Another very early start took us from Jardin to the Alto de Vantanas which ranges over altitudes from 2300 to 3000 metres. During
the drive in the dark we flushed a Band-winged Nightjar. We also stopped to try to see a variety of birds including Yellow-eared Parrot, Masked Trogan, Lacrimose Mountain Tanager, and Buff-breasted Mountain Tanager. Unfortunately we dipped on the tricky to find Tanager Finch.
Due to the rough conditions on the track we had to transfer to a four wheel drive vehicle to complete our journey.
The Yellow-eared Parrot Reserve
We could only reach the reserve in this Jeep
The view at breakfast!
Andes view - click to enlarge
We eventually arrived at Rio Sucio where there were several Antpitta feeding stations where we had excellent views of a Chestnut-naped Antpitta and Green-and-black Fruiteater. We then walked along a track in the forest hoping for the ever elusive Tapaculos and an Rufous Antpitta. After some effort we did manage reasonable views of an Ocellated Tapaculo, a bird that is renowned as being extremely difficult to see. Unfortunately the Rufous Antpitta feeding station was occupied by a very mobile Chestnut-naped Antpitta which kept chasing the smaller Antpitta away, so we never got to see this species.
Chestnut-naped Antpitta - Seen at a feeding station and coming down to worms.
A short video clip of a Chestnut-naped Antpitta
Green-and-black Fruiteater - Found from Venezuela south to central Peru, inhabiting a variety of montane forests between 1500 and 2700 meters. Seen on three days during our trip.
Ocellated Tapaculo - A bird that is very hard to see let alone photograph, so we were very lucky to be able to get these few record shots.
Ocellated Tapaculo - This species is found from Venezuela through Ecuador mostly above 2,500m in humid and wet forests.
The target bird for the day was Yellow-eared Parrot, a highly endangered species for which a special reserve had been created. We managed to see a number of flying flocks and a couple of feeding flocks but unfortunately we could not get any photographs. At our lunch at Rio Sucio there were nine species of hummingbird at the feeders while in the sky were 35 wheeling Broad-winged Hawks, White-collared and Grey-rumped Swifts.
Red-crested Cotinga - Found in the high Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. Unfortunately it's crest cannot be see here. We only saw this species on two days.
Red-crested Cotinga - The "crest" is just viewable here.
Southern Emerald-Toucanet - Distributed from Venezuela to Peru mainly in the Andes.
Gray-hooded Bush Tanager - An Andean species found from Colombia through to Peru.
Tourmaline Sunangel - Although we saw this species on several days it is only found in Colombia and Ecuador Andes.
Black-tailed Trainbearer - An Andean species found from Colombia to Southern Peru. We only saw this species on day 1 and day 3 of our trip.
Broad-winged Hawks - A flock of about 40 birds moved north to their breeding sites in N America.
Broad-winged Hawk
Golden-fronted Redstart - A common species seen most days.
Buff-tailed Coronet - We saw good numbers at a few locations but only found from Venezuela to northern Ecuador.
Sparkling Violetear - One of the most widely distributed species of hummingbird in the Andes. It occurs from northern Venezuela south to northwestern Argentina
Speckled Hummingbird - Found from Venezuela to N Argentina
Grey-browed Brushfinch - Seen on three days. Found from Venezuela to Peru.
Masked Flowerpiecer - its range extends from Venezuela and Colombia, through Ecuador and Peru to Bolivia
Other birds send during the day were Black-billed Mountain Toucan, Scaly-naped Parrot, Blue-crowned Parakeet, Plumbeous-crowned Tyrannulet, Black-collared Jay, Black-capped Hemispingus and Gray-hooded Bush Tanager.
Heterogomphus schoenherri - A monster!
Prosymna Satyr (Lasiophila prosymna)
In the evening we returned to Jardin. A walk around the square, a view of the impressive church at night and a meal in a local restaurant was enjoyable.
The church in Jardin just across the square from our hotel.
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