Mindo is a rural parish about 90km to the west of Quito.
It is a budding eco-tourism attraction as it lies close to the Mindo-Nambillo Protected Forest - a reserve for birds and butterflies.
Although we had arrived in the minute one-horse town of Mindo quite late the previous evening, we were up at the crack of dawn, to go to a special birding site. This is what our early morning walk looked like - dark enough to use headlights! As we were in a cloud forest, it was wet enough to wear rain trousers.
Wait for me!!! A narrow bridge over a rushing stream.
Our guide, Marcello Arias, and the owner of the farm (whom we had to pay USD$5 each to enter his property) smile for me in the dark.
Although we had arrived in the minute one-horse town of Mindo quite late the previous evening, we were up at the crack of dawn, to go to a special birding site. This is what our early morning walk looked like - dark enough to use headlights! As we were in a cloud forest, it was wet enough to wear rain trousers.
Wait for me!!! A narrow bridge over a rushing stream.
Our guide, Marcello Arias, and the owner of the farm (whom we had to pay USD$5 each to enter his property) smile for me in the dark.
The special bird we were stalking was the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. This is a special site because the male Cock-of-the-Rock has a “lek” here. This brightly coloured bird is extremely elusive, but when the males get together at their “lek”, they are so focussed on attracting their drab brown partners that they’re not very aware of birders. Females appear very seldom, but the ritual “lek” is held at each sunrise. We could hear the birds calling to each other long before we reached the bird hide where we managed to get a glimpse of two birds flitting through the bush - how exciting!
The first photo is what we actually saw and the next two photos are enlarged versions. Certainly not prize winning photos, but proof that we saw the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock special bird - a mega tick!!
The first photo is what we actually saw and the next two photos are enlarged versions. Certainly not prize winning photos, but proof that we saw the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock special bird - a mega tick!!
The plants in the cloud forest were magnificent – the
perpetual damp encourages vigorous growth. On our way down the mountain, it was light enough to take some good photos of some the bromeliads and of the surrounding.
Pepe (the owner of Ecuagenera) who arranged the tour for us, has a wonderful sense of humour and easily gives his winning smile!
Our guide, Marcello Arias, really knew what he was doing. Here he is focused on calling a bird - a serious business!
See the next post at http://mi60mindobirds.blogspot.com/2012/04/mindo-birding-with-marcello-arias.html
to follow our other birding expeditions.
If you want to see the rest of our whole tour in Ecuador, then you can follow this link:
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