On October 3 Lisa and I married. The plans for the honeymoon had been set for some time - we wanted something divided between adventure and more traditional honeymoon activities, someplace I had never been, and Lisa wanted to see toucans. We chose Ecuador.
As resources we brought the classic reference The Birds of Ecuador by Ridgely and Greenfield, and The Birds of Northern South America by Restall et al. Unfortunately, between planning for the wedding and other responsibilities, I did not have extensive free time to study the birds of the specific regions we were visiting, and I was unable to review calls or songs at all. Nor did we have any recordings to lure birds in. We still did pretty well in terms of identifying species - I think only a few of the obscure-colored furnariids and flycatchers slipped through.
In the report below, life birds will be listed in all capitals. I generally list a bird only the first time it is viewed in a trip, unless subsequent sightings are of particular quality or interest, thus avoiding tiresome repetition of birds such as Magnificent frigatebirds and Brown pelicans.
October 4 was spent entirely in transit, and it was past dark by the time we landed in Quito. There we rented a car and followed our hosts to a small lodge only fifteen minutes or so from the airport, the Posada Mirolindo. I can heartily recommend the lodge for its convenience to the airport, the hospitality of the owners, and the cleanliness and comfort of the rooms. Although we arrived late, Gabriela, the proprietress, arranged for preparation of ham sandwiches for us. Any thoughts that ham sandwiches were skimpy fare vanished as soon as we started in - the bread was delicious and flaky and we enjoyed it immensely. Of course, hunger may have added flavor to the meal.
We turned in, anticipating an interesting drive to the Andes the next day.
Monday, October 5 - I woke early and decided to let Lisa sleep in since she had had a very busy time leading up to the wedding and really needed to catch up. Looking out the window, I found that the lodge was within a walled enclosure of some three or four acres, including an intricate patio, a little cottage with some flowering bushes in front, a small stables, and a retention pond. The bushes had attracted a hummingbird with a long straight tail - a BLACK-TAILED TRAINBEARER that vanished after a few moments, not to be seen again. I also spotted several small birds that I guessed, and later confirmed, to be Rufous-collared sparrows.
I stepped outside and explored the lodge’s dirt field, finding Eared doves. The thatching under the roof of the lodge had nesting Blue-and-white swallows. From the lodge grounds there was a nice view of the inter-Andean valley in which Quito is situated, and a possible Cinereous harrier soared through, too quickly to confirm the identification. A Ringed kingfisher overflew the retention pond.
A line of evergreens divided the lodge grounds from the farm next door, and I spent a good deal of time studying and eventually identifying SPARKLING VIOLETEARS that frequented those trees. I also had a view from below of a backlit bird that was likely a Giant hummingbird, but did not see it well enough for a life sighting. At the end of the line of evergreens there was a smaller deciduous tree where I found a female and then a male RUSTY FLOWERPIERCER, the first of the flowerpiercer complex I had ever seen; I was able to make out the oddly curved and recurved bill and saw it put to use. A female Vermillion flycatcher also visited the same tree. Flocks of birds started darting between the treetops, including both HOODED SISKINS and the more difficult to find ANDEAN SISKINS. A song reminiscent of a Rose-breasted grosbeak drew my attention to a tree in the neighboring farm, and it proved to hold a brightly-colored SOUTHERN YELLOW GROSBEAK.
As the morning activity wound down I started seeing only common tropical birds, such as White-tipped dove, Turkey vulture, and Black vulture, so I returned to the room to clean up with Lisa. Around midmorning we set off for the Andes northwest of Quito. Gabriela had given us directions and a crude map, which proved sufficient to put us on the right road.
At the end of the drive we noticed a sign for the Tandayapa House, which proved misleading because it was not the Tandayapa Lodge we were looking for. The folks who showed up there after a short time set us straight but did not give us great directions although the correct turn off the highway was not much farther off; my rusty Spanish probably was not quite up to the task either. Thus, we went back and forth over a stretch of the highway for half an hour or so before we figured out the proper turn - it has a sign for a sport fishing outfit (!). Fortunately, when we turned in to that road, a jeep with a couple of birders was coming out, and they confirmed we’d found the right turn. They also clarified that we would need to go down that road for quite a ways, passing through the hamlet of Tandayapa before finding the driveway up to the lodge.
It was getting late in the afternoon by the time we found the lodge and unpacked the car. As we were the only guests, we were able to leave our car on the driveway at the bottom of a short flight of stairs leading up to the main building itself, which was nice.
The room at Tandayapa was very nice and had its own bathroom with shower, although hot water was very unpredictable. We spent a fair amount of the afternoon on the veranda of the lodge, with its famous array of hummingbird feeders, mesmerized by the constant activity. The avian jewels here included VIOLET-TAILED SYLPH, PURPLE-BIBBED WHITETIP, RACKET-TAILED PUFFLEG, White-necked jacobin, PURPLE-THROATED WOODSTAR, ANDEAN EMERALD, Rufous-tailed hummingbird, BUFF-TAILED CORONET, FAWN-BREASTED BRILLIANT, BROWN INCA, Green violetear, BROWN VIOLETEAR, GREEN-CROWNED BRILLIANT, EMPRESS BRILLIANT, and GREEN-CROWNED WOODNYMPH. On the front side of the lodge the staff place fruit on a horizontal stick a couple of times per day, and this attracted GOLDEN TANAGERS (extremely common in the region).
Lisa and I went down the driveway to the road and saw Tropical kingbirds on the wires, an unidentified flycatcher, SMOKE-COLORED PEWEE, CRIMSON-MANTLED WOODPECKER, LEMON-RUMPED TANAGER (also extremely common in a variety of habitats), and Blackburnian warbler. By this time it was getting late so we had dinner and turned in.
Tuesday, October 6 - We rose early and took a short trail to be at the lodge’s blind by first light, which we had been advised was the critical time to see some specialty birds there. The blind is a good-sized structure with windows looking out upon an area where they leave LED nightlights on all night, attracting moths and insects - many of which can be seen on a stretch of cheesecloth. These in turn attract the early-morning insectivorous birds until the night’s collection is devoured. The first birds to wander in were CHESTNUT-CAPPED BRUSH FINCH and Three-striped warbler. A Streak-breasted woodcreeper followed, and then the prize of the location, IMMACULATE ANTBIRD, arrived. A brown furnarid proved a more difficult identification challenge but I was able to peg it as a UNIFORM ANTSHRIKE.
When the insects at the hide ran low, we returned to the lodge, finding Bananaquit at the hummingbird feeders. During breakfast the staff restocked the fruit feeder on the front side of the lodge and we were treated to visits by RUFOUS MOTMOT and CRIMSON-RUMPED TOUCANET, both real Lisa-pleasers. After a short wait a RED-HEADED BARBET appeared. Other birds started coming in, including MASKED TROGON, BLUE-WINGED MOUNTAIN-TANGER (very common in the area), WHITE-WINGED BRUSH FINCH, and ECUDAORIAN THRUSH.
We went back and forth between the fruit feeding station on the front side of the lodge and the hummingbird feeders on the back veranda, finding ORANGE-BELLIED EUPHONIA, Slaty antwren, Blue-gray tanager, GOLDEN-NAPED TANAGER, Buff-throated saltator, and BLACK-WINGED SALTATOR. By this time Lisa was sleepy again and she retired to the room for a nap; I stayed out walking the trails and haunting the feeders, eventually finding a WESTERN EMERALD that visited a couple of times. Although the drawings of this bird may suggest it is somewhat boring in appearance, being all of one color, in life it is spectacular; most hummingbirds are iridescent in only parts of their plumage, but the Western emerald is entirely garbed in iridescent green, and in good light it shines as if sheathed all over in verdant crystal. Another larger hummingbird appeared just before we were due to leave the lodge: a VELVET-PURPLE CORONET, which was both impressive and beautiful.
Our next destination was to be Paz de las Aves, but we were hoping to see a mountain-toucan, which (due to a misreading of my research materials) we had thought would be common there. I had since realized my error so we stopped at Bellavista Lodge which happened to be on the way. The feeders at that time had many of the same hummingbirds we had seen at Tandayapa, as well as SPECKLED HUMMINGBIRD and MASKED FLOWERPIERCER. We learned that the Plate-billed mountain-tanagers typically came in to the feeders in the first part of the morning, and it being midafternoon, our chances were slim.
We headed out on the trail anyway but were unable to go very far because Lisa was still recovering from foot surgery. The only new birds for the trip were MONTANE WOODCREEPER, a Red-headed tanager seen by Lisa only, and RUSSET-CROWNED WARBLER. When we returned to the lodge, it was to learn that while we were on the trial, and only fifteen minutes before our return, the mountain-toucans had come in to visit the feeders! We waited around a bit more, but we needed to get going so we would not be hunting for our next stop in the dark.
On we went to Paz de las Aves, continuing on the road beyond Bellavista Lodge. It would eventually take us back to the highway, very close to Paz de las Aves, but only after a good deal longer than I had anticipated. Then, once we were on the highway, it was unclear which direction we needed to go. Fortunately we made the right choice and when I stopped for directions at a roadside stand, the girl there instantly recognized “Paz de las Aves” and told us the turn was only about five minutes further on. Soon we found the turn, with a smallish sign, and spent another ten or fifteen minutes working our way up the side road until we came to the famous habitation of Angel Paz.
The house of Angel is a large one, recently enhanced by an addition with nice (although small or, if you will, “cozy”) rooms for guests. Angel himself is now famous for his skill at training normally-furtive forest birds to come in for worms or other treats; his general enthusiasm; and his dog Azul, who is plainly the real master of the place.
When we drove up we were lucky to find a troop of SICKLE-WINGED GUANS making an evening visit - Angel was himself surprised to find as many as seven of the birds all coming in together. We had all the time we wanted to study them. We also found GOLDEN-CROWNED FLYCATCHER and BROWN-CAPPED VIREO here. A short walk down the road led to a group of trees with Dusky-capped flycatcher and DUSKY BUSH-TANAGERS.
We had a nice dinner served by Angel’s family and his assistant Rodrigo’s wife, and then we settled in for the first of two nights planned at Paz de las Aves.
Wednesday, October 7 - Our first morning at Paz de las Aves we were slotted to take the classic tour, starting with the lek that originally put Angel’s property on the map. A tour group from Bellavista Lodge joined us. We set up early at a blind and soon the first of several male ANDEAN COCK-OF-THE-ROCKS arrived, remarkable in their orange-red, grey, black, and white plumage. We enjoyed their raucous squabbling, and eventually a female appeared to prompt the real courtship displays.
After an hour or so we returned to the road, where a FLAVESCENT FLYCATCHER perched atop a roadside bush and eyed us. Angel began whistling for a possible target species, and was quickly answered from atop a small cliff near the road. Eventually we were able to get a CLOUD-FOREST PYGMY OWL in the scopes, a fantastic sighting! Although the views were a bit distant, I enjoyed studying the facial disk and breast smudging; at times it turned its head to reveal the false eyes on the back of the neck.
Continuing on toward the next spot for a marquee bird, we heard and saw a Gray-breasted wood-wren. A GOLDEN-HEADED QUETZAL female arrived and called from the vines hanging over the same cliff face; we would see a male in the same area the next day. At the edge of a small creek, Angel started calling for a local specialty. Soon one, and then a second, YELLOW-BREASTED ANTPITTA came to the base of a forested slope on the far side of the creek, and stalked out in full view to snatch the worms Angel was tossing for them. The birds were typical antpittas with clear yellow breasts, as the name suggests, and came down fearlessly for the worms.
Next we backtracked up the road to a spot with hummingbird feeders just a couple dozen feet off the shoulder. A TAWNY-BELLIED HERMIT visited while we were there, flashing its long white central rectrices and showing the breast color nicely. A WEDGE-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD also arrived for brief looks. However, the hoped-for wood-quails did not appear, although we waited for them for a while.
The crown jewel of Angel’s tour was still ahead. We crossed the road and climbed a steep set of steps into the forest. Lisa, again owing to the surgery on her feet over the summer, elected not to risk the steps, and waited back on the road with a couple others who were not eager for the trail. A short ways in Angel started calling and a RUFOUS-BREASTED ANTTHRUSH soon showed, shortly joined by a second. The original bird spent some time in the hollow to one side of the steps, then circled around above us and came down the steps, approaching to within only two steps of the highest of our group.
After the antthrushes held our attention for a while, a large shadow separated itself from the underbrush, and the entire group held its breath. It resolved into the form of a GIANT ANTPITTA, latest in a line of birds that have become legend among birders. We had ample opportunity to study the slate-gray upperparts, rufous chest barred with black, and overall compact antpitta physiology.
Angel continued calling, and eventually an OCHRE-BREASTED ANTPITTA appeared up the trail. We now had the antthrush and both antpitta species in view - a trifecta of specialty birds that made for an astonishing birding experience.
We returned to Angel’s house for a good meal, and then Angel, his assistant Rodrigo, and I headed on a trail from the house that led along the edge of a hill. We saw a Roadside hawk, a PLUMBEOUS PIGEON, and a LINEATED FLYCATCHER on the way to the overlook. We heard White-tipped quail-dove, and then heard Toucan barbets at a nest hole, but did not see either species. Sadly, I learned that the area where the Ocellated tapaculos had formerly been found was cleared by Angel’s neighbors, and the birds, naturally, disappeared. I had been looking forward to seeing this spectacular member of a usually obscure and reclusive tribe.
Unfortunately, a target species here again chose not to appear, making me glad for my foresight in arranging for a second night’s stay.
In the later afternoon we drove well downhill and walked along the jungle-girded road. We found Slate-throated redstart, STREAKED TREEHAUNTER, and a truly excellent find, an OLIVACEOUS PIHA on a low branch. It was misty and the birds were mostly washed-out in apparent color, but I found a fruiteater that proved to be an ORANGE-BREASTED FRUITEATER! We also located a SLATY SPINETAIL for good measure.
Back at Angel’s house, we watched from the balcony as Rodrigo put fruit in the crotch of a tree. It soon attracted several species of tanager, including Golden tanager, METALLIC-GREEN TANAGER, and BERYL-SPANGLED TANAGER. Finally, we visited a forest uphill from the house, where we found RED-FACED SPINETAIL and THICK-BILLED EUPHONIA.
Thursday the eighth - Lisa demurred from joining us for a pre-dawn start. We tried a house with an outdoor light for Lyre-tailed nightjars and owls, but all we had was a distant barking Mottled owl. Next Angel dropped a few fellow birders off to watch the cock-of-the-rock lek while he and I checked nearby rock faces for roosting nightjars. Again we came up empty.
We rejoined the group briefly at the hummingbird feeder site, on the way seeing flying RED-BILLED PARROTS. An Andean solitaire sang from an unseen perch. At the feeders the same species appeared as the day before. Angel called for the wood-quails, and suggested I wait there for them to appear while he took the rest of the group to see the Yellow-breasted antpittas.
As such, I was left birding on my own, and thus in a position for one of the most unique experiences of my birding career. Some ten minutes after the group left, a small round quail came stealthily up over the lip of the downslope and hesitated there, inspecting me minutely. It was, of course, the DARK-BACKED WOOD-QUAIL - mostly two-toned, dark grey/black on the back and muddy rufous underneath. Soon it was joined by four more of its kind - another adult and three juveniles - and they gradually approached me, looking for food.
I remained very still, and found myself surrounded by the birds. They came so close they almost touched my boots, and picked at the backpack I had placed on the ground beside me. For well over ten minutes I was alone with a covey of wood-quail circling me with no more concern than if I had been a bush - sometimes approaching me with small hopeful sounds seeking food.
The group returned, but the wood-quail were so habituated to humans that their arrival did not frighten the birds away, so everyone had a chance to enjoy their close scrutiny. Eventually the birds left and we returned to Angel’s house for lunch.
After lunch Rodrigo took me back on the trail leading from Angel’s house along the side of the hill. We had better luck this time, spotting both TOUCAN BARBET and the target bird we had missed, MOUSTACHED ANTPITTA, as well as another pair (!) of Giant antpittas.
Next we traveled to a higher-elevation remnant of forest, where Rodrigo and I were delighted to find a trio of BLACK-CHINNED MOUNTAIN-TANAGERS - he said it had been months since he had seen one, and it was extremely unusual to see as many as three (the most he had ever seen together was five, once several years earlier).
Finding no other new birds for the trip, we again returned to Angel’s house, where they were putting fruit out for the birds on the spreading tree off the patio again. The tree was tenanted by Palm tanagers, and we saw a dramatically lovely FLAME-FACED TANAGER as well. In shorter trees closer to my and Lisa’s room, we spotted a RUFOUS-WINGED TYRANNULET. Back at the tree where the fruit was spread, a BLACK-CAPPED TANAGER had arrived.
Our time at Paz de las Aves was over, and Lisa and I retraced our route, eventually returning to Bellavista Lodge to take one more stab at the Plate-billed mountain-toucans. We struck out again on the toucans but in the open gallery room of the lodge I found a GORGETED SUNANGEL sitting on the floor beneath a chair. I think it had been stunned, possibly struck against a window, as it allowed me to approach within easy reach, but when I secured the assistance of a lodge attendant it abruptly picked up and flew out of the room.
While we waited watching the feeders at the lodge, we saw COLLARED INCA and WHITE-SIDED FLOWERPIERCER along with the many other species of hummingbirds. Unfortunately, we had to leave by midafternoon in order to reach Quito before rush hour.
In this we were fantastically unsuccessful. Somehow we missed a turn that would have allowed us to skirt around Quito, and instead ended up driving DIRECTLY THROUGH THE CENTER OF THE CITY from south to north at rush hour on the Thursday before a four-day holiday weekend. After far too long driving, we finally reached the airport and called the hotel to have them come guide us back. We spent the night at Posada Mirolindo again.
Friday the ninth: At Posada Mirolindo, I again saw a Ringed kingfisher and a juvenile ASH-BREASTED SIERRA-FINCH. An American kestrel hunted from the wall on one side of the property and occasionally alit on the ground.
We then drove to the airport and turned in the rental car. At the airport I pointed out Boat-tailed grackles to Lisa. We purchased round-trip tickets to Guayaquil on LAN Airlines at an entirely unreasonable price, and then they forced us to check Lisa’s carry-on bag because it was over the alleged “weight limit” for carry-ons. When we arrived in Guayaquil, we discovered the baggage handlers had ripped open a pocket of her bag and stolen her box of earrings and a couple of charger cords. LAN refused to even let us fill out a claim form, on the basis of some undisclosed policy that they do not cover electronics, jewelry, or indeed anything of value in checked bags. I guess they are aware that their baggage handlers are light-fingered and find it more expedient to disclaim responsibility than to supervise their employees more closely. I won’t fly LAN again, but I will sue them.
Due to all the issues at the airport in Guayaquil, we ended up driving mostly in darkness, in rotten holiday traffic. Moreover, while trying to get out of Guayaquil itself we missed a turn - signage in Ecuador is mostly nonexistent, and even when present, wholly inadequate - and lost about forty-five minutes getting directions and getting back on track. The result of all this was that we did not arrive at our destination, the Azuluna Ecolodge on the Pacific coast, until after 10 p.m. It had been a long and fairly unpleasant day and a half. As we unpacked, we were grateful that I had decided to schedule the second week of our honeymoon at a single location, allowing us to relax rather than have to move around every few days.
Saturday the tenth: In the daylight we were better able to take stock of our surroundings. Our room was on the third floor of an outbuilding a little downhill from the main lodge. The room was comparatively spacious, with a large bed and a clean bathroom. We also had a private balcony with twin hammocks, looking out over a few buildings to the shore and a wide expanse of sea. Most of the vegetation was dry scrub but there were some lush gardens in the area as well.
The main lodge had a capacious dining room (in which, at this non-peak time, we were often the only diners) and an upstairs recreation room.
One of the key target birds of the area, found near the Ayampe river, was the critically endangered Esmeraldas woodstar, a hummingbird estimated to have a total population of only about 2,000. On the lodge grounds I noticed signs referring to the bird, and I asked one of the lodge employees about it. He pointed to several flowering bushes in front of the lodge and said the bird was regularly seen right there - in fact, around 10:00 a.m. each morning, and again around 4:00 p.m. on some afternoons! Naturally, I would stake out the bushes several times during the week, with varying degrees of success.
The first morning I ranged around the lodge grounds while Lisa slept in. Magnificent frigatebirds floated overhead in their usual abundance. The trees below our room held YELLOW-TAILED ORIOLES and SCRUB BLACKBIRDS. Brown pelicans flew in frequent lines over the water. Pigeons were also present, of course. A trio of PACIFIC PARROTLETS landed in the treetops, allowing great studies through the binoculars. They would return later in the day to delight Lisa.
Up by the lodge, LONG-TAILED MOCKINGBIRDS perched in the bare limbs of a tree by the driveway, and a FASCIATED WREN visited the bushes while I waited for the hummingbird to arrive. The Esmeraldas woodstar did arrive, and perched for a moment, but I had only a momentary and unsatisfying view before it disappeared.
Back up in the room, I scoped out some ECUADORIAN GROUND-DOVES and had a CHESTNUT-COLLARED SWALLOW on the wires. It was soon replaced by Grey-breasted martins. Neotropic cormorants scythed over the waves of the ocean. Tropical gnatcatchers and CROAKING GROUND-DOVES also could be seen in the bushes below our room and on one of the town rooves respectively.
We took a walk along the beach. A small landlocked pool featured several Yellow-crowned night-herons, Black-necked stilts, Semipalmated plover, Spotted sandpiper, and eclipse-plumaged White-cheeked pintails. The scrub held a House wren of the southern tropical race. Several spots were girded by tape warning of the presence of green sea turtle nests, and the tracks of the hatchlings were everywhere.
Back at the hotel I saw a PALE-LEGGED (“PACIFIC”) HORNERO picking along, oblivious to my presence. We also spooked up a few Groove-billed anis in the bush-filled yards along the entrance drive.
Lisa and I spent most of the afternoon relaxing on the balcony. The weather was generally cloudy and sometimes misty, which is apparently the norm for the Pacific coast in that area at the time of year, but we found it very comfortable and slow-paced.
Sunday the eleventh: Our second day at Azuluna I found a dramatic male Vermillion flycatcher and a voluble Southern beardless-tyrannulet. From the balcony I caught at least two whales - likely humpbacks - migrating well offshore. One was patterned in black and white, making me think it might be an orca, but I later learned the southern humpback populations do have white patches. I also saw terns, probably Royal terns, but they were too distant for certain identification.
My stakeout for the hummingbird yielded the best results this morning, as I had the bird in my binoculars, hovering, for about two full seconds - enough to be reasonably sure of the diagnostic characteristics of the ESMERALDAS WOODSTAR. I also saw Golden-olive woodpecker and another Streak-headed woodcreeper.
Monday the twelfth - We took a whale-watching tour out of Puerto Lopez, which was just ten minutes north of the Ecolodge. On the ride out I spotted several WEDGE-RUMPED STORM PETRELS, including one that was close enough and well enough viewed that I could see the shape and length of the white patch on the rump. As we neared Isla de la Plata, we started to see Blue-footed boobies as well. A female humpback whale and two calves delighted us off to port, especially when the mother rolled high and then dove, flying her tail flukes in a pose out of National Geographic. We also saw a pod of bottlenosed dolphins and, as we came in close to the island, found several floating green sea turtles.
On Isla de la Plata we hiked from the eastern coast to the western cliffs, finding many nesting blue-footed boobies - some right on the trail so that we had to step aside to avoid stabs of their beaks. Right at the start we found COLLARED WARBLING-FINCH; at the northern cliffs the first flyby NAZCA BOOBY showed well. On the walk back the guide pointed out a hummingbird perched atop dry scrub, and I called it as an adult male SHORT-TAILED WOODSTAR. We also had brief and insufficient looks at a Tawny-crowned pygmy-tyrant.
After the hike we took the boat a short way along the coast and did some snorkeling, but the water was both cloudy and foul-tasting. After the snorkeling we headed back to Puerto Lopez, along the way seeing a GRAY-HOODED GULL.
Tuesday the thirteenth - In the morning Lisa and I ate breakfast at the lodge; she headed out back to the room while I planned to wait a bit and then go out hoping for a reappearance of the Esmeraldas woodstar. As it happened, the bird was perched out front when Lisa went out there, and she had a very good look at it, particularly the coloration of the breast. She called me, but softly out of caution, and by the time I heard her and came out to join her, the hummingbird was at the end of its rope - it split as soon as I was in view.
I made an exploratory run out to the Rio Ayampe trail, which runs off the coastal road from a point just south of the bridge in the village of Ayampe. The trail proved productive even in the afternoon, with Variable seedeaters common, COLLARED ANTSHRIKE, Summer tanager, a probable Boat-billed flycatcher, BLACK-HEADED TODY-FLYCATCHER, Saffron finches, Blue-black grassquits, Tropical parula, SUPERCILIATED WRENS, a fantastic RED-BILLED SCYTHEBILL that I was very pleased to see, WESTERN SLATY-ANTSHRIKE, Buff-throated saltators, and as the light started to fail, nightjars that were likely Anthony’s (“Scrub”) nightjars.
Wednesday the fourteenth - I had arranged to have a guide from the lodge take me to the Rio Ayampe trail, but since I had managed to find it on my own, instead had him show me the way to the cloud forest above El Pital. The trail through the cloud forest was not particularly active, and it was sporadically drizzling, but we did find dramatic ELEGANT CRESCENTCHESTS and a pair of BUFF-RUMPED WARBLERS playing in a tumbling gorge stream. We stopped at a small canopy tower and enjoyed nice views of a number of birds, including notably SOOTY-HEADED TYRANNULET and PLUMBEOUS-BACKED THRUSH.
After we returned to the lodge I found a BAIRD’S FLYCATCHER perched in the trees below our room, a handsome bird with a colorful face. The lodge bushes did not yield up the Esmeraldas woodstar this time, but an AMAZILLIA HUMMINGBIRD showed up for good looks.
That afternoon I took Lisa over to the Rio Ayampe so she could see what a real tropical trail birding experience was like. It did not disappoint. After we got past the Yellow-bellied seedeaters, a flock of BRONZE-WINGED PARROTS came screeching in and we navigated around some intervening trees to get decent looks at their dark plumage. Some noisy Yellow-rumped caciques entertained us from a couple of tall bamboo trees, and I spent some time identifying a STREAKED SALTATOR. A particularly productive treetrunk festooned with vines yielded bird after bird, including Rufous-browed peppershrike that Lisa unfortunately missed; well-viewed TAWNY-CROWNED PYGMY-TYRANTS, GREAT ANTSHRIKE, ECUADORIAN PICULET, and SAFFRON SISKIN. We continued down the trail, finding White-breasted wood-wren, SPECKLE-BREASTED WREN, and Lesser elaenia. The rocky trail got Lisa’s feet acting up again so we headed back to the car.
Thursday the fifteenth - I returned to the Rio Ayampe trail. A long morning of walking all the way to where it ended at a steep wooded hill produced an all-black raptor that screamed repeatedly from its perch well away, but I could not make out enough to be sure of the identification; it was possibly a caracara. Next I found BLACK-STRIPED SPARROW, and on a stream a few Great egrets. At the end of the trail, a pair of CHESTNUT-MANDIBLED TOUCANS dove down from the wooded hillside and flew out of sight into the trees behind me.
I walked back to the road, seeing Lesser swallow-tailed swifts, RED-MASKED PARAKEETS, Snowy egret, two MASKED WATER-TYRANTS, Striated heron, and a pigeon that went unidentified. In a clearing off the main path I found GREY-AND-GOLD WARBLER and Masked (“black-lored”) yellowthroat. Closer to the road I found BLACK-CAPPED SPARROW. I tried another branch off the trail and spotted IVORY-BILLED (“PALE-MANDIBLED”) ARACARI, a female Vermillion flycatcher, and in unmistakable silhouette, a WHITE-TIPPED SICKLEBILL. Finally, as I was driving out, I saw a Purple-crowned fairy visiting a puddle in the road - behavior I had previously seen in Belize.
Later I returned with Lisa and we found a hummingbird species I’d observed a couple of times at a particular spot. This time it perched in view for as long as we cared to study it, and I had great studies of the green head, blue throat and chest, blue slightly-forked tail, and reddish-tinged bill. After such careful examination I assumed this would be an easy identification, but later review of the field guides did not produce an easy answer - all of the species that had at least some of the noted characteristics were subject to one or more apparent disqualifying factors, whether it was details of the plumage or the fact that the Ayampe area was not shown to be within the known range. However, after much work and review of my (fortunately careful) written notes, I have concluded this was a BLUE-CHESTED HUMMINGBIRD. The Rio Ayampe is not within any of the published range maps, but the area is relatively close to the known range, and the habitat (humid lowland forest) is just right. I suspect this is one of several species not generally known from the stretch of coast north and south of Puerto Lopez, which is largely dominated by xeric scrub, but that are found in a narrow corridor along the Rio Ayampe back to the broader swath of humid lowlands.
Further on I spotted a White-bearded manakin, and we saw a Hook-billed kite. We took a road that ran above the trail and came around on the wooded hill that cut the trail off, where we found a troop of the very localized RUFOUS-HEADED CHACHALACAS that showed well, clambering about the branches of a fruit-laden tree on the hillside above us.
As we rounded a curve, a mid-sized raptor picked up from the roadside and dove down into the forest below, showing a black tail with narrow white band that were not much more than lines - a rare open look at a BARRED FOREST-FALCON. Finally, on the way back, we saw a Long-billed (formerly “Western long-tailed”) hermit, showing the long central tail rectrices.
Friday the sixteenth - In the morning we drove back to Guayaquil airport, this time without difficulties. At the airport I saw a caracara on one of the light towers; it was black with white belly and no red on the throat, so my initial guess was Mountain caracara, but the location and habitat were entirely wrong. After much study I realized a juvenile Red-throated caracara fit the bill.
We flew back to Quito and stayed a last night at the Posada Mirolindo before returning to the States the next day.
Although this trip had shaded more toward vacation than hard-core birding, we had still seen over two hundred species, of which fully 119 were lifers for me. One would expect no less from such a famed birdwatching location as Ecuador, but still, the variety and dramatic beauty of the birdlife there is stunning!