The Deskbound Birder: Milpe and Bellavista (NW Ecuador)

Monday 6 May 2019

Milpe and Bellavista (NW Ecuador) – 6th May (Day 12)

We were up at 04:30 and on the road in the dark by 05:15 to San Jorge de Milpe Lodge. This was a last minute arranged attempt at seeing Banded Ground-cuckoo which has been coming to insects attracted to lights on an occasional basis, it would have been remiss to have not at least tried for this enigmatic bird. We arrived in the hide overlooking the lights at 06:15 and soon after it began to rain and it from this point it rained pretty much all day, often with fairly thick fog. We started with a fair degree of optimism as our guide had said that he had seen the Ground-cuckoo earlier in the week. A covey of Rufous-fronted Wood-quail arrived in the semi-darkness and Northern Schiffornis, Bicoloured Antbird, Zeledon’s Antbird, Russet Antshrike, White-whiskered Puffbird and Spotted Nightingale-thrush all came and fed on the insects but as time went by our optimism for seeing the Ground-cuckoo waned. We waited in the hide until 10:00 but with no sign of the Ground-cuckoo so with other birds to see we headed off, disappointed but not surprised. I have to say that I was not very happy with the means of attracting birds, seemingly only for financial gain to the owner of the lodge who attracts people, like me, on the chance of seeing the Ground-cuckoo. Basically this is a large white sheet illuminated overnight and attracting large numbers of moths for birds, and particularly the Ground-cuckoo, to feed upon, this must have a negative effect on insect populations locally within the forest. We walked the trails through the forest of the lodge for an hour or so, the forest here was lovely but fairly quiet, possibly due to the rain. Highlights were Golden-winged Manakin, Orange-crested Flycatcher, Rufous-fronted Wood-quail and Rufous Motmot.

Rufous-fronted Wood-quail - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

Spotted Nightingale-thrush - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

White-whiskered Puffbird - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

White-throated Quail-dove - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

Northern Schiffornis - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

Bicolored Antbird - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

Zeledon's Antbird - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

The light trap at San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

Golden-winged Manakin - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

Orange-crested Flycatcher - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

Rufous-fronted Wood-quail - San Jorge de Milpe Lodge, NW Ecuador

We headed back to the hotel where we gathered our bags and drove towards Bellavista. On the way we stopped at a small garden with feeders, San Tadeo, and saw a variety of now familiar species such as Ecuadorian Piedtail, Red-headed Barbet, Green-crowned Woodnymph and White-necked Jacobin and added Purple-throated Woodstar and Golden-headed Quetzal to our list. We stopped at the lovely Septimo Paraiso Lodge where Gabo had occasionally seen Rufous-gaped Hillstar but we had no luck here. The weather deteriorated and so we had lunch and then made a quick stop for Common Potoo, which sat drenched in the rain, before heading onwards. We tried once more for Beautiful Jay but the rain and fog prevented success. We paused and took shelter at the Birdwatcher's Garden which we had visited yesterday, the Hoary Puffleg showed well once again as did a range of hummingbirds including Gorgeted Sunangel and Buff-tailed Coronet. The highlight here was a stunning pair of Plate-billed Mountain-toucan that came into bananas placed for them. On the way up to Bellavista we made a stop for Tanager Finch again the rain and fog resulted in failure. We checked into Bellavista Lodge where, just before dinner, we saw the recently described Olinguito accompanied by the similar looking Kinkajou - much as I try these furry mammal things don't get me very excited.