An Afternoon At Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Tara

We left the Mirador Restaurant around 2pm-ish and decided to keep heading down the same road to Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary as we were still targeting Rose-faced Parrots and Blue-fronted Parrotlets. Some Maroon-tailed Parakeets would be nice too!

As we left the main road to the access road for the reserve we saw some Bronze-winged Parrots in a tree.

DSCN1417 DSCN1424

Continuing on, the road is pretty well marked if you are self-driving. Of course Alex, our guide has been here many times and knows it well. DSCN1425 DSCN1426 DSCN1427

We were there pretty late and the staff had closed up. We were still able to get inside but there was no one there to charge the fees. DSCN1442 DSCN1428 DSCN1441 DSCN1440

We walked down a short trail to the canopy tower. DSCN1439 DSCN1438

There are beautiful views over the rainforest but not too many birds around. Maybe the weather was still causing trouble. DSCN1431

A pair of Choco Toucans showed up. DSCN1430 DSCN1435

I’m having trouble with some of these as they may be female tanagers which look completely different from the males! DSCN1436 DSCN1437

Grey-and-gold Tanager DSCN1432 DSCN1433 DSCN1433a DSCN1434

It was looking like rain again so we left after less than an hour at the canopy tower. DSCN1443

Female Black-cheeked Woodpecker

DSCN1445

Guayaquil Woodpecker DSCN1446

Complete Bird List

We later found out that another guide had been here in the morning and seen a huge flock of Maroon-tailed Parakeets!

If you would like to visit this reserve along with other reserves around Mindo, I can highly recommend Alex Luna who can be reached by email. ayalu_82@hotmail.com

Milpe Bird Sanctuary

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Tara

Milpe Bird Sanctuary is about 15 km from Mindo and can easily be added to any birding itinerary. The entrance is well marked and there is a public road for about 5-6 km that is very birdy.

DSCN1292

On the map below, I highlighted in red where we saw the Bronze-winged Parrots. We were also hoping for Blue-fronted Parrotlet but dipped. I have the worst luck with Parrotlets in general!

Milpe

The red line is a public road and you can drive or walk there for free. If you want to enter the sanctuary (you can see the trails on the map) there is a charge of $7. We started by driving down the road. It’s pretty bumpy so you need an SUV or 4×4.

My bird list which includes both roadside and hummingbird feeders.

DSCN1294 DSCN1295 DSCN1298 DSCN1301

End of the line, turn back! DSCN1302

I didn’t get that many photos but here’s a few random birds. IMG_3299a

For me, the highlight was this beautiful Bronze-winged Parrot who was fairly close. IMG_3327a IMG_3332a DSCN1304 IMG_3377a

We headed back to the actual sanctuary where I got caught up in souvenir shopping. One thing you should definitely buy here is the birding guide book for $5 which has a complete checklist and nice pictures of the birds in Milpe & Rio Silanche. There are some nice handicrafts here too.

DSCN1390 DSCN1384

A beautiful Collared Trogon DSCN1328

Then it started raining pretty hard so we took shelter at the cafe area and watched the hummingbirds. I decided to practice photographing hummingbirds in flight. DSCN1339

Green-crowned Brilliant DSCN1338

Green-crowned Woodnymph DSCN1333

Velvet Purple Coronet DSCN1342 DSCN1346 DSCN1349 DSCN1355 DSCN1360

White-necked Jacobin DSCN1364

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird DSCN1374 DSCN1377 IMG_3392a

Green-crowned Woodnymph

When the rain let up the feeding table got more active.

Pale-mandibled Aracari – the one on the right is a juvenile being fed by the parent. DSCN1383 DSCN1381 DSCN1340

It was around noon so we went to the Mirador Restaurant (marked on the map above). They don’t take credit cards so we didn’t eat too much but the view and the birds were awesome!

DSCN1393 DSCN1394 DSCN1408 DSCN1409 DSCN1410 DSCN1411 DSCN1412 DSCN1413

The Chestnut-tipped Toucanets ruled the roost. When they were eating the smaller birds stayed away. DSCN1398 DSCN1401a

When the Tocanets left, smaller birds like these Blue-grey Tanagers moved in. DSCN1406

Flame-faced Tanager IMG_3462a

Orange-bellied Euphonia IMG_3465a IMG_3467a

We visited Milpe Bird Sanctuary with Alex Luna, one of Mindo’s top birding guides. You can contact him by email ayalu_82@hotmail.com if you would like to organize a trip with him. He speaks English very well, knows all the birds and if you have target birds, he will do all he can to make sure you see them (though he can’t do anything about the weather)!

DSCN1450

Mindo’s Waterfall Trail

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Tara

The road that goes up into the hills is actually called San Lorenzo Road but it is also called the Waterfall Trail because of the hikes in the area to various waterfalls. There is also a zipline company operating here. You can walk from Mindo town if you are fit and keen, otherwise a taxi can drop you at the birding place and you can walk down the hill. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of the drop off place but there is a fork from the side of the road about 2-3km up the hill leading to a farm.

We birded this area twice. The first day was with one of the best bird guides in Mindo – Alex Luna. The second day we went back on our own as Alex was booked that day to try again for Rose-faced Parrots.

The weather plays a huge part in how lucky you will get. So you can imagine I wasn’t thrilled with this kind of fog!

DSCN1291

This is the entrance to San Lorenzo Road. Keep driving a few km, look for a fork leading to a farm on your right, then jump out and start birding. DSCN1287 DSCN1289 DSCN1290

Here’s some shots from Day 1. Alex tried his best but the weather was working against us. We did get some Red-billed Parrots, Bronze-winged Parrots, Collared Aracari, Choco Toucan and some beautiful Tanagers but the photos didn’t come out.

Day 1 Bird List

IMG_3263a IMG_3285a IMG_3289a IMG_3293a

Here’s some shots from Day 2. This time the weather was slightly better, the fog lifted earlier and we hung around until 9:30. The Rose-faced Parrots finally did show up but it was closer to 9am when they did and they hung around quite a while so we got to spend some quality time watching them. We also saw Red-billed Parrots, a quick fly-by of Maroon-tailed Parakeets and a lot more! I tried to keep the photos together but we were using 2 cameras – a Canon 60D & a Nikon Coolpix P900 (the one with 83x zoom).

Day 2 Bird List

IMG_3529a IMG_3534a IMG_3540a IMG_3545a IMG_3550a IMG_3576a DSCN1454 DSCN1458a IMG_3618a IMG_3626a IMG_3631a IMG_3660a IMG_3643a IMG_3645a IMG_3648a IMG_3679a IMG_3700a IMG_3708a IMG_3710a IMG_3716a IMG_3720a IMG_3722a IMG_3725a IMG_3742a IMG_3746a IMG_3765a IMG_3774a IMG_3782a IMG_3785a IMG_3788a IMG_3806a DSCN1486 DSCN1490a IMG_3667a IMG_3811a

This is Alex Luna, the wonderful birding guide in Mindo. You can contact him by email ayalu_82@hotmail.com if you would like to organize a trip with him. He speaks English very well, knows all the birds and if you have target birds, he will do all he can to make sure you see them (though he can’t do anything about the weather)!

DSCN1450

Bronze-winged Parrot (Pionus chalcopterus)

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Tara

The Bronze-winged Parrot (Pionus chalcopterus) is a short-tailed stocky parrot found in forest and woodland in north-western South America. They are one of the easier parrots to find in their range.

IMG_3332a DSCN1304

They are found mostly in Ecuador & Colombia with a sparse population in Venezuela. I saw them just about everywhere – Umbrellabird Lodge flybys, Mindo‘s Waterfall Trail, Milpe Bird Sanctuary, Rio Silanche, Rio Blanco in Colombia near Manizales.

bwparrot

LEARN MORE ABOUT BRONZE-WINGED PARROTS

VIDEOS

This was a challenge as there isn’t much video footage of these beautiful parrots from the wild but there are a lot of pet bird videos on YouTube. Here’s a couple, at least you can hear this one!

Video filmed through digiscoping.

Birding The Grounds Of The Umbrellabird Lodge, Southern Ecuador

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Tara

Although the main draw to this area of Ecuador is the El Oro Parakeet, don’t forget that the grounds of the Umbrellabird Lodge are also very birdy and many wonderful species can be seen just from the deck and on a short but steep walk to the lek of the Long-wattled Umbrellabird.

Depending on the time of year, you may want to get up early to see the Umbrellabirds at the lek or wait a bit and see them in the trees. The trail isn’t far from the lodge but the birds are difficult to find in the trees as they blend in and are quiet so best to go with a guide unless you have very keen eyesight.

DSCN0776 DSCN0775 DSCN0774 DSCN0773 DSCN0769 DSCN0762 DSCN0760 DSCN0757 IMG_2423a

Chestnut-Mandibled Toucan

Coatimundi DSCN0780

Brown Violetear Hummingbird IMG_2451a IMG_2455a

From the balcony, we saw several flocks of Bronze-winged Parrots and Red-masked Parakeets fly past. IMG_2301a IMG_2303a IMG_2311a IMG_2330a IMG_2347a

The hummingbird feeders are constantly busy with many beautiful species! The guide gave me the list of the ones we saw. Brown Violetear, White-necked Jacobin, Andean Emerald, Green-crowned Brilliant, Violet-bellied Hummingbird, Green Thorntail, Bananaquit, Blue & Grey Tanager IMG_2343a IMG_2346a IMG_2389a IMG_2406a