Bella Vista Cloud Forest Reserve and the Milpe Sanctuary
During our stay at Tandayapa we took side trips to the Bella Vista Cloud Forest Reserve and the Milpe Sanctuary. At the higher elevations we were able to see some different species of birds.
I thought this bird was an Empress Brilliant hummingbird, but I was told it might actually be a Green- crowned brilliant.
This large attractive hummingbird is a male White-necked Jacobin. The approximately 12 cm long male-white-necked Jacobin is easy to identify with its white bell and tail, a white band on its nape and a dark blue hood.
Although this stunning hummingbird is one of the larger hummers, it only weighs about 7.4 grams.
Another Empress Brilliant (or Green Crowned Brilliant).
This Pale-mandibled Aracari showed up at the bird feeder. I wasn't very close to that area so I tried to photograph it through the trees not doing a very good job. By the time I made my way to the feeder, the bird had flown away.
I decided to stay at the feeder hoping the Toucan would return. In the meantime this Silver-throated Tanager showed up.
No Toucan yet, but an Orange-bellied Euphonia arrived on the scene.
Birding and bird photograph requires a lot of patience at times. Finally, one hour later, a Pale-mandibled Aracari( sometimes classified as a subspecies of the Collared Aracari) flew into the distant trees. Like other Toucans, the collared aracari is brightly marked and has a large bill. This species are unusual for Toucans in that they roost socially throughout the year, up to six adults and young sleep in the same hole with tails folded over their backs. Since the bird was very far away up in the trees the photo is very heavily cropped.
g A female White-lined tanager. Females are entirely rufous in plumage, unlike the males who are glossy black. These birds appear to be territorial, as only one nesting pair is usually seen in an area.
A Palm tanager. Adult palm tanagers are about 19 (7.5 in) long and weigh 36 g(1.3 oz) and are considered a medium size passerine bird.
A Green Crown Brilliant (female) hummingbird. This is a rather large, robust hummingbird and is also known as the green-fronted brilliant. The female differs from the male in that she has green-spotted white underparts, a white spot behind the eye and a white stripe below the eye. She also has a white-cornered shallowly-forkedblack tail. Unlike many hummingbirds, this one almost always perches to feed.
After going on field trips in the morning, we returned to the lodge for lunch and spent the afternoons back at the bird feeders photographing hummingbirds. The Booted Racket-tail is considered an Andean hummingbird. The male in the above photo has a short blackish bill, a metallic green body, black wings and an elaborate long and green tail. The "rackets" at the end of the tail are a beautiful blue colour.
An Andean Emerald hummingbird.
Buff-tailed Coronets.
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A Fawn-breasted brilliant in flight.
A view from the observation deck at the lodge.
Another view converted to black and white.
This Brown-billed Scythebill is a type of a woodcreeper. It has a long curved slender bill which allows it probe into hard to reach places such as cracks in the bark in order to find insects and spiders. This bird also has a very strong tail like that of a woodpecker that supports it on the trunks of trees as it searches for food. The woodcreeper was spotted from the deck at the lodge (not by me). Our group was really great- whenever, someone saw a bird they were happy to point it out.
This bird is a Slate-throated whitestart. The bird is a long tailed warbler measuring about 12 cm (4.7in) long and has a deep rufous head (which is hidden in this photo). It is dark black and has a contrasting bright yellow breast, belly and white vent and tail tips.
One last shot from the observation deck before we left the lodge. The clouds just kept rolling in. It was time to leave this spot and head to the our next lodge where we were going to spend one night.
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And last, Don, I am sorry to have a register a correction of a correction. That araçari is neither a Crimson-rumped (there is no araçari of that name) nor an Ivory-billed (which does exist but I don't think we saw any), but a Pale-mandibled (Marsha got that right) :-)....