Bella Vista Cloud Forest

Our first organized activity in Ecuador was a trip to the Bellavista Cloud Forest northwest of Quito. We got to experience what a true "cloud forest" was. It is described in Wikipedia as "...generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montain, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level..." The Bella Vista Cloud Forest was rich in plant diversity as well as birds. While a few of the plant families were familiar, several were totally new to me. And the birds were, with the exception of one species, ALL new! Here are a few shots of what we saw there

Plants

One of only a few orchids we saw in flower

Bomarea pardina is in the Alstroemeriaceae family. I have been unsuccessful in finding any common names for the plant of for the family - but the search is not over.

Kohleria or Capanea affinis is in the Gesneriaceae (African violet) family and is epiphytic (lives off other plants).

Cavendishia nobilis is in the Ericaceae (heath) family

Another of the few orchids we saw in flower on this trip.

Oxalis in the Oxalidaceae (Oxalis) family

Hummingbirds

The diversity of hummingbirds in the Cloud Forest northwest of Quito is remarkable. In just a few stops we saw probably a couple dozen different species. Below are just a few of my better photographs of what we saw.