March 4 - Pre-trip tour to Ávila National Park

The day before the official tour started, WINGS arranged a pre-tour trip to Ávila National Park, which comprises a mountain that is between Caracas and the Caribbean.
The trip was led by David Ascanio and he brought Diego Calderón-Franco along who runs Colombia Birding.

Here is a view of Caracas from the park.








Earlier David and Diego had found some of the native bamboo in flower and we saw a couple of the birds that specialize in these transient food sources.
This is the stand of flowering bamboo








This is the bamboo flower















This is the Slate-colored Seedeater, one of the bamboo specialists.













Diego and David



















Margaret on the bumpy ride up and down the mountain.