Birding Mindo, Ecuador, Part 2

Day3 – Reserva Amagusa

Following our first two days in Mindo, we had something special planned for our third day. We set off early planning a full day in the more distant Reserva Amagusa and the Guayabillas Road. Arriving at the reserve it was raining and we were grateful for the cover of the lodge which was looking over the feeder setup.

Before we had settled we heard a flock of about 20-25 Rose-Faced Parrots which quickly landed in the nearby trees before approaching the large bunch of bananas and starting to feed. Other early birds offering good views included Black-Chinned Mountain Tanager, Moss-Backed Tanager, Wedge Billed Woodcreeper, Uniform Treehunter and White-Throated Quail Dove.

The action continued with Golden-Collared Honeycreeper offering exceptionally close views. Smoke-Coloured Peewee was also a lifer for me and a male White-Winged Tanager offered me good views to enable me to take my first photos of this species. Tricoloured Brushfinch and distant views of Maroon-Tailed Parakeet were great additions too.

At this point the action was continuing thick and fast with a hummingbird landing on my wife’s head (too slow for a photo). But two species in particular were enthusiastically welcomed by our excellent guide Danny. First the Black Solitaire which isn’t known for frequenting feeders and second the Pacific Tuftedcheek which is a hard to see bird. Both stayed around for a good time allowing plenty of photographs.

The birds kept coming so there was really no need to move on at all (which was good because it was still raining). Black-Striped Sparrow, the regional endemic Choco Warbler, Yellow-Throated Chlorospingus, Scaley-Throated Foliage-Gleaner, Barred and Cinnamon Becards and then a family of Dark-Backed Wood Quail.

I had heard a few Black-Billed Peppershrike in Colombia but never seen them so was pleased to put that right here and also capture some action shots of it eating. A Rusty-Margined Flycatcher and the Scaley-Throated Foliage Gleaner also offered great shots. A tiny squirrel was running around often too quick to photograph but I did manage to capture it in the end.

After at least two hours at this feeder setup we moved on to some hummingbird and fruit feeders the other side of the lodge. Before sharing some of the species that visited I will share some photos which try to show the richness of the action and the sheer number of birds (mostly tanagers) visiting this fruit feeder.

As the rain continued to fall it was constant action at the feeder Rufous-Throated, Golden, Golden-Naped, Glistening-Green and Flame-Faced Tanagers competed for my camera’s attention. This really was an excellent setup for photography.

At the hummingbird feeders Danny pointed out a couple of special hummingbirds too the Purple-Bibbed Whitetip (lifer) and the Empress Brilliant which I had seen the previous day. An Orange-Breasted Fruiteater also offered good views feeding in a nearby palm. A wonderful morning.

In the afternoon we continued with some more traditional birding along the Guayabillas Road. Clearly this wasn’t as action packed as the feeders but it was nice to return to traditional birding where you had to work to find the birds again. We added more lifers in Russet Antshrike, Rufous-Brown Solitaire, Olive-Crowned Yellowthroat, Tawny-Crested and Grey and Gold Tanagers and Masked Water Tyrant.

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Day 4 – Birdwatchers House

For our final morning with Danny we were visiting Birdwatchers House outside of Mindo. Here they had a hide overlooking a large tract of forest, there was also an insect sheet setup too which attracted more birds.

We started with fantastic views of Strong-Billed Woodcreeper and added Russet-Crowned Warbler and Olivaceous Piha to our life lists. Danny explained to us that the Piha was an excellent sighting and he had never seen it in this location or indeed allowing such great views.

The beautiful Turquoise Jay made regular appearances along with a supporting cast of Slate-Throated Redstart and Chestnut-Capped Brushfinch.

It was now time for breakfast so we moved up the grounds to an area with numerous hummingbird feeders. This really was luxury birding, taking turns to sip my excellent coffee and then pickup the camera and fire off some shots of gorgeous hummingbirds. The Violet-Tailed Sylph and Gorgeted Sunangel were my favourites.

These feeders had one last gift to give in the form of a gorgeous Plate-Billed Mountain Toucan which decided to help itself to some banana.

We pulled ourselves away from Birdwatchers House and took our time taking the road back to Mindo frequently stopping to check out the birds we could find along the way. Raptors featured heavily with a Roadside Hawk, Barred Hawk and White-Throated Hawk all being added to our growing list (the last two were new for me).

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Altogether we had a wonderful 4 days with Danny of Mindo Birding (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp ‪+593 99 328 0769‬) exploring the wonderful birding habitat around Mindo. If you are ever in Ecuador do get in touch with him, he is an excellent guide. We added 80 lifers over these four days and 5 more in Quito before we left Ecuador (including the endemic Ecuadorian Hillstar). This took our Ecuador total to 197 birds and our trip/year total to 983 bird species!