I woke up early hoping to see a few lifers before we set out to any other location. I began to look out from the balcony at the Yellow House a very nice place to stay for any birder. I saw more and more lifers some of them I did not see again during the trip such as the inquisitive Chocó Tyrannulet that flew into the tree below me for a few seconds, and the Crimson-mantled Woodpecker pair that were perched in a tree along the driveway.

 

We wandered the garden for around twenty minutes adding bird like Rufous Motmot and Orange-billed Sparrow to our lists before breakfast at the feeders. I saw many new species of Hummingbirds and Tanagers. that visit the feeders regularly.

After breakfast we went on what was supposed to be a short hike but it ended up taking close to four hours! We saw more species along the trail along the way up we found Squirrel Cuckoo, Swallow-tailed Kite and Collared Araçari to name just a few. The way down however was much better and we had some great luck with mixed flocks adding many  more species of tanagers. We made it back to the Yellow House with just enough time to go into town to get some groceries and do some birding. We saw variable Seedeater, Buff-rumped Warbler and a small group of Grey-breasted Martins.

The second day of our rip involved visiting Refugio Paz de las Aves, a world renowned location famous for Antpittas and the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek. We left the Yellow House at five and were in the car for half an hour before we made it to the entrance road. Along that road was the lek with twelve male Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks at their usual display sit along with some other local species.

– Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks displaying

We continued along seeing more lifers including Golden-headed Quetzal, Masked Trogon and Rufous-banded Nightjar.

We drove further to a small concrete bride that supported the nest of Lyre-tailed Nightjars.  We added some more lifers here with species such as Zeledon’s Antbird, Torrent Tyrannulet and Golden-crowned Flycatcher. Only a couple hundred meters down the road from this productive spot was a location for a very secretive species, Dark-backed Wood-Quail. There was not just one either two family groups of these seldom seen species!

We drove further up the winding steep road until we got to the Hummingbird feeders and the home of Angel Paz the owner of the reserve. There were many species of Hummers that frequented the feeders, Gorgeted Sunagel (presumably and Ecuadorian endemic), Violet-tailed Sylph, and Booted Racket-tails buzzed around our breakfast table while Tanagers fed on bananas on the railing.

We rode in the back of a pickup to the top of a road where we looked for Plate billed Mountain-Toucan. As we were about to leave to the feeding station one goofy looking colorful bird poped out of the thick leaves, a Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan! With the excitement from the Toucan we walked down the well maintained trail to the first feeding station for Chestnut-crowned Antpitta. After patiently waiting for upwards of twenty minutes we saw it briefly before it went back into the cloud forest. The next ant pitta was a special one that I had been hoping to see at this location a Yellow-bellied Antpitta. It is a very attractive Anpitta with a brown back and a lemony coloured breast. It was more corporative that the first one coming out for worm in the right away! We returned to the feeders for a few more minuted before setting out for our next Antpitta the Ochre-breasted. Not only was there one but two a mother and a young Ochre-breasted Antpita!

After we were done with Paz de las Aves we went to Alambi also known as Hummingbird Paradise. We saw fifteen species of Hummers and other lifers that visited the fruit feeders. The highlights included: Red-headed Barbet, Silver-throated Tanager, White-winged Brushfinch, and Flame-rumped Tanager.

After our time at Alambi we went back to the Yellow House and birder around there for the rest of the day.

The next morning we walked the Tarabita Road in search of a few species we had not yet seen in the mindo area. It was slow at the beginning but eventually we ended up getting more than what we expected. We saw Choco Toucans, Rufous-throated Tanager, Glistening-green Tanager, Black-capped Tanager, Spotted Woodcreepr and the rare Rose-faced Parrot.

We left before dawn something that we had done almost every day on this trip. This time our destination was the Birdwatcher’s House, a superb birding location with a blind and moth sheets that attracted insects, wich inturn attracted lots of birds. We saw and hear many species that were new to us the highlights included Turquise Jay, Streak-capped Treehunter and Golden-crowned Flycatcher.

After the activity at the insect feeders began to slow down, we walked up the short trail to where the resident Plate-billed Mountain Toucan came to feed at the fruit feeders. We waited for close to fifteen minutes before this shy Choco endemic decided to show.

After we had our incounter with the Toucan we watched the very busy hummingbird feeders. We managed to see 14 different species of hummers including the endemic Gorgeted Sunagel.

We made our way further up the infamous Nono – Mindo road in search of some high elevation cloud forest specialties. We saw many of our targets including Green-and-black Fruiteater, Red-crested Cotinga, and Capped Conebill. We even saw a species that is also common in Calgary, Western Wood-Pewee!

 

We again woke up early to hmake the hour long drive to Rio Silanche. It was a cool and cloudy morning with lots of bird activity before we even got to the entrance gate we’d tailed more than eighty species of birds. The highlights includes Red-billed Shythebill, Band-tailed Barbthroat, Masked Water-Tyrant and White-throated Crake.

When we finally areived at the actual bird sanctuary we instantly spotted a White-whiskered Puffbird. We made the short walk to the tower where we got stellar views of some high canopy species. We  continued along the very birdy trails of Rio Silanche hearing many species of Woodcreepers and Flycatchers.

We left to drive to Milpe Bird Sanctuary at noon and arived shortly after one. We walked the trails and we saw a few more lifers including Esmeraldes Antbird, Russet-crowned Warbler, and Green Throntail. We also saw three different species of toucan at the feeders.

We drove back to Mindo hoping to finish off the day with a White-capped Dipper and Possibly a Sunbittern. After some effort we managed to see two White-capped Dippers moving up the river and a Sunbittern dart into the brush beside the road.

• Stay tuned in the next few weeks for part two detailing our adventures in the High Andes and Eastern Slope  and three about our journey into the Amazon
• Part 2.