Good, glad this is underway. I like the species seen versus time passed percentages. Will you be entertaining us with highlights of some of the species seen?
Gladly.
I'll post at weekly on this. I will also mention that I am keeping a web page for this effort (including pictures) at the following address. (Hope this is okay, I read the forum rules about not using the forums to promote one's external site, but not sure if I can post all the pictures here.)
https://legallyblindbirding.net/2018-gbwy/
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Week 1: Dec 26 2017 - Jan 1 2018, Ecuador
Working days: 0 (December Holiday period)
Species identified: 162
Total to date: 162
Sites visited: Galapagos Islands (San Cristobal, Española, Santa Cruz, Isabela), Puembo, Antisana, Papallacta, Guango Lodge, San Isidrio
Comments:
1. Birding in the Galapagos is challenging, despite the low number of species and the relatively easy habitat (no dark rainforests or neck-breaking canopy to squint at). There are no outfits that I could find that specialize in providing birding guides or birding-specific tours. There are occasional fixed-date tours with limited numbers of spots, which cater to birders, but these types of tours never work for us - we need flexible dates. There are plenty of tour companies, but the guides tend to have little knowledge of bird species which are not crowd-pleasers, and the ones that we worked with were not good at identification. For example, our guides would point out Frigatebirds but couldn't discriminate Magnificent from Great. Another 'naturalist' that we worked with could not ID a pair of American Oystercatchers. Day trips to interesting islands would be with a group of other people, none of whom would have much patience if you held up the group in order to pursue a Warbler Finch, for example. On the other hand, one cannot simply bird most of the islands on their own, as a guide is required by law.
2. Birding the Galapagos is, despite this, a worthwhile trip. It is a quality, not quantity, sort of experience. The birds (and other wildlife) are generally fearless and approachable and can be enjoyed in a most novel way.
3. The 'Darwin finches' are a challenging lot. Our strategy was to photograph the most interesting ones and study the pictures after the fact. The Medium Ground Finches were ubiquitous and showed quite a range of bill sizes and shapes.
4. A number of sources had said that December was a terrible month for having a chance to see Waved Albatross, but this was not our experience. We saw several while on the ferry from Santa Cruz to San Cristobal, and then saw at least a dozen on Isla Española.
5. Speaking of ferries, they typically provide a poor birding platform in Galapagos, as they move very fast, don't stop for birds or cetaceans, and usually have very limited seating with any kind of view. On several ferries, all I could do is take photos of rapidly receding seabirds and study them later.
6. For our three days on mainland Ecuador, we worked with a pair of guides, Byron and Manuel, that are based out of Wildsumaco Lodge. I cannot recommend them highly enough. We had birded with them previously several years ago and on that first trip, had really 'cleaned up' on the easier birds. On this trip I gave them a list of target lifers, many of which were quite tough, and they delivered on the majority of them. We got Slate-Crowned Antpitta (seen), Red-Rumped Bush-Tyrant, Andean Condor, Purple-Backed Thornbill, Golden-Crowned Tanager, and the best look at any tapaculo (in this case a Long-Tailed Tapaculo) that we have ever had, to name a few. Look them up if you are in Ecuador.
7. December 31 in Ecuador is quite an experience. One of the local customs is for small groups of people to use a rope or chain pulled taut across the road in order to stop traffic, while several others parade about in garish costumes and ask motorists for change, which they will ostensibly use to purchase alcohol for the night's debaucheries. This generally involved men dressed in drag, gyrating and prancing about in the road. It was often LOL-funny.
