Today we visited our second of the Jocotoco reserves, the dry Tumbes forest of Jorupe. Although normally a dry scrubby environment, the timing of our trip meant that the forest was in full bloom, with many flowers and fruits on offer, as well as plenty of foliage to obscure difficult species. This in turn meant many of our target species would be more difficult, but we were excited none the less to continue exploring this new environment. We had booked to enter the reserve only at 08:00am, but this information had not been passed onto the site management, so we did not make it up the lodge grounds until 08:30, when a passing local opened the gate for us.
Once inside we started exploring the trails and the road around
the lodge. The rest of the morning we birded uphill from the lodge, hearing but
not seeing many of our target species and generally finding proceedings quite
frustrating. We picked up many Gold-and-Grey Warblers, but other species were hard
to come by. Ecuadorian Thrush was an unremarkable new species for us, but
otherwise it was a composition of Tumbes species that we had encountered the
previous day. On the road we had a little more success, but by now it was already
late morning and quite warm. Still Pacific Elaenia was another nice, if not unspectacular
lifer.
After a short break in the lodge garden, we headed out to
track down our key target, the Watkins Antpitta. A single bird had been singing
all morning, although the valley had been echoing the call and making it
difficult to locate. We eventually tracked the bird down, but it was the most
frustrating bird I have ever dealt with in my life. We crawled on hands and knees
through the scrub to find its song-perches, but could never pick it up. In an
hour of stalking the bird, both approaching and with limited use of playback,
only I managed a glimpse of it, and only on two occasions. Fortunately we now
know where the territory is located, and can try again in subsequent days.
For the rest of the afternoon we decided to bird the road.
After a frustrating morning, with many target species still outstanding, we
finally managed to make good progress on picking up our remaining Tumbes
endemics. First we got landed the Henna-hooded Foliage-Gleaner, following by
Rufous-necked Foliage-Gleaner, followed by Speckle-breasted Wren. Satisfied
with our work, and it already being late afternoon, we wandered back to the
lodge to head back to the hotel, when two White-tailed Jay flew over us, one of
our most wanted species for the site. They perched well, allowing for excellent
views of this stunning bird.
Despite our labours through most of the day, we managed to
see a lot of the birds we wanted, and we have another full day tomorrow, with a
refined list of targets to work on. After some cracking pizza and beer, we took
our broken, mosquito-battered bodies to bed, ready for another long day.
-Pacific Hornero
Reserva Jorupe: Pale-browed Tinamou, Rufous-headed Chachalaca, Blue Ground Dove, White-tipped Dove, Striped Cuckoo, Squirrel Cuckoo, Amazilia Hummingbird, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite, Savanna Hawk, Pacific Pygmy Owl, Ecuadorian Trogon, Whooping Motmot, Ecuadorian Piculet, Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Grey-cheeked Parakeet, Pacific Parrotlet, Red-masked Parakeet, Collared Antshrike, Plain Antvireo, Watkins's Antpitta, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Red-billed Scythebill, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Streaked Xenops, Pacific Hornero, Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaner, Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner, One-colored Becard, Yellow-olive Flatbill, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Pacific Elaenia, Grey-breasted Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Streaked Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, White-tailed Jay, White-browed Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Fasciated Wren, Speckle-breasted Wren, Ecuadorian Thrush, Plumbeous-backed Thrush, Thick-billed Euphonia, Black-capped Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Scrub Blackbird, Tropical Parula, Grey-and-gold Warbler, Tooth-billed Tanager, Golden Grosbeak, Blue-grey Tanager, Saffron Finch, Streaked Saltator,
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