Day 16) Wild Sumaco with Byron
We had a full day with Byron Gualavisi as a guide. You can book Byron directly via Wild Sumaco or contact him via Facebook or Wattsapp. He is the guide who got praised by Arjan Dwarshuis during his big year as the best guide he had during the whole year. I can not doubt that.
I personally think Iam a good birder in my home range, knowing almost all the calls, getting birds IDed safely even on bad views and usually getting quickly on birds, even in foreign places. But Byron was a whole different level than anyone I have known so far. He knew every call, saw every movement, got directly onto the birds, and was able to show us almost everything he saw as well. It was one of those days, you would get lost completely without tracking a live checklist.
We started early as usual at 5:50am a quick glimpse at the moth feeder didn’t bring anything new, but Byron told us we can get these birds easily on our own and so we started in the direction of the F.A.C.E trail to get some of our target bird list we gave to him. The list was ambitious, and we told him that we would like to focus on Antbirds, as our list wasn’t that big here and without a guided knowledge, they for sure are rather difficult to get.
In the Parking Lot the day started well with a pair of
Plain Antvireo allowing good views.
Rufous-naped- and
Olivaceous Greenlet were singing, and the nearby flock held several species, including
Ecuadorian Tyrannulet,
Slaty-capped Flycatcher and
Montane Foliage-gleaner.
A raptor rushed through our view quickly disappearing behind the forest. Silhouette immediately looked strange, and Byron confirmed it as a
Buckley’s Forest Falcon one of Wild Sumacos specialities. We heard this bird again in the next days but that remained our only (rather bad) sighting.
We continued birding the main road to the face trail, picking up new birds left and right. Such as
Yellow-breasted Antwren,
Streaked Xenops,
Dark-breasted Spinetail or
Western Wood Pewee.
A calling
Wing-banded Wren remained unseen.
At the face Trail we entered really good and old forest, the number of birds slowed down, but the quality went up. In quick succession we could see or hear,
Rusty-winged- and
Slaty Antwren,
Blackish and
Black-faced Antbird, and enjoyed great views of a pair of
Sooty Antbird and a stunning male
Western Fire-eye.
We asked for Antbirds, and we got Antbirds.
Blue-rumped and
White-crowned Manakin were common and after a lot of work, by Byron we heard a
Yellow-throated Spadebill, which unfortunately remained out of sight. We had more luck with a pair of
Golden-collared Toucanet which came in close to allow good views through the canopy.
Byron tried several spots for roosting owls, but without luck today. So, we left the face trail still rather early in the morning with a lot of new birds in the back. We continued the Coopmans/Antpitta Trail. Not before picking up a nice Raptor flock from the road, including Several
Swallow-tailed Kite, a
Plumbeous and a
Double-toothed Kite as well as a
Barred Hawk. A
Black-Hawk Eagle called shortly but remained unseen. As it was getting hotter, the general birding slowed down a bit, but Byron worked hard for our targets. We tried for a calling
Gray-tailed Piha but couldn’t get a view on it. An
Ochre-breasted Antpitta was not new but finding one outside of a feeding stakeout was still feeling good.
A
Musician Wren was maybe the only bird I found today before Byron. We fortunately saw it well and enjoyed its very nice song.
Then we got another big flock, and it was difficult to get everyone on every bird.
It started with a stunning male
Cerulean Warbler and a
Marble-faced Bristle Tyrant. Several tanager species were in the flock, including some of the Chlorospingus. Highlights of the flock were undoubtedly a
Slaty-capped Shrike-Vireo and a nice male
Fulvous Shrike Tanager. Unfortunately we were under a Bee or Wasp nest, so we couldn’t enjoy it for too long.
Here an owl roost for
Foothill Screech-Owl was successful and we could enjoy a single bird very well at its Day roost.
With 117 species, we closed the morning and enjoyed a nice lunch at the lodge.
In pouring rain, we started to our afternoon session. First trying for Rails along some of Byrons stakeouts and then birding the lower area of the Sumaco Road.
The first spot for
Blackish Rail was easy and after a few minutes a pair of those “Water Rail” type birds allowed good views in the open.
The stop for
Black-banded Crake was not that successful, the bird responded to Playback but was not coming close and in my opinion, Byron tried a bit too hard for getting us views of the bird, so we spent a lot of time here without success.
We then continued down the Sumaco Road scoping some of the more open areas.
Undulated Tinamou were calling in the distance.
Speckled Chachalaca were seen close to the road, and we could see several birds perched well in the canopy. Including
Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, and
Chestnut-fronted Macaw. A pair of close by
Military Macaw and at least 2
Amazonian Umbrellabird.
A
Crowned Slaty Flycatcher was very surprising, as it usually is only seen in the Amazon basin with only a few records in the Sumaco area. Funnily this bird was found by us before Byron got on it. Their internal bird list would count it as the second record ever, but I think it is not 100% up to date. We added
White-fronted Tyrannulet,
Short-crested and
Olive-faced Flycatcher to our list in quick succession.
It was getting darker, and we wanted to try for nightbirds as well. Still at dusk we heard several
Chestnut-headed Crake, a
Scaled Antpitta and a
Short-tailed Antthrush, before the
Tropical Screech-Owls started Calling. We sadly didn’t get any view of the birds. But enjoyed a show of a
Great Potoo, calling nearby and then flying through our flashlights. Definitely the Forest ghost you would imagine here.
Band-bellied Owls were calling several times, but a flyover bird was the only brief view we got here.
Anway it was a very successful afternoon and with a total of 152 species seen or heard.
Sumaco Lodge (Morning) :
https://ebird.org/checklist/S119408587
Sumaco Road (Afternoon):
https://ebird.org/checklist/S119434264
. We missed out on the Flowerpiercer and the Choco Vireo sadly and I wasnt aware of the other great option in the area. Which I heavily regretted after reading your report. In general I found the Amagusa area one of the most interesting areas we have birded during the whole trip.
