Cloud Forest

Mindo - which bills itself as one of the birding capitals of the world - sits at about 1250m in a transition area between the higher altitude temperate zones and the lower humid tropical forests. This means that it encompasses a number of habitats and is home to some 370 species of birds.

When we arrived - on Saturday afternoon - and contacted a local guide, she recommended that we should start early on Sunday and that she would collect us at 5.20 am so that we could be in place in time to see the Cock of the Rock (Rupicola Peruvianus).

With such an early start, we decided to skip the street party which appeared to be developing as we left the Dragonfly Inn after dinner and were up and almost raring to go when Julia arrived to collect us.

After a 30 min drive in the rain, we arrived at the Refugio de Las Aves where we joined about 6 others in a slightly leaky hide and waited for the dawn to break. Sure enough - almost right on cue - the birds appeared in the trees in front of the hide.  No courtship rituals because the females failed to appear - they were probably having a Sunday morning lay-in - but really good view of a number of the male birds.

The guy next to me had a camera with a huge lens and was trying to get that perfect shot while the guide took my phone showed me how to take stills and also to get some video though the spotting scope - it may not win any awards but it's good enough for me.

As a bonus Julia and I also spotted a Resplendent Quetzal while everyone else was focused on the Rupicola's.