Day 1: Sachatamia Lodge (Mindo cloud forest) - Monday January 22nd 2018
Today was an acclimatisation day after the previous day's long journey and a 5 hour change in time zone. Sachatamia is at 1700m altitude but we didn't find any problems adjusting to that and the temperature was comfortable. We were up soon after dawn, did some pre-breakfast birding around the lodge, had breakfast whilst observing the hummingbird feeders, then did some morning birding looking at the tanager feeders and walking a trail to the nearby river. After lunch the clouds began to roll in, as is usual in the cloud forest, and then we had the first of only two bits of rain that interfered with our activities during the whole trip. We took shelter in a lean-to overlooking the forest where we found a Long-wattled Umbrellabird eating a lizard - there is a lek for this species here but they are hard to observe.
Overall we managed to identify 57 bird species today, including 15 species of hummingbird and 15 species of tanager. 2 species were new for me - the previously mentioned Umbrellabird and Tawny-bellied Hermit.
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After dark many moths were attracted to the lodge's lights. I didn't have great success with photographing the moths, but I thought this flower was quite attractive.