Trip to Ecuador October 5 - October 19, 2008 (1 Viewer)

I did have a great time in Ecuador. Although I did get a cough by the last couple of days there and have quite a cold now! Sniff, sniff. I do feel better today and think I will live!

I went swimming at the Sacha Lodge with a caiman and some pirañas as my companions! Roberto Cedeño, our guide, said they would not bother me and they didn't. It was a blast. Roberto is very enthusiastic and a competent birding guide. He made the trip very enjoyable and productive.

I thought that I would get around 300 - 350 "lifers". That estimate turned out to be a little high!

381 species were recorded for the trip (seen by at least someone in the group).

I recorded 349 species, I had seen 113 of these in the US and/or Costa Rica. That included things like Magnificent Frigatebirds, Black Skimmer, Great and Snowy Egrets, etc.

247 were new for me, eleven of these "new birds" were heard only.

So, 236 were actually "lifers" seen.


Here are a few of my highlights:

Red-billed Tropicbird, at Isla de la Plata (translates to Silver Island) this is off west coast.
Blue-footed Booby, at Isla de la Plata
Cocoi Heron, Rio Napo
Agami Heron, Sacha Lodge on Rio Napo
Slender-billed Kite
Double-toothed Kite
Ten species of parrots/parrotlet/parakeets, some particularly colorful ones, Cobalt-winged Parakeet, Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlet and an amazing Orange-cheeked Parrot (what a bird)!
Six species of owl, most noteable for me was a pair of Crested Owls.
Great Potoos and Common Potoo.
Twenty-one species of hummingbirds. (They have some 126 species in Ecuador!)
Golden-headed Quetzal
*The Toucan Barbet was repeatedly calling but would not come out of the vegetation to be seen, much to our dismay!
Crismson-rumped Toucanet
Ivory-billed Aracari
Pale-mandibled Aracari
Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan
A much admired Golden-collared Toucanet
Red-billed Toucan

And my favorite family of birds: Picidae
Ecuadorian Piculet
Yellow-tufted Woodpecker
Scarlet-backed Woodpecker
Red-rumped Woodpecker
Scaly-breasted Woodpecker
Cream-colored Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Crimson-crested Woodpecker
Guayaquil Woodpecker

* I also saw some Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, but it was not a new woodpecker for me as I had seen some of those in Costa Rica while on a birding trip there.

We saw quite a few "ant"birds
Our favorites being the antpittas, called out of the forest by Angel Paz. These are very elusive birds which Angel lures out into the open by feeding them earthworms every day.

Great Antpitta
Moustached Antpitta
and Yellow-breasted Antpitta

The Masked Water-Tyrants were neat.

There were lots of tanager, euphonia, dacnis, and the oropendolas put on quite a show.

We missed seeing the Andean Condor, but did see a couple of King Vultures although they were just specks in the sky. I would have liked to have gotten a closer look at them.

1. Here is a photo of our guide, Roberto, me and Stanley, another trip participant who resides in Guadalajara, Mexico. We are atop a 100 foot tall wooden tower which is build around a huge Kapok Tree.
2. Sky walk built between three 100+ foot tall steel towers.
3. Sky walk.
4. Looking down on rain forest from atop one of the steel towers.
5. A photo of the cloud (fog) forest as we are driving along in our bus.

Sunday, October 5, 2008, I flew out of Kansas City, Missouri, headed for Chicago, Illinois, for my first leg on a birding trip to Ecuador. Next stop was Miami, Florida. From there it was on to Quito, Ecuador. After arriving in Quito three other birders and I were tranported to the Casa Foch, a hostel in downtown Quito. Later that evening the other participants arrived at the hostel and rounded out our number to fourteen eager birders to begin our adventure in this fabled South American country. The number of bird species to be seen here is in the neighborhood of 1700, which includes the 126 species of hummingbirds!

October 6, 2008
Wow, we were all anxious to get started seeing some of these birds the next morning. This initial "birding/site seeing" day was in the city of Quito itself. With a population of some two million, it reminded me a little of New York City in the states. People were simply everywhere. I think there were as many yellow taxi cabs here as there are in New York! The first birds we did see as we headed out for the colonial section of Quito were Great Thrush, Rufous-collared Sparrows and Eared DovesE, soon to be followed by Blue-and-white Swallows and Sparkling Violetears (our first hummers). When we went to a park which is on the equator we added some more new birds, Common Ground Dove, Rock Pigeon, Black-tailed Trainbearer (a hummer with a very elongated tail), Southern Yellow Grosbeak (aka. Golden-bellied Grosbeak), Cinerous Conebill, Vermilion Flycatcher and Hooded Siskin. A parade and ceremony celebrating educational opportunites in Equador lent a festive air to our tour of some parts of the city. We saw some govermental buildings, some massive churches, basilicas and catherals. One catheral was almost entirely overlaid with gold inside. It was very ornate (even showy, I suppose). I believe it was remeniscent of Inca influence. Really quite impressive!

October 7 - 8, 2008
The morning of the 7th we flew to Manta and checked in at the Atamari Hosteria/Reserve. Along the coast of the Pacific Ocean we did see a lot of birds, many familiar to us. In with the very numerous Magnificent Frigatebirds were Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Black and Turkey Vultures, Great and Snowy Egrets. Some of the other birds which we did see (this day and the next) in this area of the country were Tropical Kingbirds (which were very prevalent in the here), Pied-billed Grebes, Scrub Blackbirds, Long-tailed Mockingbirds, Blue-Gray Tanagers, Gray-breasted Martins, Peruvian Pelican, Pacific Parrolets, Pearl Kite, Laughing Falcon, and we heard but did not see the Supercilious Wren, Gray-backed Hawk, Gray Hawk, Common Moorhen, Black-necked Stilt, Wattled Jacana, Whimbrel, Spotted Sandpiper, Sanderling, Pale-vented Pigeons, Croaking Ground-Doves, White-tipped Doves, Squirrel Cuckoos, Bronze-winged Parrots, Groove-billed Anis, Smooth-billed Anis, Lesser Nighthawk, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts, Eastern Long-tailed Hermit, Amazilla Hummingbird, Short-tailed Woodstar, Violaceous Trogon, Black-tailed Trogon, Ringed Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Red-rumped Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, Pacific Hornero, Slaty Spinetail, Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Red-billed Scythebill, we heard a Great Antshrike calling repeatedly but it would not come out to where we could see it, Collared Antshrike, Western Slaty Antshrike, Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet (these seemed to be albout everywhere), Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant, Gray-and-white Tyrannulet, a cute Common Tody-Flycatcher, Tropical Pewee, Masked Water-Tyrant (a neat little black and white bird), Social Flycatcher, Baird's Flycatcher, Snowy-throated Kingbird, Sooty-crowned Flycatcher, Southern Rough-winged Swallows, Ecuadorian Thrush, little Tropical Gnatcatchers, Red-eyed Vireos, Rufous-browned Peppershrikes, Tropical Parulas, Yellow Warbler, Gray-and-gold Warblers, Guira Tanagers, Hepatic Tanagers, Flame-rumped (Lemon) Tanagers, Bay-headed Tanagers, Blue-necked Tanagers, Yellow-tufted Dacnis, Green Honeycreeper, Crimson-breasted Finch, Collared Warbling-Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Variable Seedeater, Black-striped Sparrow, Streaked Saltator, Buff-throated Saltator, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Thick-billed Euphonia, House Sparrow.

October 9, 2008
Our destination for today was Puerto Lopez and then on out 28 kilometers into the Pacific Ocean for our all day visit to Isla de la Plata (Silver Island). We had to roll up our pant legs and wade into the ocean to board our boat to the island as there was no other convenient way to get on board! La Plata is an uninhabited island where there are breeding colonies of sea birds. On the trip to the island we encountered a Pink-footed Shearwater and also a White-vented Storm-Petrel. Once at the island we hopped into the ocean and waded up on to the beach. We immediately were seeing many frigatebirds, Red-footed, Blue-footed and Nazca Boobies. We were all thrilled to see seven or eight Red-billed Tropicbirds flying over the ocean near the footpath on which we were walking. Some of the boobies were nesting right on the path so we had to carefully detour around these nests as we walked on down the path. Some of the nests had eggs tended by one of the parent birds. Others had chicks in various stages of development. These chicks were also carefully tended by the parent birds. On the cliffs of the island we found other sea birds in the nesting colonies, including Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns and Common Terns. We did see some other birds here but they were repeats of birds seen previously. By far the most numerous birds here on the island and flying over the coastal areas were the Magnificent Frigatebirds. They were everywhere!

On the way back to Puerto Lopez we were treated to close up views of three, individual Humpback Whales which were "blowing" off of our bow at a couple hundred yards. We were very excited when one of them swam quite near our boat and surfaced a mere twenty-five feet away from us. It seemed to check us out, then dived, swam under our boat and came up on the opposite side and surfaced again. It then continued on its way and we did not see it again. Needless to say, this was quite a thrill for all of us, that is, to have such a close encounter with this huge mammal of the sea!

Photos: Giant Pitta, Blue-footed Booby, Rufous-collared Sparrow and a Pirana

October 10, 2008 "to be continued"

October 10, 2008 (Friday, but one day is not too much different from another day of the week. Its just "another day" with more new birds!)

At the Atamari Lodge/Reserve we were treated to two Pacific Pygmy-Owls. They were perched high in some trees near the entrance to the lodge. Quite a sight! We heard a Little Tinamou calling as we walked along the road to the lodge. This morning we were seeing some of the same birds we had seen previously, both vultures, Gray-backed Hawk, (a new bird for the trip) Harris's Hawk, Gray Hawk, Rufous-headed Chachalaca, Croaking Ground-Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, West Peruvian Screech-Owl, Amazilla Hummingbird, Black-tailed Trainbearer, Little Woodstar, Violaceous Trogon, Blue-crowned Motmot, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Guayaquil Woodpecker, Pacific Hornero, Red-faced Spinetail, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Sooty-headed Tyrannulet, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Fasciated Wrens, Speckle-breasted Wren, Ecuadorian Thrush, Lesser Greenlet, Tropical Parula, and joining the Yellow-tailed Orioles this morning was a White-edged Oriole.

October 11, 2008
This morning we left the southwestern part of the country and flew back to Quito. Back in the Andes we then headed for the Mindo area. So many birds here, sometimes you just did not know where to look! Here is a list of some of the birds I tallied here: (I just wrote them down as we were seeing them) Turquoise Jay, Black Flowerpiercer, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Mountain Velvetbreast, Cinnamon Flycatcher, White-tailed Tyrannulet, Gray-breasted Wood Wren, Three-striped Warbler, Cock-of-the-rock, Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, and Russet-backed Oropendala.

October 12 & 13, 2008
Many more birds, still in the Mindo area. Golden-faced Trannulet, Golden Tanager, Swallow Tanager, Buff-throated Foliagegleaner, Western Wood-Pewee, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Pale-mandibled Aracari, Tri-colored Brush-Finch, Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Streak-headed Treehunter, Lineated-capped Foliagegreaner, Wedg-billed Hummingbird, Dusky Bush Tanager, Wattled Guan, Black-winged Saltator, White-lined Tanager, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, White-throated Crake, Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, heard a Choco Toucan, Palm Warbler, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, White-winged Tanager, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Saffron-crested Tanager, Shiny Cowbird, Ruddy Pigeon, Blue-black Grassquit, Olivaceous Siskin, Montane Woodcreeper and Masked Trogon.

October 14, 2008
OK, today we are ready to fly to Coca and spend our remaining days of this birding trip at the Sacha Lodge and environs along the Rio Napo in the Amazon Basin area. Arriving in Coca we have a light lunch and then hop on an open air bus for the short drive to the Napo River to board our boat which will take us to Sacha Lodge. This is about an 80 miles ride on the river and we are doing about 35-40 knots as we cruise along. At times we do slow down somewhat for various birds we encounter during our passage. Some of the birds we see are Cocoi Heron, Black Caracaras, Yellow-headed Caracara, Boat-billed Herons, Rufescent Tiger-Herons, swallows and parrots, etc. We dock at an outpost area where we now will walk through the rain forest for a mile or so where we transfer to our dugout canoes for the final leg of our journey to the lodge. Our boatsmen paddle us silently along the backwater. We hear and see birds as we make our passage. Finally, arriving in a lagoon we are greeted at the lodge by several Hoatzins. You have to see one to believe that these prehistoric looking birds really do exist! We make our landing and are shown to our rooms. Wait a minute while I catch my breath and we will continue.

This is one SWEET report ! Love the photos and species so far , nice Antpitta shot .
I am especially interested in your Hummingbird sightings , can't wait to see more and thanks Larry!

Sounds a great trip, Larry :t: ! Looking forward to reading more !

Great report Larry and thanks for posting! Ecuador has such fantastic birding- reading your report brings back memories of very exciting birding at some of the same places. Interestingly enough, I have also caught very bad colds in Ecuador- mroe so than other places.

All of the buildings at Sacha Lodge are built up above ground level and are connected to one another via a system of boardwalks. The entire area is actually a swamp and quite muddy. The lodge furnishes each visitor with a pair of knee boots in order that they may make their way around on the muddy paths without getting their regulars shoes covered with mud. While going on the boardwalks, observation towers, sky walks, etc. we just switched to our regular footwear for greater mobility and comfort.

Here are some of the birds I encountered in and around Sacha Lodge on the day of our arrival. They are not listed in taxonomical order, but listed more or less in the order in which I saw them. Gould's Jewelfront, Black-throated Mango, White-banded Swallow, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-headed Vulture, Common Piping Guan, Speckled Chachalaca, Scarlet-crowned Barbet, Southern House Wren, Brown-chested Martin, White-winged Swallow, Plumbeous Kite, Swallow-winged Puffbird, Oriole Blackbird, Black-billed Thrush and Black-fronted Nunbird.

October 15, 2008
Today we head for the 100+ foot high observation tower and skywalk. Here we survey the tops of the rainforest from our elevated position. It is great seeing the birds which can be found in these higher surroundings. We notice an adult Double-toothed Kite perched on a bare branch in a not too distant tree. On the other side of this tree is a nest with its chick. The chick looks to be about two weeks old. Next we witness a flyover White Hawk. A few pigeons and parrots are flying through the upper canopy, but I do not get very good looks at most of the parrots (Blue-and-yellow Macaws, Cobalt-winged Parakeets, Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlets, Black-headed and Blue-headed Parrots), but not too worry I will get good looks at these and more when we go to the "clay licks" in a couple of days! Now I see a Squirrel Cuckoo scamper in the upper branches of a nearby tree. A White-tailed Trogon glides in and perches for us to get a good look. Oh, there's a Pied Puffbird and another Black-fronted Nunbird!

While walking the trail to get to the observation tower I heard the most extraordinary sounding bird! It sounded as if someone was playing a flute. It was a Musician Wren. What a bird! It kept singing its beautiful song over and over again with slight pauses between each rendition. The song was pretty much the same each time, but the bird would make slight variations. It was the most musical song I have ever heard a bird sing. I believe it was "almost" my favorite bird of the trip! Oh, and it did eventually make an appearance. It was a medium sized wren of various shades for brown and russet. Truly an extraordinary bird!

Some of the other birds observed from the tower/sky walk and also going to and from the tower were: Chesnut Woodpecker (seen by some), Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Turquoise Tanager, White-throated Toucan, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, Ivory-billed Aracari, Speckled Chachalaca, Green-and-gold Tanager, Plushcrown, Gilded Barbet, Spangled Cotinga, Purple-throated Fruit-Crow, Yellow-bellied Dacnis, Blue Dacnis, Flame-crested Tanager (a real show stopper), Moriche Oriole, White-fronted Nunbird, Opal-crested Tanager, Golden-collared Trannulet, Many-banded Aracari, Masked Tanager, White-vented Euphonia, Scale-breasted Woodpecker, Purplish Jacamar, Chestnut-winged Hookbill, Bare-necked Fruit-Crow, Screaming Piha, Buff-throated Woodcreeper, Wire-tailed Manakin, White-breasted Wood-Wren, Sooty Antbird, Lesser Kiskadee, Red-capped Cardinal, Agami Heron (a good fine, as this is a rare bird here), Paraque, Social Flycatcher, Boat-billed Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron and Cinnamon Attila.

October 16, 2008

This morning we head down the Rio Napo on our way to the parrot "clay licks". This is where they eat clay and drink the mineral laced water to counteract the toxic substances which they ingest when they eat various fruits and leaves. Traveling down the river we do see a few parrots flying at some distance, but better seen are some other birds. The Giant Potoo and the Common Potoo are pretty awesome birds. They really do just look like an extension of the snag on which they are perched. We see a Slender-billed Kite perched in a riverside tree. Some of the other birds we see are Chestnut-bellied Seedeater, we hear a Gray-breasted Crake, on a sandbar in the river we then spot a Great Egret and a Cocoi Heron. Several Yellow-billed Terns are flying overhead in the vicinity of these two tall waders. The weather turns foggy and rainy and the parrots are not going to go to the clay licks for us to get some good looks at them, so it is decided to go back to the lodge and bird there. We also will visit the Butterfly Garden which is maintained at the Lodge. On our return trip we see a Peregrine Falcon and a Black-tailed Tityra. Just before we reach our landing site at the Lodge we observe two Black-capped Donacobius. These are some rather large birds associated with the mimids. They are quite handsome! We will try for the parrots at the clay licks tomorrow.

Birdingcraft said:

Great report Larry and thanks for posting! Ecuador has such fantastic birding- reading your report brings back memories of very exciting birding at some of the same places. Interestingly enough, I have also caught very bad colds in Ecuador- mroe so than other places.

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I caught my first flu bug in years in Ecuador last year.

But the birding...wow! :t:

October 17, 2008

There is a rapping on my front door at the Lodge at 4 AM (same as yesterday)! We need to get an early start and head for the clay licks to see the parrots. This morning the weather is better than yesterday and it bodes well for seeing the various parrots coming for their mineral supplements. We leave the Lodge via the dugout canoes, then do a little walking throught the rain forest where we board our motorized canoe for a stretch on the Rio Napo heading for the first clay lick. As we near this area we begin to hear the calls of the various parrots and know that today we will be able to see some close up views. We disembark and walk to a shelter where we have panoranic views of the clay lick. Now the parrots begin coming nearer, perching in the trees surrounding the clay bank. First to appear are the Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons. In a little while a couple more species arrive: Blue-headed Parrots and Dusky-headed Parakeets. We wait awhile for the expected White-eyed Parakeets to put in an appearance, but they fail to do so. Now it is time to go to the second "lick". It is not too far distant and we arrive in short order. When we get to the shelter here there are hundreds of Cobalt-winged Parakeets and Scarlet-shouldered Parrolets eating clay and drinking the mineral ladened water. Then in comes the "star of the show", a Orange-cheeked Parrot. The expected Scarlet and Red-and-green Macaws do not show up. All of a sudden all the birds leave en masse. They do not return and the show is over. So we do some more birding walking through the forest and on the river. We see a Yellow-headed Caracara, Ringed Kingfisher, Great Kiskadee, Cocoi Heron, Yellow-billed Terns, Lemon-throated Barbet, a pair of Crested Owls, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Many-banded Aracari, Rufous Motmot, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper. , Cinerous Antshrike, Brown Nunlet, Boat-billed Heron, Bare-necked Fruit-Crow, Yellow-browed Tody-Flycatcher, our guide, Roberto, calls in a Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, we then hear a Black-faced Antthrush and a Plain-winged Antshrike but neither of these will come out of the vegetation for us to get a look. High above we hear and see a member of the family of birds which are my favorite, the woodpeckers! It is a stunning, male Cream-colored Woodpecker. A good end to this birding day!

October 18, 2008

This is the last day for birding because tomorrow I have a 6:45 AM flight out of Quito. It will be time to return to the states. So I bird Sacha Lodge and its environs. Birds noted today are Silver-beaked Tanager, Short-tailed Swift, Slate-colored Hawk, Plumbeous Kite, Gray-breasted Martins, Citron-breasted Attila, Anhinga and Gray-capped Flycatcher.

I have seen around 250 new birds, enjoyed the cameraderie of all of the participants, ate very good meals and perhaps best of all had a great birding guide and leader for this adventure in Ecuador.

I believe my favorite bird was the Musician Wren.

Some of the birds I saw in Ecuador

I will post a few of the birds which I saw on my trip to Ecuador. (I am still waiting to get the bulk of my photos from my son in Kansas City.)

A couple more photos

Here are a couple more Ecuadorian birds, Yellow Grosbeak (fore and aft), a White-throated Quail-Dove and a Yellow-breasted Antpitta.

Sounds like a great trip Larry, and I'm quite jealous! I'm going to be a bit naughty though and suggest you revisit the identification of your Black-winged Saltator pic. Doesn't look like a Saltator to me. In fact, it reminds me of the Arremon Sparrows (eg grey flanks, a even a hint of a black central pectoral band) but I can't find one that matches from that part of the world (no books with me at work). On which note, looks like lunch break is over! I look forward to reading more tomorrow!

All the best

James

A marvellous trip report Larry :t:

JWN Andrewes said:

Sounds like a great trip Larry, and I'm quite jealous! I'm going to be a bit naughty though and suggest you revisit the identification of your Black-winged Saltator pic. Doesn't look like a Saltator to me. In fact, it reminds me of the Arremon Sparrows (eg grey flanks, a even a hint of a black central pectoral band) but I can't find one that matches from that part of the world (no books with me at work). On which note, looks like lunch break is over! I look forward to reading more tomorrow!

All the best

James

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James, I may have missed on the identification of the bird you mentioned. It may not be the saltator, but I do not think it is a sparrow either. I am leaning more towards a Collared Warbling-Finch now. I have a problem with the color of the legs and feet though! In Ridgely & Greenfield these are black, but in my photo they look pinkish. Perhaps we can get this sorted out!

I just found this photo while "googling" for the finch.

Here are a couple more photos. (Sickle-winged Guans & Ivory-billed Aracari)

Here's my photo of a Collared Warbling-finch, if you're interested Larry.

Fay, I think that pretty much clinches the ID of my photo as a Collared Warbling-Finch. I'm not sure where I got off of the track with calling it a saltator in the first instance! Probably a "senior moment"!

Oh, I looked through your other photos of 2007 Ecuador. Good Job!