Gonzo!

Ecuador: Birds of the High Andes 5

 ... continued from yesterday....

Another early start as were heading for first light at the Amagusa Reserve in the cloud forest at Mashpi.  The reserve is reached via a long unmade mountain road that once again Edwin took in his stride.  In many places the road has been the subject of landslides and it's not one that I would in any way feel comfortable about driving.  Rather than worry about the certain death that would follow if we were to leave the road I kept my eyes firmly on the horizon and thought happy thoughts...

On arrival we headed to the terrace where there were once again various feeding stations and a wide variety of birdlife coming in and out.  A walk back along the mountain road in the intermittent rain produced the White-tipped Sicklebill.  This bird is a Helicona specialist and not easy to photograph.  I eventually managed to get a shot of it through foliage perched on a branch preening itself.  It's less than perfect as the dark conditions didn't really give me enough light for the depth of field that the shot really required.  

Amagusa turned out to be a haven for hummingbirds and I've included a brown violet ear visiting a flower as the first extra.  The second extra is the rare Tooth-billed hummingbird in flight displaying.  Just look at the sharpness of that beak!

After this excitement we returned for a very late lunch, packed and headed back to Quito for the night.  Most of the last few days have been spent between 2,500m and 3,200m but tomorrow we are heading upwards. 

(The title is a Muppets reference - in case you were wondering).