Birding can't get more easy than this!

For our last day in Ecuador, and after visiting the paramos around Quito the day before, we reserved a visit to one of the iconic place for birdwatching in the neotropics.  The Refugio Paz de las Aves is worldwide known now, the successful history of conservation and dedication of Angel Paz and his family is simply inspiring... and a trip to northwestern Ecuador couldn't be complete without a visit to this amazing place.  So, Rafael Cortes, José María "Chema" Loaiza, Washington and your blogger host headed to the km 66 entrance very early in the morning, meeting Angel before dawn and following him through the trails around his property.

It was still dark, and the only bird we saw close enough to identify were the Sickle-winged Guans that were feeding at Angel's blackberry plantation (photo at the feeders... you'll know what I'm talking about if keep reading).  Notice how similar it is to our Black Guan of western and central Panama.

We first visited the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek.  The bright scarlet body and the weird vocalizations made this spectacle a must to see, no matters how many times you have seen this species.  Some mixed flocks passed through as well, including such species like Flame-faced, Golden, Metallic-green and Golden-naped Tanagers, Golden-headed Quetzal, a pair of Powerful Woodpeckers, Ornate Flycatcher, Olivaceous Piha and many more.

Of course, the main attraction of the site are the antpittas... and we saw two species: the shy Moustached Antpitta and the cute Ochre-breasted Antpitta, better known as "Shakira".  I managed no photos of these beauties... I wasn't prepare for the light conditions, and Angel don't allow flashes (I'm OK with that).  The famous "María" (Giant Antpitta) was nesting, so we don't even hear her.  We don't get disappointed, since a spectacle difficult to believe was waiting for us.  We followed Angel (and his brother) to a feeding station and watched him preparing the breakfast.

Soon, a bunch of birds surrounded us, waiting for Angel to finish of setting the table.  The menu included grapes and bananas, and the birds loved it, specially the Sickle-winged Guans, the intrepid Crimson-rumped Toucanets and their bigger cousins, the absolutely gorgeous Plate-billed Mountain-Toucans!

Both Blue-winged and Black-chinned Mountain-Tanagers attended the appointment, taking turns to show up.  Then, an iconic bird did his triumphal entry... my poor shots simply do not reflect how colorful is the Toucan-Barbet... seeing him so easy and so close made me remind my life Toucan-Barbet some time ago in Colombia.

While everybody was entertained watching the feeders, I notice a group of birds approaching us from the lower part of the trail... soon I realized that they were Dark-backed Wood-Quails, and that they were following the voice of Angel's brother, Rodrigo... eventually, the birds took control of the feeders... and I swear that I was never so close to a wood-quail!

This is definitively a place that I want to return: I need better photos, more antpittas (including María), and to show all these birds to Gloriela and Gabrielle... Angel, this is not the last time you hear about me!

Ecuador, here we go!

And the birding continues!!!  After birding in Colombia and Venezuela, Rafael Cortes and your blogger host landed in Quito, Ecuador, late in the night after arriving in a short flight from Bogota.  Our friend José María Loaiza ("Chema") was already waiting for us at the airport and left us at our hotel in downtown Quito.  We only sleep a couple of hours, and soon Washington (our driver and soon-to-be bird guide) picked us and we started our first birding day in Ecuador.  We took the Eco-ruta del Quinde, the old Quito-Nono-Mindo-Milpe road, ascending to our first destination for the day: the Yanacocha Reserve.  Administered by the Fundación Jocotoco, this reserve protects 1200 hectares of high andean forest and paramos, and is essentially an easy place to watch some key species.

The landscapes and the views are incredible... but more incredible is the fact that you bird along a well marked, FLAT trail... which is pretty rare at this altitude (more than 3200 meters above sea level).

Some of the birds appeared almost immediately... the Glossy Flowerpiercer seemed to be everywhere, we saw and, specially, heard it constantly... and it allowed some photos!

We found some mixed flocks with tanagers and brush-finches, among others... this Hooded Mountain-Tanager was part of a party of at least four of them accompanying a mixed flock.  They looked like the big fat clowns of the tanager family.

A flash of color turned out to be an electrical Masked Flowerpiercer.  It proved later to be a common inhabitant of those forests.

We identified most of the birds right away... after all they were easy and well marked: Barred Fruiteater, both Scarlet-bellied and Black-chested Mountain-Tanagers, Blue-black Conebills, Rufous-naped Brush-Finches, Golden-crowned Tanager, and so on... but this juvenile Crowned Chat-Tyrant showed us why it is useful to carry huge texts with you, as Chema did!

The main stars of this reserve were the hummingbirds... but I'm reserving that story for another post.  After making some photos at the "Death Pass # 25", we started the descending along the Eco-ruta del Quinde, heading to the towns of Nono and Tandayapa.  

In the way, we witnessed how drastically changed the forests, becoming more and more exuberant.  We crossed a HUGE mixed flock, with such gems like Blue-winged Mountain-Tanagers, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Plushcrown (two of them), White-banded Tyrannulet, Barred Becard, and many more... plus a Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant at the river.

This is just beginning, so don't miss my next posts about this fantastic birding along the Eco-ruta del Quinde!