After we’ve eaten,
packed up, and collected our freshly washed clothes, Andy arrives. He’s the
bird guide in his father’s and uncle’s family business.
We drive past middle
of the world again and head up into the mountains, toward the cloud forest.
Our first stop is the Alambi Reserve where main attraction are the hummingbird feeders hanging in the garden. Not that the pink plastic feeders themselves are anything special, it’s the commotion of hummingbirds around them that’s eye-catching. A couple of dozen birds zip around the place, quietly squeaking as they go. It’s a complete whirl of motion. Some drink while hovering, others bother to perch for a moment. Between drinks they sit in the bushes, each bird always returning to exactly the same branch. Visitors can hold a small feeder in their hand to see the birds up close. You can even make out the bird’s tongue. Some briefly rest their tiny claws on your palm. Around your head it buzzes like a swarm of bumblebees. Supposedly these sugar addicts go through about sixty litres of sugar water a day between them.
There are separate feeding trays for the larger birds. Mostly various tanagers come there, but also barbets, euphonias, a great motmot, a turpial, and a squirrel. On the ground a giant rat, the agouti, snatches up fallen food.
By lunchtime we reach a place called Refugio Paz de las Aves, where we eat and settle in. Then it goes straight back into the forest. Here the woods are mossier and wetter, with more flowers. Birds can be heard but not seen. Andean cock-of-the-rocks are supposed to appear at one of the bird blinds. Instead, a turkey vulture arrives and sits in the middle of a palm. After a while there’s a burst of screeching, and the first red male flutters in among the leaves. It’s a very strange bird, looking as if it has two heads and almost no beak at all. A couple more individuals drift in, and then they sit there shouting at each other, practising for when the females arrive.
Our first stop is the Alambi Reserve where main attraction are the hummingbird feeders hanging in the garden. Not that the pink plastic feeders themselves are anything special, it’s the commotion of hummingbirds around them that’s eye-catching. A couple of dozen birds zip around the place, quietly squeaking as they go. It’s a complete whirl of motion. Some drink while hovering, others bother to perch for a moment. Between drinks they sit in the bushes, each bird always returning to exactly the same branch. Visitors can hold a small feeder in their hand to see the birds up close. You can even make out the bird’s tongue. Some briefly rest their tiny claws on your palm. Around your head it buzzes like a swarm of bumblebees. Supposedly these sugar addicts go through about sixty litres of sugar water a day between them.
There are separate feeding trays for the larger birds. Mostly various tanagers come there, but also barbets, euphonias, a great motmot, a turpial, and a squirrel. On the ground a giant rat, the agouti, snatches up fallen food.
By lunchtime we reach a place called Refugio Paz de las Aves, where we eat and settle in. Then it goes straight back into the forest. Here the woods are mossier and wetter, with more flowers. Birds can be heard but not seen. Andean cock-of-the-rocks are supposed to appear at one of the bird blinds. Instead, a turkey vulture arrives and sits in the middle of a palm. After a while there’s a burst of screeching, and the first red male flutters in among the leaves. It’s a very strange bird, looking as if it has two heads and almost no beak at all. A couple more individuals drift in, and then they sit there shouting at each other, practising for when the females arrive.
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