Mystery Owl...ECUADOR (23 Feb.)

After our late afternoon arrival, and with one of my photographers keen to get a shot of a cock-of-the-rock we headed in earnest down the trails at San Isidro to their "lek". Here ,on the east slope of the Andes, Andean Cock-of-the-rocks are a little different from the more familiar western ones around Mindo and Tandayapa. The males are flame orange, not scarlet red, and their leks are a little looser than in the west. We found two separate orange males and a deep maroon female watching their antics, as they called from various treetops to reveal their interest. Once it was too dark we returned to San Isidro for a wonderful dinner followed by their usual feature, their famous "mystery owl" that has been visiting for a number of years of an undetermined species.... Once everyone had retired to bed I managed to find a pair of them that were very vocal and kept landing side by side on a branch. Clearly breeding seemed to be in the air, and perhaps soon they will nest in the area?

More from San Isidro to come...