Ecuador - from the high Andes to the Amazon basin (1 Viewer)

As the sun is rising the mist clears and it is getting a bit warmer. The sky turns pale blue with some cloud.

We keep seeing more good birds, and the scopes start to see some use, but photography is quite difficult, and I end up with few photos from this morning.
We have Opal-rumped Tanager, Plum-thraoted Cotinga, Many-banded Aracari, Ruddy Pigeon, Black-tailed Tityra and Gilded Barbet.

Three people join us briefly before moving on again - they are camping at the lodge, and they move around without a guide, os this does seem to be an option here for those so inclined.

When visibility has become good Carlos starts scanning with his scope, and triumphantly finds what he has been looking for: a young Crested Eagle sits out in the open, but a considerable distance from where we are. None of us was expecting one of the large eagles, so this clear if distant sighting brings a grin to all our faces.

It's turned out meanwhile that Jason seems to know just as much about the various birds as Carlos does, and he knows how to deal with a scope too. I talk to him about this at some point, and he is serving some kind of apprenticeship within their system.

The other groups comes by for a visit, and they are fortunate in that this coincides with a brief (and also distant and obscured) view of some red howler monkyes. It's a bit noisy while they're about, but they don't stay all that long and we have the tower to ourselves again.

A Greater Yellow-headed Vulture flies by, and we also see Masked Tanager as well as a Lafresnaye's Piculet, and a Slender-billed Kite is see flying. Heard birds while we were here are Blue-crowned Trogon, Orange-rumped Amazon and Purple-throated Fruitcrow.

Eventually it is time to go back down. On the way back to our canoe we find Long-billed Woodcreeper and a Grey Antwren, as well as a Golden-headed Manakin not too far from the path.

During the canoe ride back we see Green and Ringed Kingfishers, a Grey-headed Kite, several Hoatzin, Smooth-billed Anis, Little Cuckoo, Green-backed Trogon, White-eared Jacamar, and a Laughing Falcon on a dead tree.


Andrea

Red howler monkeys
View from the canopy tower
rainforest flowers
View from the canoe
glimpsed from the canoe

When we return to the lodge there's a roosting Tropical Screech Owl to be admired, and a Masked Crimosn Tanager near the feeder to be photographed.

It's quite warm now with the sun out. I return to my room and wash the insect repllent from my face and head. For a while there were quite a lot of small gnat-ty thing around us on the canopy tower. Then another very tasty lunch, and after that I decide to have a nap since I'm rather tired.

We get going again in mid-afternoon, where a second Tropical Screech Owl insists on being photographed. This is near the landing stage, and after we've done justice to this bird we go in the opposite direction, following the boardwalk as far as it goes, past the staff quarters, and into the forest again. It's pretty warm.

We find a Lineated Woodpecker and another Dusky-capped Flycatcher before it is time to become very quiet as we near a hide that looks over a manakin lek. Carlos has also collected som plants that he hopes will attract some birds. We wait in what's amazingly dark, given that it is broad daylight out. Eventually we make out the Wire-tailed Manakin
we were hoping to see, sitting very quietly in a tree. I take what are probably the worst pictures of an identifiable bird that I've ever taken - extremely grainy and full of noise (for some reason I was on entirely the wrong shutter speed and certainly not worth showing. Still, a lovely bird to see!

After this we continue down the path some more, with Carlos once again speeding ahead without worrying about how three Europeans more than twice his age will deal with the very uneven and slippery ground, but Jason faithfully tries to do what he can to help us. Still, this turns into a very successful outing with some additional very highly wanted Amazonian specialties: Black-banded Woodcreeper, Dusky-throated and Cinereous Antshrike, Black-spotted Bare=eye, Screaming Piha and Purple-throated Fruitcrow are all seen by all of us.

We return to the lodge shortly before ti gets dark, exhausted but very happy with what we have seen. Time for a shower. I'm only getting cold water but given that we're in the middle of the rainforest this doesn't seem unreasonable. Later on I'm told that there's a defect in my cabin, and they move me into a different one the next day.

Another lovely meal and then it's definitely time for bed, having taken care of writing my travel diary and consolidating my bird list.

Andrea


Tropical Screech Owl
Masked Crimson Tanager
again
second Tropical Screech Owl

The following day was a complete wash-out as far as taking photos was concerned - but thankfully not as far as finding new birds went!

The standard Sani package appears to be a three night stay, which gives visitors two full days. It seems that one fo those days usually does include visiting the village where the locals reside who own the lodge collectively. Carlos said something along the line of: `We've got to do the visit but we're going to keep looking for birds and we'll keep the time doing the tourist-visits-village stuff to a minimum.' I'm pretty sure that that's what we would have done if the weather had been a bit more cooperative.

We have breakfast at 5.00 once more and then we journey on to the main river. So, into the canoes, Carlos and Jason paddle for half an hour, we walk along the board walk, and then we move onto a boat with an engine. Both groups are doing this today, but we have our own boat and do our own thing.

It's been raining all night and the skies look ominous. We first head for a known clay lick along the river. It's drizzling now as our boat driver keeps the boat at a suitable distance from the lick. Carlos spots a Chestnut-bellied Seed-eater and a Yellow-browed Sparrow for us, and there are Southern Mealy Amazons and Black-headed Partos on the lick.

The rain becomes stronger, and the other boat leaves the lick. We hang on, hoping that the weather will improve - not so much for our comfort but because the parrots have stopped coming, presumably sheltering from the rain somewhere. Eventually we give up and visit some islands in the river. We pick up Southern Lapwing and Collared Plover, Yellow- and Large-billed Terns and Yellow-headed Caracara as well as a Lesser Seedfinch in a bush and a fly-over Blue-and-Yellow Macaw..

Then the rain becomes strong enough to make bird watching futile, and for the first time the ponchos we were issued with when arriving at Sani come out. We pull these on and head for the village landing pier. It's still pouring down with rain so we do have a look around the hand-made souveniers, and then Fabrice puts up his scope and starts looking for birds from the shelter, which has a roof and low walls, but allows us to look in most directions.

We find an Oriole Blackbird, a Laughing Falcon, a Violaceous Jay, Pale-vented Pigeons, Chestnut-eared Aracari,, Giant Cowbird and Orange-backed Troupial all from this shelter.

Ar around 11.00 it stops raining and we gratefully set off for a known owl roost (but Carlos won't tell us which owl it is). We wakl along cleared ground that makes the local football pitch towards the forest. This allows us to pick up a few more birds, namely Yellow-rumped Cacique, a Black-billed Thrush and, rather more excitingly, a Buckley's Forest Falcon that flies in to perch on a bare tree not too far away, allowing us to study it fairly thorougly. There are some fairly annoying insects around - presumably they too are trying to make the most of the dry period.

Other birds we see on this little walk are Great Kiskadee, and a bird that for some reason (almost unbelievably) escaped me in the Pantanal last year: A Boat-billed Flycatcher. Some White-banded swallows fly over.

Then the rain starts again, very heavily, and Carlos parks us under a tarp that belongs to some villager while he goes o check out whether the owl is in residence. Apparently this is not so and we don our ponchos once again to return to the village.

Now is the time for the `traditional cooking' demonstration. Jason translate that what is being prepared here is fish and palm hearts rolled into leaves and cooked over an open fire, plantains, impressively large grubs that shrink when they're being roasted, and roasted nuts of some kind. After the explanation we're invited to taste these, but for those who prefer there's also a more Western-type lunch prepared by Sani lodge available.

It's still raining, and we watch the other group arrive and go through the same procedure. We eventually leave them behind, Carlos being on a mission to find us some more birds! The plan for the rest of the afternoon is to visit more of the little islands in the Napo river to pick up more birds. Fortunately for us the very heavy rain does not return, and while there is more on and off it doesn't hamper us too much.

These islands don't seem to be visited very often, and we traip around through the vegetation hunting for more birds. And it's certainly worh it! We find Spot-breasted Woodpecker, a distant Great Egret flies by, then there is a Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, a Grey-capped flycatcher, a Crested Oropendola, a Speckled Chachalaca, and an Orange-headed Tanger. There's one endemic bird we all want to see here, that only occurs on these river islands, and eventually we find it: An Olive-spotted Hummingbird! Elated grins all round.

We are not quite done yet, and in the course of the afternoon we also pick up Greater Ani, Amazon Kingfisher, Magpie Tanager, Greyish Saltator, Little Woodpecker, Chestnut-bellied Seed Finch and Red-capped Cardinal.

When we get back it's around 16.00 so we have been giong for more than 10.00 hours. I move huts, have a lovely shower (I can certainly feel the differnece to the previous one), and then it starts to rain again. The day ends with another lovely dinner.

Andrea

Sounds like a terrific trip.

I am blown away by the hummer shots and love the second Screech Owl photo.

Cheers
Mike

Thanks very much, Mark - always nice to hear people are enjoying my musings and photos.

Unlike everybody else who arrived with me I'm here for three nights - the others are leaving today. Carlos has a plan that will give all of us a way of making the most of the situation. We will all go to the canopy tower together, then Jason will take back Fabrice and Claudine so that they can join the boat that will take them back to Coca, and then Jason will return to pick up me and Carlos.

So once again, breakfast at 5.00, off in the canoes. We see a Pauraque fly by, and there's enough light to make out a Boat-billed Heron . The once more along the trail to the towerAfter the amount of rain that fell yesterday this trail is in pretty bad shape, but Jason does what he can to find us alternatives in the worst spots. Then we climb up the tower again and start to look for birds.

Once again the sky is grey and we can see the water that fell yesterday starting to rise to the sky again. The Great Potoo is still in residence and always allows photos to be taken even if nothing else is around.

Some of the birds we see are once again further away then we would like them to be for photography, but nonetheless we pick up differentspecies at a reassuring rate, and some of those are new. Lemon-throated Barbet, Black-faced Dacnis, Purple-thrated Fruitcrow, Slender-footed Tyrranulet are seen early on.

Then a group of squirrel monkeys makes itself known into our vicinity, and we have the odd experience of looking down at them as they jump across from one tree to the next. They are quite small, and invisible until they actually jump, so getting a photo of this is very difficult. I end up with one very blurry one - pre-focussing the camera clearly didn't work here!

The young Crested Eagle is on the same perch as last time, and once again we have decent scope views. We hear a Speckled Chachalaca and see a distant Blue-throated Piping Guan, and a slightly closer Golden-collared Toucanet.

Southern Mealy Amazons and Blue-and-yellow Macaws fly by in the distance, and once again in the outer branches of our host tree we have both Orange- and Rufous-bellied Euphonias for a visit.

A Lettered Aracari finds some fruit in our host tree, but again stays a fair way away from the platform and the light is difficult for photos. A Plum-throated Cotinga gives the same problems. Still, at lesat I can record some of what I'm privileged to see here!



Andrea

Very blurrly squirrel monkey
still quite distant Golden-collared Toucanet
Lettered Aracari
Plum-throated Cotinga
Rain-forest view

Birds keep coming to pay us a viist. There's a Yellow-bellied Dacnis, some Crested Oropendola, and a fly-by Slate-coloured Hawk. A Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher and a Sulphury Flycatcher.

Then it is time for Fabrice and Claudine to leave, and we wish each other well for our subsequent travels. Carlos leaves with them to take them to the canoe and for a while I have the tower all to myself. It's lovely to have complete quiet up here, and to see what else might turn up.

A Greyish Mourner very cooperatively comes in close happy to pose for me. I take a whole series of pictures of this very confiding bird. Then another really nice bird arrives just for me, it seems: A Yellow-billed Nunbird, in the outer branches but thankfully not against the bright sky.

I find a Streaked flycatcheramd then a Black-headed Parrot pays me a visit. And then another surprise - the Great Potoo actually moves, preening itself for a little bit before once more assuming its usual statuesque idenity.

Andrea

Greyish Mourner
again
Yellow-billed Nunbird
Black-headed Parrot
Great Potoo

A Squirrel Cuckoo gets me excited for a little while by only making parts of it visible until I realize it's this common species rather than something rarer. A Greater Yellow-headed Vulture flies over quite closely, whereas the Black and Turkey Vutlures which we also see in the course of the morning are rather distant.

A Sulphury Flycatcher is too quick for my camera, and a Gilded Barbet also does not want to be photographed. A largeish group arrives and my peace is over.

Carlos returns in time to identify a fly-by Ornate Hawk-Eagle, and at around 11.00 we leave the tower. On the way back I try to take some `rainforest detail' pictures but I'm not that happy with the results.

The lodge is very quiet now that most of those staying have left, and the new guests haven't arrived yet. We have lunch, just the two of us, which is a bit weird.

Andrea

Greater Yellow-headed Vulture
Fern on the forest floor
Carlos trying to aviod the worst fo the mud - but the picture doesn't really show the ground that well
the lodge's landing stage

The plan for the afternoon is to go for a paddle around the lagoon with the specific aim of taking pictures. Whereas before Jason has been in the front, and Carlos in the back, of the canoe, I now get the front seat to ensure that there is nothing in the way. The seat is a bit low, but other than that it's a nice position to have.

I got the impression that birds here are shyer than those I saw in the Pantanal last year, being unwilling to let even a quietly drifting cano get all that close, so this session isn't as successful as I had hoped. Nonethless it's a very enjoyable way to spend an anfternoon.

We move past some Grey-breasted Martins and White-winged Swallows and have a look at an Amazon Kingfisher. I can't quite get an angle where the branches of the bush it is sitting in don't interfere.

We then target a Cocoi Heron, which flies off before we get all that close. A nearby Striated Heron is more patient with us, but I can't make the very messy background work.

Then a Hoatzin is the exception to the rule, being completely unconcerned by our presence, with the sun shining on it to bring out all its colours. There's still a branch where I'd rather not have one, but judicious cropping gives quite a nice result. Eventually it does fly off, giving us a good view of its conspicuously rust coloured underwings as well as the yellow tips of the tail.

Another bird of the same species gives me a sort of arty `flying off' picture, which isn't as sharp on the bird as it needs to be.

Next are two posts in the water with roosting bats (sorry, no clue regarding species). Diappointingly I find later that for some reason these aren't as sharp as I was expecting them to be in the good light.



Andrea

Amazon Kingfisher
Cocoi Heron
Hoatzin
again
bat

We keep going into the open part of the lagoon, where there are reeds rather than forest and mangroves bordering it. There are a few clouds now and the sun is rather low. A black cayman is seen, but these seem to not like to linger, and only show a very small part of themselves above the surface of the water. The camera is hunting for focus and not hitting the right spot.

A Black-capped Donacobius and a Lesser Kiskadee are too high up in some bushes to provide good opportunities.

A Grey-capped Flycatcher on a dead branch is quite cooperative, letting us drift by closely as it keeps looking out for insects. A Social Flycatcher and a Smooth-billed Ani are seen only briefly.

Then it is time to turn back as dusk is definitely approaching now. Two Black-crowned Night-herons have decided it's time to leave the roost and to get going. A Zigzag Heron calls, but will have to stay on the `heard only' list.

We get back as the sun is setting. Time for a shower, and then I need to pack before I leave the next morning. One last lovely Sani dinner, and now that he only has to speak English Carlos is becoming a bit more talkative.
Once the meal is finished the manager comes and delivers the great `tip speech', which is all about how you are supposed to show your appreciation for what you were allowed to experienced. This is probably the most blatant and detailed set of instructions for tipping I've ever heard. Why can't they set their fees so that the people who do the cooking and cleaning are covered? Apart from this `group tipping' it is also expected that the guide (I was assuming this) and his assistant are tipped separately. I come from a culture where tipping is unusual and I always find this bit awkward.

Andrea

bat
lagoon
the rain forest starts here
Grey-capped Flycatcher

The next day breakfast is at 6.00. Then we're off, but Sani doesn't let me go without a bit of a tease. As we are paddling through the mangroves in the gloom both Carlos and Jason get quite excited - they think they have heard a Cocha Antshrike. The bird calls again and now they're sure. They manoevure the canoe, trying to get us a view into the area it's been calling from. It calls again,and all three of us stare into the forest, hoping for a glimpse. Then a Silvered Antbird calls. We spend what time we can in teh area but we don't see either of those birds, so reluctantly we move on. Back across the boardwalk and onto the river boat that will take us back to Coca. I'm the only guest who is leaving, but with me are a bunch of young men who work at Sani who have a holiday coming up.

Very kindly Carlos arranges for us to have another look at the parrot lick. Today it is dry and there are birds there: Southern Mealy Amazons, Chstnut-fronted Macaws, Dusky-headed Parakeets and Blue-headed Parrots. We can't go in that closely but the binocular views are good. A Green Kingfisher is nearby, and then we speed up to make our way to Coca without further delays. I see a Snowy Egret[/B and a Yellow-headed Caracara as we pass. The young men on board are all in a holiday mood it seems to me, and they're joking with each other.

We get into Coca, and I deal with the last bit of tipping, et cetera. The pick-up for the transfer to my next destination works well, I only have to wait a few minutes. My Spanish and the driver's English aren't good enough to allow for an extended conversation, but it's not a very long drive and we arrive at Wild Sumaco around noon.

Wild Sumaco is a privately owned reserve with the aim of preserving the foothill forest in this area. There's a lot of relevant info on their webpage which explains what they've done so far, what they are doing to involve local residents, and what their longer term plans are.

The manager is on holiday and I'm welcomed by one of the owners, Jonas, who is originally from Sweden. He shows me around the place, explains how things work, and arranges for me to have lunch at 12.30. I'm the only guest at the moment, so I have my food all by myself.

It's a lovely place, on the top of a ridege, with a lounge where meals are taken and which also has a sitting area and a small wildlife library, plus a mini store. The rooms are in two separate buildings just a short walk away. The area immediately around the lodge was cleared by previous owners and now has a bit of a garden around it, but the forest isn't far away. There's a lovely view with mature trees which Pablo told me are good for toucans and other birds looking for seeds.

After lunch I spend some time watching the hummingbird feeders near the lodge. There's a whole new population of birds to be discovered here, and the continuous comings and goings make it quite confusing at first. The most abundant species here is Brown Violetear and while they're not the largest hummingbird in the vicinity they are very aggressive, trying to defend their favourite feeder from all comers. But there are too manh hummingbirds around for this to be feasible (but that doesn't seem to stop them). At Tandayapa I never saw these birds perched, so there's a photographic opportunity to be had. Because the Brown Violetears are so aggressive the other hummingbirds tend not to perch in the open but hide away when they're not feeding, which makes photgraphing them quite tough.

Another very common species here are Wire-crested Thorntails, a small species whose males are equipped with crests as well as long spiky tails. Then we have Golden-tailed Sapphires which tend to be rather unobtrusive but have beautiful dark blue heads, and lovely yellow-orange rumps.

I can tell that I'll be spending some time with my camera around these feeders. A Swallow-tailed Kite flies over and I'm on all the wrong settings to snatch a good photo - but this turns out to be the only opportunity for this bird, which is said to be quite common here. I see a Band-tailed Pigeon.

I follow the short `lodge trail' but it's rather quiet so I return to the bird feeders. At 15.00 I meet up with Byron whose job it is to feed a habituated Ochre-breasted Antpitta. We walk along the unsurfaced road for a short while before entering a trail that steeply leads down a ridge, its starting point marked by a little gate. The people who live in this area to have some lifestock and the Wild Sumaco people try to ensure that if those escape they can't get into the reserve.

Along the way we pick up a new bird, Band, a Saffron-crowned Tanager and a not so new Golden Tanager.

Byron installs me on a bench and asks me not to move from there, while he moves further down into thr forest. It's quite gloomy where he is, and the angle isn't ideal for photography. He spreads out some worms, and my antpitta luck changes as the bird comes in, and stays around to pick up a number of worms. At first it's on the not very sightly path but then it cooperatively jumps onto a branch.

On the way back Byron notices a Blue-fronted Lancebill, and there's also a Red-headed Barbet, and a fly-over calling Military Macaw

After this lovely interlude I spend some more time around the hummingbird feeders before it gets too dark for photography. I'll write more about the other species that can be found here in future posts when I have some photographs for illustration purposes.

Then a shower and dinner at 18.30, for which I'm still by myself. While I spend some time with my diary, my list and the field guide a group of American college students comes in to buy some sweets or drinks from Jonas. I find out that there's a biological field station that also belongs to the reserve where biology students can come and carry out various projects. Eventually I decide it's time for bed.

Andrea

Brown Violetear
Golden-tailed Sapphire
Swallow-tailed Kite
Ochre-breasted Antpitta
Golden-tailed Sapphire

A most engrossing narrative and fantastic photos......I'll be sad when your holiday is over

Thanks very much lazydays for your very complimentary words! If's always hard to gauge the effect of one's writing, so it's very nice to hear it works for you.

For the next day I'd gone for a day's guided birding. This was agreed as a `Spanish-speaking' guide, but I was very lucky in that this turned out to be Byron (who also featured on Arjan Dwarshius' Big Year blog when he visited this location), whose English is more than adequate for these purposes. This is my second visit to South America, and I don't feel that confident with the local birds. With these worsening eye issues on top I felt that a day with somebody who knows his stuff could only be helpful.

Breakfast was at 6.00 and then Byron and I set off. The idea was to give me an overview of the area, but avoiding any really step/muddy paths because of the prevoiusly mentioned knee issues. There's a bit of light rain as we set off along the road, then turning onto the FACE trail to see what we can find. Byron has a scope, which certainly helped me a lot.

Byron's spotting ability is quite amazing - he ssems to be able to look and listen into all directions simultaneously. The first few birds aren't that exciting: Tropical Kingbird, Blue-necked and Golden Tanager, Blue-and-white Swallow, but then there's the first new bird, a Rufous-naped Greenlet. The rain peters out, which means I can stop worrying about keeping the camera dry. But for the most part this morning is entirely about looking for (and at) birds, and not photographing them.

There are more tanagers, Swallow and Palm, and flycatchers, such as Grey-capped, Social and Dusky-capped as well as a Brown-capped Vireo. Then a Blue-naped Chlorophonia, a Black-billed Thrus[/B.

The birds keep coming. There's a Common Tody-Flycatcher, a Russet-backed Oropendola and a Chestnut-bellied Seedeater as well as a Yellow-browed Sparrow. We also note in passing a Smooth-billed Ani and a Roadside Hawk.

We return to the road and get to a grassy patch where Byron wants to show me a particularly secretive bird. I'm advised to stand very still in a particular spot and not move. Byron puts down a speaker and plays a call. We can see just the tiniest bits of movements occsionally in the grass, but for the most part I can't make out a bird. Byron is very insisten that I will see this bird and eventually his hard work pays off and I get a glimpse of the Grey-breasted Crake he has been calling in.

I note that Byron is very patient (with me as well as with the birds) and in the course of the morning he shows himself to be not only a great birder and guide, but also a very friendly guy who is very concerned for his clients, and considerate and thoughtful beyond his young years (I work in higher education so I like to think I know what I speak of). He is a local who got into birding via Wild Sumaco, where he is currently employed, but he's surely devleoping the skills that will allow him to become independent from this location.

We branch onto another trail and Byron keeps doing his stuff. There's a Wing-barred Piprites and a Plain Ant-vireo and a Red-headed Barbet.

We stop off at some hummingbird feeders in the forest and sit down for a moment to see what will come our way here. These feeders attract birds that don't come to the ones near the lodge. A Green Hermit isn't one of those, but it isn't on the feeders very often so it's good to see it here. A Gould's Jewelfront comes to perch in a bush. It's a bit dark here for photos but I persevere.

Then a Violet-fronted Brilliant comes in to lead me and my camera a merry dance as it darts around a small patch of flowers. I think Byron must be having a good laugh! The bird so quickly moves from one flower to another that the moment I raise the camera it already moves to a different part of the patch. You can see below that I didn't really manage too well with this one, but it only lasted for a few seconds.

There are some of the hummingbirds also common at the feeders near the lodge and I won't list those here. Other species we do see here are Gorgetted Woodstar, Black-throated Brilliant and Fork-tailed Woodnymph and Booted Racket-tails fo the Eastern Andes subspecies, but I later discover that the last three of these do occasionally visit the other feeders as well.

While we still sit there An orange red bird flies by quite closely along the path we were on, leaving me no time to aim the camera. The first timeI've seen all of an Andean Cock-of-the-Rock instead of bits and pieces. Wow! I find out later that there has been a male bird that is quite bold.

We continue on through the forest and find an Olivacwous Woodcreeper and an Ecuadorian Tyrannulet and Byron works quite hard for scope views of a Coppery-chested Jacamar. Then there's a Whitel-backed Fire-eye to be admired, if briefly.

When we get to the end of the trail we're at the bottom of the road, and we slowly walk up the road back towards the lodge. We find two Golden-olive Woodpeckers excavating a cavity along the road. We're back around twelvish. I make sure to drink some water, and then it's time for lunch. This time I'm not alone - an American birder who travels with a guide has arrived. But we sit at different tables and don't say much to each other beyond `hello'.


Andrea

Gould's Jewelfront
Violet-fronted Hummingbird
again
once more - I should have zoomed out, there must was no time
Golden-olive Woodpecker

During the lunch break I spend some time around the hummingbird feeders with my camera. I only have two more days here and want to make the most of the opportunity and the nice weather.

I work out that some of the birds like sitting under the leaves of a small tree that also holds some of the hummingbird feeders. A bit of experimenting shows that these birds are extremely confiding and I can stand right up next to the feeders, or under the tree, and the birds will still come in, or stay sitting where they are. Certainly the numerous Brown Violetears do more to disturn all the other birds than my presence does.

Light is a bit difficult under the tree, and my technique does improve over time, but here are my efforts from that session.

Andrea

two Violetears squaring off
Rufous-vented Whitetip - not too common here
Sparkling Violetear justifying its name
Wire-crested Thorntail (female)
and the male - not my best photo but one sees that the name is justified

AFter a somewhat extended break for lunch Byron and I got together again for the second part of my guided day here. We met up near the hummingbird feeders and Byron spotted a new bird before we had started to move off. A Golden-eyed Flowerpiercer was busy picking berries from a bush which allowed for some photographs to be taken. Levely little bird! Byron also spots another Coppery-chested Jacamar skulking in the forest, and this one is close enough for a (not very good) photo.

When we came onto the road we turned left this time. There is forest right up to the road here and the road allows spotting birds that fly over, and generally giving a larger field of view. A parade of tanagers was spotted: Paradise, Golden, Spotted and Swallow made the start. We found another Gilded Barbet, Slaty-capped Flycatcher and also a Slate-throated Whitestart and a Grey-mantled Wren. I'm amazed about the number of species for which Byron manages scope views, given that all these birds are feeding and consequently moving busily around.

A Marble-faced Bristle Tyrant is added to our slowly increasing list of flycatchers. We meet the other pair of guide-and-client along the road but overtake them fairly quickly, since Byron has another specific target in mind. Before we get there we find some of the more common birds as we leave the forsted bit behind: Russet-collared Sparrow, House Wren, Thrush-like Wren (both new for the trip) and Chestnut-bellied Seedeater are all seen.

Another sighiting of Golden-olive Woodpecker is soon followed, rather more excitingly, by a Yellow-tufted, and above us by Chestnut-collared Swifts. Then we reach a grassy area where Byron knows to find the second rallid for the day, a Blackish Rail is rather less concerned with playing hard to get than this morning's crake. I think this was also the place where I saw the trip's only Bananaquit, as well as Southern Rough-winged Swallows and Chestnut-vented Conebill.

We turn around and head in the direction of the lodge again, but the afternoon is far from over. We find a Grey-chinned Hermit and Blue-fronted Lancebill visiting some raodside flowers and a Rufous-vented Whitetip is also seen, as well as Napo Sabrewing, a species I later also find on the hummingbird feeders.

We're now back in the forest, and Byron finds us an Ornate Flycatcher which is lovely to look at and soon after a White-crowned Manakin. It seems that there's something to look at every other moment! At some point we hear a Speckled Chachalaca, and a Plumbeous Pigeon is noted.

At sme point we meet up with the other two and we're in a flock of birds that seem to be everywhere. There's now so much that it becomes hard to decide what to look at! But apparently food is plenty here and the birds linger for a little while. Lots of tanagers: Saffron-crowned, Magpie, Paradise, White-lined, Bay-headed, Blue-necked, Beryl-spangled, Golden-collared and Black-capped, as well as Purple Honeycreeper, lack-faced Dacnis. A Brown-capped Vireo as well as Bronze-green and Orange-bellied Euphonias are also part of the flock.

In this area we also see an Olive-chested Flycatcher,a Streaked Xenops and a Buff-fronted Foliagegleaner and a Lefresnaye's Piculet.

Then we have a very special visitor: The same Andean Cock-of-the Rock we saw fly by this morning actually pauses at the edge of the forest, looks at us for a moment, and then flies across the road. The moment was gone all too quickly and I managed just a handful of photos - no time to play with settings.

There's a Maroon-tailed Parakeet flying by and there's a Squirrel Cuckoo. Andy, the other guest, misses a Grey-headed Kite and Byron manages to call it back. It lands in a dead tree just across from the lodge for a little while, allowing nice scope views.

While we are in this relatively open bit I have a lesson in swift identification, until I feel comfortable with the Chestnut-collared, White-collared and Grey-rumped Swifts in the flock not too far above us.
A small flock of Chestnut-fronted Macaws fly by.

We walk past the lodge to a place where there's a window that allows uas to look into the forest and Byron tries to see what else he can do here. A Montane Foliage Gleaner, a Golden-collared Honeycreeper and a very distant Subtropical Cacique are our last rewards. As we go back to the lodge we see one more new bird for the day, a not very exciting Blue-grey Tanager

What an amazing day! I thank Byron for his efforts, and he's a bit embarrassed by it all.

The light is rather nice when we get back and I try for a few more pictures around the hummingbird feeders before it's time ofr a shower and dinner.

Andrea

Goppery-chested Jacamar
Andean Cock-of-the Rock
again
these were sitting on the wood of the lodge - colourful!
Golden-eyed Flowerpiecer

A few from the hummingbird feeders in the late afternoon.

Golden-tailed Sapphire illustrating its name

Booted Racket-tail - note that the Easter subspecies has buff coloured `boots', rather than the white ones seen on the birds at Tandayapa

trying a head study of a Wire-crested Thorntail - unfortunately the light is almost gone

one of the ubiquitous Brown Violetears

Over night it became increasingly clear that I had done something to offend the knee that has some previous injury damage. When the morning came round it was stiff and not at all amenable to teh idea ot bending when straight, or straightening when previously bent.

The original plan had been to explore the reserve for myself today, but that would have to sait until I could actually walk reasonably well once again. There's an umpeded view today so I take some landscape pictures, and I watch from a distance as the local group of tamarins (Napo, recently split from Black-mantled), get their daily portion of bananas.

I notice a Yellow-tufted Woodpecker in the same group of trees. Indeed, these trees are worth keeping an eye on, it turns out. Birds there are a bit far for photos but yield perfectly good binocular views. Jonas comes by and tells me he's found some Lefresnaye's Piculets excavating a hole, so that gives me a target which doesn't require much of a walk. Unfortunately the hole is a bit awkward in terms of getting a good angle on it.

Then I concentrate on the hummingbird feeders for a while - this allows me to sit down at times, and doesn't require too much hobbling around. I spot one bird that I haven't seen often, and I only manage to get pictures on one fo the feeders for this one: a Napo Sabrewing. The camera seems to want to focus on the nearest edge of the feeder which gives it a nice clear line, rather than on the bird (even if the centre focus point is on the bird), but I don't discover this until I'm at home.

Eventually I decide to go for a stroll to see just how incapacitated I am. The weather is very pleasant, sunny but not hot. It's mid morning now and I don't find a lot of birds. But for photography other subjects are always a possibility.

Andrea

View from the lodge
Lefresnaye's Piculet
Napo Sabrewing
again
flower

If you're mostly keen to find out about birds, please skip this post! I end up coming back with pictures of plant details and butterflies.

Andrea

Walking very slowly on not challenging terrain is not too bad, but other than a few butterflies I didn't find too many birds. Still, a Northern White-crowned Tapaculo, a Blue-black Grosbeak and another Golden-olive Woodpecker are not to be sniffed at, even if they didn't want to pose for photos.

I get back aruond noon. After lunch and there's some excitement. A snake has been spotted on the tiles and Jonas is keen to catch it so that the biology students at the research station can see it. He can't decide whether this is a species of coral snake or one that imitates same. It exudes a smell that makes him think it is probably the former. After the guests have had their chance to take photos the snake is caught quickly and without fuss (to be released again later).

I spend some more time around the lodge, mostly near the hummingbird feeders, and am rewarded with a decent look at an Ecuadorian Piedtail. Now that I know the common species well I keep a particular lookout for the rarer ones. There are so many feeders all along the length of the main buidling though that it's just not possible to see everything that arrives. Also, I don't really want a lot of pictures of birds on feeders.

I decide to try for some pictures of birds hovering before they zoom in on a feeder, but without the flash setup this is so much harder! Even if one manages to point the camera at an actual bird (they only hover very briefly) it has a very tough time focussing under these circumstances.

The largest common hummingbird here is Many-spotted. These are not particularly aggressive, but they also don't take any of the other hummingbirds seriously as a threat - if one of those wants to go to a feeder than it will!

Then it starts to rain, first a shower or two, and then so heavily that I decide that I may as well retire for the time being. In the end it keeps raining until after sunset.


Andrea

snake
Sparkling Violetear trying to impress the world with its display
Green Hermit
Many-spotted Hummingbird (taken the next day)
Female Golden-tailed Sapphire - for some reason I don't have very many pictures of these, also taken next day.

Some - great photos, that flash set up really allows for some lovely action shots

My last day here. The knee is a bit better, but the weather isn't. It
has rained most of the night and the world is quite wet. While there
are some showers through the morning it's dry enough in between to
allow for some bird watching.

I stake out the hummingbird feeders and the tall trees in the background. In the course of the day I see Chestnut-fronted Macaws, Blue-headed Parrots and White-eyed and Maroon-tailed Parakeet. Fairly early in a couple of Yellow-throated Toucans fly in to feed on some fruit. A pity those trees aren't a bit closer! A Squrrel Cuckoo pretends to be something more exciting.

I also see another Red-headed Barbet and the Yellow-eyed Flowerpiercer makes another brief appearance. I find what I htink is a spinetail, but I only get to see small pieces of the bird through the foliage.

Then it starts to rain in earnest and I retire to the lounge where I have a look at the field guides and old National Georgraphic and other nature-related magazines. It's still raining at lunch time. The view is completely gone, the clouds very low and threatening.

Eventually it brightens up and I move outside again. The tamarins are very close to the lodge, and Jonas says there's a neighbouring troop straying onto their territory. This makes for some good photo opportunities. We stand and watch to see whether there will be any actual encournters between the two groups, but they seem content with staring intently in one direction.

The tamarins are all over one of the trees that holds the hummingbird feeders and Jonas comments that he isn't sure what he's going to do if/when they ever figure out there's all this sugar water there waiting for them. Eventually it all calms down and the tamarins move off again. Clearly they're not scared of pepole, but they usually keep their distance apart from the time when they get their bananas in the morning.

Time to indulge in a bit more hummingbird photography.

Andrea

Yellow-throated Toucan
Napo Tamarin
something's afoot!
Many spotted Hummingbird stretching
Wire-crested Thorntail