Altitude: 3,200-1,640 feet a.s.l.
Ecoregions: Foothill and Lowland Forest
New Hummingbird Species Seen: White-whiskered Hermit, Green Thorntail. Purple-crowned Fairy, Violet-bellied Hummingbird
Today we drove to Milpe and went down in elevation. The weather is much warmer and more humid and we drove through topography that is more rolling hills than steep mountains. We birded as we drove and even though there was lots of cleared land and cows (and Cattle Egrets) – we saw some wonderful birds including lots of Bronze-winged Parrots and a beautiful Rose-faced Parrot.
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| Looking out the window at our own private Garden of Eden |
My first impression of the San Jorge de Milpe Lodge is – a garden of Eden. There are butterflies and flowers everywhere. There are two lodges at this site. From our room at the new lodge we can birdwatch from our bed and see tanagers, hummers, Aracaris, and toucans.
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| Chestnut-mandibled Toucan seen from our bed!!! |
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| The distinctive white band and long tail of the Green Thorntail at a feeder. |
The flowers are so unusual and loaded with fast moving hummingbirds and blue morpho butterflies. This is truly a tropical rainforest setting. I am excited to see my first Hermit (a type of hummingbird) at this property.
Hermits make up roughly 10% of the hummingbirds we see in the tropics. They are unlike the other 90% in that they don’t stake out a territory of flowers and protect the nectar from others and they are not found in the canopy. They live in the understory of humid lowland forests and feed in a manner that is known as “traplining”. They visit flowers throughout the forest understory, like a trapper might run traps in Indiana. They fly long distances, visiting plants that produce just a few flowers at a time. This method of feeding requires speed and curiosity. Today, a White-whiskered Hermit flew right up to my face and then darted off. Hermits have long curved bills and the flowers of the understory plants often have long, curved tubular corollas. The co-evolution of these flowers and their pollinators is undeniable.
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| Note the curved bill of the White-whiskered Hermit behind the Green Thorntail |
The forests around this lodge are incredibly lush and birding on the trails takes much patience. My glasses and my binoculars keep fogging up from the humidity.
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| It is hot, humid and really feels like a rainforest at Milpe. |
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| Flower of a plantain tree |
We are hearing more birds than we are seeing and only the folks with the 18 inch lenses are getting quality bird pictures.
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| Jorge Sr. and Jorge Jr. have the right kind of lens for this place |
On Saturday the 18th we saw lots of ants moving across the trails. Leafcutter ants and others – it was a true swarm. There is a group of reclusive forest birds called antbirds that come out during ant swarms because the ants stir up other insects that they eat. We had a great antbird afternoon that day!
On our last full day at Milpe we hiked down to some waterfalls in search of the Green-fronted Lancebill and the White-tipped Sicklebill. These are both inconspicuous hummingbirds but we had heard they could be found on the flowers near these rushing mountain streams. We did not find the hummers but truly felt like we were in the movie Avatar as we explored the waterfalls and hiked along the edge of a huge forested canyon we affectionately called “Fern Gully”. Sometimes you don’t find the bird – but the journey is worth the effort.
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| Cloyce saw a "Jesus Christ Lizard" skipping across the water. |
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| In search of the Green-fronted Lancebill - no luck! |
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| After our search , we were sweaty, fogged up and the clouds rolled in. |
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| This Canyon truly looked like the setting for the movie "Fern Gully" and flocks of loud parrots just added to the image! |
Our last foray into the lowlands of the West Slope took us birding along the Pedro Vicente Maldonado Road. We saw three species of hummingbird but they were too fast to get any kind of photo. This truly tropical setting yielded lots of other birds that were lovely to behold. We had an especially good day for woodpeckers and other big birds. My most memorable species today included: Ruddy Pigeon, Pallid Dove, Blue-headed Parrot, Smooth-billed Ani, Pale-mandibled Aricari, Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Lineated Woodpecker, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Guayaquil Woodpecker, Pacific Antwren, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Dot-winged Antwren, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Snowy-throated Kingbird, Piratic Flycatcher, Golden-hooded Tanager, Scarlet-rumped Cacique, and Swallow-tailed Kite.
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| Green Thorntail (a hummer silhouette) perched along the PVM Road. |
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