Birding Adventures in Ecuador
An Andean Condor wheels across the face of Antisana, the fourth highest volcano in Ecuador at 5704 m and located 50 kms SE of Quito. The Condor is an iconic bird of the Andes and so I think this shot captures the essence of the high regions of Ecuador.
Condor over Antisana
Wednesday 18 - Friday 20th November. My flight touched down in the evening of 18th Nov. and after quickly dispensing with airport formalities my driver whisked me up over the Papallacta Pass (4200 m) and on to Guango Lodge where I would spend a couple of days acclimatising and seeing the first of Ecuador's 1663 species of birds.
Guango Lodge
Ecuador can justifiably be described as the World's best birding destination. It has the third highest species list after neighbouring Columbia and Peru, in that order. However Ecuador is much the smallest of the three with excellent infrastructure and a well established network of eco lodges and facilities for birders and nature tourism. Guango Lodge at 2800m is situated just one hour's drive east of Quito's new airport. It is well known as a hummingbird centre but there is plenty more to see in the local area, so it's a good place to start my two week holiday, having taken advantage of cheap stand-by flights from my son Tom who is a pilot with British Airways.
Swordbill
Sure enough the place abounds with Hummingbirds, attracted by the feeders, and it was here that I realised the limitations of my little f5.6 lens, which is fine for the bright light of Spain, but in a cloud forest is hopelessly outclassed by the big glass of some of the other photographers here. Nevertheless I was determined to do the best with my limited equipment and with the aid of flash managed to capture a few half decent images. The Swordbill Humminbird above was one of my favourites.
White Bellied Woodstar, female on a feeder
Chestnut Breasted Coronet Photographing hummingbirds is alright for some, but for me bird photography is a form of hunting, and shooting birds provided on a virtual plate is not very satisfying, it's like hunters shooting pheasants put up by beaters, what kind of nerd gets any pleasure from that? So off I went in search of some real wild birds.
| A short walk behind the lodge revealed a colony of Mountain Caciques, bright black and yellow birds that build elaborate pendular nests and I could hear young ones calling from inside, so after a short wait I captured a parent bird emerging from one of the nests swinging in the the breeze. My first real bird shot in Ecuador. A short distance further along the trail and I found a delightful bird that I later read was a Rufous Breasted Chat Tyrant. They have some great bird names in South America but I must say this attractive little chap didn't look much like a tyrant to me. Well what the heck, it sounds good. I was lucky to get some good shots of this one in good light as it was a species I never saw again during my entire trip. |  Northern Mountain Cacique |
Rufous Breasted Chat Tyrant
As I walked through a fairly dense thicket I captured a rather stunning little blue bird with the aid of fill-in flash. I would soon discover that the Masked Flowerpiercer was in fact quite common around the feeders, but I was pleased with this shot taken in more difficult circumstances.
Masked Flowerpiercer
I spotted quite a number of birds on my walks but they were all new species to me. That's one advantage of using the camera, I can shoot first and ask questions later. The pretty little birds below are in fact Spectacled Whitestarts which I discovered later from the field guide. They are quite common in the temperate forest and I did spot them quite often in the next few days.
| To the right is an adult bird (with the red crown) attending a fully grown fledgeling which makes a nice image. I also post a closer view of the young bird below. This species is more aptly named than the tyrant as spectacles are its most obvious feature, also the underside of the tail is very white which flashes as it lifts and provides the other half of the name. Before coming to Ecuador I had been concerned about altitude sickness with which I had once had some problems on ski trips. Here at 2,800 meters however all I noticed was some shortness of breath and fatigue after walking any distance or up slopes. I did not feel at all ill, just tired which was to be expected. |  Adult & juvenile Spectacled Whitestarts. |
Spectacled Whitestart, juvenile
I had been keen to see a Torrent Duck. This enigmatic species is an Andean endemic which inhabits fast flowing "white" waters. It feeds on invertebrates and molluscs for which it forages under submerged stones and boulders or behind waterfalls, much like a Dipper. Guango Lodge stands close to such a fast flowing mountain river and after many attempts I finally found a solitary male, a handsome bird indeed.
Torrent Duck
European birders have just two types of tree-creeper plus a single similar Nuthatch to contend with, but here there are twenty four "Wood Creepers" plus another four with longer curved bills known as "Scythebills".
Montane Woodcreeper
Then there are the Treerunners (Pearled Treerunner below), not to mention the very similar Palmcreepers, Treehunters, Tuftedcheeks, Foilage Gleaners, Barbtails and others who all inhabit the same environment and look very much alike. Bird guides here certainly have their work cut out!
Pearled Treerunner
It's a similar story with other bird types. We have but one Wren, Ecuador has twenty six varieties, of which I saw eight. It's just birding on a different level, and I like it. This little Mountain Wren is perhaps the plainest one that I saw, and I had to use flash to get this shot in the forest.
Mountain Wren
The next one is much bigger but still quite plain compared to some, the Rufous Wren likes temperate forest and this one is foraging for insect food amongst the moss and lichen that coats many of the tree trunks in this moist environment.
Rufous Wren
| Every country has a few very common species like our Sparrows, Starlings, Doves etc. Here is perhaps the most common bird that I saw, it showed up everywhere except in the Amazon rainforest, the equivalent of our Blackbird, The Great Thrush. The next bird is much more interesting and spectacular. |  Great Thrush |
Hooded Mountain Tanager
The Hooded Mountain Tanager is a fiercely proud looking bird, and so it should be with that bright gold chest, gunmetal blue wings and jet black hood with an eye like a ruby. That's a fine looking bird.
Hooded Mountain Tanager
| Here's a cousin to the Mountain Tanager, the Lacrimous Mountain Tanager. Less conspicuous and not a very good photo but I include it as it's one that's hard to find. I picked up others including Grey Headed Bush and Masked Tanagers but the photos are not really good enough to post. Apart from many other Hummingbirds I also managed to identify Turquoise Jay, Inca Jay, Tufted Tit Tyrant, White Throated Tyrranulet, Cinnamon Flycatcher, Smoke Colored Peewee and Russet Crowned Warbler, - |  Lacrimous Mountain Tanager - all from record shots that were identified from the field guide or by my human guide later on. One other very interesting little bird that I will post is the Chestnut Crowned Antpitta. |
Chestnut Crowned Antpitta Antpittas are very sought after by birders, mainly because they are normally very secretive forest birds and hard to see. However some enterprising locals have realised the benefits of regularly feeding them such that they will come when called. It adds to the appeal of the Lodge, or in some cases birders will pay a fee to see the birds that would otherwise prove extremely difficult. Without realising what I was seeing I noticed this little chap almost hopping onto my foot as I stood quietly watching the Hummingbirds. He was too close to photograph and as I tried to move away he scuttled off, so I had to be content with this shot taken as he was coaxed out into a dark space in the bushes at feeding time.
And so my first two days in Ecuador came to an end. Guango Lodge had been a good introduction to the birds of this amazing country but tomorrow my real guided birding tour would begin, so it was back to Quito to be picked up by my guide at six next morning. I will end this section with another shot of almost my first bird in Ecuador, the attractive little Rufous Breasted Chat Tyrant
And so my first two days in Ecuador came to an end. Guango Lodge had been a good introduction to the birds of this amazing country but tomorrow my real guided birding tour would begin, so it was back to Quito to be picked up by my guide at six next morning. I will end this section with another shot of almost my first bird in Ecuador, the attractive little Rufous Breasted Chat Tyrant
Rufous Breasted Chat Tyrant
