Ecuador Day 3; Bellavista

  Now that our only true reservation in the area had been done, our time was a lot more flexible. We decided to go to the forest reserve around Bellavista as this was an area of pristine forest is home to a number of Choco endemics. Our most wanted of these was the Tanager Finch, a strange bird that has a very restricted range.

  Sadly we were unable to find it during our day birding there, but there were plenty of other species to enjoy as we walked along the road. We had fantastic albeit very obscured views of an Ocellated Tapaculo that refused to come out more into the open. There were also many Spillmann’s Tapaculos along the road but they were mostly reluctant to come to show. A brief White-throated Quail-Dove was another nice species for the elusive birds list, even though the encounter was brief and the views really poor. 

  In terms of the species that are key targets at this site, besides the Tanager Finch, we managed good views of Plate-billed Mountain Toucan which showed extremely well in the forest canopy. There were also a few Plain-tailed Wrens, plus a few Rusty-winged Barbtail and Western Hemispingus. Although it was not a key target, it was also nice to have good but brief views of Plushcap. Gorgetted Sunangel was a target I feared we would miss since we were not staying at the lodge and thus could not visit the feeders. Fortunately, there was nothing to worry about, as we encountered many on our walk along the road.

Species List:
Bellavista: Plumbeous Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, White-throated Quail-Dove, Gorgeted Sunangel, Speckled Hummingbird, Collared Inca, Buff-tailed Coronet, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Golden-headed Quetzal, Masked Trogon, Toucan Barbet, Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Streak-headed Antbird, Ocellated Tapaculo, Spillmann's Tapaculo, Montane Woodcreeper, Streaked Tuftedcheek, Rusty-winged Barbtail, Pearled Treerunner, Azara's Spinetail, Streak-necked Flycatcher, Cinnamon Flycatcher, White-tailed Tyrannulet, Tawny-rumped Tyrannulet, Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Brown-capped Vireo, Mountain Wren, Plain-tailed Wren, Sepia-brown Wren, Grey-breasted Wood Wren, Glossy-black Thrush, Orange-bellied Euphonia, Dusky Bush Tanager, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Three-striped Warbler, Russet-crowned Warbler, Slate-throated Whitestart, Spectacled Whitestart, Western Hemispingus, Blue-capped Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Palm Tanager, Golden-naped Tanager, Blue-and-black Tanager, Beryl-spangled Tanager, White-sided Flowerpiercer, Plushcap, Slaty Finch,