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Ten weeks in Ecuador, 2010 (1 Viewer)

It is the other way around-the Ochre-breasted got the Shakira nominer because it moves its tail back and forth I suppose reminiscent of the Colombian singer´s moves.

:t:

I guess I should have written their names down. I thought there was also one named "Jean-something", maybe it was the other Giant Antpitta that we saw. Or maybe I'm imagining it! (though we did actually see a second giant antpitta).
 
4 and 5 Jan - Copalinga and Podocarpus

Our first full day at Copalinga was low-key, since Tom and I were both tired. Of course I spent some of the morning exploring the trails, but in the afternoon Tom and I wandered around Zamora, searching for beer among other things, and took a nap together in the hammocks on our porch. We were the only guests at Copalinga, so it was very peaceful, with only the sound of the river at night. The owners of the lodge, Catherine and Baldwin, were friendly and usually came to join us for meals. In fact, both nights they invited us into their home for dinner. It was a very pleasant stay.

In my casual wanderings of the reserve trails above the cabins, I encountered quite a few Swainson's Thrushes, fun to see this familiar face in such an exotic location. A real surprise was a large tinamou that ambled out into the trail ahead of me, grayish with a white stripe on the neck- a Gray Tinamou. Large tanager flocks roamed the forest edge near the cabins, many of which were familiar from my time at Tiputini, others new: Spotted, Blue-necked, Bay-headed, Blue-gray, Green-and-gold, and Paradise Tanagers were just a few. One of the few distinctive species of Elaenia, a Mottle-backed Elaenia sat up on one of the garden shrubs. The hummingbird feeders were dominated by Sparkling Violetear, but a few other species came by now and then: Violet-fronted and Purple-crowned Brilliants, Glittering-throated Emerald, and Fork-tailed Woodnymph. Away from the feeders, among the verbenas, was a spectacular, tiny male Spangled Coquette.

On the morning of the 6th Catherine dropped Tom and I off near the entrance to Podocarpus National Park. We hiked the trails for a few hours, and bird-wise it was fairly quiet. One notable exception was a Short-tailed Antthrush that kept walking along the trail ahead of us. Something seemed to be wrong with it, it was missing many of its feathers from its head, in fact it took several long looks before I was sure of the species. A Highland Motmot was another welcome addition, and a few mixed-species flocks contained Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Ornate Flycatcher, and a Canada Warbler among others. It began to rain in late morning, so we took shelter in a roofed-in picnic area by the ranger station and ate lunch. As the rain let up momentarily, a large flock of tanagers moved through the area, with Golden and Golden-eared Tanagers, Orange-eared Tanager, Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager, and Black-faced Dacnis. Eventually we called it a day, and walked back to the cabins to dry off.
 
6-8 Jan: Tapichalaca Reserve

This was our last stop in our honeymoon tour of the Andes. We traveled by bus from Zamora back to Loja, and from there caught a bus headed for Zumba in southern Ecuador. The reserve entrance is right on the main road, so we planned to hop of when it came into view. It was a rather exciting bus ride- the pavement of this "major highway" ended somewhere south of Vilcabamba, and the road began to climb up into the mountains. As we entered the boundary of Podocarpus National Park, we left the degraded cow pastures and entered cloud forest shrouded in mist, and the road conditions began to deteriorate. Large boulders partially blocked the road in places, forcing the bus to squeeze between a rock and... well, a sheer drop-off. Yikes! Add to this the muddy conditions that sometimes caused the bus to slide around alarmingly. I kept telling myself- "this driver knows what he's doing, he does this everyday" but Tom and I were both very relieved when we arrived safely to the lodge (Casa Simpson) at Tapichalaca. We were even more pleased to be greeted with mulled wine brought to our room- nice!

The porch at the lodge had the obligatory hummingbird feeders, visited by a combination of now-familiar species and new species: Speckled Hummingbird, White-bellied Woodstar, Fawn-breasted Brilliant, Long-tailed Sylph, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Collared Inca, and Flame-throated and Amethyst-throated Sunangels. A quick check of the gardens and forest trail produced Unicolored and Chusquea Tapaculos, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Masked Flowerpiercer, Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager, Gray-hooded Bush-Tanager, and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch.

Again we had the place to ourselves, although a group of young guys who had been traveling through Peru stopped by on our full day at the lodge for the Jocotoco Antpitta. On the morning of the 7th, we were all led by one of the lodge guides to an area where a family of antpittas have been habituated to people and come readily to mealworms. It was a gray, chilly morning that threatened with rain, but the antpittas were waiting for us. What an amazing experience! We all watched transfixed as an adult and a juvenile Jocotoco Antpitta bounded around practically at our feet, the juvenile a little more bold than the adult which would bound off into the forest after grabbing a few mealworms. We could hear a few more antpittas nearby, and that funny laughing call of theirs especially delighted Tom. In the dark conditions my photos came out crap, although I got a couple decent videos which I will post soon. We watched for maybe 45 minutes or so, when it began to rain and we worked our way back to the lodge.
 
Tapichalaca cont...

The weather was mostly crappy while we were at Tapichalaca, but we did manage one hike together through the forest trails, plus more time at the porch watching the garden and feeders. I kept hoping more mulled wine would materialize, but I guess that was a just for the first night. Some of the birds we saw included Bearded Guan, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Hooded Mountain-Tanager, and Chestnut-naped Antpitta. All too soon it was time to catch a bus back up to Loja, where we scrambled to do a little bit of laundry before catching our plane back to Quito. The next morning, Tom and I said a tearful goodbye- this was the end of our honeymoon, and the start of my field season, in which I would spend two months at Tiputini. So this almost brings me to the beginning of the thread, where I began with a description of birds I saw during my field work. But first, I had a couple nights left before heading down to the Amazon, and no way was I going to spend it moping around... time for a little more Andean birding. I returned to the hostel from the airport, put myself back together, and headed to the southern bus terminal of Quito.
 
9 Jan-Guango Lodge

Ok, so I actually did quite a bit of moping around on this day, but I did it while sipping hot coffee and watching feeders visited by fantastic Sword-billed Hummingbirds.

From Quito's southern bus terminal (Terminal Terrestre) I hopped on a bus heading east over Papallacta Pass. My destination was Guango Lodge, located along this main highway in temperate forest. In fact I saw the sign for the lodge zoom past as we flew down the highway, and yelled for the driver to stop. He seemed unsure, asked me if I really wanted to stop there, but he obliged. I hiked back up the road to the entrance and checked in to my cold, lonely room. Well, that's how I was feeling.

I was glad to find delicious, hot, free coffee, and sat down to admire the feeder show. The Sword-billed Hummingbirds were of course incredible, bordering on the unreal- but there were also Tyrian Metaltail, White-bellied Woodstar, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Tourmaline Sunangel, Collared Inca, Long-tailed Sylph, Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Fawn-breasted Brilliant, and one Mountain Velvetbreast. A tray filled with sugar water brought in droves of Masked Flowerpiercers and the occasional Rusty and Glossy Flowerpiercers. A walk to the nearby river produced fabulous Torrent Duck and White-capped Dipper, plus various songbirds such as Blue-backed Conebill, Superciliated Hemispingus, and Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant. Still, after the lifer euphoria wore off I found myself pining for my husband, and cursing the timing of events- who in their right mind would plan a wedding and honeymoon right before a field season? Fortunately, I met a couple from St. Louis who were birding at the lodge, and who offered to drive me back to Quito the following day, birding along the Papallacta Pass on the way. The prospect of some company lifted my spirits, and I enjoyed a nice dinner with a large, friendly group of birders.
 
10 Jan- Guango and Papallacta

I was feeling much better this morning, knowing that the next day I would be heading down to the Amazon to work. I watched the feeders, seeing most of yesterday's birds as well as adding Glowing Puffleg. The couple's driver showed up a few hours late from Quito, I guess there had been a miscommunication, but finally around 10 am we were headed off to Papallacta.

Our first stop was a road behind the town of Papallacta, where a Crescent-faced Antpitta had been reported recently. We dipped on that as well as a few target hummingbirds, but finally when we stopped for lunch we were visited by a nice mixed flock, containing Spectacled Redstart, Pearled Treerunner, Black-backed Bush-Tanager, Agile Tit-Tyrant, Black-headed and Superciliated Hemispingus, and Citrine Warbler. Then we headed farther up into the pass and drove along some dirt roads. Some of the highlights were Tawny Antpitta (seen this time!), Red-crested Cotinga, Andean Tit-Spinetail, and Bar-winged and Stout-billed Cinclodes. Around mid-afternoon we left for Quito, and I began repacking all my stuff in preparation for the Amazon.

So that's it! I have a few more videos to share once I get them uploaded. Tom and I are headed back to Ecuador soon, Christmas day in fact, this time I'm taking him to Tiputini for 2 weeks as I begin my second field season. Jeez I'm glad I finally finished this thread just in time to head off again! I'll try not to take a year to finish the next thread.
 
Some final photos: a funny t-shirt I almost bought from Guango Lodge, and a few from Tiputini: long-nosed (?) bat at the canopy tower, hoatzin, greater ani, and lanternfly.
 

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