Day 6: Travel to Milpe Sanctuary & Old Nono-Mindo Road
Since Milpe Sanctuary was much closer than Río Silanche, we were allowed a later start to the day and enjoyed a sit-down breakfast. Careful, José - you’re spoiling us!
Rain had not let up. Cloaked in our rain gear, we filed down to the bus and were soon headed back toward the sleepy village of Tandayapa and the paved highway. At the Mindo turnoff intersection, we stopped to explore the exterior of the local police station which had an all-night outdoor light. Like the lit feeder at the lodge hide, the light attracted moths which in turn attracted birds. It was easy birding as the moths were fairly low in the close vegetation - we didn’t have to crane our necks! Also a good thing since looking skyward when rain is falling is tricky at best. Added STRONG-BILLED WOODCREEPER, RED-FACED SPINETAIL, and ORNATE FLYCATCHER.
Pressing on we took a short bathroom break at a highway gas station. Rule of birding: Never leave the bus without your bins! While people relieved themselves, Richard and José found new birds: YELLOW-THROATED BUSH-TANAGER and PALE-VENTED PIGEON.
A little further down the road we took the Milpe turn-off just east of the town of Los Bancos. Milpe Sanctuary is in the Andean foothills sitting at about twice the elevation (3,650 feet) we had experienced at Río Silanche.
Immediately off the sanctuary parking area was a small visitor center, La Casa de Visita de Milpe. Ringed with hummingbird feeders it provided overhead shelter from the rain. As we waited under the shelter for rain to ease up, the feeders pulled in many of the regulars as well as new for the day: GREEN-CROWNED BRILLIANT and VELVET-PURPLE CORONET. A much closer look at a White-whiskered Hermit for those who had missed it earlier.
Finally, the rain let up enough for us to hit the trails. More muddy and slippery trails. Some sections were fairly steep and caution was the word of the day. Baby stepping down muddy slopes, with a few minor tumbles, we managed to pickup: SEPIA-BROWN WREN, PALE-VENTED THRUSH, BROAD-BILLED MOTMOT, SCARLET-BACKED WOODPECKER, GREENISH ELANIA, and heard but did not see OCELLATED TAPACULO. Finally, we caught sight of GOLDEN-HEADED QUETZAL!
Located not far from the visitor center was a large roof-covered concrete slab with a convenient nearby baño. The slab was a good place to sit and read various posted signs containing notes about the habitat and pictures depicting wildlife one might encounter within the sanctuary. The shelter, situated on the edge of a cleared slope, afforded a distant view of the surrounding terrain. At one moment it almost seemed as though there would be a break in the clouds. Almost.
Continuing on, we came across a CLUB-WINGED MANAKIN lek with excellent views of the males “singing with their wings” for any interested females. Male Manakin (nearly 40 species of Manakin exist in the world) use their feathers to create unusual sounds and tones during courtship displays.
We slip-slided our way back to the visitor center where a local MCF sanctuary caretaker was on hand to show us some of the gift shop articles for sale - mainly T-shirts. It was also time for lunch. Niko retrieved our box lunches from the bus. Sanctuary tables and chairs were put to use as we spread out to eat and of course continue to monitor the feeders and surrounding vegetation. BUFF-FRONTED AND LINEATED FOLIAGE-GLEANER, FAWN-BREASTED TANAGER, RUFOUS MOTMOT, PURPLE HONEYCREEPER, OLIVACEOUS PICULET, CHOCO WARBLER, DUSKY-CAPPED and ACADIAN FLYCATCHER, and RUFOUS-THROATED TANAGER.
The rain appeared to let up again let up so we tried roadside birding, but, it quickly reformed and we retreated to the shelter of our bus. José and Richard suggested an alternate plan: drive into Los Bancos where they knew of a small restaurant/lodge where we might have some hot coffee, tea or perhaps a cerveza or two!
At Los Bancos we pulled into the Mirador Río Blanco’s narrow parking lot, parked, and filed through the main entrance. We discovered, much to our delight, a row of tables and chairs along a wall of large windows that looked out onto a collection of eye-level hummingbird and platform feeders. We quickly commandeered the tables. Staff took orders for beverages and dishes of helado (ice cream). More staff bustled outside to replenish the feeders which quickly attracted the attention of birds we had seen before but never tired of seeing again. Specially at such close range: PALE-MANDIBLED ARACARI, BLACK-CHEEKED WOODPECKER, GOLDEN, COMMON BUSH- and BLUE-GRAY TANAGER. We added an ORANGE-BILLED SPARROW and CRIMSON-RUMPED TOUCANET.
We feel safe in speaking for the entire group: birding from a warm comfortable location while sipping hot beverages and slurping ice cream was a definite plus! Rain, as a constant companion on a birding trip, can wear on a person after a while. This was a much needed break.
The “mirador” (overlook) for which the restaurant is noted is from a large outdoor wooden deck and a series of patios situated at various levels. Birding from these would have been a plus. On a drier day.
Departing Mirador Río Blanco we drove to the Mindo turn-off at the police station intersection. Following another turnoff we found ourselves on another section of the Old Nono-Mindo Road. We alternatively rode and and walked stretches of road, trying to catch sight of vocal but elusive TOUCAN BARBET with no luck sighting any. We did find PLUMBEOUS PIGEON and a heard only YELLOW-COLLARED CHLOROPHONIA. And the rain kept falling.
As we rounded a corner where just a few days earlier, we had observed a lovely hillside waterfall, now, the waterfall was a raging torrent. More troubling was to find debris blocking the road. Water rushed across the road’s surface and disappeared over the road’s edge into the jungle below. Hmmmm, we had a bad feeling about this.
Judging from the amount of debris, we wondered about the stability of the road. We would either have to turn the bus around and retreat the several kilometers we had already traveled (which would have required a good deal of backing up on a narrow winding road), or, assuming the road was still structurally sound, we could try and dislodge enough debris to make it passable. Niko walked out to survey the scene. He deemed the road surface to be sound. He and José suggested that we try to move enough debris - mainly a large water-logged tree trunk - for the bus to navigate around.
With no little degree of difficulty the large tree trunk was muscled aside to would allow the bus to squeeze past. As an added precaution, José asked everyone to walk across the questionable section of road, concerned it might not support the bus’s weight. He didn’t have to ask twice. Joan was already waiting on the far side. Niko expertly maneuvered the bus across and we re-boarded, grateful that the situation wasn’t any more dire than a minor inconvenience.
We pretty much stayed on the bus all the way back to the lodge, then zig-zagged up the now all too familiar concrete steps in a pouring rain. Owing to the amount of mud and silt at the road washout, our boots were covered in mud. We were directed to an outdoor hose which did the trick. But by now our clothing was so thoroughly wet. Would we ever dry out?
There were a few new guests at the lodge that evening. A couple from Virginia touring on their own. We enjoyed a long, leisurely meal, spiced with lively conversation about how Richard came to live and work in Costa Rica and about how his new Costa Rica bird field guide had come into being.
After we tallied our daily bird checklist (101 day total/29 new to trip total), José informed us that the next day we would depart Tandayapa Lodge, bound for the other side of Papallacta Pass and the Termas de Papallacta Lodge. Because we would be stopping at Paz de las Aves for most of the morning, we faced a rather long travel day. So of course, another early departure was in order. We needed to have our bags packed and positioned near the lodge’s front door before breakfast so that lodge staff could haul everything down to the bus. By now everyone had accumulated quite a bit of dirty laundry. At Termas, there was the promise of laundry service!
Rain was still falling. Hopefully the next day might prove a little drier? Note: As I’m writing this entry to the journal (Sunday Feb 17, 2008) now back in Wisconsin, I’m observing a day-long winter storm with near white-out conditions blows outside our Appleton home. The current outside temperature? 30-degrees (F) with a 20-degree (F) windchill. And I had the nerve to complain about rain in Ecuador?
