New Reserve Managers- Tom y Freya!
After an swift afternoons induction with Kate and Jeff we are finally here and living on Reserva Las Tangaras! After months of questioning from friends and family as to where we will be living and what type of loin cloth we will be sporting we can safely say that Reserva Las Tangaras is most definitely a wild place, but the loin cloths and tarzan yodels can safely stay in their bags.
The Cabaña is an incredible structure, which you would never imagine to be found at the end of a 2 kilometre track through the Ecuadorian Cloud forest. I most definitely felt guilty for complaining about carrying 20 kilos into the reserve when I saw the amount of work that has been put into making the reserve the most perfect place. We still haven’t asked how they got the oven in there, but I expect there is a broken donkey somewhere about town….
After settling in for all of about 2 hours we were set straight to task with our first paying guests Susie and Erik from Holland. We had met them in Quito as we were about to leave for the reserve so it was really nice they decided to visit us. On Sunday we all took our first visit to the cock of the rock breeding site also known as the Gallos de la peña lek, where we saw at lead 15 birds displaying in full voice for a mate – 2 females turned up and the place went bananas. Susie and Erik forgave us for the 5am start and we all felt we had seen something really special! (We plan to blog about this phenomenon extensively – but need to get some better photos and hopefully a video!)
After this we took a slow walk down the mountain where we spotted this beautiful nest.
We think it belonged to one of these guys. We are aren’t sure if he is a rufous tailed Mot-mot or a broad billed Mot Mot. These are the types of things we have to think about these days! Maybe one of our readers knows?
Reserva Las Tangaras 
Looks like you’ll have to get out your big boys book of Ecuadorian birds to check. Looking forward to seeing some excellent wildlife pics in due course. Good luck. Dad
LikeLike
Hello Freya and Tom,
So glad you have finally got there, the pictures are lovely and we are looking forward to seeing more and more of them and to hearing all your news.
Love Granny and Grandpa
LikeLike
So glad you managed the treck carrying your stuff. Any good second hand donkeys for sale?Great pictures . Looking forward to seeing more.x mum
LikeLike
TOM & FREYA
Happy to see you have arrived and you seem to have settled in OK. The bird you illustrated(to my knowledge) appears to be a “What Not” not a Mot Mot, still, who am I to say.
Very nice to hear from you, enjoy yourselves, and I await your next instalment.
Granddad.
On Thu 07/03/13 20:18 , Reserva Las Tangaras comment-reply@wordpress.com sent: > WordPress.com > > reservalastangaras posted: “After an swift afternoons induction with > Kate and Jeff we are finally here and living on Reserva Las Tangaras! > After months of questioning from friends and family as to where we will be > living and what type of loin cloth we will be sporting we can safely ” > >
LikeLike
Hi Tom,
The photo above is the Broad-billed Motmot, green higher up the chest than the Rufous. If this is the same one hanging out in the camping area this week it’s my first sighting. Thanks for the hospitality and help with the hummers.
Cheers,
Richard Brown
Asheville, NC
LikeLike
Thanks Richard,
Glad you enjoyed your time at the reserve. This is the same fella we see almost every day at the lodge so its good to hear your view on the species we´re looking at. We think the same. It was following me around in the garden the other day (from a distance) waiting to pick up something tasty I think, just like a Robin in England!
LikeLike