Quality not quanity in the Chocó cloudforest
Heavy rain took a chunk out of the birding time today, but Scott, Alan, and Ruth managed some seriously rare birds. Now in this contest, common birds count the same as the rare ones, but the "toughies" do add some spice to the list and give them some bragging rights. Top of the list was a White-faced Nunbird, seen at the Paz de Aves reserve, known more for its antpittas than anything else. Antpittas turned out to be scarce today, with "only" Giant Antpitta turning up. Two scarce and beautiful Cotingas, Scaled and Orange-breasted Fruiteater helped make up for it, not to mention fantastic views of a covey of Dark-backed Wood-Quails. Later on at Pachijal they scored Esmeraldas Antbird and (finally) Golden-headed Quetzal, and a short stop near San Tadeo was enough to find some very wet and bedraggled Black-chinned Mountain-Tanagers, still pretty despite their soggy state.Total to date: 97124.1.08