Ecuador – Recinto de 23 Junio

16 March 2022

After leaving Angel Paz, I made my way westwards towards Milpe and to the town of Los Bancos. Here, I descended down to the river and as I had much spare time, I worked the tracks both up and downstream to find as many low altitude species as possible. 

I was surprised by how many birds I found and this turned out to be a worthwhile couple of hours. Sadly no Torrent Ducks along the river, but the likes of Tyrant Tyrannulet, Black-winged Saltator, Western Wood Pewees, Scarlet-backed Woodpecker and Pale-legged Hornero made up for it. 

I then drove the bumpy track to Recinto de 23 Junio, or otherwise known as, the place to see Long-wattled Umbrellabird! I had made contact with Luis (the only guide in the tiny village) the day before by using Spanish translate and hoping he had availability, both successful and the realisation of seeing an umbrellabird had increased dramatically. The bumpy road meant slow progress, but this meant plenty of birding and I was pleased to find Chestnut-collared Swift, Choco Toucan, Bronze-winged Parrot, Slaty Spinetail and Band-backed Wren.

I eventually arrived in the village but with no clue as to where to go, so it was a good job a young lady came out and greeted me. It's fair to say, conversation was limited to awkward laughs and much pointing, but it was fine. Unfortunately, despite wanting to bird, a huge storm came in and it was straight away game over, so I out my feet up and read my book with the background noise of torrential rainfall on the metal roof!

Luis later joined me for more non-conversation and a lovely dinner was had, before settling to bed and praying tomorrow went well.

17th March 2022

Up nice and early, the night before Luis told me I was to drive to the high point, which was slightly annoying as he's the guide. Another thing he failed to mention were the two streams I had to drive through! The first I actually got stuck and thankfully the reverse worked allowing me to tentatively try again. The second stream was fine, but after this and the uphill struggle, once parked up, the car was smoking well and truly! A couple of Pauraque on the way up were in no way compensation.

A sweaty uphill walk had us at the viewpoint. Bless Luis, he wasn't an amazing guide and it turned out I found all of the birds. Whilst he walked off, some movement in the tree in front soon had me looking at the mind-boggling Yellow-collared Chlorophonia... what a bird and initial thoughts had me thinking Pygmy-Parrot! This was completely unexpected and lots of other goodies were arriving (Rufous-throated and Bay-headed Tanagers), that was until my main quarry, as three Long-wattled Umbrellabirds flew past and landed out of sight. I called Luis over (how did he miss them) and we went in hot pursuit under the canopy. Views remained brief but after maybe an hour of trapesing through, a young male showed well... just a shame it wasn't an adult male! 

On the return, I spotted some tanagers at the top of a leafless tree, and one caught my eye hiding behind a Golden Tanager, which revealed itself to be a Moss-backed Tanager. 

A tiny breakfast, again at the viewpoint, was nice, watching displaying Roadside Hawks and a fly-past of Maroon-tailed Parakeets, while the hummingbird feeders attracted Velvet-purple Coronets and other commoner species. It had been a good morning, but the drive down it got a little better. Whilst crawling along, out in front ran a crake. Epic scenes and poor Luis thought it was an antpitta, but soon a pair emerged from the long grass and were Rufous-sided Crakes (typical I thought as I had seen one in Argentina). They were very nosy and showed brilliantly, just a shame the camera was in the boot but what a treat to see this seldom-seen species.

So that was it for my time here, or so I thought. This annoyingly turned out to be my first of three visits to the village as my number plate had fallen off halfway up the hill and past the two streams. I had noticed this earlier and kept an eye out for it on the descent, but with no sign I wasn't too fussed and carried on back to Los Bancos. That was until two young lads on mopeds stopped and pointed back up the hill for the number plate. To cut a long story short, a return up the hill and through the two streams failed to find it, so I gave up and returned to Los Bancos. Along the return journey, I found Dusky Pigeon, One-colored Becard, Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Buff-throated Saltator and a superb Glistening-green Tanager. 

The visit to Recinto had been very much worth it and a complete fluke that there was availability at such short notice. I continued to Los Bancos and my final few days was spent birding at Milpe Bird Sanctuary, which will be the final blog post of my time in Ecuador. (I made a return visit to Recinto the following day as my number plate had been handed in to Luis, so this was my third visit but thankfully meant I didn't need to go through those dreaded streams again).

Masked Water Tyrant

Western Wood Pewee

Spotted Sandpiper

Band-backed Wren

Long-wattled Umbrellabird

Moss-backed Tanager

One-colored Becard

Ornate Flycatcher

Rio Blanco

Recinto de 23 Junio

Umbrellabird location

The smaller of the two streams!!

A shy Rufous-sided Crake

My accommodation at Recinto

Ecuador – Refugio Paz de Las Aves

It's fair to say this was the most anticipated few days of the trip. Where else are five species of antpitta on order? Add to this a fantastic supporting cast and a few surprises ensured my 2-night stay at the lodge was some of the best birding one could hope for. 

14th March

I left Bella Vista late morning and descended to the main road, via a stop at some hummingbird feeders where at least three new hummers for me were present: Purple-bibbed White-tip, Booted Racket-tail and Sparkling Violetear. It was only a short drive to the entrance to Refugio, so I retraced my steps and found lunch and fuel. I then made the journey up the rough track and after 5km arrived at the lower part of Refugio Paz de Las Aves. There was no one around so I spent some time at the feeders and walked a trail into a small wood finding Crested Guans, a Swainson's Thrush and Golden-headed Quetzals.

I got concerned my message of staying hadn't made it through, so I contacted both Dave Cooper and the organiser to find out if I was in the correct spot. It turned out I wasn't and the accommodation was just up the road, which is where I soon found myself, with my guide for the afternoon. He asked me if I wanted to look at some tanagers or go a see the Cock-of-the-rocks... silly question and the Cocks it was to be. Despite seeing them on the other consecutive days, this afternoon they showed at their best and what a spectacle it was! Also here was a Hook-billed Kite and Fawn-breasted Tanager!

Later that evening Angel took me out for some unsuccessful owling, which was a shame but is typical for me. However, watching flying Lyre-tailed Nightjars was a life ambition complete!

On Tuesday 15th March, I spent the day with Angel and his team and had them all to myself! First stop again were the Cocks which were awesome, and then, Angel called in his good friend, this being a Dark-backed Wood Quail. Next on order (it felt like this) was Maria. Roughly two weeks before I left for Ecuador, I saw that Maria (the Giant Antpitta) was on a nest... this is when I stepped into action and booked myself with Angel as the sighting of this mythical beast was almost guaranteed. Thankfully, this stayed true and right next to the path, there Maria was on her nest. However, it soon scarpered and unbeknown to me this was the first time in 10 days Maria had left the nest, and she performed superbly for five minutes before we left her... I felt very lucky! Next up were two obliging species of antpittas with both Yellow-breasted (slightly underwhelming if I'm honest) and Ochre-breasted Antpittas responding well, but no Moustached. Another notable sighting was a stunning Lyre-tailed Nightjar!

The day got even better with some absolutely class birds on offer: Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, Powerful Woodpecker, both Scaled and Orange-breasted Fruiteaters, Toucan Barbet, Golden-winged Manakin, Rufous-breasted Antthrush, Yellow-vented Woodpecker and Common Potoo.

The next day, I only had the morning with Angel and Moustached Antpitta was the only bird I wanted. However, a young Swiss couple had also booked Angel and so we met again at the Cocks. The young couple (Mikael & Annie) were spending six months travelling/birding in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and were a joy to be with. Mikael had actually been in contact with me last year asking for PNG details, so we had spoken before. It was great meeting them and hopefully we will reconvene in the future somewhere. 

Anyway, after re-visiting Maria it was time to try for the final time at the Moustached Antpitta site. We had just about given up and resorted to observing some Uniform Antshrikes, when out of nowhere Angel starting waving frantically, so we rushed down and metres away stood a blooming Moustached Antpitta! It was a class bird, hopping furiously across the opening area and collecting its reward for performing, before melting away back into the forest. 

That was about it for my time with Angel, and I left with a further five antpittas under my belt than before I had arrived. 

Giant Antpitta

Andean Cock of the Rock

Purple-billed White-tip

Swainson's Thrush

Yellow-breasted Antpitta

Ochre-breasted Antpitta

Red-headed Barbet

Flame-faced Tanagers

Blackburnian Warbler

Toucan Barbet

Moustached Antpitta

Lyre-tailed Nightjar

Chestnut-crowned Antpitta

Ecuador – Bella Vista Cloudforest

After my first full day at Yanacocha, I took the long and receding mountain road and valley down to Tandayapa, before ascending once again up to Bella Vista. The drive was concerning to say the least. Recent rainfall had sent some parts of the road down into the river below and my car, which wasn't entirely best suited, coped well. Many stops along the way were excellent as heaps of new birds were found at each stop. I then had three nights at Bella Vista where I spent all my time on the network of trails or along the access track.

Friday 11th March (pm)

The many stops along the valley towards Tandayapa was overwhelming to say the least, and thankfully for the birds. Amongst the many Blackburnian Warblers, I was pleased to find a wonderful variety of birds, with Tyrannine Woodcreeper, Mountain Wren, White-winged Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Brown Violetear and White-winged Brushfinch. After getting stuck only once and dodging the gaps in the road, I then ascended the track up to Bella Vista finding yet more goodies as I went through the varying altitudes. I then happily arrived and met the owner Richard, and whilst he was talking, all I could concentrate on was the onslaught of hummingbirds buzzing around my head. Being my first experience of such a site, I was like a kid high on sugar... so excited and constantly smiling! What a treat to hand feed myriad species of hummers, including the incredible Gorgeted Sunangel, Violet-tailed Slyph and Collared Incas. 

Over the course of the 12th and 13th March and the morning of the 14th, I was always up early and worked the top trail which leads past a compost area which was excellent for Sickle-winged Guan, a Chestnut-crowned Antpitta and a pair of Tayra! I then just spent all day out on the trails where I think I came across a decent selection of birds – even the local guide was impressed with my haul so I must have done OK. Certainly the highlight of my visit was the aforementioned antpitta, however, I was particularly pleased to see Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Streak-headed Antbird, Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant, Green-and-black Fruiteater and Olivaceous Piha. The forest was also echoing the sounds of Spillmann's Tapaculo, a highly secretive bird which showed on only two occasions. The forest was however active with several passing mixed bird flocks, while around the lodge, Masked Trogons and a good helping of flycatchers and tree-creeping birds were in abundance. 

Another main feature of this lodge is its nocturnal wildlife. Although Kinkajou are fairly frequent visitors, to see an Olinguito was very special indeed. Only described to science in 2013, this range restricted species was a nightly encounter at the feeding area. Such a special mammal! 

I guess the biggest event was getting completely lost on the trail which descended down the steep hillside, through the forest, and eventually onto the access track. Several landslides had resulted in the path disappearing and having to clamber through fallen trees. Not ideal, and I couldn't turn around as it was a near-vertical ascent back up. Therefore, I just ploughed through knowing I would eventually make it to the road, which I did. A good job I'm nimble otherwise this is just another scenario where I could've been food for the many forest-dwelling creepy crawlies. Why can't I just have a normal walk!

Anyway, the highlights from my time at Bella Vista are as follows:

Red-billed Parrot - 20
Golden-headed Quetzal - 5
Smoky-brown Woodpecker - 1
Streaked Tuftedcheek - 3
Pearled Treerunner - 1
Spillmann's Tapaculo - 2
Green-and-black Fruiteater - 1
Olivaceous Piha - 1
Turquoise Jay - 5
Black Flowerpiercer - 1
Tawny-bellied Hermit - 1
Strong-billed Woodcreeper - 2
Rusty-winged Barbtail - 1
Black-capped Tyrannulet - 1
Ashy-crowned Tyrannulet - 1
Dusky Bush Tanager - 2
Chestnut-crowned Antpitta - 1

Buff-tailed Coronet

Gorgeted Sunangel

Cinnamon Flycatcher

Golden Tanager

Blue-winged Mountain Tanager

Mountain Wren

Plate-billed Mountain Toucan

Tayra

Spillmann's Tapaculo

Orange-bellied Euphonia

Pearled Treerunner

Violet-tailed Sylph 

Golden-headed Quetzal

Olinguito

Olivaceous Piha

Ashy-crowned Tyrannulet

My little car in a big valley

The view from my room

Cloudforest

Worm sp.