After a 5am breakfast (ouch!) we returned to the Sozoranga area that we visited yesterday afternoon and at a little over 2500m it was a little chilly to start with. A Grey-chinned Hermit was a little higher up the mountain than it had any right to be, whilst another Silver-backed Tanager and Speckled Hummingbird were the only species of note and it was noticeably quieter than yesterday, so we continued on to the Hanne Section of Utuana Reserve.
Another fine example of the Jocotoco Foundations' excellent work
It was a bit slow to start with although White-sided Flowerpiercer and more importantly, a Black-cowled Saltator were new for the trip. So we continued walking but failed to locate the mega Grey-headed Antbird or Piura Hemispingus and all we had to show for a couple hours of searching was White-crested Elaenia, Blue-capped Tanager and Slate-throated Whitestart. That steep road was really something to
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| Purple-throated Sunangel |
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| Rainbow Starfrontlet |
Well, that was until we reached the feeders where numerous lifer Rainbow Starfrontlets and Purple-throated Sunangels fed. What scorching birds and we thoroughly enjoyed the fine views. Walking on we eventually located a furtive Jelski’s Chat-Tyrant that appeared to be joining a flock containing Line-cheeked Spinetail, Streaked Tuftedcheek, and a couple of White-tailed Tyrannulets.
Streaked Tuftedcheek
So we left here and drove to a different spot where amazingly, a mega Black-crested Tit-Tyrant gave crippling views! When I say mega, it’s more of a northern Peru species really and only just creeps over the border into Ecuador in a few places.
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| Black-crested Tit-Tyrant |
We spent the rest of the day driving to the eastern Andean slope and a two-night stay at Tapichalaca Reserve. A stop along the way gave us Tumbes Sparrow, Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch, Long-tailed Mockingbird and Blue-black Grassquit.
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| Tumbes Sparrow - stunner! |
Our route took us through incredible East Andean scenery on ever winding roads until we reached Podocarpus National park and could see vast forested ridges all the way to the horizon. The habitat looked pristine and totally awesome!
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| The Tapichalaca and Andean East Slope scenery was awesome... |
We arrived at Tapichalaca and our next lodge, the fantastic Casa Simpson, around 5.30pm giving us some time to check out the feeders whilst drinking a very welcome mug of hot chocolate. Chestnut-breasted Coronet was the commonest hummer, followed by a few Collared Inca, but a single Amethyst-throated Sunangel only appeared briefly on two occasions.
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| Bearded Guan |
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| Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager |
A group of Bearded Guans hung around the garden, whilst Masked Flowerpiercer, Blue-and-Black Tanager and a few Lacrimose Mountain-Tanagers fed quietly in the bushes at the edge of the garden. What a cracking introduction to our stay in this wonderful cloud forest. Unfortunately heavy rain meant that any chance of owling tonight had gone, so we were in bed by 8.30pm full of anticipation at tomorrow’s potential avian extravaganza…..
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