10 February 2013

Mid-trip tiredness was definitely starting to set in today, and no doubt was related to yesterday's drenching. This morning however, the sky was clear and it looked as though we might have a good day, provided it didn't get too warm or start raining. I woke at 5:15am, and by 6:30am we were birding the trails around the lodge. Green [Inca] Jay was the first bird of the day, followed by other good sightings such as Blackish Tapaculo, Long-tailed Antbird, Powerful Woodpecker, Tawny-bellied Hermit, Golden-crowned Tanager, Pale-edged Flycatcher, and Masked Trogon. At 7:30am we headed to the antpitta feeding stations, where at the first one we had a good display of two White-bellied Antpitta's. At the Peruvian Antpitta feeding station we had a no-show.

Continuing along the trails we found Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher, Olive-backed Woodcreeper, Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant, Flavescent Flycatcher (lifer), Sulphur-bellied Tyrannulet (lifer) and Barred Becard. By now the forest was becoming muggy, and cloud was starting to build with imminent rain on the horizon. Still, we pushed forward and picked up more great birds such as Capped Conebill, Bronze-olive Pygmy-Tyrant, Pale-eyed Thrush (lifer), Spotted Barbtail (lifer), Yellow-vented Woodpecker (lifer), Golden-headed Quetzal, Squirrel Cuckoo, and Andean Motmot. After completing a large circuit we arrived back at the lodge and picked up some common birds around the feeders and gardens. We then headed down another trail, which was relatively short and unproductive, yet yielded a couple of excellent birds such as Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia (lifer), and Long-tailed Tapaculo (lifer).

After a nice lunch and a bit of a rest we finished the day working the road where we went yesterday evening. As a group we seemed a lot less focused on birding, and actually spent some time talking to each other more than usual. And perhaps not surprisingly, we saw several good birds in what I saw as a more "relaxed"stated of mind. Species included Slate-crowned Antpitta (lifer), Crested Quetzal (lifer), Striped Treehunter (lifer), White-capped Parrot (lifer), Golden-collared Honeycreeper, and Golden-naped Tanager (lifer). After dinner we ended the day with fantastic views of Black-banded Owl.

Total species today: 70
Total cumulative species for the trip:  239
Total lifers today:  11
Total cumulative lifers for the trip: 63