When booking with Wildsumaco, I had also booked a morning of birding with their local guide and requested packed breakfast so we could make an early start. As of April 2016 the guide fee was full day for $60 and half day for $40. Half day schedule is from 06h00 AM to 12h00 (noon), and from 13h00 pm to 18h00 pm. He knows the bird names in English but speaks Spanish only. I think his name was Jonas but I am not sure on that. He brought a friend along, not sure if it was for training or just for fun but we were only charged one guide fee so it was cool.
We drove down the road from the lodge and ended up at this small shack overlooking the valley. I struggled to get decent photos, very few birds were close enough to focus on. Some of the parrots zoomed by too quickly and I missed them: Scaly-napped Parrot and Red-billed Parrots were overhead fly-bys. We heard Barred Parakeets in the trees but they stayed well-concealed. On the brighter side, I finally got some perching Maroon-tailed Parakeets and Chestnut-fronted Macaws!
The scenery was beautiful and was constantly busy with birds going back and forth.
We ended up with a pretty impressive bird list though I didn’t get photos of them all.
Crested Oropendola
Orange-bellied Euphonia
Blue-grey Tanager
Silver-beaked Tanager 
Magpie Tanager
White-lined Tanager
Ruddy Pigeon
Yellow-rumped Cacique
Russet-backed Oropendola
Black-billed Thrush
Maroon-tailed Parakeet
Lineated Woodpecker
Channel-billed Toucan
Black-mantled Tamarin 
Chestnut-fronted Macaw
We stayed there for a couple hours as I was desperate to see Military Macaws but they never showed up. So we stopped at a trail leading to some hummingbird feeders and watched them for a while, then went back to the lodge. I grabbed some coffee and sat down to do the bird checklist (supplied by the lodge). The Singaporean group had just come back with their guide. Suddenly I heard a shout “MILITARY”! I leaped up with my camera and we all rushed to the edge of the verandah just in time to see this.
4 Military Macaws flying past the outlook! I was snapping away, the Singaporeans didn’t even try. The shots above were the best I could get but at least they were better than nothing!
