Ecuador 2025 Part 1
For clarification, due to Zenfolio's restrictions on blog size I had to break this blog into four parts. This is Part 1.
With over 1,600 species of birds, Ecuador is one richest countries in the world when it comes to bird diversity. Ecuador has over twice as many species as the US and Canada combined. Ecuador also boast the ecotourism infrastructure to support birders and bird photographers. Many small ecolodges and tour companies are present throughout the country.
The tour we selected arranged a private guide/driver for the Andean portion of the trip and a dedicated guide and assistant guide for our time in the Amazon. We arranged our tour through Aratinga Tours.
February 3
Direct flights from San Francisco to Ecuador are difficult to find and quite expensive. We flew from San Francisco to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Quito, Ecuador. We were met at the modern Quito Airport by Luis Panama, our guide for the Andes portion of our tour. Luis is an excellent birder and, perhaps more importantly for me, he is also an accomplished photographer. He transported Becky and I to an airport hotel/resort where we had booked an extra night prior to the beginning of our tour.
February 4
I wandered the hotel grounds the next day in an attempt to adjust to the elevation. Quito is around 9,400 feet elevation and even moderate exertion left us gasping for air. The resort has four free-roaming llama which keep the lawn trimmed nicely. I managed to photograph a number of common Andean species including eared dove, sparkling violetear, and great thrush in the resort gardens. Less common species included black-tailed trainbearer, saffron finch, rufous-collared sparrow, vermillion flycatcher, black vulture, southern beardless tyrannulet, tropical mockingbird, and rusty flowerpiercer.
Eared Dove
Black-Tailed Trainbearer
Saffron Finch
Vermillion Flycatcher
February 5
Luis picked us up early in the morning in his SUV. We spent the next 1.5 hours transiting Quito and its suburbs. About 2 million people live in Quito which is the capital and second largest city in Ecuador.
Within a few miles we were grateful that we had not opted for a self-driving tour. Traffic was heavy and drivers were aggressive. Luis skillfully and calmly negotiated the traffic. At one point we entered the "traffic circle from hell" with 4 lanes of every driver for himself. We survived.
After leaving the city we exited onto a gravel road and traversed an area of lush highlands. The area had been largely deforested and was occupied by many small dairy farms.
Our first photography destination was Zuraloma Reserve at 10,200 feet elevation. This reserve is in the foothills of Pichincha Volcano adjacent to the Yanacocha Reserve.
We photographed an immature black-chested buzzard-eagle and a sapphire- vented puffleg (hummingbird) even before we arrived. A nice start.
Black-Chested Buzzard-Eagle
Saphire-Vented Puffleg
The reserve is known as one of the best locations to photograph equatorial and chestnut-naped antpittas. Antpitta's are generally difficult to observe or photograph as they prefer dense, dark, low vegetation.Both antpitta species have been trained to come to a feeding station on a schedule and readily pose while consuming earthworms placed for them.
Chestnut-Naped Antpitta
Equatorial Antpitta
I took many images of each antpitta species and then moved on to the fruit and sugar feeders. At least 10 species of hummingbird were present including black-tailed trainbearer, green-tailed trainbearer, tyrian metaltail, mountain velvetbreast, white-bellied woodstar, sparkling violetear, collared inca, buff-winged starfrontlet and the spectacular sword-billed hummingbird. The sword-billed hummingbird has the longest beak per body size of any bird.
Sword-Billed Hummingbird
Three species of flowerpiercers (masked, black, and glossy) were present and attracted to the sugar feeders. Flowerpiercers are nectar feeders and utilize a short hooked bill tip to feed on flowers at their base.
Masked Flowerpiercer
The fruit feeders were also active with scarlet-bellied mountain tanager, Andean guan, blue-capped tanager, yellow-breasted brushfinch, gray-browed brushfinch, and chestnut-capped brushfinch.
Andean Guan
Red-Bellied Mountain Tanager
We hiked up a steep adjacent hillside in search of the striking ocellated tapaculo. Unlike the antpittas, the tapaculo failed to appear even after much calling by the local guides. Hills are steeper at 10,000 feet than at sea level.
We stopped for lunch at the Mirador Guay Cap. Excellent grilled steak and an incredible diversity of birds. The sugar feeders were set up within feet of our lunch table and the fruit feeders were not much further. It rained the entire time we were dining, however, the bird activity was constant and overwhelming. The patio area is covered so I was able to take hundreds of photos at very close range.
The fruit feeders attracted golden-olive woodpecker, rufous motmot, collared aracari, crimson-rumped toucanet, red-headed barbet, bananaquit, summer tanager, thick-billed euphonia, bay-headed tanager, blue-gray tanager, palm tanager, white-lined tanager, flame-rumped tanager, golden tanager, golden-naped tanager, and blue-necked tanager. Wow!
Bay-Headed Tanager
Black-Capped Tanager
Blue-Necked Tanager
Collared Aracari
Crimson-Rumped Toucanet
Golden Tanager
Red-Headed Barbet
Hummingbirds were also numerous as they battled for dominance at the feeders. I was able to photograph booted racket-tail, purple-throated woodstar, white-whiskered hermit, Andean emerald, white-necked jacobin, rufous-tailed hummingbird, green-crowned brilliant, and crowned woodnymph.
Booted Racket-Tail
Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird
Sparkling Violetear
Luis Panama, Becky and I.
We left the restaurant in a heavy downpour and drove a short distance to our next west Andean lodge (Sachatamia Lodge). We choose to avoid the heavy afternoon rain and settle into our cozy cabin. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the lodge and were introduced to the local custom of adding popcorn to our soup. Better than it sounds.
Feb 6
We departed early for Refugio Aves de Paz. This refuge is a private nature reserve founded by Angel Paz in 2005. Angel pioneered the practice of training antpittas to come on a schedule to a call for earthworms. Five species of antpitta are present on the preserve. We were fortunate to photograph three antpitta species including the giant antpitta.
Giant Antpitta
Chestnut-Crowned Antpitta
Yellow-Breasted Antpitta
We photographed a number of species we had not previously seen in Ecuador including three-striped warbler, lyre-tailed nightjar, ornate flycatcher, toucan barbet, blue-winged mountain tanager, white-tipped dove, crested guan, flame-faced tanager, montane woodcreeper, rufous-breasted antthrush, giant antpitta, chestnut-crowned antpitta, yellow-breasted antpitta and smoky-brown woodpecker.
Blue-Winged Mountain Tanager
Toucan Barbet
Rufous-Breasted Antthrush
Flame-Faced Tanager
Additional hummingbird species included velvet-purple coronet, brown inca, brown violetear, purple-bibbed whitetip, empress brilliant and speckled hummingbird.
Empress Brilliant
Purple-Bibbed Whitetip
We were scheduled to also visit an Andean cock-of-the-rock lek on the reserve, however Luis opted to take us to an alternative location the next morning to photograph this amazing display.
While driving back to the lodge for lunch Luis spotted a golden-headed quetzal. I managed to get out along a busy highway and grab a few backlit shots of this fabulous trogon species.
Golden-Headed Quetzal
If it was raining or we were seeing little bird activity Luis always knew another good place. After lunch at Sachatamia Lodge it was once again raining. This is a weather pattern that occurred regularly with clear morning and rainy afternoons. After lunch Becky opted to rest at the resort while Luis and I drove about an hour to get to an elevation below the rain. We drove some backroads and picked up a few new species including a masked water tyrant, laughing falcon, roadside hawk, and collared forest falcon.
Collared Forest Falcon
We returned to the lodge where the rain continued. We picked up the now well rested Becky and dropped down to a lower elevation for a visit to the feeders at Sendero Family Tour (SFT). These feeders were excellent and we encountered and photographed many new species. In addition to the sugar and fruit feeders they also provided corn feeders.
At SFT we immediately spotted a hook-billed kite and a small flock of yellow-bellied siskin. The fruit feeders attracted lineated woodpeckers as well as black-cheeked woodpecker and golden-olive woodpecker. Other new species included black-winged saltator, buff-throated saltator, dusky-faced tanager, orange-billed sparrow, great antshrike, yellow-rumped cacique, red-billed scyebill, streak-headed woodcreeper, cinnamon becard, rusty margined flycatcher, and blue-black grassquit.
Hook-Billed Kite
Great Antshrike
Lineated Woodpecker
Black-Winged Saltator
We also photographed a few new species of hummingbird including black-throated mango and long-billed starthroat. Pretty amazing day of photography.
Black-Throated Mango
Green Thorntail
Feb 7
We left well before daylight to allow travel time to our next photo venue (La Victoriana). This location contains a large 15-60 bird lek of Andean cock-of-the-rock. We walked over an hour in the dark to reach the lek before daylight. As we approached the lek the noise of the displaying males was amazing. They sounded like the squealing of dozens of pigs. As the sky slightly lightened we began to see a dozen or more of the large beautiful coatingas calling and displaying. What a treat. Some were quite close and a few were even in open situations without intervening limbs. It was quite dark under the tree canopy. I was shooting at very high ISO and still had ridiculously low shutter speeds. I did ok on stationary birds, but had insufficient shutter speed to capture the wing flaps and side-shuffle dance of the display. These displays last around an hour. I never saw a female, but suspect a few may have been present based on the males behavior.
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Luis shared how this venue had been developed. The owner/operator lost her job in Quito due to the pandemic and returned to the family farm. While out early one morning moving cows she happened upon the lek. She mentioned it to a local birding guide who encouraged her to develop the site. She cut over a mile of trail, added fencing to exclude cattle, and constructed a blind adjacent to the lek large enough to accommodate 12-15 photographers. Ecotourism at work.
We traveled back to Sachatamia Lodge for lunch and shot the lodge feeders in the early afternoon. Even though it was still sprinkling, the birds were active. Several hummingbird species were photographed including violet-tailed sylph, velvet-purple coronet, purple-bibbed whitetip, fawn-breasted brilliant, and purple-throated woodstar.
Violet-Tailed Sylph
Velvet-Purple Coronet
The fruit feeders were also active with several species observed including, choco toucan, bronze-winged parrot, black-capped tanager, blue-winged mountain tanager, dusky chlorospringus, chestnut-capped brushfinch, Ecuadorian thrush, and blue-capped tanager.
Choco Toucan
Later that afternoon we drove to Bellavista Lodge, deep in the cloud forest. Bellavista Lodge is one of the best known birding lodges in Ecuador. On the drive up we encountered an earthworm in the road which was nearly 24 inches in length and 2 inches in diameter. Becky was not a fan. Bellavista Lodge is a former cattle ranch that has over the last 30+ years regenerated into mature cloud forest habitat. We checked into our unit which was almost new and quite cozy. We had a wall of glass opening onto the cloud forest and a small outdoor patio seating area. I shot the fruit feeders near the lodge during the afternoon in the rain. A few new and interesting species were present including crimson-mantled woodpecker, turquoise jay, glossy-black thrush, tricolored (choco) brushfinch, white-winged brushfinch, spectacled redstart.
Turquoise Jay
White-Winged Brushfinch
Glossy Black Thrush
After dinner we all congregated outside of the dining area and waited for a kinkajou to arrive at the bait station. These nocturnal relatives of the raccoon have a prehensile tail and as we found out can be quite tame. The kinkajou wove through the legs of the 20 observers gathered near the bait station and marched out onto the platform feeding station where he devoured several bananas. An olinguito waited patiently well above the feeding platform for the kinkajou to depart. Olinguitos were not discovered until 1963.
Kinkajou
Olinguito
We were getting ready for bed when Luis knocked on our door, He had heard a black-and-white owl calling nearby. I managed a few images by the light of Luis's flashlight. Photography from before dawn to well after dark.
Black-and-White-Owl
Feb 8
Bellavista Lodge has an excellent moth trap. This moth trap was constructed of netting exposed to ultraviolet light all night. By morning the netting is covered in insects, creating a banquet for insectivores birds. The trap attracted strong-billed woodcreeper, masked trogon, cinnamon flycatcher, white-tailed tyrannulet, white-faced nunbird, striped treehunter, golden-bellied flycatcher, pearled treerunner, blackburnian warbler, slate-throated redstart, gray-breasted wren, and white-shouldered tanager. The adjacent fruit feeders attracted the gorgeous plate-billed mountain toucan, toucan barbet, and sickle-winged guan. We spent the rainy afternoon driving and walking the lodge trails and roads without much to show for it. After dinner I once again photographed the kinkajou at the feeding station.
Moth Trap
Masked Trogon
Continued in Ecuador 2025 Part 2
Comments
A couple more years and I’ll jump into shooting again, but full time.
Take care and keep it up
Inspired
Scott