Last full day in Ecuador

Today was originally scheduled to be an “off day” but in a stroke of luck we were able to arrange to visit a national park high on the eastern side of Quito instead.  Even better,  our guide from the prior three days,  Luis, took us there.  It was also a bright and sunny day, the only one of the trip where the rain jackets never came out of the backpack.

The National Park is on land from a large hacienda the base of Mount Antisana, the tallest park on the eastern ridge of the Andes and the fourth tallest in Ecuador at 18,700 ft.  The scenery is spectacular— Deep gorges with rock faces and waterfalls, sweeping views of wavIng grasses, the Antisana volcano itself with snow and multi-colored rocks below, and on the horizon in other directions, other volcanos, some also snow-capped.

The government bought the land in order to create and protect reservoirs for the city of Quito water supply. They are encouraging the land to return to scrubby grasslands, and are planting and transplanting native grasses, for example, to speed the process. The government bought all the animals on the hacienda also, and are allowing the animals to run free. When an animal dies, it is left to be food for the Andean Condors. Antisana is the only place in Ecuador to see these huge birds.

Since the park was created on cultivated (and largely deforested) land, we could drive right up to the gap below the peak, at about 3900 meters (12,675 ft). The elevation was barely noticeable as we walked around birding, evidence that a week at high elevations has improved our condition a bit.  The park area also represents a new eco-region for the trip: the Paramo, or high grasslands. Although the other areas we visited each had its own character, all were in the Andean Choco, or moist forest, biome.  The Paramo is a new biome altogether.

While we would like to have seen more condor (we only saw one soaring overhead) and the black-faced ibis that inhabit these meadows, we saw a number of endemic and high-altitude species, many of them flycatchers of one kind or another.  At one of the Quito reservoirs, we saw a variety of water fowl. We also saw at least 50 white-tailed deer. The ones here are smaller, thinner and grayer than the ones at home.  There is a growing concern that the deer population is getting too large (sound familiar?). 

Remember the story about trying to lure Antpittas to come out of the dense underbrush to be seen? Today a Tawny Antpitta came right out into the open without our even calling him.  All in all it has been a great trip. Tomorrow we will do a bit of birding on our own in the morning and then spend the rest of the day traveling back home to NY.

Pictured: Andean lapwing, Ecuadorian Hillstarn(endemic and very local), Many- striped Canastero, Tawny Antpitta

Tandayapa

 October 17, 2021

We spent today at Tandayapa, in the cloud forest on the western slopes of the Andes. It was a beautiful morning. We started the morning birding at the restaurant which is outdoors and overlooks the canopy on two sides.  There are several cecropia trees, the fruit of which is a favorite of many bird species. After a brief but intense viewing, we headed to a moth feeder area -  this is not a place where they feed moths, but where lights and a white screen are set up at night to attract moths, with the consequence that many species of birds drop by early in the morning for some fast food. By breakfast time we had already seen 40 species.

Today was particularly good for tanagers (we saw 12 different kinds!) and hummingbirds (11 kinds) although in both cases some were species we had seen before.  We also got better views of some spectacular birds ( the Red-headed Barbet and Pale-mandibled Aracari are examples pictured below). As often happens, we spent time trying to get a good look at a particular bird, only to then “see it everywhere we went”.   A rain storm delayed our after lunch outing but it did not deter the birds. Some of the hummingbirds took the opportunity to take a shower.  We did get in a short afternoon walk and then headed back to Quito.  Quito sits in a dry valley between the two ridges of the Andes, so a hard rain can cause the city to fill up like a bowl. We got to see that in action tonight. It had clearly rained even harder in Quito than in Tandayapa... much, much more than the storm drains could handle.  We saw some pretty amazing flooding on the main roads, so that it felt a bit like swimming upstream to get back to the lodge!

And for the mammal lovers: today we saw tracks of deer and armadillos (the armadillos had been digging along the trails for worms).  Later we heard and almost saw a nine-banded armadillo in the forest, and right before we had to leave, we actually saw an agouti.

Pictured: Pale-mandibled Aracari, Red-headed Barbet (female and male), White-lined Tanager with moth breakfast

Quito and beyond

October 16, 2021

We spent this morning exploring the grounds of our Quito lodge. The property was originally a hacienda, with most of the land cleared to support dairy cattle. Dr. George ( hence San Jorge Eco-lodges) bought the property in the 1980’s, planting gardens to attract birds and allowing the pastures to revert to nature. It is a secondary growth oasis in the hills over Quito with the urban sprawl right outside its gates. We saw 27 species there today, on trails around the lodge and that climb yet higher up the hill. Last night’s thunderstorm dusted the nearby mountain peaks with snow; the views over the city of Quito and out to the volcanoes were spectacular.

Our guide, Luis, has an affection for all birds, but is particularly fond of the elusive Antpittas, ground birds with distinctive calls who come closer and closer to you but never actually emerge from the underbrush.  We spent quite a while at Yanacocha luring the Ecuadorian Antpitta to come and see us. Its call would get louder and louder as it approached, and then go silent. Once we gave up and walked on, it resumed calling.  Today we had exactly the same experience with the Tawny Antpitta, leading us to conclude that they just like to tease Luis.

 After lunch we headed north again, taking backroads down the valley of the Tandayapa River and birding along the way.  Both halves of the day featured new species, but the hummingbirds stole the show yet again. The Black-Tailed Trainbearer (pictured below) has the longest tail of any hummingbird in the world, and the longest tail (in proportion to its body size) of any bird in the Americas. Our room at the new lodge is at the end of the building with windows on three sides at canopy level. The lodge is partway up the steep sides of the forested river valley, and feels very immersive.

Pictured: Black-tailed Trainbearer, Cinnamon Flycatcher, Golden-bellied Grosbeak (female)

Yanacocha

 October 15, 2021

Another pre-dawn breakfast and then a drive to the Yanacocha Reserve, on the slopes (2500-3500m) of Pichicacha, a set of 5 volcanic peaks of which one is active (last erupted in 1999). Much of the slope is deforested to support the local dairy farming industry. Native trees become shorter and scrubbier as the elevation increases; the only tall trees are introduced species such as eucalyptus, cedar and pine. While much of the farmland feels quite dry, the upper level on the mountain is part “montane” and part cloud forest. Yanacocha is a reserve run by an international group that is buying land all over the world to protect specific bird species (but a lot of other species benefit too). In this case the focus species is a hummingbird, the black-breasted puffleg. 

We walked about three miles into the reserve, which was unusually quiet. We saw many fewer species of birds than on previous days, but those we saw were spectacular and specific to the local eco region. Examples include several mountain tanagers, and some amazing hummingbirds. Many of the hummingbirds are very aptly named, as shown by the photo of the Sword-billed Hummingbird below.  We also added an Ecuadorian Rabbit (actual name is white-tailed rabbit) to our mammal list. 

The weather today was very unsettled, periods of sun in between many stretches of mist and fog. The mist was so dense that there was no sense staying up on the mountain. Instead we drove back roads and saw more local and endemic birds on our way back to the lodge. We got in just before a big thunderstorm hit- thunder at 9,000 ft is really loud!

Pictured: Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, female Sword-billed Hummingbird, Yellow-breasted Brush Finch 

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Rio Silanche

October 14, 2021

The rain that began Wednesday afternoon continued all night and into this morning. Fortunately the plan for today was to drive to a lowland rain forest area and largely “bird from the car” (meaning we drive and stop frequently to look at birds). By the time we got back to the main road the rain had turned to fog and mist, and we actually had clear weather ( if cloudy) for most of our birding, but you might notice some rain in one of the attached photos.

During our morning at Rio Silanche, we saw many new birds as well as some old favorites. Among the new ones: chestnut-fronted macaws, white-tailed trogon, yellow-tufted dacnis, and several endemic species.  One of the birds was a “life lister” for our guide, a young (22 years old!) biologist from Quito.

 When we returned to the lodge for lunch (a bit late because of the excellent morning birding) the mist and rain welcomed us again. A little local birding and then we drove back to Quito for the night.  We have really enjoyed the lodges in Milpe.  We were the only ones there. Now back in Quito we have internet connectivity, so we can to catch up with family and blogging. To be fair, the small lodges in Milpe used to have internet but with tourist volume so low they need to economize where they can. Perhaps we should be grateful for being truly off the grid for several days.

Pictured: masked Tityra, white-tailed trogon, yellow-tufted Dacnis.

Full Day at Milpe

October 13, 2021

Today was not quite as long as yesterday, but it still began before dawn. We spent time at a “moth feeder” where lights and a white screen are set up at night to attract moths, with the consequence that many species of birds drop by early in the morning for some fast food. We saw many species that are normally hard to see because they live deep in the forest and low to the ground.  After breakfast we went for a longer bird walk; the trails here are very well kept and swept clear of debris to discourage snakes from the trails. While birding is seldom done at aerobic speeds, today’s walk involved several trips down to the river and back up again. The uphills felt like exercise no matter what our Fitbits thought. That walk led us to the lodge for this evening, and in time for lunch. The morning was bright and sunny, but by mid morning the mist had returned, and rain arrived after lunch. Fortunately this lodge (quite a bit larger and more finished than last night’s) has an open air dining hall with two stories above it, so we stood out of the rain and even with the nearby treetops to watch birds.  There was an amazing amount of activity while it was raining, and we were able to see some spectacular new species. The reserve is entirely primary rain forest, and many of the species we are seeing are endemic to Ecuador, although it has been fun to see some species from our Costa Rica, Belize and Brazil trips too.  We are up to 18 species of hummingbirds so far!

Update:  for those of you who think we only see birds, today we saw a Tayra (a large arboreal member of the weasel family), a fruit bat and a red-tailed squirrel.  

Photos:  Zeledon's Antbird, female Swallow Tanager, Orange-billed Sparrow, Black-and-white Becard

A long first day!

 October 12, 2021

Our first full day in Ecuador was a long one.  The Quito lodge ( more on this when we stay there again later in the trip, as we haven’t really seen it in daylight yet) is at the top of a steep hill south of the main part of Quito, so approximately 10,000 feet and it was nippy in our cabin!  This part of Ecuador is like the old joke about West Virginia “ if you flattened it out it would be enormous”.  We began with breakfast at 5:30 and then drove for several hours to our first birding location... down the hill, through Quito and then downhill some more as we went further north. As we neared the outskirts of Quito, we saw and passed the equator monument. The rest of our morning would be spent in the Northern Hemisphere. The area around Quito is very dry; just north of Quito the landscape changes to green deciduous forest and corn fields; and a bit later we were in the cloud forest. We drove uphill from the main highway for a couple of miles on a single track dirt road — at the top, in the middle of nowhere was a bird sanctuary operated as a family business. We spent several hours there.  While there we got to see a very rare endemic species, whatever,  we also saw 15 species of hummingbirds, one with an enormous tail.  A wide variety of Tanagers were present.

 We retraced our path to the highway (stopping several times for bird sightings) and continued north to Milpe, often cited as one of the best birding locations in Ecuador.  Tonight’s lodge (3,000 feet) is at the edge of a deep valley with a rushing river at the bottom.  We are in the rain forest but at a high enough altitude that it is not hot, just humid. The mist comes and goes as it will, with the result that the valley in front of the lodge appears and disappears. Our room as well as the dining area (we eat outdoors) overlook the valley.  We are the only guests here, and it is very quiet. We took several birding walks near the lodge, and a night walk after dinner. Amongst all the birding walks we did today and tonight, we’ve seen 84 species so far, most of them new to us. The night walk also yielded frogs, spiders, large snails and interesting insects.  The food has been very good and plentiful,  the portions are of a reasonable size, but there are a lot of courses.  The amount of physical activity we did today certainly did not sufficiently justify the four course lunch.

Pictured below:  Toucan Barbet, Booted Racquet-tail, Gladiator Frog

Heading to Ecuador

 October 11, 2021 

And we are off for a week-long birding trip in Ecuador!   Today we fly to Quito, which is the capital city closest to the equator (hence “Ecuador”!).  It is also the 2^nd highest capital city, at 9450 ft, and sits on the eastern slope of Pichincha, an active volcano.  Because of its location, the temperatures (both high and low) vary only by about 5 degrees across the entire year, there are 12 hours of sunlight every day (although it also rains a lot), and when the sun is out, it has one of the highest UV indexes in the world. People have lived in the Quito area since at least 8000 BC.  Quito has one of the least disturbed historic districts in South America, and was the site of Ecuador’s independence, led by Simon Bolivar, in 1810.

Our trip will involve going to many different climate zones / biomes over the course of the week, including cloud forests (some up to 11,000 ft), moderate forest, grasslands and tropical rain forests (some down to 1150 ft). We’ll be peeling and adding layers every day, and rain gear will be our constant companions – but so will the birds!  The avifauna of Ecuador has 1653 confirmed species, of which nine are endemic to the mainland and 31 are endemic to the Galápagos, 73 are rare or vagrants and of course not all are found on the west of the Andes where we will be... but still, there's a lot to potentially see!  Our itinerary suggests we’ll be on our feet at least 8 hours a day, although birding is often at a rather slow pace.  More when we actually start doing!