Tiguino

This is the second part of my Coca trip.
Well it wasn't exactly in Coca, but in Tiguino a very small village, with only a few workers there and an indigenous community of the Huaorani tribe at the end of the street. There's still very much rainforest around and much wildlife. My brother has some work there and had asked me, if I didn't want to come visit him there. So I caught a bus and after a 3 hours ride I had arrived there in the middle of nowhere.
It was already dark and time for dinner, so my brother brought me to a house where we could eat a bit of rice and talk with other people. My brother told me he had just seen some panther in the afternoon, so it seems there is very big potential in this area. I think it must have been a jaguarundi, but in his opinion my description of a melanistic jaguar fits better. We will probably never know...
So while talking with the other people who ate there I learned, that they knew a place where a few macaws would come and feed in a tree. We organized that they would take me with them and the next morning I met them to start one of the best trips ever in my opinion.
Two Macaws flying over. They like to fly very high but their calls reach very far so you can hear them clearly before you can n see them.

We arrived at the end of a street, where a small path went through the jungle. One of the men knew a bit about the animals here and showed me places where some animals had had their nests or a rest a few months before. He showed me the footprint of an Agouti and then we came to a clearing in the forest. We heard monkeys and the first birds we saw were two Red-and-green Macaws feeding in a tree, but taking of when I wanted to take pictures of them. We followed our way, because still hadn't arrived. Two White-throated Toucans flew over our heads. We arrived at the place where the men had seen the macaws the two days before but they still weren't so I tried to find other birds. I failed in the beginning, but found about 50 grasshoppers, with every step I did. There were brown, green, blue, yellow and even red grasshoppers around me.
Since there were no birds apart from a few Oropendolas and Troupials, I went back to the other clearing were the Macaws and Toucans had been. There I had some fantastic birding with more Macaws flying over, Lettered Aracaris in some trees, White-fronted Nunbirds gathering on empty branches and making much noise. But the best birds I think were the Purplish Jacamar sitting in a far branch and the group of Black-headed Parrots. They are just "wow", their colors are so beautiful. More interesting birds were a Yellow-backed Tanager, Crimson-crested Woodpecker and other rather common birds.
I hope you can see the Black-headed Parrots. There are two of them. I think Orange-headed Parrot fits better...

I went to look if the macaws had arrived in the other tree, but they hadn't so I went to walk back and bird along the road on which we had come. Just for coincidence I saw another toucan and trying to see him better I followed another trail. I didn't see it better, but didn't turn back and just followed the way. I came to a small river. Soon I turned back, but somehow got onto another trail, than the one on which I had come. I came to a place where heliconia-plants grew. There seemed to be bit of bird activity and soon I found the reason: a big antswarm. A few Sooty Antbirds tried to escape me and I tried to find more birds. After a bit of waiting they came.It were too many to identifie them all and I don't even have the field guide for the amazon, for which I'm searching since about 2 months!
I don't understand why the Sooty Antbird has this blue eyering?! But it makes it beautiful I think.

I remember a few antbirds of which the best was for sure the Fasciated Antshrike with its cool pattern. A few green Manakins caught my attention aswell as a pair of Gilded Barbets. A Green-and-rufous Kingfisher flew along the river and perched on a branch and the noise of the wings of a buff-tailed Sicklebill made me turn around and I got glimpses of the oddly-downcurved bill. 5 species of woodcreepers picked up the ants from the tree and a few Tyrannulets and antbirds from the ground and twigs.
After watching them almost two hours I went back. I came another time on another trail, not finding much more. Than when I was back on the road I saw Blue-headed Parrots in palms showing themselves very well. Then a pair of Red-bellied Macaws flew over the road and ended this very good day for me.
The Blue-headed Parrots liked those branches in the middle of the palms.

The next day I just birded along the road seeing Blackish Rail and Purple Gallinule aswell as Brown and White-eared Jacamars. There was not very much more so I caught another bus and went back to Coca, having experienced such an incredible trip with many very interesting birds. The macaws were for sure the best, but I won't forget the other parrots nor the Sicklebill, the Fasciated Antshrike and a few others...