Michigan Hummingbird Guy: August 2018

If you want to catch up on previous posts about this trip, go to the following links:

Peru Trip Day 1
Peru Trip Day 2

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All day today was spent at Waqanki Lodge and surrounding forests.

Waqanki Lodge

The lodgings were very nice, clean, and roomy, with reliable electricity and wifi, with the best benefit being the forest being right outside our back door.

Waqanki Lodge

After breakfast, we walked up a trail, through an orchid garden, to a multi-level observation tower where we spent the entire morning.

Orchid sp. in Waqanki orchid garden

Because the tower was so closely surrounded by trees, it was not possible to get a decent photo of the structure. But with the fruiting and flowering trees, and hummingbird feeders all around, there were many great photo opportunities. As mentioned in the last post, I shot over 1000 images on this day, which is my excuse for including so many photos in this post. I really like flycatchers, but not too many birders do, and even fewer photographers. I was happy to have this cooperative Small-billed Elaenia lingering at eye level for quite a while, as I had not seen it this well before.

Small-billed Elaenia

Tanagers were the second priority for photographers (and birders) on this trip, after hummingbirds. We did see a few this morning, but most were disappointingly distant, so I managed passable photos (and cropped here) only of Blue Dacnis (yes, they're tanagers now), Blue-necked, and Paradise Tanagers.

Blue Dacnis, male.

Blue-necked Tanager

Paradise Tanager

Blue-gray Tanagers are common throughout the tropics, and here were represented by a subspecies with white "shoulders", and was the only tanager that approached us closely today.

Blue-gray Tanager

It was the hummingbirds that were the stars of the show this morning, with 15 species observed. Some of them were real camera hogs! As at many tropical sites, the White-necked Jacobin is a very common and dominant species, and that was also the case here. We saw more females here than we did at feeders the previous two days, and when a brief rain shower came through one male sat out in the open on a small branch, taking a bath!

White-necked Jacobin, female

White-necked Jacobin, male

The white neck patch is not always visible on the males.

White-necked Jacobin, male

White-necked Jacobin, male bathing in rain

The Golden-tailed Sapphires, which had been very common at the Koepcke's Hermit feeding station, were equally common here but much more cooperative for photos. The males would sit on an open branch, spread their tails, and give a nasal, squeaky call that technically could be called a "song".

Golden-tailed Sapphire

The very large Gray-breasted Sabrewing was less common here than at the Koepcke's Hermit station, but provided some decent chances for photos.

Gray-breasted Sabrewing

Some species we saw at the Koepcke's Hermit station made fleeting appearances today, including Brown Violetear which was difficult to photograph because of its unpredictable, quick, darting flight at the feeders.

Brown Violetear

Great-billed Hermits were a bit more frequent here but they too had an unpredictable flight pattern at the feeders, and like the Violetear, almost never perched.

Great-billed Hermit

The coloration of hermits is generally rather dull, and the only bright spot on this Great-billed Hermit, the yellow on its crown, was from flower pollen!

Great-billed Hermit

A White-chinned Emerald only made fleeting appearances today, and a Sapphire-spangled Emerald only came in once.

White-chinned Sapphire

Sapphire-spangled Emerald

A Long-billed Starthroat made several appearances, but stayed in the top of a nearby Inga tree where it fed on the flowers there, and not coming in to the feeders.

Long-billed Starthroat

Fork-tailed Woodnymphs were fairly common here, and unlike some of the other hummingbirds, they had a more predictable feeding style that allowed us to aim at a spot above the feeder where they would habitually return to, hovering momentarily before dipping back down to the feeder.

Fork-tailed Woodnymphs

The home-made feeders at Waqanki were simply two bowls, one face up nailed to a 4x4 wooden post, with another bowl upside down on top of it, with access ports drilled into it. The bright colors of the Fork-tailed Woodnymph are both breathtaking, and outrageous!

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

The real star of the morning was the tiny Rufous-crested Coquette. Every few minutes, one would perch well in the open, and close by, causing a barrage of photos to be taken by all tour participants. Despite deleting photos of empty branches after the bird flew, or out of focus shots, I still ended up with more than 450 images of this species just from today. After editing them over the past week, I still have over 200 "keepers", of which 11 are included below as a representative sample.

Rufous-crested Coquette

There are no field guides that I have seen that show all the details of this species' throat pattern correctly. It was a challenge getting photos where the center of the throat was showing iridescent green instead of black.

Rufous-crested Coquette

Flight photos of the coquette were difficult, as it would visit the Verbenas near the ground, when I was up on the second level of the tower, which is why the flight shot below looks a little strange. It was taken from above, looking almost straight down on the bird.

Rufous-crested Coquette

We had a surprise visit by a species that is considered very rare at this site, but gave us excellent and repeated views; the elegant Black-eared Fairy.

Black-eared Fairy

The fairy's fancy tail was best seen, but only briefly, when it dove down to drink from the feeders.

Black-eared Fairy

When it rained briefly, its bathing posture was different from the White-necked Jacobin. The Fairy sat still on a branch and pointed its bill at the sky, and fluffed out its feathers, allowing the rain drops to trickle all around and through its feathers.

Black-eared Fairy

A few purple feathers at the corner of its cheeks made for a nice accent to this mainly green and white hummingbird.

Black-eared Fairy

After lunch, we spent some time wandering around the gardens, and checking the fruit feeders which had not been stocked with bananas until our arrival. So, the tanagers were slow to arrive, with only the Purple-throated Euphonias (now classified with the goldfinches and siskins) making an appearance.

Purple-throated Euphonia

The common thrush of the area, Black-billed Thrush, was seen in the gardens as well as in the vicinity of the feeders, picking up scraps of banana from the ground below.

Black-billed Thrush

Butterflies that were seen in the gardens included a common tropical species, the White Peacock, as well as an unidentified species of long-tailed skipper.

White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)

[Hesperiidae] Long-tailed Skipper sp.

A species of satyr (Satyriidae) was very common.

[Satyriidae] Satyr sp. (upper side)

[Satyriidae] Satyr sp. (under side)

An afternoon walk on the roads near Waqanki was somewhat productive for birds, but not photos, as it rained off and on while we were out. After dinner, retiring to our rooms, I spent some time photographing the moths and other insects around the lights.