Our eagerly awaited day at Paz de Aves had arrived. Angel had told us that a tour group would be arriving in the night and that he would be accompanying them to the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek at 6am. He said that if we wanted to join them there that would be fine, but otherwise, having already spent time at the lek we could enjoy a leisurely breakfast and join them at 7am. We opted for the 6am start and were then surprised that there was no sign of the tour group. So was Angel, who decided to head down to the lek site a little earlier than planned in case they were there. We drove down at 6am and found Angel alone. After watching the lek for a short time we were keen to get going and, armed with some bananas, Angel took us to try for a covey of Dark-backed Wood-Quail but they clearly hadn't read the script! Next up, we tried the ravine for Maria, the legendary female Giant Antpitta. Maria failed to co-operate and Angel explained that she was feeding a chick and thought it the likely reason why she hadn't been performing. Angel then offered us the chance to try for another covey of Wood-Quail but warned us that he hadn't visited them for a while so was uncertain whether we would see them. We walked the trail without success, and whilst it eventually led to a blind overlooking another Cock-of-the-Rock lek, nice that they are, we weren't too keen to linger long! Angel told us to wait there whilst he disappeared off back down the trail alone. He soon reappeared keen for us to quickly join him - he had found a pair of Wood-Quail - something that we thought we would see rather easily had suddenly felt like a hard won success! On trying for a juvenile Common Potoo that had been sitting in the same tree for weeks - we found that it wasn't there! We then joined Angel's brother, Rodrigo, standing at the side of the road overlooking another ravine but the much hoped-for Yellow-breasted Antpitta didn't show. We were almost at the point of not knowing whether to laugh or cry! We had the Paz brothers to ourselves and yet we were struggling!! Angel asked if we would like to have breakfast or try for a male Giant Antpitta - no contest, breakfast it wasn't!! Off down a trail with both Angel and Rodrigo and we were soon enjoying views of a Moustached Antpitta performing well on the trail itself. They began to feed it some worms and a pair of Ochre-breasted Antpittas joined the action. Rodrigo then excitedly exclaimed 'Giant' and out hopped a Giant Antpitta onto the trail - despite its name, I could hardly believe how large it actually was! It stuck around for a while, took several worms and eventually hopped away up a vegetated slope - there was palpable relief all round! We continued along the trail seeing a pair of Golden-headed Quetzals and a Toucan Barbet at its nest hole. Angel again offered the choice of breakfast or an attempt at another Yellow-breasted Antpitta at a location where they felt they could also guarantee Chestnut-crowned Antpitta. We were only hungry for Antpittas so we drove to a higher elevation and parked at a locked gate. We entered some nice mossy forest.and Rodrigo soon enticed the Chestnut-crowned Antpitta into view whilst Angel had continued along the track. After a while Rodrigo suggested that we should join Angel in case the Yellow-breasted Antpitta was showing - it wasn't. Angel showed us the nest-hole of a Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan but the female wasn't at home although a surprise White-throated Quail-Dove was nice. We returned for a prolonged attempt at the Yellow-breasted Antpitta and it finally showed-up for its reward of earthworms. Brilliant! We continued along the trail and tracked down the pair of Plate-billed Mountain-Toucans before returning to the lodge for brunch! No sooner had we arrived back and it started raining. Our afternoon activities were limited to viewing from the observation deck although at times the rain even made that challenging. Heavy rain then persisted all evening putting pay to going out looking for Owls.
Cattle Egret 6
Black Vulture 6
DARK-BACKED WOOD-QUAIL 2
Band-tailed Pigeon 4
White-throated Quail-Dove 1
Rufous-bellied Nighthawk 2
Tawny-bellied Hermit 1
Green Violetear 1
Sparkling Violetear 2
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird 4
Andean Emerald 2
Speckled hummingbird 1
Purple-bibbed Whitetip 2 males
Empress Brilliant 2
Fawn-breasted Brilliant 6
Brown Inca 2
Velvet-purple Coronet 2
Booted Racket-tail 2
Violet-tailed Sylph 8
Purple-throated Woodstar 6
Golden-headed Quetzal 2 - a pair
Masked Trogon 2
Toucan Barbet 2
Crimson-rumped Toucanet 1
Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan 2 - a pair
Powerful Woodpecker 2 - a pair
GIANT ANTPITTA 1 male
Moustached Antpitta 1
Chestnut-crowned Antpitta 1
YELLOW-BREASTED ANTPITTA 1
Ochre-breasted Antpitta 2
White-tailed Tyrannulet 1
Streak-necked Flycatcher 1
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock 10 males
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Brown-capped Vireo 1
Swainson's Thrush 1
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Three-striped Warbler 2
Golden Tanager 2
Golden-naped Tanager 1
Beryl-spangled Tanager 2
Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager 4
Blue-grey Tanager 1
Lemon-rumped Tanager 1
Summer Tanager 1
Yellow-bellied Seedeater 1
White-winged Brush-Finch 6
Choco (Tricolored) Brush-Finch 1
Choco (Tricolored) Brush-Finch 1
Rufous-collared Sparrow 4
Male Dark-backed Wood-Quail at Paz de Aves
Female Dark-backed Wood-Quail at Paz de Aves
Pair of roosting Rufous-bellied Nighthawks at Paz de Aves
Male Powerful Woodpecker at Paz de Aves
Female Powerful Woodpecker at Paz de Aves
Male Masked Trogon at Paz de Aves
seeing the shape of an Antpitta or Pitta on a trail is always an exciting moment!
Moustached Antpitta at Paz de Aves
Dusky-capped Flycatcher at Paz de Aves
Male Black-and-white Becard at Paz de Aves
Male Barred Becard at Paz de Aves
Choco Brush-Finch at Paz de Aves
First-winter male Summer Tanager at Paz de Aves
