10/05/2007
Left home late evening and travelled to Heathrow for an early flight to Madrid, arriving at LHR just after midnight. Luckily a few cafés were still open until around 03.00. Slept on the floor of the check in area. Flight to Madrid was at 0600.
11/05/2007
Arrived in Quito via Madrid on an Iberia Airlines A340-600. Met by representatives of Bellavista Cloud Forest at Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport.
Early night.
12/05/2007
I was woken up at first light by a lovely song outside, provided by the first bird of my trip, a Great Thrush which was perched on the electrical wires outside. Slightly later, ignoring the inevitable feral pigeons of course, my second bird of the trip was a Rufous-collared Sparrow in the bushes outside the block of flats.
Met the driver Jhonny and other people visiting the Mindo area and drove to the Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge and Reserve, where I was staying. I also had a few nights further down the valley at Tandayapa later in the trip. The drive wasn’t long, as Mindo is just west of Quito, and a lot of it is on decent roads in good repair, certainly miles better than the potholed goat tracks we call ‘roads’ at home.
We stopped briefly at the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World), a monument which marks the Equator - Ecuador, as its name suggests, lies right on the Equator, and where I’d be staying also sits just a few seconds south of the Equator itself at 00.948S/78.40.824W and at 2220 metres above sea level.
The road up to the cloud forest is unmade and not too rough, but is prone to landslides during the wet season. Frequent earthquakes also occur, due to Ecuador’s position on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and it has plenty of volcanoes, both dormant and active.
On the way up we had good views of Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, a male in the overhanging tree branches by the road, which was a piece of good luck as we were expecting them to be harder to see.
After arriving at Bellavista around lunchtime and dumping my stuff in my room, it was time to look round and do some birding and photography. We went on a guided walk along the road with Gabriel, one of the lodge’s guides, in the rain and mist. The trails were slippery and, with the now steady rain, we headed back.
The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the activity at the hummingbird feeders, which were extremely busy. As it got dark odd popping sounds started coming out of the forest which, I was told, were made by frogs while, outside the front of the building, a Common Potoo sat on top of a post. Was assured there were no tarantulas around the building, as I am a complete arachnophobic.
Another early night and I wasn’t looking forward to the very early start in the morning, when we were going to see an Andean Cock-of-the-Rock display area (lek) on one of the nearby mountains. I wasn’t really looking forward to the steep climb either.
Birds seen and/or heard (h)
Great Thrush; Rufous-collared Sparrow; Andean Cock-of-the-Rock; Blue-winged Mountain-tanager; Golden-crowned Flycatcher; Violet-tailed Sylph; Buff-tailed Coronet; Dusky Bush-tanager; Brown-capped Vireo; Turquoise Jay; Streaked Tufted-cheek; Western Hemisphingus; Black-crested Warbler; Montane Woodcreeper; Plate-billed Mountain Toucan; Spillmann’s Tapaculo (h); Grey-breasted Wood-wren (h); Chestnut-crowned Antpitta (h); White-sided Flowerpiercer; Masked Flowerpiercer; Chestnut-capped Brush-finch; Common Potoo (outside the windows at night).
13/05/2007
Very early start (03.30) for the drive to the Cock-of-the-Rock location, arriving at 05.30 in almost complete darkness, followed by a steep climb up to the vantage point. You have to be there early because that is when the birds display, so arriving too late would mean having to go back the following day. Some of the path up is so steep it's almost vertical and there are rope hand rails to help pull yourself up, but it was well worth the climb because we got great views - if not great photos - of the males showing off to their ladies (who didn't seem impressed!). The first evidence of the birds was a tremendous racket coming out of the trees in the half light, as they are a noisy lot, followed by shapes moving around in the gloom. Eventually, as it got lighter, we could see them in all their glory, with the male birds bright red and the female ones much browner. It was definitely worth the early start and the vertical climb.
The descent back down the mountain was treacherous and slippery but it was now daylight so we could see where we were putting our feet.
Next up was an orchid garden so the plant-loving members of the party could see the lovely native plants there; Ecuador's forests are rich in orchids, bromeliads and other plant species that, in the UK, you only see in garden centres and exhibits. The café area had hummingbird feeders and a table with fruit on, so it was alive with birds. The group therefore naturally split between birders and botanists and everyone was happy. Among other creatures seen were Blue Morpho butterflies, a spectacular - and large - butterfly which is electric-blue and black and flies with a peculiar flight that reminded me of the toys we had as kids, which were birds on springs that, when bounced up and down, had the same wing motion as these butterflies do.
After the orchid garden there was a butterfly place where native species are bred (and we got to see - and stroke - some massive, velvety caterpillars which looked like animated Havana cigars).
We ended up at the Mirador Rio Blanco restaurant at Los Bancos where there are a lot of feeders set up and there are enormous picture windows in the restaurant, so you can see the birds having their dinner while you have yours. The birds were spectacular and, for a European who'd never been to the Neotropics before, it was like being in a well-stocked sweet shop!
Back to Bellavista, where we found the numbers had been swelled by a party of Americans, joining the Aussies, Canadians, Germans and the one English person (me). It was a very convivial atmosphere and it's great being surrounded by so many different nationalities.
Birds seen and/or heard (h)
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock; Black-winged Saltator; Yellow-bellied Euphonia; Crimson-rumped Toucanet; Black Phoebe; Tropical Kingbird; Lemon-rumped Tanager; Silver-throated Tanager; Flame-faced Tanager; Golden Tanager; Red-headed Barbet; Montane Woodcreeper; Pale-mandibled Araçari; Rufous Motmot; Black Vulture; Blue-grey Tanager; Turkey Vulture; Plumbeous Pigeon; Pacific Hornero; White-whiskered Hermit; White-necked Jacobin; Blue-and-white Swallow; Rufous-tailed Hummingbird; Golden Tanager; White-shouldered Tanager; Orange-bellied Euphonia; Masked Water-tyrant; Yellow-bellied Seedeater; Swallow-tailed Kite; Green Honeycreeper; Ecuadorian Thrush; Blue-necked Tanager; Rufous-throated Tanager; Purple-bibbed White-tip; Emerald Tanager; Black-cheeked Woodpecker; Western Emerald; Green Thorntail; Green-crowned Brilliant; White-tipped Dove; White-winged Brush-finch; Bananaquit; Chestnut-crowned Antpitta; Squirrel Cuckoo (h)
13/05/2007
Very early start (03.30) for the drive to the Cock-of-the-Rock location, arriving at 05.30 in almost complete darkness, followed by a steep climb up to the vantage point. You have to be there early because that is when the birds display, so arriving too late would mean having to go back the following day. Some of the path up is so steep it's almost vertical and there are rope hand rails to help pull yourself up, but it was well worth the climb because we got great views - if not great photos - of the males showing off to their ladies (who didn't seem impressed!). The first evidence of the birds was a tremendous racket coming out of the trees in the half light, as they are a noisy lot, followed by shapes moving around in the gloom. Eventually, as it got lighter, we could see them in all their glory, with the male birds bright red and the female ones much browner. It was definitely worth the early start and the vertical climb.
The descent back down the mountain was treacherous and slippery but it was now daylight so we could see where we were putting our feet.
Next up was an orchid garden so the plant-loving members of the party could see the lovely native plants there; Ecuador's forests are rich in orchids, bromeliads and other plant species that, in the UK, you only see in garden centres and exhibits. The café area had hummingbird feeders and a table with fruit on, so it was alive with birds. The group therefore naturally split between birders and botanists and everyone was happy. Among other creatures seen were Blue Morpho butterflies, a spectacular - and large - butterfly which is electric-blue and black and flies with a peculiar flight that reminded me of the toys we had as kids, which were birds on springs that, when bounced up and down, had the same wing motion as these butterflies do.
After the orchid garden there was a butterfly place where native species are bred (and we got to see - and stroke - some massive, velvety caterpillars which looked like animated Havana cigars).
We ended up at the Mirador Rio Blanco restaurant at Los Bancos where there are a lot of feeders set up and there are enormous picture windows in the restaurant, so you can see the birds having their dinner while you have yours. The birds were spectacular and, for a European who'd never been to the Neotropics before, it was like being in a well-stocked sweet shop!
Back to Bellavista, where we found the numbers had been swelled by a party of Americans, joining the Aussies, Canadians, Germans and the one English person (me). It was a very convivial atmosphere and it's great being surrounded by so many different nationalities.
Birds seen and/or heard (h)
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock; Black-winged Saltator; Yellow-bellied Euphonia; Crimson-rumped Toucanet; Black Phoebe; Tropical Kingbird; Lemon-rumped Tanager; Silver-throated Tanager; Flame-faced Tanager; Golden Tanager; Red-headed Barbet; Montane Woodcreeper; Pale-mandibled Araçari; Rufous Motmot; Black Vulture; Blue-grey Tanager; Turkey Vulture; Plumbeous Pigeon; Pacific Hornero; White-whiskered Hermit; White-necked Jacobin; Blue-and-white Swallow; Rufous-tailed Hummingbird; Golden Tanager; White-shouldered Tanager; Orange-bellied Euphonia; Masked Water-tyrant; Yellow-bellied Seedeater; Swallow-tailed Kite; Green Honeycreeper; Ecuadorian Thrush; Blue-necked Tanager; Rufous-throated Tanager; Purple-bibbed White-tip; Emerald Tanager; Black-cheeked Woodpecker; Western Emerald; Green Thorntail; Green-crowned Brilliant; White-tipped Dove; White-winged Brush-finch; Bananaquit; Chestnut-crowned Antpitta; Squirrel Cuckoo (h)
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| Bananaquit |
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| Blue-grey Tanager |
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| Brown Inca |
 |
| Buff-tailed Coronet |
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| Buff-tailed Coronet |
 |
| Blue-winged Mountain-tanager |
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| Green-crowned Brilliant |
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| Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (m) |
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| Masked Flowerpiercer |