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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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

A few more hummingbird shots from that afternoon, with some comments.

Fork-tailed Woodnymph is a species I didn't see very often, and even less so away from a feeder, so here are two shots I manaed that afternoon.

Wire-crested Thorntails are very common, the commonest small hummingbird around. Finding them hiding away in one of the trees that also hosted a bunch of feeders wasn't too hard, but they tended to move a lot. Just when one had discovered one, positioned oneself to avoid too many leaves in the way, it would dart off. When the light hits the head of the bird just right it the green really glows!

Rufous-vented Whitetips are reasonably common, but again not too many chances to photograph them away from the feeders.

Andrea
 

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Some of the species I only managed on the feeders.

Black-throated Brilliant is a reasonably frequent visitor, but I never found one perched on something natural.

Violet-headed Hummingbird I only have the one shot of. Not common at all.

I think I have mentioned other species that I saw there in the course of the text.

Right at the end of the afternoon I had the bright idea that since the birds don't mind me coming reallyclose to the feeders I could try headshots while they're on the feeder, which would allow me to cut off the artificial perch and just keep the bird's head. The hummingbird feeders area ll attached on strings so they move quite a bit, and, of course, one needs to take the picture when the bird raises it head rather than when it is drinking, so this was tougher than I would have thought. It was also easy to get below the minimal focus distance of the lens.

By then the light was going, and the background is very dark and looks artificial. These shots remind me a bit of a rogue's gallery. More in the next post as well.

Andrea

Black-throated Brilliant
Violet-headed hummingbird
Golden-tailed Sapphire
Wire-crested Thorntail
Brown Violetear
 

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Some of the species I only managed on the feeders.

Black-throated Brilliant is a reasonably frequent visitor, but I never found one perched on something natural.

Violet-headed Hummingbird I only have the one shot of. Not common at all.

I think I have mentioned other species that I saw there in the course of the text.

Right at the end of the afternoon I had the bright idea that since the birds don't mind me coming reallyclose to the feeders I could try headshots while they're on the feeder, which would allow me to cut off the artificial perch and just keep the bird's head. The hummingbird feeders area ll attached on strings so they move quite a bit, and, of course, one needs to take the picture when the bird raises it head rather than when it is drinking, so this was tougher than I would have thought. It was also easy to get below the minimal focus distance of the lens.

By then the light was going, and the background is very dark and looks artificial. These shots remind me a bit of a rogue's gallery. More in the next post as well.

Andrea

Black-throated Brilliant
Violet-headed hummingbird
Golden-tailed Sapphire
Wire-crested Thorntail
Brown Violetear

I like these head shots!

Phil
 
The next day was about getting back to Quito. The driver originally booked by Tropical Birding for this transfer had cried off, but alternative arrangements were made and Jonas informed me that he would be taking me back.

He said he had to return to Quito in any case. The previous evening I'd enjoyed a very nice dinner with him and a couple from the States, the female half of which had previously worked at the lodge (she is Ecuadorian).

With Jonas the drive back to Quito was very entertaining since we found a lot of random comments to talk about, and there was still a little bit of birding involved. We stopped off at a well-known roadside roosting spot for Blackish Nighjar, we also saw Cliff Flycatchers and as we reached the high Andes, we stopped again for a moment to see Andean Condor and Variable Hawk fly over. My jinx on ducks held as we stopped off at a lake that was devoid of birds.

Jonas dropped me off at the airport and that was the end of a very enjoyable trip.

It seems to me that Ecuador should be doable independently (for those a bit intrepid than myself) since the it's a very stable friendly country with comparatively good infrastructure. The roads are variable. The biggest problems are landslides, and Jonas had some scathing comments about the choice of sighting of some pylons for a new power line. If a landsclide does occur then it can take days for the raod to be in a state to allow passing the spot (and apparently this was in part the reason for why there weren't more guests around during my visit).

The range of landscapes within a comparatively short distance is very good, giving a variety of habitats to be explored. A lot of the accessible areas of forest are remnant and privately owned, so vistors' fees are something to be factored in (but I don't know how high those charges are). The Amazon basin requires staiyng at one of the lodges, but Sani, for example, has a camping option. (There are also quite a lot of lodges along the Napo river these days, and I think some of those are directed at tourists that just want to `experience the rain forest'. Maybe some of those are less pricey and still allow for good habitats for those happy to guide themselves?)

For those interested in having a go at the flash photography setup that produced those photos (and who can afford and don't mind an organized trip) I can certainly recommend the Tropical Birding photo tour where this is a staple of activities on offer. All their arrangements worked impeccably well, and Pablo was a very knowledgeable, friendly, and easy-going guy who knows what photographers need on their trips.

I certainly thorougly enjoyed myself and can well imagine returning some day (but there are so many other tempting places that I haven't visited yet.)

Andrea

Some more hummingbird headshots With these short distances involved (and the need to have the lens wide open due to impending darkness) the depth of field is incredibly shallow. For this reason the side-on shots work best.

Golden-tailed Sapphire female
Fork-tailed Woodnymph
Booted Racket-tail female
Wire-crested Thorntail female
again
 

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Last few

Rufous-vented Whitetip
again
Golden-tailed Sapphire showing the odd effect one sometimes get from blue hummingbird plumage and the shallow depth of field
Booted Racket-tail female
Blackish Nightjar
 

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Thank you for such a wonderful report! Much food for thought here. I definitely want to do the eastern slope soon! Without as much rain as you experienced, if that's possible!
 
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