We took another break from flogging Bosque Unchog to visit another site in the nearby area, Bosque Montepotrero, on the other side of the valley to Bosque Unchog. This forest is home to the Panao Antpitta, and is the only site on our itinerary where this species would be possible. Initially it was unclear how to access the site, but thanks to Gunnar Emblom for his information, we managed to get there. The car park was easy enough to find, but the site itself we found had a locked gate. With nobody in the administration office, we were left to climb around the gate to enter the forest.
On our way to the site we passed through a kilometre of
cultivated land. This had a typical array of Andean open country common
species, but also some excellent bonus birds including a smart Black-crested
Tit-Tyrant and a brilliant Curve-billed Tinamou, a real bonus bird for our
trip. We spotted the movement out of the corner of the field, and apparently
the bird saw us at the same moment as it quickly scampered up the field and out
of sight.
The forest itself had a brilliant trail running all the way
along it, and we spent the day birding this. The Panao Antpitta itself was very
easy to find, and over the course of the day we managed to locate eight
different birds, seeing five of them. One bird in particular was incredibly
showy, even hopping around the open trail right in front of us. Another bird,
for which I had entered the bamboo off the trail, gave us a full circuit around
checking me out, bouncing around in the open forest.
Although the Panao Antpitta showed brilliantly well, it was
usurped as the bird of the day around mid-afternoon, when we had a brilliant
encounter with an Undulated Antpitta on the trail in front of us. Although it
first looked like it had simply run off the trail, and that would be that, we
soon clocked that it kept returning and in the end we had half an hour of
watching the bird, on and off, as it fed on the open trail. It was always
distant, and often we walk around the corner of the trail to find that it had
emerged from the forest there, sometimes taking it completely by surprise. It
was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.
In terms of other birds, the forest was generally pretty steady. We saw at least five Tschudis Tapaculos, including one very showy individual right next to the trail. There were a few mixed-species flocks which were composed of generally common species at this altitude. There were many species of hummingbird around as well, with Sapphire-vented Puffleg being the highlight of those.
There was one other notable encounter during the day, when I turned a corner to find a Tyra running down the road towards me. Sadly it was a little too quick for photos, although it never seemed to notice me, it ran towards the bank and slipped away. Almost Pine Martin like, it was a brilliant encounter, just a shame I couldn’t manage any photos.
And that wraps up another excellent days birding. The Panao Antpitta now means we had managed to see every single Antpitta that is on our itinerary, a full set of nine out of nine. Although it seems unlikely, it would be nice to manage the same with the Tapaculos, tomorrow we will return to Bosque Unchog to find out!
Bosque Montepotrero: Curve-billed Tinamou, Andean Guan, Band-tailed Pigeon, Sparkling Violetear, Lesser Violetear, Tyrian Metaltail, Sapphire-vented Puffleg, Shining Sunbeam, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Mountain Velvetbreast, Variable Hawk, Yungas Pygmy Owl, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Aplomado Falcon, Undulated Antpitta, Panao Antpitta, Tschudi's Tapaculo, Streaked Tuftedcheek, Pearled Treerunner, Line-cheeked Spinetail, Red-crested Cotinga, Cinnamon Flycatcher, White-banded Tyrannulet, Black-crested Tit-Tyrant, Sierran Elaenia, White-browed Chat-Tyrant, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Great Thrush, Chiguanco Thrush, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Slaty Brushfinch, Citrine Warbler, Spectacled Whitestart, Superciliaried Hemispingus, Brown-flanked Tanager, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Chestnut-bellied Mountain Tanager, Blue-and-black Tanager, Blue-backed Conebill, Black-throated Flowerpiercer, Masked Flowerpiercer, Ash-breasted Sierra Finch, Plain-colored Seedeater,
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