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A lazy bird photographer’s guide to the mammals of Ecuador- November 2022


kittykat23uk

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9th November Sachatamia hide

 

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PB091731 Moths by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Another common feature of these lodges is a blind with a moth trap. The idea is that there is a big sheet with lights set up that attract moths and other nocturnal insects, and then in the morning the local birds come in for breakfast. Sachatamia’s moth trap is located a short walk from the cabins. 

 

We arrived before dawn and settled in. It wasn’t long before the first birds arrived. The most beautiful of these have to be the Rufous motmot and Masked trogon, which took regular sorties to pluck off the juiciest moths and then basked them to pieces before gobbling them up. But we saw a lot more as well, including Chestnut capped brush finch, Lineated foliage gleaner, Slate-throated redstart, Scaly-throated foliage gleaner, Montane woodcreeper, Golden-crowned flycatcher, Cinnamon becard, Marble-faced bristle tyrant, Grey-breasted wood wren and Spotted barbtail. All before breakfast! 

 

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PB091854 Masked Trogon by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091928 Masked Trogon by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB092025 Lineated Foliage-gleaner by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB092050 Masked Trogon & Montane Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB092182 Rufous Motmot by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB092198 Montane Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090010_01 Montane Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr
 

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PB090059_01 Golden-crowned Flycatcher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090155_02  Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090163_01 Three-striped Warbler by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090195_01 Cinnamon Becard by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090209_01 Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090217_01 Spotted Barbtail by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090229 Plain-brown Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090248 Plain-brown Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090248 Plain-brown Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090316 MAsked Trogon by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090334 Rufous Motmot by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090403 Rufous Motmot by Jo Dale, on Flickr

Edited by kittykat23uk
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Punto Ornitológico Mindo 

 

After breakfast we returned to Punto Ornithologico Mindo. This reserve is located in Mindo itself and has a number of small trails to explore. We were shown around by the lodge owner, alongside Francisco. The walk winds down to a river, as we birded the trees we found Buff-rumped warbler, Chivi vireo, Bay headed tanager and Choco tyrannulet.

 

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PB090462_01 Bay-headed Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090485 Choco Tyrannulet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090500 Torrent Tyrannulet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Along the river the guide went off to look for the resident sunbittern. As we waiting we spotted a Torrent tyrannulet. The guide came back to advise us that the Sunbittern was coming our way and we all managed to obtain good views of the bird. Then he ushered us to follow him where we were able to get a bit closer, albeit briefly as he got spooked and flew away, but it was a treat to see it in flight even though I wasn’t fast enough to get a photo. 

 

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PB090518 Sunbittern by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

As we continued on our walk we saw Slaty-capped flycatcher and had excellent views of a pair of Black-faced dacnis. Social flycatcher was also seen. 

 

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PB090546 Slaty-capped Flycatcher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090669 Black-faced (Yellow-tufted) Dacnis by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090674 Black-faced (Yellow-tufted) Dacnis by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090738 Chivi Vireo by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We then spent quite some time waiting at the Collared Araçari nest. Eventually one bird arrived with some fruit in it’s mouth, but it did not seem at all interested in going into the nest hole or feeding the chick. A second adult arrived and went straight to the nest, we didn;t see a chick but I assume it did feed it. After that and another unsuccessful stint looking for the crake, we returned to Sachatamia for lunch. 

 

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PB090836 Social Flycatcher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090937 Collared Aracari by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091103 Collared Aracari by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091204 Collared Aracari by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091235 Collared Aracari by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

There was a bit of time to enjoy the feeders before lunch and we picked up Strong billed woodcreeper and a rather diminutive Red-tailed Squirrel.

 

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PB091269 Ornate Flycatcher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091297 Strong-billed Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091299 Ecuadorian Thrush by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091311 Red-tailed Squirrel by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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P2520396 Brown Peacock by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

La victoriana

In the afternoon we took a drive to La Victoriana farm. We arrived and met the owner who took us down along a trail in the side of a hill, the terrain quickly became forested as we left the farm. We arrived at a hide that has been set up and waited. 

 

As the sun got low, we began to catch glimpses of bright orange and grey moving in the vegetation, far away and very obscured at first. And the weirdest rasping sounds could be heard. These were our first views of the iconic Andean Cock-of-the-Rock.

 

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PB091694_01 Andean Cock-of-the-Rock by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091957_01 Andean Cock-of-the-Rock by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

The birds became  more excited as their lekking display began in earnest and one bird landed very close to the blind, offering fantastic views!

 

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PB091634 Andean Cock-of-the-Rock by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091643 Andean Cock-of-the-Rock by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB091666 Andean Cock-of-the-Rock by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We watched them displaying for quite a while, but eventually they moved off and then it was time to leave. As we made our way back up the trail we came across a Golden-olive Woodpecker posing for photos. 

 

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PB090043 (2) Golden-Olive Woodpecker by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221109_164416 La Victoriana by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Back at Sachatamia I had mentioned to Francisco that I’d quite like to do a herp walk and he kindly arranged for a local guide to come along after dinner for an hour to spotlight with us. He was great at finding frogs and reptiles, and I confess I didn’t really keep a note of their names. But we did see some nice critters. 

 

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P2530729 Variable Seedeater by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090047_01 Lizard by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090077_01 Pristimantis Frog by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090092_01 Pristimantis frog by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090099_01 Pristimantis frog by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090116 Anole by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090120_01 Stick insect by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090126 Caterpillar by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090148_01 Anole by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090155_01 Frog by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090168_01 Frog by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090171_01 Frog by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090176 Caterpillar by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090203 derbid planthopper (subtribe Mysidiina) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB090231_01 Frog by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Here's a little video of some of the highlights.

 

 

Edited by kittykat23uk
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More wonderful bird photos, and an excellent collection of amphibians and reptiles 

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Thank you Tony! 

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10th November Angel Paz 

 

Today was Antpitta day as we were headed to Angel Paz reserve in the morning. Also known as Refugio Paz de las Aves, this site is located up a quite steep side road from the main highway going towards Mindo and Esmeraldas from Quito. The turnoff is not far east from Mindo Junction. From there the finca is situated near the crest of the road, about 15 minutes from the turnoff. The refuge is a private farm inherited by Angel Paz and converted into a nature reserve. The farm was subdivided among the children through inheritance. Angel preserved his land while his brothers sadly largely cleared their tracts. His land remains mostly forested and in quite pristine condition.

 

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PB100087  Scrub Blackbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Before we even properly arrived at the Refugio we were met and invited to see a common potoo that was doing its best log impression down a fairly steep grassy slope. That was a nice, unexpected start. 

 

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PB100105 Common Potoo by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Angel has gained a reputation for habituating several species of antpittas and this is what we came for. We arrived early, and some other groups were already there, having breakfast. We were invited to have some tea or coffee whilst we waited and as usual there were some hummingbird feeders dotted around and we had our first sightings of Speckled hummingbird and Gorgeted sunangel as well as Cinnamon flycatcher. I believe the groups that were there before us had been out to the Cock-of-the-Rock lek that Angel has on his property. Apparently you need to be up early for that one, if coming from Mindo around 4am, then you have a half-hour walk down the trail to see the birds displaying on the lek for the first 30-45 minutes of daylight. So I was glad that we’d got our tick yesterday afternoon. 

 

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PB100138 Green-crowned Brilliant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100158 Speckled Hummingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Each site is dotted around Angel’s property and we used cars to get about for the most part. Our first date was with a pair of Yellow-breasted Antpittas. Angel has named all of his birds and he began by calling out “Willy…. Wilhelmina…. Venga venga!” Venga venga means “come”, and it seemed to work very well. The antpittas are bribed with worms. The worms are dug up locally, so are a natural food source. Apparently Angel had tried to breed the worms, but they were not to the antpittas’ taste. It didn’t take long for Willy and Wilhelmina to show up. 

 

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PB100290 Yellow-breasted Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100322_01 Yellow-breasted Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100328 Yellow-breasted Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Next up, a bit more of a walk, along a path cut into the side of the ridgeline, led us to two additional antpittas, Shakira, the Ochre-breasted Antpitta (or “baby robin” as I liked to call her) and Susanna, the Moustached Antpitta. 

 

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PB100341_02 Ochre-breasted Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100383 Moustached Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100408 Moustached Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100430 Moustached Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100462 Ochre-breasted Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

As I was playing with low shutter speed to try and get more detail and less noisy shots, I quite like this abstract of Shakira flying off.

 

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PB100465 Ochre-breasted Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Perhaps the most famous of Angel’s antpittas is one known as Maria. She was one of the first that he worked with and was a Giant antpitta. She has sadly passed on, but her mantle has been superseded by Manouella and we were privileged to have an encounter with her. 

 

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PB100479 Giant Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100552_01 Giant Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100624_01 Giant Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

The fifth and final antpitta that we saw was a colourful Chestnut-crowned Antpitta named Andrea.

 

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PB100741_01 Chestnut-crowned Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100717_01 Chestnut-crowned Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100751 Chestnut-crowned Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

For an extra fee, we were invited to continue on to look for another bird that Angel had been working with, the Ocellated Tapaculo (which, thanks to Eric’s failure to grasp its true name, will be forever known to us as the “Ocellated Tapioca”). 

 

We started off by all piling into a high-clearance 4x4 truck, but the track got a little dodgy and the driver decided he didn’t want to risk going any further, so we piled out an continues on foot, heading up a hillside, huffing and puffing our way along a ridgeline down into some forest.

 

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IMG_20221110_110529 Angel Paz views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221110_110547 Angel Paz views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We eventually came to a stop and then the familiar words “venga, venga” were chanted until out of the gloom came a dark, spotty bird that looked a bit like a small partridge or crake with a rufous head and tail. Angel had attracted a pair of them and they put on a good show.

 

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PB100812 Ocellated Tapaculo by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB100877_01 Ocellated Tapaculo by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

Another Chestnut-crowned Antpitta also appeared to take advantage of the worms that Angel put out for the birds. Pearl treerunner was also glimpsed whilst walking the trail.

We then had the joy of walking back along the undulating trail, which was tiring, and just when we thought we were about to rest as we were nearly back at the vehicle we realised that some inconsiderate person had blocked us in and was nowhere to be found. Well at that point we were not all that far from the ranch so we just sucked it up and continued on walking. 

 

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PB100931_01 Chestnut-crowned Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB101002 Ocellated Tapaculo by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB101065_01 Ocellated Tapaculo by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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P2570444_01 Cattle Egret by Eric Sills, on Flickr

 

We returned to Sachatamia for a late lunch before packing up and leaving for our next destination of Bellavista.

 

 

Bellavista

The Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve is located on the old road between Mindo and Tandapaya Valleys. It's situated on a higher elevation ridgeline between the two valleys than Tandayapa and Mindo Valleys and protects 700 hectares of temperate cloud forest. The habitat therefore attracts a different combination of birds including a variety of hummingbirds not seen in the lower valleys. There are about 5 miles of trails within the reserve, some traversing ridgelines and some steeply up and down the slopes. I have to say that we did not explore much of these trails, although we did bird the entrance road. The lodge straddles the ridgeline. There are some hummingbird feeders but they are quite well shaded and we saw the same hummers elsewhere in better light. 

 

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IMG_20221110_153640 Nice views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB101116 Collared Inca by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB101123_01 White-sided Flowerpiercer by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

The main reason I wanted to include Bellavista was for the chance of a recently described mammal called the Olinguito. Imagine a cross between a cat and a teddy bear and that’s kind of what an olinguito looks like. Apparently they are seen at night coming to some bananas that are put out for them and I planned to make a vigil of that over the next few nights. 

 

But for the time being after we got settled in I spent a bit of time waiting at the banana feeders, which in terms of birds were surprisingly quiet. As I stood there, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to my right and glimpsed the face of a Tayra turning away from me and slinking off down into the forested slope below the feeders. I tried to attract Eric and Francisco’s attention, but by the time they came over to see, it was long gone. I waited until it was too dark to see and then repositioned myself to a lit area where some bananas had been left out in the hope that it might make a reappearance but sadly it didn’t. 

 

We spent a bit of time chatting to some of the other guests. As we continued our trip we often found we would meet up with the same people at different sites as we were on similar circuits. 

 

The food at Bellavista was very similar to Sachatamia and generally very good. Whilst dinner is served the bananas are put out but we were told that if any animal put in an appearance they would come and get us. Well dinner was uneventful, so we made our way outside to wait for the Olinguito. 

 

I have to say that the set up is not the most comfortable, with a single bench and a few plastic chairs. In addition the lighting where the bananas are is quite weak, which makes unaided photography difficult as it’s best to have someone there to shine an additional flashlight. 

We waited, and numbers of people began to dwindle. Around 2130 we thought we saw some movement - possibly a mammal moving in the trees,  but we didn’t get onto it. Then, around 10pm a mammal appeared, but it wasn’t the Olinguito, it was another lifer for me, a Kinkajou! The Kinkajou came down and started feeding on the bananas, where I was able to get a couple of passable shots and a short video before it had enough and headed off. 

 

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PB101171 Kinkajou by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB101173 Kinkajou by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB101175 Kinkajou by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

After that everyone else headed to bed, it was getting pretty chilly and I waited a little while longer but I eventually gave up around 2330, thinking that I would try again the following night. 
 

 

Edited by kittykat23uk
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kittykat23uk

11th November  Bellavista and Birdwatchers House

 

We were up early and spent a bit of time birding around the lodge. There are exterior lights that act like moth traps which attract some local birds. The first one we saw was another Masked Trogon which was feasting on a huge moth. All of a sudden the trogon flew up and perched out in the open offering fantastic views!

 

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PB110007 Masked Trogon by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110075 Masked Trogon by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We also added Choco Brushfinch and Russet-crowned warbler. A pair of Golden Grosbeaks were also perched on the top of the trees.  We took a walk along one of the trails before breakfast. Eric spotted another Chestnut-crowned antpitta but it was otherwise rather quiet.

 

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PB110164 Golden Grosbeak by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110206 Red-tailed Squirrel by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110247 Choco Brushfinch by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110267 Russet-crowned Warbler by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110294 Striped Treehunter by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221111_080506 vista by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

After breakfast we headed to Birdwatcher’s house. We stopped on the way as we spotted a flock of Turquoise Jays and a Sharp-shinned hawk caused some ID problems being that it was so obscured in a distant tree. 

 

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PB110379 Sharp-shinned Hawk by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

The Birdwatcher’s House is located at an altitude of 2100 m, just off of the Nono-Mindo Road, about 15 km from Mindo.  Vinicio Perez is the owner of the lodge. The property has been replanted with many native plant species to attract a great diversity of insects and birds. 

 

The main area we spent our time in was the hummingbird garden. It has a translucent plastic covered roof, which I suppose is great when it rains, but when we arrived it was one of the hottest days we had and the sun shining through the roof provided somewhat of a greenhouse effect making it a bit warm to sit under for any length of time. But it was worth it to see all the beautiful hummingbirds. Whilst I don’t think we saw any new species here we did see a lot of familiar ones well. This included, Speckled Hummingbird, Violet-tailed Sylph, Buff-tailed Coronet, Fawn-breasted Brilliant, Gorgeted Sunangel, the exquisite Empress Brilliant,  as well as other birds such as Orange-bellied Euphonia, Masked Flowerpiercer, Black-capped Tanager and Dusky Chlorospingus.

 

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PB110570_01 Speckled Hummingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110425_01 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110452_01 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110465_01 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110509_01 Fawn-breasted Brilliant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110510_01 Speckled Hummingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110518 Fawn-breasted Brilliant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110577_01 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110629_01  Buff-tailed Coronet  & Gorgeted Sunangel by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110722_01 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110793_01 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110850 Masked Flowerpiercer by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110868_01 Empress Brilliant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111003 Black-capped Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111018_01 Black-capped Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111033_01 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

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PB111065_01 Empress Brilliant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111079_01  Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111102_01 Buff-tailed Coronet, Fawn-breasted Brilliant & Grogeted Sunangel by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111126 Orange-bellied Euphonia by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111139 Dusky Chlorospingus by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111219 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

 

We got chatting to a couple, the gentleman was clearly into his photography but was really struggling with his tripod for some reason and getting more and more frustrated. I must confess it was quite amusing to watch! 

 

Then crawling across the patio, right out in the open was the biggest, hairiest tarantula I have ever seen! It was so huge! Based on the purple hue of its legs I believe it was an Ecuadorian Purple Bloom. I did not get close enough to see how friendly or otherwise it was. 

 

Once the Tarantula had moved off we settled back into photographing the hummingbirds. There are also a couple of reflection pools, it might have been the heat but there was no activity going on there. 

 

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PB111521 Pamphobeteus Tarantula by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111542 Pamphobeteus Tarantula by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

There is a trick to photographing hummingbirds at flowers. What they do is take a flower on a long stem, clamp it to a tripod and then use a syringe filled with sugar water to attract them. Clearly they know this game well, as several of them were buzzing around Francisco or Vinicio whenever they were “resetting” the flowers. We spent all morning there and then headed back to Bellavista for the afternoon.

 

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PB111256 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111382_01 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111558 Fawn-breasted Brilliant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111639 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111658_01 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111665 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111742 the secret of attracting hummingbirds by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111832_01 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111862_01 Fawn-breasted Brilliant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB111924_01 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB112073_01 Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110120 Gorgeted Sunangel by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

After lunch we took a walk with a local guide as well as Francisco along the entrance road. We didn’t see much new, other than White-tailed Tyrannulet, Metallic Green Tanager and Glossy Black Thrush. 

 

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PB110144 Orange-bellied Euphonia by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110156 Red-tailed Squirrel by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110178 A green bug by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110190 Beetle by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110200 Blue-winged Mountain Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110214 Blue-winged Mountain Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110221 Orchid by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110227 orchid by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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P2610138_01 Fawn-breasted Brilliant & Buff-tailed Coronet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB110251 Glossy Black Thrush by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

 

After dinner, some of us waited for the Olinguito. By 2230, nothing had come and most people had drifted off to bed. So I was the only person left. But at 2245 I got lucky as the Olinguito deftly made its way along the rope, plucked a banana off the bunch and leaped off into the night. My overall impression of the animal, compared to the Kinkajou, was that it was somewhat fluffier, particularly the tail, and this was carried straight down as it walked along the rope. Unfortunately I did not manage to get a usable photo of it, but I was delighted to see one nonetheless.   
 

Edited by kittykat23uk
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What a dazzling array! There are so many different names for hummers - sylph, brilliant, coronet and so on, it must be hard to keep track of what’s what. The tanagers are extraordinary too. Lovely photos. 

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kittykat23uk

Thank you @Galagoyes there are so many beautiful birds in Ecuador! 

 

 

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that violet-tailed sylph is just stunning. 

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How did you even have time to sip an expensive Cuba Libra with all the activity going on?  The birds are just astounding, plus tarantulas, a kinkajou, agoutis, squirrels, frogs, caterpillars.  Did you get the idea that you had an exceptional visit or is this typical?

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kittykat23uk
5 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

How did you even have time to sip an expensive Cuba Libra with all the activity going on?  The birds are just astounding, plus tarantulas, a kinkajou, agoutis, squirrels, frogs, caterpillars.  Did you get the idea that you had an exceptional visit or is this typical?

 

Well it gets dark around 6pm ish and there weren't many night activities aside from the frog walk and the Olinguito vigil :D 

 

So I'm not sure, visit wise. Francisco gave the impression that it was quieter than normal in terms of the birds. We pretty much got all the main targets at Angel Paz that we'd expected. I guess the hummingbird activity was maybe as good as one can expect. Some hummers are seasonal or altitudanal visitors, so not all species recorded would be seen at any given time of the year. I think the diversity and numbers of tanagers might have been lower than we could have expected. In some places, what the lodges state can be seen regularly on their properties, seem to me to be overstated (there's a couple of properties on the east slopes that I'll get to where I was hoping for specific species that they made sound easy to get on their properties but this turned out not to be the case, we also didn't get to Wild Sumaco for a day trip in the end because it was felt to be too far from San Isidro). I do think we limited ourselves to the birds that were either habituated, at leks or that come to feeders for the most part. If you were there birding, like some others, then you would have been spending less time photographing the same hummingbirds and tanagers and more time looking for the forest species. Although I got the impression from a few of the hardcore birders that we met that this was hard going and this didn't appeal so much to us for this tour because especially for Eric, everything was new. We didn't get many good views of parrots, compared to Brazil, no macaws, etc. Having briefly glimpsed Tayra at Bellavista's banana feeder I did spend quite a lot of my down time there in the vain hope that it would reappear, but it never did. We also waited longer at some places like staking out the aracari nests. 

 

Having said that I saw all but two of the birds that I really wanted to get, and we also had a few surprises along the way...

 

 

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kittykat23uk

12th November a return to Tumpiki

 

Francisco knew that one of our most sought-after birds on the west slopes was Toucan Barbet and he had been talking with all the reserve owners trying to get the latest gen on where this bird was coming to feeders. The owner of Tumpiki told him that one bird had started showing up in the morning, so he decided that would be our best bet to get some nice pictures. We were delighted as this was also the site where we’d had Ecuador’s best bird, the Plate-billed Mountain Toucan. 

 

So we headed there after breakfast, the first bird we saw on the road up to Tumpiki was another Golden-headed Quetzal, but as seemed to be the norm for this bird, not in great light for photography. 

 

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PB120041_01 Golden-headed Quetzal by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120110_01 Golden-headed Quetzal by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

As soon as we got up to the balcony viewpoint we had wonderful views of Plate-billed Mountain Toucan. Then a Crimson-rumped Toucanet with a malformed beak dropped in to feed on the bananas. A roadside hawk was perched some distance away, and a Smoke-coloured Peewee perched on a telephone wire. Then the stunning Toucan Barbet hopped down onto the perch. What a fabulous bird! It turned out there was a pair of barbets. Unlike the red-headed, the toucan barbet sexes look very similar, the main difference being the length of the back stripe on its head. 

 

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PB120176 Plate-billed Mountain Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120190 Plate-billed Mountain Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120217 Plate-billed Mountain Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120237 Plate-billed Mountain Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120481 Crimson-rumped Toucanet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120494 Crimson-rumped Toucanet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120563 Smoke-coloured Pewee by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120622 Toucan Barbet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120639_01 Toucan Barbet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120666_01 Toucan Barbet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120691 Toucan Barbet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We also had Dusky Chlorospingus, Blackburnian Warbler, Slate-throated Flycatcher, a range of the tanagers we’d recorded before, Black-winged Saltator and a lizard up in a dead tree. We didn’t focus our time on the hummers this time around. 

 

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PB120790 Blackburnian Warbler by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120908_01 Slate-throated Redstart (Whitestart) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120940_01 Slate-throated Redstart (Whitestart) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB120987_01 Black-winged Saltator by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121083 Toucan Barbet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121130_01 Plate-billed Mountain Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121141 Red-tailed Squirrel by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121169 Lizard by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We returned to Bellavista for lunch, before heading onto Choco Birds Reserve  (not to be confused with the similarly-named Choco Toucan Reserve) for the afternoon.

 

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PB121174_01 Blue-winged Mountain Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121196 Thick-billed Euphonia by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121223 Black-capped Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121293_01 Golden-crowned Flycatcher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121322_01 Golden-crowned Flycatcher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121374 Red-tailed Squirrel by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121382 Blue-winged Mountain Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121407 Blue-winged Mountain Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Choco Birds Reserve

 

The reserve is only about a ten minute drive from Bellavista. Here we had been told that we could visit an active Plate-billed Mountain Toucan nest. We were taken to a hillside overlooking some open slopes dotted with trees. Here we waited patiently for one of the toucans to come back to feed the chick. The chick itself occasionally poked its head out of the hole in the hope that a meal was on the way. Eventually one adult did arrive, holding some fruit in its mouth but it showed absolutely no interest in feeding the chick. We waited for ages, as the other parent arrived, but neither of them seemed interested in feeding the poor chick. 

 

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IMG_20221112_151717 Choco Birds view by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121504 Plate-billed Mountain Toucan with young by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121512 Plate-billed Mountain Toucan with young by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

While we waited, we were also entertained by a family of Strong-billed Woodcreepers. We eventually gave up waiting for the poor chick to be fed. In fact we were a little worried that our presence might interfere with them feeding the young, even though there had been other groups there watching on previous days, including the couple with the tripod from Birdwatchers house. On the way back we spotted Beryl-spangled Tanager - which I believe is quite a special bird for this area, and Band-tailed Pigeon, and then spent a brief amount of time at the hummingbird feeders. A Broad-tailed hawk was also noted. 

 

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PB121590 Strong-billed Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121769_01 Strong-billed Woodcreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121790 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121834 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121839_01 Violet-tailed Sylph by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121890 by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121896_01 Collared Inca by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121928_01 Beryl-spangled Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB121944_02 Broad-winged Hawk by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

By the time we got back to Bellavista it was already getting pretty murky with low cloud and the evening drawing in. So we didn’t see anything else. Even my late night vigil proved fruitless tonight and we had an early start the enxt day so I didn't want to push it. 
 

Edited by kittykat23uk
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kittykat23uk

13th November Recinto 23 de junio

 

One other bird that I really was hoping to see was the Long-wattled Umbrellabird. The problem was that the leks where this bird is to be found were quite a trek. There was supposedly a lek at Sachatamia but Francisco didn’t recommend we try that one and it was kind of touch and go whether he’d be able to locate a site that would work for our itinerary. Thankfully he did, but it meant a very early start as we had to leave Bellavista at 4 AM to get us to the lek in time. It came down to a choice between going for the unbrellabirds or having a more relaxed start and trying for the white-faced nunbirds. My vote went to the umbrellabirds. As we drove out of Bellavista in the dark, we encountered several band-winged nightjars on the road.

 

The owner of the site, Luis, is one of a community of farmers that migrated from the south of Ecuador in search of better land more than 30 years ago. They often struggle to make ends meet, but the birding industry is bringing new opportunities, particularly for those lucky individuals to have (or be able to attract) sought-after birds on their property, providing a welcome source of income.  Thus, the community is incentivised to protect and encourage wildlife on their land. 

 

We met up with our guide and refuge owner Luis in a local town called Los Bancos at around 5 am and then we were directed by Luis to the refuge. It was then a bit of a trek up a hill to where the lek was. Luis was no spring chicken, being in his 70s, but he was on a mission to get us there as soon as possible! We were huffing and puffing by the time we reached the lek, he completely put us to shame in terms of his fitness! But the reason for this pace soon became clear as there were already a couple of Umbrellabirds at the lek preparing to display. The light at first wasn’t great but it did improve. 

 

The Long-wattled Umbrellabird Cephaloterus penduliger is a Chocó endemic specialty whose conservation status has been raised to vulnerable due to the destruction of its habitat. The situation at 23 de Junio is no different, the leks are vulnerable due to deforestation. They favour tall, lush undisturbed forest in Western Ecuador, but this is not the habitat that we saw them in, which was fragmentary forest mixed with open ranches.

 

The Long-wattled Umbrellabird has to be one of the most improbable birds I have ever seen! I mean this thing clearly defies evolution and I honestly don’t know how it hasn’t already gone extinct. The males have developed an extremely long feather-covered wattle that basically resembles a feather boa, once inflated, which they do during their lekking display. I have no idea how they don’t end up throttling themselves or getting it caught up on branches, but somehow they seem to manage! When they display they also make a low hooting call. 

 

We were lucky enough to get some nice views of one adult male displaying his super-long wattle. Eventually they flew off, but we waited around in case some returned. 

Then we were so lucky to have a flock of Yellow-throated Toucans fly into the same stand of trees that the umbrellabirds had been in. The problem I found was that I had been really photographing so many birds during this trip that I found it really hard to keep my camera raised to shoot above my head because my shoulders were so fatigued. I really regretted not bringing a tripod. Soon after the Yellow-throated Toucans moved on, we then had a flock of Choco Toucans arrive. One of these perched out in the open displaying at the top of a tree. Now it seems that it is pretty much impossible to separate these two species, except by call (and in certain light the Yellow-throated Toucan also has a more chestnut sheen to the lower mandible).  We were both delighted as we both hoped to get these more typical toucans. We also picked up Squirrel Cuckoo, one very tiny squirrel (which may have been Simon’s squirrel although the jury’s out on that), and Maroon-tailed Parakeets.

 

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PB130092_01 Long-wattled Umbrellabird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130214_01 Long-wattled Umbrellabird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130251_01 Long-wattled Umbrellabird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130262_01 Long-wattled Umbrellabird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130268_01 Long-wattled Umbrellabird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221113_065431 23 De Junio views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221113_065439 23 De Junio views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130346_01 Yellow-throated Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130381_01 Yellow-throated Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130424_01 Yellow-throated Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130429_01 Yellow-throated Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130456_01 Squirrel Cuckoo by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130545 Choco Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130559_01 Choco Toucan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130641_01 Maroon-tailed Parakeet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130659_01 Maroon-tailed Parakeet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130683_01 Maroon-tailed Parakeet by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We also found a cool lizard sunning itself.

 

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PB130733 Lizard by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221113_084212 Long-snouted Weevil by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

After that, the activity slowly reduced and we decided to head back to the car for some breakfast. But after we’d had some of our packed breakfast, Luis surprised us by inviting us to his home and served up some delicious empanadas and tea/coffee. If we had known that was going to happen I don’t think we’d have bothered with our packed breakfasts.  

 

This ended our time in the western Andes and we started back to Quito. Francisco dropped us off at San Jose de Puembo, a sprawling hotel/conference/gym complex. It was perfectly comfortable for one night, the food wasn’t the best (it was a bit cold) and the Gym/pool needed fixing up and could have done with some staff on the desk. 

 

But to be honest I wish we hadn’t stayed there and it’s the only place that I would definitely not recommend. There’s one very personal reason for this and that is the petting zoo. The property has a section with geese, goats, horses and some fowl. It also has  a couple of good sized enclosures housing some rabbits and chickens. Unfortunately there were also around half a dozen tiny wire mesh cages each containing two or three rabbits and some guinea pigs. This was totally unacceptable to me. The cages had mesh bottoms, and hardly any space at all for the rabbits to hop, stretch out or exhibit any natural behaviour at all. I left feeling very upset at seeing how these poor animals were housed- I have since complained to the hotel and the parent chain and I really do hope they do something about it (though I doubt they will). 

 

Knowing that there wasn’t much that I could do about the situation I tried to put it out of my mind and we took a walk around the rest of the gardens. Surprisingly there were not any feeders set up which seemed like a missed opportunity. Nevertheless we did see some birds, including an Osprey flying over, Sparkling Violetears, Great Thrush, Vermillion Flycatcher, Eared Dove, Tropical Mockingbird, Saffron Finch, Scrub Tanager, Blue and Yellow Tanager, and Blue-grey Tanager.  The weather was closing in, so after dinner, we retired to bed. Our next stop would be the high Andes.

 

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IMG_20221113_084543 23 De Junio views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221113_084657 Me, Eric & Francisco by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221113_084955 23 De Junio views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130023_01 Sparkling Violetear by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130194 Great Thrush by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130133 Vermillion Flycatcher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130137_01 Vermillion Flycatcher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130156 Eared Dove by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130191 Tropical Mockingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130197 Tropical Mockingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130275_01 Saffron Finch by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130365_02 Scrub Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130458_01 Blue and Yellow Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB130530 Great Thrush by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

 

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PB130556 Blue-grey Tanager by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

 

Before I close this chapter. A note about things we missed. I don’t think we missed much of what I’d hoped to see, given the focus of photography. If we’d gone further west to Rio Silanche and Suamox we might have picked up a few more tanagers, maybe some puffbirds and parrots and we also didn’t have time to go for the oilbirds. Francisco did kind of advise us against trying Suamox, and said we wouldn’t have time for the oilbirds, and Rio Silanche was never on the itinerary to begin with,  but other companies cover them in similar itineraries though I’m not sure how they fit everything in because we had pretty full days anyway. Perhaps if we’d got the Toucan Barbet on the first day at Tumpiki that might have saved us half a day to do something else but that was a key target for us. Overall I was delighted with how the western slopes had gone. 
 

Edited by kittykat23uk
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Wow! It's mind-boggling. The Blue-winged Mountain Tanager is just gorgeous, the Toucan Barbet reminds me of the Painted Bunting in the US, the Great Thrush is so like our male Blackbird. Your photo of the Choco Toucan with its bill in the air is glorious. And, as for the Long-wattled Umbrella bird, what a bird! It reminds me of some of the birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea, ie. totally impossible and how did that happen!

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@kittykat23ukWhen I first saw your report, I thought this’ll bring back some memories, I went to Ecuador with Tropical Birding in 2009, but it seems that a lot as changed and there are plenty of new lodges that have opened up since, that I have not heard of, my impression was that Ecuador was very well set up for birders, it helps being in the USA’s backyard with all of the birders and bird photographers there, it looks like this is even more true now, I don’t really remember that much food being put out to attract birds other than the feeders for hummers, it seems you saw a lot of other birds coming to food put out for them. Ecuador has so many birds, that when I saw all your amazing photos, I thought I’m sure I never saw half of these species, but I probably did, I do recognise some of them, and did go to some of the same places, I have a T-shirt of the famous Maria the Giant Antpitta from Paz de las Aves. But there are good few special birds I know I didn’t see, that Umbrellabird is very impressive, I’ve seen the Amazonian whilst at Cristalino in Brazil but nothing like that well and no photos.

 

Back on Page 1, what I think you have referred to as an impressive looking moth, is actually one of the Owl Butterflies, I’m not 100% certain which one, but I would guess, Giant Owl Butterfly (Caligo eurilochus) there are a couple of photos on the Mashpi Lodge website, they don’t show the top side of the wings, but if you look online you should find photos that do, they are very spectacular butterflies.

 

Ecuador was my first visit to South America and as I am sure your mate Eric found, it really is in at the deep end as far as the birds are concerned, I was completely lost at first, with the sheer number of different species and being unfamiliar with so many of the names of bird families that don't exist in the "Old World".

 

Looking forward to more of this.

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kittykat23uk

@inyathiThanks for the ID on the butterfly. I have to say, google lens now does a great job with helping me to confirm the bird IDs, but it's not so good with insects!  You might be interested to know that Angel still does a good line in T-shirts. Also, there is a locally available book called the Fieldbook of the birds of Ecuador by Miles McMullan and Lelis Navarrete that is less than half the size of the Helm birds of Ecuador tome, which is worth picking up, although there is also the Merlin app which I had downloaded on my phone. 

 

 

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kittykat23uk
3 hours ago, Galago said:

Wow! It's mind-boggling. The Blue-winged Mountain Tanager is just gorgeous, the Toucan Barbet reminds me of the Painted Bunting in the US, the Great Thrush is so like our male Blackbird. Your photo of the Choco Toucan with its bill in the air is glorious. And, as for the Long-wattled Umbrella bird, what a bird! It reminds me of some of the birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea, ie. totally impossible and how did that happen!

 

Thank you! Yes we also thought that about the Great Thrush! 

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Amazing looks at the umbrellabird!! I've only seen them at a great distance. You are making me want to return to Ecuador soon!

 

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Quieter than normal?  That is hard to believe.  Good call on the Umbrellabird.  Improbable indeed.  Delighted you should be!

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The Umbrella bird is extraordinary

And lots more wonderful birds with great photos 

Edited by TonyQ
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kittykat23uk
On 1/2/2023 at 10:58 PM, janzin said:

Amazing looks at the umbrellabird!! I've only seen them at a great distance. You are making me want to return to Ecuador soon!

 

 

And you're making me want to return to Brazil! :D Thanks everyone. More to come.

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kittykat23uk

14th November Chakana Reserve

 

The next morning Francisco picked us up early and we wound our way up into the high Andes. The scenery became increasingly more spectacular. We arrived at Chakana reserve around 0700 and dropped our bags at the restaurant at Tambo Condor, which would also be our lodge.

 

The Chakana Reserve is just 30 miles from Quito. Chakana is 7,000 acres in size and part of an expansive conservation corridor that includes the Antisana Ecological Reserve, Sumaco-Napo Galeras National Park, and the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve. Combined, it’s over 300,000 acres of conservation land.

 

Chakana is owned and managed by Ecuadorian conservation non-profit organisation, Jocotoco Foundation.The American Bird Conservancy helped Jocotoco establish the Reserve in 2014 to protect important roosting sites for the Andean Condor, and several other species, including Giant Hummingbird, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Shining Sunbeam, Aplomado Falcon, and several migratory bird species as well.

 

The Andean Condor is known from several South American countries, but in Ecuador the population is estimated at only 100 individuals. Chakana holds about half this population and we were very hopeful to see them here.  We met our guide and started to make our way up to the high plateaux. This guide was on a mission because he knew that we needed to get to the plateaux before the vultures left their roost. 

 

There was another group in front of us though and they kept stopping along the way. Some of these stops were really welcome. We first stopped for our first owl of the trip. A great Horned Owl. Then a Variable Hawk was also perched up on a cliff. 

 

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PB140017_01 Great Horned Owl by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140109 Variable Hawk by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

As we reached the plateaux, herds of white-tailed deer roamed the paramo. We then parked up. Our guide took us on a short walk to the edge of the plateaux where we got fantastic views over the valley. It was not long before we started to see the massive and spectacular Andean Condors, drifting on the thermals. 

 

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PB140173 White-tailed Deer by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140183 Andean Condor by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140254 Andean Condor by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

As we watched the condors, other birds also drifted past, including Carunculated Caracara, and White-collared swift. 

 

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PB140265_01 Carunculated Caracara by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140376_01 Cinereous Harrier by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140419_01 White-collared Swift by Jo Dale, on Flickr
 

 

Far down on the hillside, opposite Tambo Condor our guide located a distant family of Spectacled Bears. A mother was feeding with her two cubs. I was so delighted to see them, even though they were too far for photographs, we could see them fairly well through the guide’s scope. How on earth he found them I have no idea because you could barely see them with the naked eye. At one point, one of the little cubs stood up on his hind legs to peer around. We watched them for a while, in between marvelling at the vultures, before the family were eventually lost to view over the hillside. I have a feeling that had we dropped our bags at the accommodation rather than the restaurant we might have seen them closer, but it’s hard to say.

 

We spotted Cinereous Harrier and a Variable hawk in flight in this area too. When the vulture activity died off we focused on looking for some of the smaller birds. First we spotted a Black-billed Shrilke Tyrant, but the bird we were specifically after was the Ecuadorian Hillstar, a special hummingbird of the high Andes. It wasn’t long before we located one, but it proved more difficult to get the perfect shot. Eric scored with a snap of the Hillstar in all its glory though.   

 

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PB140438_01 Variable Hawk by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221114_084944  View looking down from Chakana Reserve to Tambo Condor by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140577_01 Black-billed Shrike Tyrant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140681_01 Ecuadorian Hillstar by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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P2690175_01 Ecuadorian Hillstar by Eric Sills, on Flickr

 

As we drove across the plateaux, the scenery was spectacular and we had amazing views of the Pichincha volcano. At a marshy area we picked up Greater Yellowlegs and Andean Teal. 

 

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PB140741 Pichincha Volcano by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140776 Greater Yellowlegs by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140794_01 Andean Teal by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140831 White-tailed Deer by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140848 White-tailed Deer by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140896 Pichincha Volcano by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We stopped at a site to use the loo and look for antpittas, but I spotted something far more exciting, an Andean Cottontail! This bunny was so confiding, I managed to get really close to it. In fact there were at least a couple by the loos , one was a bit more hidden. I did worry for their safety as there was a pair of Carunculated Caracaras hunting in the area. Stout-billed Cinclodes, Chestnut winged cinclodes and Plain-coloured seedeater were also noted. We tried for the antpitta but we didn’t manage to get a good view on this occasion. 

 

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PB140899_01 Plain-coloured Seedeater by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140954 Stout-billed Cinclodes by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141045 Andean Cottontail (Tapeti/Rabbit) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141015 Andean Cottontail (Tapeti/Rabbit) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141028 Andean Cottontail (Tapeti/Rabbit) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141069  Andean Cottontail (Tapeti/Rabbit) by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141108 Carunculated Caracara by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141145_01 Carunculated Caracara by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141146_01 Carunculated Caracara by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141150_01 Carunculated Caracara by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221114_100518 Chakana Reserve Views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141324 Antisana Volcano by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We drove on towards La Mica lake.  Here we picked up Andean Ibis (distant views), Andean gull and Neotropic cormorant. 

We returned to Tambo Condor for lunch and to get settled into our room. We were given the house at the bottom of the property, which has an amazing cliff-top view across to the reserve. It was a bit of an adventure in itself to even get down to the accommodation, requiring the use of a high clearance 4x4. 

 

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PB141409_01 Andean Gull by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141542 Andean Ibis by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141597_01 Sparkling Violetear by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141606_01 Tyrian Metaltail by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141698_01_01 Shining Sunbeam by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141751 Black Flowerpiercer by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141775_01 Black-chested Buzzard Eagle by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141865_01 Giant Hummingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB141905_01 Giant Hummingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB142040_01 Great Sapphirewing by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB142092_01 Great Sapphirewing by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB142109_01 Giant Hummingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB142230_01 Sparkling Violetear by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB142277 Great Sapphirewing by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221114_151946 Chakana Reserve by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221114_152134 Chakana Reserve by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221114_152148 Chakana Reserve by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221114_155954 Chakana Reserve by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Back at the main restaurant, we were able to enjoy a range of new hummingbirds, including the glorious Shining Sunbeam, Giant Hummingbird, and Great Sapphirewing, as well as familiar species such as Tyrian Metaltail, Sparking Violetear. We also saw Black Flowerpiercer and flying overhead, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle.  But the weather soon closed in and we got hit with some squalls for a time. We had a little walk after the weather improved but didn't see anything new. We also took a drive to a local quarry to look for Andean Fox, but without success. 

 

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PB140138_01 Black-chested Buzzard Eagle by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB140240_01 Black-chested Buzzard Eagle by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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P2700422 Shining Sunbeam by Eric Sills, on Flickr

 

 

 

Edited by kittykat23uk
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Enjoying this report, such an amazing variety of birds.  Beautiful pictures of the Cock of the Rock and that Umbrella bird is so unusual!

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The birds just keeping coming and now the mountains.

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kittykat23uk

15th November Chakana Reserve

 

The views from our rooms were spectacular, but unfortunately they did not include the spectacled bear family. We did however see nearly half the local population of vultures floating over the cliftops early on. I also spotted some Andean Ducks diving in the lagoon below along with Neotropical Cormorant. Eric had had a rough night and was not feeling too well. 

 

We headed back up to the high plateaux. It was a quieter drive than the previous morning but we met some familiar faces in the form of the couple who we’d met at Birdwatchers House. The vultures had already departed, and the Hillstar was being elusive. So were the bears. Our guide went off scouting but with no luck. So we agreed to walk further alongside the edge of the plateaux round to the next bluff to check that out. That was also unsuccessful. 

 

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PB150028 Andean Condors by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221115_065738 Views of Chakana Reserve by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150060 White-tailed Deer by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

In this picture you can see Tambo Condo where we stayed on the left side, overlooking the Laguna. We saw the bears the previous day about 3/4 of the way down the slope on the right had side of the laguna, directly opposite Tambo Condor.

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IMG_20221115_084130 Chakana Reserve views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150097_02 Black-Chested Buzzard Eagle by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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IMG_20221115_092229  Chakana Reserve views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

So Francisco suggested trying again for the antpitta. Eric, feeling unwell,  opted to wait in the car while the rest of us went on a walk. This time we were successful in locating Tawny Antpitta up on the cliffs, and we also encountered old signs of Puma - remains of a kill and scat. These cats are very elusive but are frequently caught on camera traps.

 

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PB150109  Chakana Reserve views by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150180 Tawny Antpitta by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150202 Puma poop by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150206 Puma kill by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Back around the car, the Andean Cottontail was sitting out in the open. We also saw the Plumbeous Sierra Finch and the Stout-billed Cinclodes again as well as Andean Lapwing. After checking out, we tried driving further round the reserve checking out the quarry again but without success.

 

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PB150236 Andean Cottontail by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150246 Andean Cottontail by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150252 Plumbeous Sierra Finch by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150282 Stout-billed Cinclodes by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

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PB150297 Giant Hummingbird by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

The Chakana reserve is sited around 3000-4000 metres and Eric had now been feeling unwell for a few days. So, worrying a bit about altitude sickness we agreed to detour back to Quito to find a medical facility that could check him out. The medical centre we found was pretty efficient and after a few hours of treatment we were back on our way to our next stop, Termas Papallacta Hot Springs resort. 

 

This was a lovely place to stay, we arrived in the dark and it was drizzling with rain but I still made the most of our stay by taking an after dinner dip in our personal hot springs. The way this lodge is laid out, guests who are staying have access to a set of private hot springs as each chalet room is sited right next to a collection of pools. There is also a set of public springs (included), and a spa area (extra cost). We didn’t use either of those. 

 

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IMG_20221117_065047 Termas Papallacta hot springs by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

Edited by kittykat23uk
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