This day was dedicated to two key species, the El Oro Parakeet and the Long-wattled Umbrellabird. We started off with an early start to the Buenaventura Nature Reserve as the El Oro Parakeets are most active early mornings. After parking we had to hike for about 30 minutes to a high vantage point with good views of the forest. On the way we came across a Choco Toucan and several Anthony's Poisonous Arrow Frogs which are apparently poisonous!
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| Anthony's Poisonous Arrow Frog - This poisonous frog was about six cm long. Three tadpoles can be seen on it's back. |
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| Choco Toucan - This was our only sighting This species is restricted to western Colombia and Ecuador. |
On reaching the vantage point we found that another birding group (with Naturetrek) were already present and we watching a distant El Oro Parakeet that was giving poor telescope views. However, over the next hour several Parakeets flew close to where we were stood and we had excellent views as you can see below.
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| El Oro Parakeet - This species is endemic to Ecuador and has a very small range within the country. |
Various other birds were seen from the vantage point, the star bird being a Ornate Hawk-eagle which landed briefly in a tree and then flew in front of the gathered birders.
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| Ornate Hawk Eagle - This uncommon raptor does have a wide range and is found in Mexico down to Paraguay. |
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| A rather unusual view with a large prey item dangling from it's talons. |
Other birds seen in this area included Grey-headed Kite, Swallow-tailed Kite, Collared Trogon, Black-chinned Mountain Tanager and Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Azara's Spinetail and several species of Tanagers.
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| Grey-headed Kite - Our only sighting of this species. A widespread species found from southern Mexico to Southern Brazil |
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| Black-chinned Mountain Tanager - Two birds seen of this scarce Tanager, Buenaventura being one of the few sites in southern Ecuador. It's range is only in Ecuador and Colombia. |
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| Collared Trogan - The first of two sightings in different parts of the country. Found from Southern Mexico to Bolivia |
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| Line-cheeked Spinetail - Our onlt sighting. Only found in Southern Ecuador and the north-west Peru. |
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| Grey-backed Hawk - Our only sighting of this endangered near Endemic. A small number are found in the very north of Peru. |
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| Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift - Our only sighting. A widespread range from Southern Mexico to Brazil |
After leaving the El Oro vantage point we headed to the Buenaventura Reserve Centre where we watched the large numbers of hummingbirds of which Green Thorntails were by far the most common and extremely tame. Other hummingbird species seen here were White-necked Jacobin, Violet-tailed Sylph, Brown Inca, Velvet-purple Coronet, Booted Racket-tail, Fawn-breasted Brilliant, Green-crowned Brilliant, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird and Andean Emerald.
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| Green Thorntail - From from Costa Rica through to Colombia and Ecuador. Certainly very common at Buenaventura! |
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| Green-crowned Brilliant - We saw this species at two locations during our trip. It's range is from Costa Rica down through Colombia and Ecuador. |
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| Green-headed Hillstar - Our only sighting of this Near Peruvian Endemic which only just makes it into Ecuador. Sadly not an adult male! |
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| White-necked Jacobin - Although a much more widespread species we only saw this species here. It is found from Southern Mexico to the northern half of South America. |
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| Violet-bellied Hummingbird - A somewhat scarer species of Hummingbird from from Panama south into Colombia and Ecuador. Our only sighting. |
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| Crowned Woodnymph - We only saw this species at Buenaventura. It is found from Guatemala to Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. |
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| Green Honeycreeper - We saw this fairly common Tanager several times during the trip. The species is widespread from southern Mexico into the northern part of South America. |
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| Bananaquit - A familiar bird to birders to South America. Found from Mexico, the Caribbean and the northern half of South America. |
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| Coati - Our only sighting of this widespread species. |
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After lunch we walked into the forest to an area where the Long-wattled Umbrella-Birds roost. On the way we came upon a few birds.
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| Swainson's Thrush - Seen several times during our trip but often high in the tree canopy. This is one of the few migrants we saw. It breeds across Canada and Northern USA. |
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| Manakin Species - as yet not specifically identified |
A short while later our path was blocked by a snake. Not knowing what it was we let it sliver away in peace.
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| Yellow-spotted Puffing-snake - Apparently Buenaventura is the best place in Ecuador to see this snake but it is only seen infrequently. |
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| Long-wattled Umbrellabird - While one or two of this scarce species were heard calling, this was our only sighting of this very local species. The species is found in Ecuador and Colombia but only in a relatively few places, Buenaventura being the most southerly point of it's worldwide range. |
The light was fading when we left the roost, so we drove back to Hostería Portal Del Cielo.
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