after some effort we were able to have several sightings of Torrent Duck on the river. Another highlight of the stay in Altamira was the visit to the lek of the Cock-of-the-Rock where 15-20 male birds displayed continuously for several hours. Leaving the mountains and driving through the large town of Barinas we made our way to Los Llanos, staying a total of 5 nights, first at Canofistola and then Hato El Cedral. The return to Caracas was from the airport at Barinas and following another overnight the next flight took us to Puerto Ordaz and from there a drive to the town of El Palmera. Taking advantage of the immense knowledge of a local guide we spent two mornings observing nesting Harpy Eagle in the Sierra de Imataca. The final destination on our trip was the Orinoco Delta which was reached by boat from Boca de Uracoa. Exploration in the Orinoco Delta was conducted entirely by boat and some interesting birds were seen and photographed in often uncomfortable conditions. The final return to Caracas was by plane from the petroleum city of Maturin prior to the return to Europe.