Papallacta (1 Viewer)

I'm planning to go to Guanjo, then San Isidro and Wild Sumaco this July. I see that Papallacta is on the way from Quito to Guanjo, and has Seedsnipe, Jameson's Snipe etc. Is it an easy side trip? Do I need to give half a day or so to this area? Is the best spot the Radio antenna (as ebird suggests)? Basically, what's the best way of incorporating this area into my plans?

pbourdin said:

I see that Papallacta is on the way from Quito to Guanjo, and has Seedsnipe, Jameson's Snipe etc. Is it an easy side trip? Do I need to give half a day or so to this area? Is the best spot the Radio antenna (as ebird suggests)?

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You're doing yourself a favor by incorporating into the day you're driving to Guango Lodge, but you should still plan to spend no less than three or four hours. Prepare for relatively frigid temps and potentially low visibility; that was true in Nov 2015, and I assume there is little seasonal variation. We had no success with the seedsnipe, but the area around the communications towers still produced some good birds. Personally, I'd retain a guide again.

For the Seedsnipe and Snipe yes, you need to go up to the top of the radio tower road. It was quite cold and blowing mist/cold rain when we were up there with poor visibility. Drive up quite slowly watching for birds, park near the antennas, and wander around looking is the basic plan. A guide might help you though we found both birds in a cold and wet couple hours on our own.

It is logistically an easy side trip as it's virtually 'en route', but ofcourse, it's high altitude so better if you are acclimatised a bit.

I would personally spend a fair bit more time around Papallacta as the side valley going up behind the Termas holds, for example, Crescent-faced Antpitta and Masked Mountain Tanager besides some other higher altitude species, and there are stake outs for Andean Bear.