[temmie]

Hi Ecuatorian birders,

ofcourse this thread is not meant to serve only my purpose of meeting some birdwatchers along the road, but long after I am gone, people can still post here when they will be birding where in Ecuador...
I will be in Ecuador in february, and you can see me chasing those little skulkers if you are around

Sunday 1 Papallacta
Monday 2 Wild Sumaco
Tuesday 3 Wild Sumaco
Wednesday 4 La Selva
Thursday 5 La Selva
Friday 6 La Selva
saturday 7 La Selva
Sunday 8 La Selva
Monday 9 La Selva
Tuesday 10 San Isidro
Wednesday 11 San Isidro
Thursday 12 Huacamayos
Friday 13 Huacamayos
saturday 14 Papallacta
Sunday 15 Guango lodge trail+Papallacta termas
Monday 16 Mindo
Tuesday 17 Paz de las Aves
Wednesday 18 Rio Silanche
Thursday 19 Canande
Friday 20 Canande
saturday 21 Canande
Sunday 22 Canande
Monday 23 Canande
Tuesday 24 Bellavista
Wednesday 25 Bellavista
Thursday 26 Milpe
Friday 27 Antisana or Yanacocha

[Clandestine Bird]

Hi Temmie,

I am in Quito, but from sunday 14th at wednesday 17th february 2010 i'll in maquipucuna reserve northwest...if you need help i can help you..

my mail: clandestine.birdATgmaildotcom

[temmie]

Hi Clandestine Bird,

unfortunately, I saw your message a little too late! I saw you wrote in the guestbook at Canande... We (me and the girlfriend) were having a great time and I will be soon putting a travel report on my website.

kind regards,
Lieven

[Clandestine Bird]

Hi Temmie,

Oh to late....but, sounds great (your trip report), in other hand have you seen the specialities in Canandé? The Ground-cuckoo?. the Golden-chested Tanager?, Blue-whiskered Tanager?. How many Chocó Endemics??? these huge remmant of forest it's really great for birding...

Best regards...

Manuel Sánchez
"Clandestine Bird"

[lmans66]

Where is Canande?

[temmie]

Somewhere here, but I guess others have exact coordinates. I can only say I did it with public transport, and it was a very bumpy/dusty ride for 5 hrs to reach the lodge from Rosa Zarate, including the crossing of the Canande River with the ferry.

I have heard saying that the logging company doesn't want to build a bridge over the river, because too many settlers would move in and cut the big trees for own profit.

[Clandestine Bird]

Hi you can find a link in the Jocotoco's foundation web page, but if your want to birding by yourself (I mean taking a bus and cheao way), the best it's looking for a bus (transportes quinindé) in Santo Domingo City, so for that reason the best it's taken an early bus from Quito to Sto. Domingo, then wait and take the bus to Sto. Domingo to Hoja Blanca Community (between 10 to 11 am) (this bus have the chance to cross the ferry), so before all these transport rides you have to call Jocotoco Foundation to anticipate your visit...it's a nice place for birding, the deforestation it's terrible and the african oil palm around the area including the landscapes besides the road are full of these "Emerald Deserts", but the forest therein Canande Reserve is nice....really nice...

So if you want to rent a car you needs a kind of printed permission to cross the ferry and you have to pay the price to cross (1 or 2 dollars). The permission its possible to obtain in Jocotoco Foundation in Quito.

So you have to cross the ferry before 5 pm.

I hope this short (with terrible english escriture) message works for you!!!

Regards

Manuel Sánchez
www.clandestinebird.com

[power2thepeaceful17]

Hi Guys,
I went to Canande in mid march with a couple friends. The activity wasnt very high but we did see some great birds including the Golden-chested Tanager (on the like-wise named trail), Lita Woodpecker, Black-headed Antthrush, Great Jacamar and we heard Tawny-faced Quail. No sign of the Ground-cuckoo though.
On the road between the reserve and Pedro Vicente Maldonado there are a few good forest patches, especially after you cross the Rio Canande. Here we had a female Scarlet-breasted Dacnis and a pair of Slate-throated Gnatcatchers.

If you are going by bus, from the Mindo area or Quito, I would suggest catching ithe Hoja Blanca from Pedro Vicente M. as going to Santo Domingo is a bit out of the way.

Good birding,
Avery

[Simon M]

Hi all,
A friend and I are currently based in Ecuador and have some free time coming up (12th June onward). We're planning to head down the Nono Mindo road and then on to Milpe / Rio Silache. We're hoping to in budget accomodation and also wondered that if there were any other independent birders out there who fancied sharing the cost of a hire car?

[Clandestine Bird]

I Simon,

There are some independent local birders (in Mindo), but they work has guides, the normal cost (at this time) per day to rent a car it's (70-80 us dollars), some birding drivers work for birding agencies...so the price to rent a car (includes the driver and you have to pay the accomodation and meals for the driver).

Normally rent a car in a budget agencie es really expensive....

maybe you can go to Mindo and looking for a driver or a guide (no so expensive, negociate that).

At this time I'am in Piñas (home town) for a while, close to Buenaventura Reserve....

Maybe if you post your comment in: aves_ecuador (it's a yahoo.group) and some guides and local birders can help you, a lot of people in the group understand english...but if you write in english should be better..

Best Regards,

Manuel Sanchez
www.clandestinebird.com

Originally Posted by Simon M

Hi all,
A friend and I are currently based in Ecuador and have some free time coming up (12th June onward). We're planning to head down the Nono Mindo road and then on to Milpe / Rio Silache. We're hoping to in budget accomodation and also wondered that if there were any other independent birders out there who fancied sharing the cost of a hire car?

[ovenbird43]

Great thread idea. I will be doing field work in eastern Ecuador from 31 Dec 2010 to 4 March 2011, and hope to do a little independent birding before and/or after. I was thinking of heading down to Mindo for a few days before I leave- I will probably have my husband with me as well, I'm planning on taking him to see my field site for a week or two. I was also thinking perhaps a day to explore Yanacocha, either before or after my field work. If anyone is around during those times and would like to join me, let me know!

[adam_batty]

Just the thread I was looking for!
I have recently booked my flights to Ecuador (a couple of days before the unrest happened- fingers crossed everything will be back to normal) for a 6 week birding trip from January 3rd to February 17th 2011. Having cut my teeth on shoestring 8 month+ birding trips in Africa and Indian subcontinent which seemed to involve more time waiting for transport and were rather unfocussed and inadequately prepared for, my plan is to hire a 4x4 pickup and have a targeted itinerary. I field tested the method in September/ October 2009 with a similar length trip in Australia that took in the majority of the East from Iron Range to Tasmania including the NW Victorian Malee. Can’t claim to have cleaned up but on the whole it worked well.
I intend to take 5 weeks following the Quito to Quito loop below before spending c5 days at a Napo lodge (probably Sani). The itinerary still needs tweaking and some sites will no doubt get dropped along the way. On the whole I intend to offset the cost of hiring the pickup by not staying at expensive lodges except for Sani and the Jocotoco foundation lodges in the South - an organisation I am particularly keen to support. Rio Canande is noticeably absent from my list due to the reports of the difficult and time consuming access. I’m aware it is an ambitious itinerary in the time frame and no doubt a trip of three months would give each site a more reasonable chance of producing. However longer away from the girlfriend would be a relationship breaker and as a way of coming to grips with the avifauna of a region in a relatively short time it definitely works. Even if I dip my awareness of a restricted range or threatened species is hugely reinforced.
I get much more satisfaction from finding and identifying birds myself rather than having them pointed out to me which is why I tend to bird alone. (Of course by “finding” I mean going to sites which others have reported and pioneered). However it is great to share the experiences and having other birders around tends to keep me more motivated when the energy starts flagging or I start to question why the hell I am doing this – usually when those skulkers fail to show. Undoubtedly I would be bumping into birders along the way but this time I have decided to advertise my proposed trip ahead of time. If anybody is seriously interested in joining me for all or part of it and would be willing to share some of the car hire/ fuel costs (I have been quoted c £30/ $50 per day for a 4x4) let me know. I have reasonable Spanish (though don’t ask me to rewrite this post in Spanish) so would also be interested in the possibility of being joined by an enthusiastic Ecuadorian national who perhaps might be planning on becoming a bird guide and would benefit from an opportunity to bird/ recce new parts of the country. In this instance I wouldn’t expect them to share costs. If it sounds like a way of trying to get a local guide for free that is not my intention. Anyway I’ll stick that idea out there and see what comes back. Comments or suggestions welcomed.
Maybe see you out there.
Cheers
Adam
Week 1
1. Yanacocha
2. Calacali
3. Pululahua Crater
4. El Pahuma Orchid reserve
5. Refugio Paz de los Aves
6. Oilbird Cave Chontal
7. Mashpi Reserve
8. Tandayapa Lodge
9. Bellavista Lodge
10. Reserva Las Gralarias
11. Mindo
12. Milpe
13. Restaurant Mirador de los Bancos
Week2
14. Mangaloma Reserve
15. Rio Silanche
16. Rio Palenque
17. Segua Marsh
18. Los Frailes Machalilla
19. Isla de la Plata
20. Agua Blanca
21. Rio Ayampe
22. Ecuasal
23. Cerro Blanco
24. Puerto Honda
Week3
25. Manglares Churute
26. Cajas National Park
27. Yunguillas
28. Acanama
29. Buenaventura
30. Catacocha
31. Jorupe
32. Zapatillo – Tumbes Tyrant site
33. Utuana
Week 4
34. Tapichalaca
35. Cajanuma, Podocarpus NP
36. Loja- Zamora Road
37. Copalinga Cabañas
38. Bombuscaro Podocarpus NP
39. Cabañas Yankuam
Week 5
40. Gareno Lodge
41. Loreto Road
42. Wild Sumaco
43. Cabañas San Isidiro
44. Cordillera de Huacamayos
45. Guanjo Lodge
46. Termas Papallacta
47. Papallacta Pass
48. Antisana
Week 6
49. Sani Lodge

Most (if not all) of the sites were visited by and are described in David Kverno’s comprehensive blog http://birdingecuador.blogspot.com/ which has been a fantastic resource for trip planning. This includes a google map showing locations if any of the sites are unfamiliar to you.

[Ecuadorrebel]

Hey Adam,

You certainly have an aggressive schedule. When do you plan on sleeping? LOL You definitely have some of the major sites listed but you are doing a lot of backtracking and not allowing much time for some of the areas that need more time. I feel that 4 hours at places like Yanacocha and Milpe are a bare minimum and 5 to 6 hours much better. Keep in mind that you have 12 hours of daylight here regardless of the time of year. You need to also consider that places like Paz de las Aves require that you call ahead and schedule a time. Keep in mind that David Kverno visited these locations over a 7 year period.

There are a lot of beginners trying to get into the guide business but most of them don't have the kinds of funds required to travel with you. You would be better off trying to locate a guide in the areas that you are traveling. I have encountered newbies on several outings who ask to walk with me to practice their English. They in turn help in spotting birds. (4 eyes are better than 2)

As for the political unrest here at this time, it is coming back to normal quickly. The biggest problem is the lack of a police force so it is a little more dangerous than it was before. But I expect this to be turned around shortly. By the time you get here you really wouldn't notice a difference.

If I can be of any assistance to you in trying to arrange your schedule let me know. I am always here.

[grahamosborne]

Hi I am independent birder also planning to visit Ecuador in January 2011. The trip will run from January 13th to February 4th. I am still working on the schedule, but will be staying in the North and will include Mindo, Pedro Vincente, Antisoma, Wild Sumaco, Gareono Lodge, San Isidro and probably Sacha Lodge. I would unsure whether to hire a driver and or/guide and any recommendations for the best options here would be welcome. Alternatively I may hire a car myself and a companion for all or part of the trip would be great.

[temmie]

Adam,

I can already feel your pain every day you have to leave behind a perfect birding place, but haven't seen nearly half of your target birds.
You have plenty of time to do e.g. the northern circuit in a decent way. Skip the Amazon or one half of the Andes, and you even have the possibility to see most of the good birds people tend to search for in Ecuador.
A place like Gareno merits at least a 3-4 day stay. Same goes for Wild Sumaco, San Isidro, ...
Those places have different trails with different specialties, so it would be quite painful to leave each of those places without having looked for them. I understand you want to hire a 4x4 and thus want to move every day (otherwise you pay for a parked vehicle), but if there is one country where you don't need a private vehicle, it would be Ecuador. At some points you can charter a taxi, but you easily get everywhere with very frequent busses.

[ovenbird43]

Originally Posted by temmie

Adam,

I can already feel your pain every day you have to leave behind a perfect birding place, but haven't seen nearly half of your target birds.
You have plenty of time to do e.g. the northern circuit in a decent way. Skip the Amazon or one half of the Andes, and you even have the possibility to see most of the good birds people tend to search for in Ecuador.
A place like Gareno merits at least a 3-4 day stay. Same goes for Wild Sumaco, San Isidro, ...
Those places have different trails with different specialties, so it would be quite painful to leave each of those places without having looked for them. I understand you want to hire a 4x4 and thus want to move every day (otherwise you pay for a parked vehicle), but if there is one country where you don't need a private vehicle, it would be Ecuador. At some points you can charter a taxi, but you easily get everywhere with very frequent busses.

Well said. I've traveled to a number of places in Ecuador without ever renting a car- partly because I find it unnecessary, and partly because I'm intimidated by the idea of driving there, especially in and out of Quito.

An update on my own plans, in case my time there overlaps with anyone else's: I'm flying down on Christmas day, spending two nights at Pululuhua Hostal (just outside Quito, in a geobotanical reserve), through which I've also booked a 3-day tour that hits Yanacocha (that is actually one place I'm not sure can be reached easily with public transport), Milpe, and Rio Silanche. Then I head east to Tiputini for my 9-week field season. I leave the station on March 4, and I'm planning on scheduling a few extra days for more exploration before flying back to the states, and visiting either Sani lodge (Tiputini is also in the Amazon, but Sani would provide an interesting, different persceptive with different habitats and birds) or San Isidro.

[redmar_woudstra]

Maybe already outdated, but I will be in Ecuador for the coming three months, starting Saturday the 8th.
Generally, this is my plan:
8-1 till 5-2: Quito, Spanish classes. Weekend plans for Otavalo and Papallacta, maybe Paz de las Aves too
10-2 till 3-3: helping with bird mapping (nests and general) in Reservas Las Gralarias, Mindo area
4-3 till 4-4: travelling through Ecuador, starting with a trip to the Galapagos. Other main targets are Oriente (any budget tips with good birding are very welcome!), Cuenca, El Cajas, Vilcabamba etc.
4-4 till 1-5: Peru, mainly Lima and a trip with Oasis Overland to Paracas, Arequipa, Cuzco, Inca-Trail and Amazonia.
Please contact me if someones in Quito in that period to. Maybe we can bird together somewhere.

[Ecuadorrebel]

Originally Posted by redmar_woudstra

Maybe already outdated, but I will be in Ecuador for the coming three months, starting Saturday the 8th.
Generally, this is my plan:
8-1 till 5-2: Quito, Spanish classes. Weekend plans for Otavalo and Papallacta, maybe Paz de las Aves too
10-2 till 3-3: helping with bird mapping (nests and general) in Reservas Las Gralarias, Mindo area
4-3 till 4-4: travelling through Ecuador, starting with a trip to the Galapagos. Other main targets are Oriente (any budget tips with good birding are very welcome!), Cuenca, El Cajas, Vilcabamba etc.
4-4 till 1-5: Peru, mainly Lima and a trip with Oasis Overland to Paracas, Arequipa, Cuzco, Inca-Trail and Amazonia.
Please contact me if someones in Quito in that period to. Maybe we can bird together somewhere.

Sounds like you have big plans. If there is anything I can do to help let me know. I am always here. Be happy to take you around some places.

[NicoleVG]

Hello all!
I will be in Ecuador from January 18th to March 14th just outside of Puyo.
I would love to go birding with others, but not on a group tour. So if you would like to split on renting a car or meet on the bus, message me! I would love that!
I will be going with one other friend, and hopefully I will meet others in the country, but either way it will be wonderful if I can explore other areas than the Puyo region with some others (birding by yourself is no fun!)!

Cheers! Nicole

[Ecuadorrebel]

Originally Posted by NicoleVG

Hello all!
I will be in Ecuador from January 18th to March 14th just outside of Puyo.
I would love to go birding with others, but not on a group tour. So if you would like to split on renting a car or meet on the bus, message me! I would love that!
I will be going with one other friend, and hopefully I will meet others in the country, but either way it will be wonderful if I can explore other areas than the Puyo region with some others (birding by yourself is no fun!)!

Cheers! Nicole

Contacted you by email. Hope you got it.