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Yanacocha & BellavistaCloud Forest ReservesDay 3 - 27th July 2013 |
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Part 1 - Dawn at Yanacocha Reserve
After
a noisy night in the Quito hotel our acclimatisation was done
and a 5:30 AM start saw us head up to 3500m on the Nono Road in search
of Hummingbirds. Our guide turned up well-wrapped and with good reason,
it's pretty chilly in the morning, especially in the wind.
First light on the mountains...
Nevado Cotacachi volcano in the far distance at 4944 metres...
Miche and a large Umbrella Plant...
Hummingbirds
Photographing tiny birds in low light is not an easy task, so it helps when they sit still for a second...
Photographing tiny birds in low light is not an easy task, so it helps when they sit still for a second...
First
tantalising silhouetted glimpses of a Sword-billed Hummingbird. This
was the hummingbird that I was most intrigued to see if we could...
Getting closer...
In all its glory - the beak is incredible on such a small bird...
Rufous Antpitta...
You can just see his tongue sticking out...
A Great Sapphirewing flying over...
A bit of a messy shot, but I loved the colours on this bird...
Miche on the way down to the reserve entrance...
Looking back up to the path we'd taken towards the Pichincha volcano...
Tawny Antpitta...
Front view...
After
leaving Yanacocha we drove between a river and a steep sided bank
- we noticed a new-born calf in a muddy puddle at the bottom of the
bank - the mother had given birth too close to the edge and the poor
thing had fallen about 15 feet to the roadside. Our driver Johnny and a
naturalist picked it up and took it back to its mother in the field
above who was clearly agitated - however the story has a happy ending
as the mother rushed over and started to care for it.
Dipper...
Dipper...
Trout farm in the valley and a big hint to what we'd be having for lunch...
Crimson-Rumped Toucanet...
