Day 2 - Angel Paz Day 3 - Silanche Reserve

Angel Paz and his Antpittas.
A very early call had us up and on the road by 5.00am heading for Angel Paz Reserve where there is an almost guaranteed Cock-of-the-Rock Lek and 4 species of Antpitta which Angel calls in with handfulls of worms. The road up to the reserve is challenging but we arrived in one piece and set off down the hillside to arrive at the hide with about a dozen others. We stood looking down through the jungle to be rewarded by 2 or three birds although most views were through the vegetation.
After about an hour it was time to move on so we filed out and started our way back up. There were several stops for Giant, Moustached, very shy, and Ochre-breasted Antpittas and a family party of dark-backed Wood-quail all called out by Angel.

There were times I really questioned the sanity of birders who are willing to get up in the middle of the night, trek up and down vertiginous hillsides all for the enjoyment of watching a few birds. Would I have missed it? Not in a million years.
We spent some time walking round the trails looking for Quetzals, not lucky, and any flocks of tanagers and finches that passed by. We managed good views of another male Cock-of -the-Rock and heard lots of unidentified (by us) sounds. We were provided with a late breakfast which was delicious, consisting of traditional plantain dishes and tea or coffee. There was a lovely view from the balcony which included a tract of forest that belonged to our guide Jorge's grandfather.
We returned to the Lodge for lunch and then went for a walk round one of the trails - very difficult looking up through the jungle canopy, but we did manage to see a trogon through the bushes. 

After lunch a few birds were seen around the lodge including Red-faced Spinetail and Dusky Bush-tanager.

In the afternoon we walked a circular trail around the lodge grounds. There were very few birds to be seen but a couple of spots provided some new birds including Lineated and Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaners, Uniform and Strong-billed Woodcreepers, White-tailed Tyrannulet, Ornate Flycatcher, Flavescent Flycatcher, Gray-breasted Wood-wren, Chestnut-capped Brush-finch, Tri-coloured Brush-finch and lots of Three-striped Warblers.

On return to the lodge just before dark David found a Masked Water-tyrant feeding on the football pitch.

Day 3 - Silanche

An early start for what turned out to be a full day at Silanche at around 300-350m, We started with a session around the reception area then spent the morning on the Canopy Tower. Lunch was had in the car park with more new birds appearing even here. The afternoon was spent walking the trails and finishing with a short session back at the tower.

On the way in we saw a Laughing Falcon,

Highlights of the Reserve were Dusky Pigeon, Blue-headed and Bronze-winged Parrots, Green Thorntail, Blue-chested, Purple-chested and violet-bellied Hummingbirds, Choco and White-tailed Trogons, Red-headed Barbet, Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Choco Toucan, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Pale-mandibled Aracari, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Cinnamon Woodpecker, Lineated and Guayaquil Woodpeckers, Western Woodhaunter, Plain, Wedge-billed and Spotted Woodcreepers, Dot-winged Ant-wren, Sooty-headed Tyrannulet, Choco Tyrannulet, Olive-striped Flycatcher, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Scale-crested Pygmy-tyrant, Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, White-ringed Flycatcher, Streaked Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Snowy-throated Flycatcher, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Purple-throated Fruit-crow, White-bearded Manakin, Masked Tityra,

We made a couple of stops along the road out of Silanche with the first producing a Buff-rumped Warbler. The second stop around an area of small dwellings was very productive with two Pacific Parrotlet, Smooth-billed Ani, ten Pacific Horneros and lots of Variable Seedeaters.

 

 

Ecuador

Ecuador 2012.
After a long seeming 24 hours travelling we arrived in Quito and fell into bed. We were up at 6 o'clock to meet our Guide, Jorge and our driver, ready to begin our adventure.
Our first stop saw us walking slowly through some scrub just outside Quito, where we saw Tropical Mocking bird, Black-tailed Trainbearer, Plumbeous Sierra-finch among others.
We moved down the valley to Alambi Lodge which was Hummingbird heaven.

This was a real baptism of fire as hummingbirds zipped round the feeders in front of the verandah, including Purple-throated Woodstars, White-necked Jacobin, White-whiskered Hermit, Brown and Sparkling Violetear, Green-crowned brilliant and Rufous-tailed Hummingbird. We walked down to the river where new birds kept coming. Montane woodcreeper was a real star.

After lunch we carried on down to the old Mindo road, which was in use up to 20 years ago! More Tanagers and Club-winged Manakin were highlights.

We worked our way down the road and then headed for our Lodge at Sachatamia - more hummingbirds wizzed by. We settled in and enjoyed a very nice dinner of chicken with mustard sauce. Early start tomorrow as we head to AngelPaz for Cock-of-the Rock and Antpittas.

Quick trip north

For various family reasons we were heading north to Edinburgh. We decided to take a couple of extra days and visit Arnside Knott and Holy Island in search of butterflies and helleborines.
We left around 6 am on friday and headed up towards Cumbria via the M40, M6 toll and M6. We saw around 15 red kites, including 2 over the service area which was our breakfast stop. We reached the area of Arnside by about 1.00 so we decided to explore Gate Barrows. It was not the easiest place to find but eventually we noticed a sign and a gate, which we went through to a car park. Putting our permit in the window we set off. After a short walk we found a sign for the Limestone path so we turned left and followed the white markers. In a clearing near the entrance we suddenly saw a golden butterfly, but was it a High Brown?  We managed to get a few pictures but identification as they buzzed about was very difficult, however I am pretty confident that we managed to see 2/3 .
Carrying on round the trail we were amused to see big signs for Lady's Slipper orchid. These are plants propogated from the one last native plant and re-introduced into some areas where it used to grow. Something to think about next year. We met one of the volunteer wardens who confirmed that the butterflies were High Browns and also showed us the track to follow. We turned right and came out on a lovely limestone pavement with grikes full of ferns, small trees and several Dark Red Helleborines spread around.


The next day we spent most of the day on Arnside Knott, chasing Dark Green Fritillaries, but no sign of any High Browns. We also saw several Grayling whihc was a nice extra.
Eventually we went back down tothe car park for a late lunch and then set off across to Berwick-on-Tweed.
Following a nice breakfast in the local supermarket we set off to Lindisfarne to look for Holy Island Helleborine. We crossed the causeway soon after the tide receded and parked in what we hoped was the right carpark. It was very wet and the path towards the slack was flooded so we did a bit of a detour. The slack otself was about 6 inches deep in water but covered in Marsh Orchids and Marsh Helleborines, but, despite a 3 hour search we couldn't find the Helleborines, although subsequent enquiries found that htere had been about 12 this year.

A quick trip into the village for 'souvenirs' and we heading back across the causeway and on to Edinburgh before the tide came creeping back in.

Bulgaria in May

Another very early start saw us heading for Gatwick on our way to Sofia for a weeks birding in Bulgaria. The landing, entry and car collection were the quickest and smoothest ever.
The weather was warm and sunny as we headed towards Bourgas with several stops on the way, making a good start to the trip list with Eastern Imperial Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, White and Back Storks, Black-headed Bunting, Red-backed Shrike and Great Reed warbler some of the highlights, along with Eastern Festoon and Large Copper Butterflies. We managed to find Hotel Lazurien Briag, booked in and were soon enjoying a drink and a meal.

Click here for the trip from Sofia to Bourgas

The next morning we set off south to explore the area around the Ropotoma Natural Reserve. The trip down was on a new dual carriageway which made it difficult to cross. We found the carpark which was a lot busier than it had been when we visited in the winter 2007 but a scan round soon found our target, semi-collared flycatcher. It soon disappeared so we walked down to the river.

Spring Break in Spain

Feeling in need of some spring sunshine we headed off to Spain for another chance to see Lynx and Otter as well as some really nice birds. An early morning flight from Stanstead meant we landed in Madrid around mid day and once we had sorted out the car (free extra driver!) we set off to negotiate the ring road system out of Madrid heading south. We took a break after about an hour and drove around the 'triangle' looking for bustards, without much hope aws we had been unseccessful in september. However, luck was with us as 4 birds flew over the road and into the fields. Scanning from the roadside revealed a large flock feeding in the fields so we took a track that went in the right direction and found around 60 birds, mainly male. They eventually took off in ones and twos and joined more birds in a distant field.
                                  

While we were watching these birds another flock, this time of little bustards, flew over the fields on the other side of the road so we retraced our footsteps and drove down a fainter track where we managed to find several male birds but not the big flock we had seen.

Humbold Penguins and Inca terns

A very early start found us meeting Claudio, from Fantastico Sur, packing into a van and heading towards the coast on a guided trip for our 9th species of penguin. A short stop gave us a Chilean Flicker and then we drove on to Cachuga, a very smart seaside area. We climbed out of the van and there was pair of Rufous-tailed Plant Cutters on the wires. Claudio pished, chilean style, and the reaction was amazing, with Thorn-tailed Rayaditos, Plain-mantled Tit Spinetails, Tufted Tit Tyrants, White-crested Elaenias, Common Diuca Finch, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Shiny Cowbird, Gray-headed Sierra Finch, Austral Blackbird and a Fire-eyed Diucon flicked around the gardens. While we were looking every which way to try and catch sight of everything a Giant Hummingbird flew over. We had good views when one settled on the top of a tree. An Austral Pygmy Owl called and was eventually found in the pine trees, being hassled by Austral Blackbirds and other small birds.

Wire-crested Eleanias

 Common Duica Finch

 Fire-eyed Duicon

Moving down to the beach we had Blue and White Swallows swooping down for insects, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Kelp Gulls with a Franklin's Gull and, on an off-shore island, Humboldt Penguins (No 9)

Peruvian Pelican

Peruvian Pelicans flew through with a Peruvian Booby and on the rocks there was a Marine Otter playing in the seaweed. We also had excellent views of Seaside Cinclodes 



Seaside Cinclodes

We moved on to some large pools next to a sulphuric acid factory where we saw a nice selection of birds icluding Lake Duck, Chiloe wigeon, Cinnamon Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, Red-gartered, Red-fronted and White-winged Coots, a pair of Coscoroba Swans, Black-necked stilt, American Oystercatcher and Southern Lapwing. In the reeds we had Many-coloured Rush-tyrant which proved very elusive for some of us, as well as Yellow-winged Blackbird, Spectacled Tyrant and Grassland Yellow-finch. We also had excellent views of White-eared Grebe.

White-eared Grebe

We stopped for a comfort stop and were lucky to find Grey Gulls in the bay, while American Kestrels hunted overhead. We moved on in search of one of our main targets, Inca Tern. These breed on a small rock along the coast but we were unfortunate to coincide with a marathan race that cost us a lot of time as our driver, Hector, tried to avoid the police blocks. Claudio and Hector talked our way past one of these by explaining that we were official foreign photographers and the next checkpoint saw us being driven past with Hector confidently announcing 'Photographia, photographia' to the bemused police man.

The Inca terns were flying round the rocks giving great views. We were also lucky to see Red-legged and Guanay Cormorants, Peruvian Pelicans and a Peruvian Booby.

Inca Tern

The delays caused by avoiding the marathon meant that we had run out of time but Claudio managed to fit in a quick visit to a small reed patch on a river where we had much better views of Many-coloured rush tyrant as well as a small flock of Skimmers and Franklin's Gulls before we had to rush back to the hotel to collect our luggage and head for the airport. 

A very nice introduction to Chilean Birding.

Skimmers











Homeward Bound

This morning was again calm, warm and sunny as we nosed our way into Stanley Harbour. We experienced our last zodiac ride and disembarked for a quick trot round the souvenir shops before we had to board the bus for the hour's ride to Mount Pleasant Airport. On the way we had a potted history and some interesting facts from our guide.

Our luggage was waiting and we joined the queue that would see us returning home via Punte Arenas and Santiago.