Ecuador II Travel Diary - p 2 of 5

Beryl-spangled Tanager
 

 6 November 2011
 While sitting on Jane's veranda waiting for some action at the banana feeder, a Beryl-spangled Tanager appeared in a nearby tree.  At least he was earning an honest living.  But when a bird is out there in the trees and shrubs, as often as not the background is like tossed salad.
 
A rare bit of sunshine this morning after breakfast.  It gave me a chance to try for some back-lighting, the subject being a Fawn-breasted Brilliant.

Fawn-breasted Brilliant

Golden-naped Tanager

 


7 November 2011
After the first 2 days at Las Gralarias, we're using it as a base for day trips into various regions of the Mindo area, with Oswaldo and his wife Armia as our drivers.  Today began with an unproductive visit to Reserva Rio Silanche, which was pretty dead except for White-collared Manakins.
   On the way home, however, we stopped at Mindo Loma, a lodge near Los Bancos.  Our host, Boris Herrera, served the best coffee we've had in Ecuador as we used his 2nd story back deck to photograph his birds. 
   Coming to bananas was another handsome tanager, Golden-naped.

 

 

 


  

   

Red-faced Spinetail

 

Out in the distance, probing the mossy vegetation, was a Red-faced Spinetail.  It is a member of the furnariids, which Ridgely and Greenfield, authors of The Birds of Ecuador, correctly describe as "..a fairly diverse and confusing group of small, skulking birds."

 

 

 

As near as I could tell, this striking Flame-faced Tanager had an injured right foot.  It appeared to be damaged in another photo, but in most shots, he held the right foot up out of sight.

Flame-faced Tanager

  

               Travel Diary         next page>