Birding this morning was a bit slow, as cloud forest birding can be. Jhonny (Toni and Eladio’s son) and I hiked up on the ridge here at the cabañas. We encountered a couple small mixed flocks, and teased out a couple new species. Lifer Lemon-browed Flycatcher and Pale-edged Flycatcher provided decent looks, along with a stunning Green and Black Fruiteater. I also continued to add to my list of heard-only birds with Blackish and Long-tailed Tapaculos. Tapaculos are notoriously difficult to see, though they can be quite vocal. I spent a great deal of time later this afternoon trying to see a Blackish Tapaculo and getting probably within a couple meters of it, but no luck seeing it through the tangle of chusquea bamboo.
Just before dark, I had some fun hand feeding hummingbirds. They have these little single port feeders that you can hold in your hand and stick out a finger, providing the hummingbirds with an obvious place to perch and drink. It’s pretty cool having six species of hummingbirds land on your finger in a span of about 10 minutes!
