6:30 AM:

Moss-backed Tanager. Photo by Lauren Harter

After an early start and bus drive down into the foothills, we arrive at the Milpe Bird Sanctuary as the sun rises above the treetops. The sanctuary was purchased less than two years ago thanks to efforts by the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation – the second of the two major local land conservators whose reserves we've benefited from all week long. Vladimir parks the bus in the reserve's newly graveled lot, and Mark, Iain and José announce that we're going to walk along the road with the hope of a Moss-backed Tanager.

At first things don't look too promising, as the sun is rapidly warming up the air and the trees are mostly silent. Iain berates us for not looking hard enough, and he has a point – most of us were catching up on sleep during the bus ride and it seems not everyone has woken up yet. The chastising challenge seems to jerk everyone to life, however, and correspondingly we finally come upon some birds. A beautiful male Swallow Tanager is one of the first we spy, and we soon find an attractively dimorphic female with which to compare him to. A Purple-crowned Fairy feeds above our heads in a flowering bush, and across the road an Ornate Flycatcher sits on a branch, while a Western Woodhaunter (one of my favorite bird names from the trip) roots around in a vine-laden tree. José demonstrates that birds sometimes do respond to tapes, and is able to show us a skulking Red-faced Spinetail. Determined to out-do José, Mark then leads us to a part of the road where tall grasses border on both sides. He places his speakers down on the ground while the tape loops a clattering call. Suddenly, out pops a White-throated Crake, and it streaks across the road towards the speakers, and then veers at the last moment into the grasses on the opposite side. Pleased, Mark picks up his gear and leads the group onward.

Barred Puffbird. Photo by Lauren Harter

We still haven't found a Moss-backed Tanager, but Iain takes us to an overlook where we can scan the treetops. We don't find what we're looking for, but we do find a Maroon-tailed Parakeet preening at the top of a tree, and an Olive-crowned Yellowthroat makes an appearance in the bushes in front of us. The fields and edges are full of new granivores, and we are able to pick up Dull-colored Grassquit, Slate-colored Grosbeak, Tricolored Brush-Finch, and Black-striped Sparrow pretty easily. As we start to head back to the bus, we have one final discovery – a pair of Barred Puffbirds sitting placidly up at the top of a lone tree beside the road. Excited to have such a wonderful view, the photographers move as close as possible while the digiscopers cross into a field to get the most unobstructed viewing frame. Fifteen minutes and a hundred photos later, we all finally get on the bus to head back to the reserve entrance.

9:30 AM:

Rio Blanco. Photo by Patrick del Pizzo

Again we split into two groups in order to tackle the narrow trails of the reserve. The trails themselves are remarkably well-maintained with steps hewn out of the earth; however, with a steep hillside leading down to a stream on one side, it is hard to walk anything but single-file. Luckily, even though the sun is out, we find that there is a single large flock of birds moving around the understory of the reserve.

For the next few hours, both groups dance around this flock, trying to keep it in sight and predict where it will go to next. We pick out several new Furnariids such as Buff-fronted and Lineated Foliage-gleaners, and have single views each of Russet Antshrike and Rufous-rumped Antwren. Chocó Warblers are abundant in the flocks, and Yellow-throated Bush-Tanagers and Ochre-breasted Tanagers make up noisy foraging groups in the lower canopy. Before too long, a tiny flash of brilliant green appears amidst the flock and someone calls out "Glistening-green Tanager!" I follow the movement with my binoculars and am occasionally rewarded with views of this spectacular and range-restricted tanager. Even in the low light of the understory, it glows with an iridescence that is simply unnerving. The flock holds one more surprise, however, and as a large reddish woodcreeper lands on the buttress roots of a nearby tree, it is quickly identified as Brown-billed Scythebill. For a woodcreeper, it is immense, and we watch it closely as it uses its massive, long bill to probe in the deep crevices of tree trunks.

After running in circles all morning to keep up with the main flock, we return to the reserve entrance to eat our lunch. A visitors center provides shade while we watch Purple-bibbed Whitetips and White-whiskered Hermits visiting the active hummingbird feeders. The sun has brought soaring raptors, and a Barred Hawk is seen in the distance, while a Swallow-tailed Kite soars overhead providing an unexpected life bird for some in the group.

1:30 PM:

Orange-bellied Euphonia. Photo by Morgan Tingley

Instead of heading back to the trails after lunch, Iain ushers us all into the bus and we head into the town of Los Bancos to the Restaurant Rio Blanco. The restaurant has a back deck with a tremendous view of valley and river, and the deck is lined with hummingbird feeders. To the side of the restaurant, under the cover of shade trees, are numerous platform feeders and as we arrive the proprietor puts out bunches of bananas on each platform. Drinking fresh-squeezed fruit juices, we settle into a relaxing routine of running between the back deck and the feeders to the side. The back deck attracts plenty of hummingbirds, including White-whiskered and Stripe-throated Hermits, the jewel-bedecked Green-crowned Woodnymph, and a rare visitor, a Long-billed Starthroat that vigilant observers see briefly. At the bananas, the tanagers steal the show, with Blue-gray, Palm, Lemon-rumped, Golden, Blue-necked, and Silver-throated gorging themselves. Thick-billed and Orange-bellied Euphonias sit side-by-side on a feeder, providing a studied comparison. A new species for the trip, a group of Rufous-throated Tanagers comes in to feed together on a single banana.

The setting is so idyllic that Iain has a hard time ushering us all back into the bus. When we are finally seated, someone calls out that two Flame-faced Tanagers have come down to the bananas. Everyone piles back out of the bus and spreads out to get an optimal viewing position. It takes even longer to get us back into the bus the second time, but eventually we get on our way.

3 PM:

Choco Toucan. Photo by Ryan Merrill

When we arrive back at the reserve, rather than hiking back on the trails, we head back down the road again to try for more edge species. As we walk along, our attention is drawn to a bird flying up to the top branch of a long tree along the roadside. As we all get on it, we realize that we're looking at the bird that has gained near-mythical status over the course of the day – the Moss-backed Tanager. We watch this tanager for nearly twenty minutes as it flies from tree to tree around us, usually perching right out in the open. Iain thinks that a pair of them might be nesting in the tree we first walked by and he advises us to give that tree plenty of space. The Moss-backed Tanager is extremely range-restricted, and while it's not listed as threatened by the IUCN, its true status is hardly known.

As we continue to walk down the road and along trails around the reserve, Mark and José continue to demonstrate their great knowledge of the area and its birds. José leads us down a dry streambed to a series of bushes, where after a few minutes of calling, he coaxes out a silent but fearless Great Antshrike. Behind us, Mark calls out a pair of secretive Bay Wrens.

The sun is beginning to set, and the bird activity picks up accordingly. We find a stunning Chocó Toucan sitting alone in a giant Ficus, while a troop of Pale-mandibled Araçaris hop through the branches behind it. Two Rose-faced Parrots are found sitting side-by-side on an open snag, and we watch as they tenderly preen each other's necks. On the drive home there is still some daylight, and we stop to view a Striped Cuckoo sitting up on a power line. Later on, as people drift off to sleep, I laugh at the roadside birds I see out of the window – Chocó Toucans flying overhead and numerous Pacific Horneros sitting on fence-posts. This is certainly not Kansas.

Prologue – Day One – Day Two – Day Three – Day Four – Day Five – Day Six – Epilogue