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...two travellers in search of the world's wildlife
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24 July 2011

Birds, etc

Ecuador, Photos

Our final wildlife watching fling for the year was around Mindo, really not very far from Quito. The cloud forest is a beautiful and mountainous area, widely thought of by many people as the most diverse area for birds in the whole world.

The cloud forest above the distant town of Mindo, a wonderland of wildlife
The forest contains a bewildering variety of plants and flowers
Which draws forth an artist\'s palette and an inventor\'s workshop of insects and other bugs
There are mammals in the forest too, though the only one we saw on our morning walk was this squirrel
What the verdant plant-life and rich insect-life really bring forth in profusion are birds
Some are made of muted colours, like this Slaty-headed Flycatcher
Or these Dark-backed Wood-quails, pecking around on the forest floor
But most, like the Orange-bellied Euphonia, are riots of colour
This tiny fellow is the Ornate Flycatcher - I lose track of how many flycatchers and tanagers we saw
So let\'s have a quick hurrah for the humble tanager! This is the Beryl-flecked Tanager
And this is the Blue-grey Tanager - very inventive name
And doing his best to mimic a banana, the Golden Tanager
Bigger birds are equally colourful - this is a Broad-billed Motmot
And these are the Cock-of-the-Rock, trying to outdo each other in bright colours and making silly noises
Perhaps my favourite, the Toucan Barbet - he\'s a barbet, not a toucan, it should probably be \'Toucan-like Barbet\'
This is a toucan, the Pale-mandibled Aracari
Closely related, this is the Red-rumped Toucanet. Yes, I know the only bit not visible is the rump
Some of the largest birds in or above the cloud forest are raptors, of course - the Barred Hawk
And this is the Double-toothed Kite, expert in small lizard gobbling apparently
From large to tiny, if there\'s one thing the cloud forests of Mindo are famous for it is hummingbirds
Minature perfection, I can\'t understand how they can even exist
But at the various places where feeders are put out, they exist in a profusion of numbers and species
This is the Booted Rocket-tail, winning both the \'Best Name\' and \'Funkiest Shape\' award among the local hummingbirds
But my favourite is this one, the beautiful... erg. It\'s horrible not having a bird book. I\'ve forgotten which one it is
But just look at the incredible detail in a little bird about the size of your thumb (tail excluded)
A few birds can be found at night, and a quick wander around the Yellow House garden found us this Common Potoo
Also this spiffy little green frog
And this wonderful looking warty toad
And even one final mammal for our year-long list, the Four-eyed Opossum

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