edenwatcher and ionemosia visit Ecuador (1 Viewer)

[edenwatcher]

Part 1
Iain and I met on a record-breaking tour to Costa Rica last year, and with Sue letting me carry on travelling after Andrew's birth, we decided to join forces. After some discussion we settled on Tropical Birding's Southern Ecuador tour, but a combination of KLM's flight schedules and some stunning pics on Surfbirds prompted us to book a short pre-tour extension to see the antpittas near Mindo.
In the days leading up to departure we were concerned that Iain might be snowed-in in Thurso, and he ended up taking the train to Edinburgh rather than the bus just to be on the safe side. We checked-in OK, had a pint to mark the start of the trip, then discovered an unspecified delay. One of the other passengers seemed to relish reporting that Schiphol had been closed since lunchtime by snow! This was not the best start to our holiday ...
We eventually left around 45 minutes late. Our descent into Amsterdam passed through some "interesting" weather conditions and by the time we got into the terminal the boards were reporting the flight to Quito as having closed 15 minutes earlier. We went to the gate anyway and discovered that they were waiting for a number of passengers and all was well. We eventually left about an hour and a half late, having had the plane sprayed with de-icer (hmm.).
We reached Quito at 09:50 local time (only 40 minutes late), and after meeting Holger (guide) and Rolando (driver) we were on our way. Our first stop was at Calacali, well known as a site for white-tailed shrike-tyrant. As on my previous visit, they were nowhere to be found. Highlights included golden-rumped euphonia, purple-collared woodstar and black-tailed trainbearer. After eating a packed lunch we continued our journey to Tandayapa. Whilst Holger made arrangements for seeing the antpittas next morning we watched hummingbird feeders, which were a hive of activity as ever.
The remainder of the day was spent birding the upper valley, mostly along the road above Bellavista. Plenty of good birds included very nice views of plate-billed mountain toucan, sickle-winged guan, streaked tuftedcheek, Spillmann's tapaculo, grass-green tanager ... all-in-all a promising start to the trip...

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Next morning the alarms were set for 4:30 and after a quick coffee we set off towards Refugio Paz de los Aves (or "the antpitta farm"). A pauraque on the entrance road was a promising beginning. We set off down the trail in the gloaming until we came to a spot where Angel said there was a rufescent screech owl. Holger promptly played a tape (although in general tapes are not permitted here) and the owl appeared above our heads giving cracking views. A mere 20 yards further on and there was a yellow-breasted antpitta in the middle of the trail - this was a special place! Further on down Holger said that giant antpittas were calling. I then twigged that I could hear Andean cock-of-the-rock. Angel has built a hide overlooking the lek and we watched around 7 males performing enthusiastically, with a short interlude to watch a golden-headed quetzal. Angel went off to get some worms ... We were eating a packed breakfast in the hide, when I happened to look round - there was a giant antpitta on the trail behind us! This is the bird known as "Maria", probably the most confiding. She came to within about 5 feet before deciding we din't have any worms.
Angel then returned and we headed down to a stream so that they could be washed(!). Maria hopped along behind but Manuel (her presumed mate) wouldn't come so close. Maria had to chastised (I kid you not) for stealing worms that hadn't been washed! Once all the worms were clean we went back up the trail and met a Birdseekers group arriving. We then had the ceremonial feeding of Maria for her adoring public. Back up the trail it was time to feed one of the yellow-breasted antpittas (Willy) before Angel set about trying to bring in moustached antpitta. This hadn't been seen for a week or so and did not respond. The Birdseekers group headed off to have breakfast and meanwhile we had another close encounter with a yellow-breasted antpitta and Holger pulled in Narino tapaculo.
Suddenly we were running up the trail - Juan Carlos (Birdseekers local guide) had found a moustached antpitta! This gave superb views too, and hung around long enough for all the other group to make it back. Angel next tried for his latest "project" - dark-backed wood quail - but they didn't respond. He has the enterprising view that anything can be tamed! A mixed flock included green-and-black fruiteater and black-chinned mountain tanager. Even then this amazing place had more to offer - back at the farm we had a black-and-chestnut eagle being mobbed by a swallow-tailed kite and velvet-purple coronet on the feeders. What a morning!
It was then time to head back to Tandayapa for lunch and a last look at the hummer feeders before driving to the airport and our flight to Guayaquil to join the main tour.

Rob

 

[delia todd]

Great reports and photos so far Rob - I'm looking forward to the next episodes.

D

 

[edenwatcher]

Before I start on the main tour here are a few more hummer photos from Tandayapa.

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

There were 6 of us on the tour - 3 Brits, 2 Americans and and Aussie, with 2 leaders (Nick Athanas and Josh Engel, who was along to learn the route).
Our first birding was at the "dry" forest of Cerro Blanco just outside Guayaquil. It has been an unusually wet rainy season in SW Ecuador, so even dry forest was green and lush - more leaves for birds to hide behind! Iain got things off to a good start with a Pacific pygmy owl on the entrance track. Birding conditions were grim - hot, very humid and overrun with biting insects. Good birds here included grey and gold warbler, black-capped sparrow and collared antshrike, but a calling Pacific royal flycatcher slipped away unseen.
We then headed south, picking up various wetland birds in the rice paddies and flooded fields around Guayaquil and having flight views of horned screamer at Manglares de Churute. A stop at wetland near Santa Rosa gave a few waders and ducks for the list.
Our final destination for the day was the Fundacion Jocotoco reserve at Buenaventura, and the excellent Umbrellabird lodge (our home for 2 nights). Space was a bit cramped on the first evening since Bob Ridgely was there with some donors (got to make way for the director and the men with chequebooks!).
We finished the day at the superb hummingbird feeders at the lodge.

Rob

 

[ionemosia]

Hi Rob, You're doing an excellent job with the report. Just don't be too modest. I'd have seen far fewer birds had it not been for your sharp eyes.

 

[kas]

There are some beautiful photographs there Edenwatcher. I look forward to seeing and reading more from you both.

 

[edenwatcher]

Your eyes didn't do so badly either Iain!
Umbrellabird Lodge is at an altitude of about 600m, but we began the next day on the other side of the reserve at 1000m. Buenaventura is renowned for fog and low cloud but we were lucky enough to be spared this with high cloud and excellent birding conditions. We spent the morning walking down the main track through the reserve (and then back up!). A close crimson-rumped toucanet was about the first bird seen, swiftly followed by a male club-winged manakin and the globally threatened (and very noisy) rufous-necked chachalaca. New birds came thick and fast, including a number of local specialities such as pacific tuftedcheek. A pair of the endangered grey-backed hawk gave largely silhouetted views, swiftly followed by their close relation - barred hawk. I picked up a superb female scaled fruiteater. but a calling plain-backed antpitta remained stubbornly hidden (which became a recurring theme for antpittas). A wedge-billed hummingbird posed nicely on a low branch by the trail. Yelping chestnut-mandibled toucans showed very well but the croaking Choco toucan stayed hidden! At our furthest point we reached an excellent lek of club-winged manakin and saw immaculate antbird.
On the way back the antpitta still wouldn't show but we had stunnig views of grey-backed hawk flying past at eye level along with two pairs of the huge Guayaquil woodpecker. We then drove to an area just outside the reserve (but a target for future purchase) where we had lunch at a fairly open area. Before long the target species flew in and posed for excellent scope views - the endangered El Oro parakeet, which was only described in 1980. This is the main species that Buenaventura was designed to protect. After an abortive search on a very muddy trail for El Oro tapaculo we headed down the road to some hummingbird feeders. Most of the species were the same as at the lodge but white-whiskered hermit was new and brown violetear and purple-bibbed whitetip were new for the main tour. We returned to the lodge and after a short break set out in the reserve pick-up truck to the start of the umbrellabird trail. A fine poison arrow frog was seen here (after a number of the same species seen in the morning). Pedro from Fundacion Jocotoco led us down to where long-wattled umbrellabird had been seen recently. Whilst we waited (and Nick occasionally played the tape) Pedro scouted further on down the trail. Suddenly Josh yelled(!) "I've got one!" I was standing closest and was then treated to the unforgettable sight of this huge black cotinga with its immense pendulous wattle flying across the trail and perching above our heads! The views were sensational and I dashed off a few shots at 1600 ISO (it was quite gloomy by this time). It showed well for some minutes before flying off. Sensational, and it was not to be displaced as bird of the trip. After that anything would be an anticlimax but a few new birds on the climb back up included a nice tawny-breasted flycatcher found by Josh.

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

Some more pics ...

Rob

 

[Chris D]

Great stuff. Nice pictures too. Looking forward to more.........

 

[ionemosia]

Frog

Some more pics ...

Rob

For those interested I believe the frog is Phantasmal poison frog (epipedobates tricolor).

Formerly known as Anthony’s Poison-arrow Frog (Dendrobates anthonyi), that name is no longer recognized see http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/references.php?id=3344

Species range is Southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru, west of the Andes

 

[edenwatcher]

Hi Rob, Iain has alerted me to your excellent report, what a trip and what a total. Ihope Sue and the baby are well, me, well I'm off to Texas nextweek to try and capture those elusive warblers on film, I'm with Kevi again so I am very optimistic on a good total, anyway it is new territory for me.....
Warm regards to you all Brian

Hi Brian,
Good to hear from you. Hope you have a good time in Texas, I'm sure Kev will look after you well. Give him my regards. Andrew is just getting over his first cold, but otherwise we're all doing fine.

Rob
PS any chance of a copy of your Costa Rica pics?

 

[edenwatcher]

Next day began with another ride in the pick-up to the top of the umbrellabird trail. Bird activity was quite high and we had fine views of chestnut-backed antbird, song wren and plenty of toucans including Choco this time and a pale-mandibled aracari. This had the distinction of being Iain's 3000th species. A western woodhaunter's response to the tape was to try and take our heads off!
After a productive few hours we returned to the lodge, packed up, and after another abortive search for El Oro tapaculo we headed south towards the Peruvian border. A stop at a filling station was surprisingly productive adding species such as Tumbes pewee and Loja hummingbird (the high altitude form of Amazilia, split by some authorities). Our next birding stop was the dry forest at El Empalme. This is apparently normally virtually leafless but as with other sites we found it green and lush. Several Tumbesian specialities were added to the list, including Baird's flycatcher, scarlet-backed woodpecker, white-edged oriole, Tumbes sparrow and the striking white-headed brush finch. A regular Amazilia hummingbird provided a nice comparison.
Our final destination was the border town of Macara - within sight of Peru. We had been warned in advance that the hotel wasn't too great, and so it proved with an ineffective ceiling fan and dodgy electrics in the shower! There was a colony of chestnut-collared swallows across the street however, and a seafood restaurant in the town was excellent (although it may have been responsible for our subsequent stomach bugs ...).
The next day was spent visiting another Fundacion Jocotoco reserve at Jorupe just outside town. Once again this normally dry forest was much lusher than usual. It is home to several rare and local species and we did pretty well at finding them. The striking white-tailed jay and blackish-hooded spinetail showed very nicely, as did slaty becard. Henna-hooded foliage-gleaner and rufous-necked foliage-gleaner took a bit more work (and I think Iain missed the latter) but Ecuadorian trogon (a split from black-tailed) showed well. Watkins' antpitta was nother member of the family that responded very well but kept out of sight (although I probably did get untickable views). Its song is indelibly burned on my mind!
After a lunchtime siesta we returned to the reserve in the afternoon but rain had set in and birding was difficult. A pale-browed tinamou which walked across the trail was a bonus however.

Rob

 

[Steve G]

For those interested I believe the frog is Phantasmal poison frog (epipedobates tricolor).

Formerly known as Anthony’s Poison-arrow Frog (Dendrobates anthonyi), that name is no longer recognized see http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/references.php?id=3344

Species range is Southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru, west of the Andes

Excellent report -another to add to my must visit some day list.
Iain, the frog looks like E. tricolor.
Normally these frogs are a rich mahogany-red when kept in captivity. The skin of wild frogs apparently yields an alkaloid markedly more potent than diamorphine -has great analgesic potential. The males guard & moisten egg clusters deposited on leaves then carry the hatched tadpoles on their backs to bromeliad pools. Captive frogs lose the toxic alkaloids in the skin which are though to be derived from certain types of ants in their diet. Amazing wee beasts & remarkably easy to keep & breed.

 

[ionemosia]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the confirmation of frog ID. I'd noticed that photos of captive tricolor were markedly different to the ones we saw and they are indeed amazing wee beasts. Another facet of the rich experience of a neotropics birding trip.

I did miss the Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaner at Jorupe but caught up with it on the road above Sozoranga albeit with two rather unsatisfactory fly-bys and one brief glimpse.

But true to their reputation the antpittas were rather more difficult. Like Rob's, my view of Watkin's AP was untickable. And the song that is indelibly burned on both of us is attached for all to experience.

Watkin's Antpitta (Grallaria watkinsi) recorded at Fundación Jocotoco Jorupe 07/03/06. (Right click and save target as .mpeg or .mp3)

 

[tapaculo]

frogs, too

I found Watkins relatively easy to see. For an antpitta. (That means, not impossible.)

How do you guys identify the frogs?

 

[edenwatcher]

Next day saw an early start as we had an hour's drive to Sozoranga, east of Macara. It was raining throughout the journey and as we started birding, but soon eased. Sozoranga is at around 1500m, compared with 500m at Macara so we had a new range of species. These included the excellent Chapman's antshrike and three-banded warbler. Moving a bit further up the road we added bay-crowned brush finch and rufous-chested tanager. Our best morning stop was at around 2200m, below the Jocotoco reserve at Utuana. Here we immediately picked up black-cowled saltator and soon added the attractive Piura hemispingus, plushcap and Jelski's chat-tyrant.
Climbing off the road and into a bamboo patch eventually produced excellent views of the target species - the threatened grey-headed antbird - along with an obliging blackish tapaculo. The antbird is a bamboo specialist and very little suitable habitat remains.
After lunch we gradually birded the road from Sozoranga back towards Macara. Stripe-headed and white-winged brush finches were added on the edge of town. A bit lower down we had excellent views of elegant crescentchest, now apparently to be classified as a furnarid and not a tapaculo. Near a bizarre new bridge across the river (from nowhere to nowhere!) we had excellent views of pacific pygmy owl and the endangered grey-cheeked parakeet.
We saw the frog mentioned in a Fundacion Jocotoco brochure at Tapichalaca, which made it possible to follow up. It seems to have an amazing number of synonyms!

Rob

 

[edenwatcher]

A thunderstorm lasted much of the night, prompting visions of landslides and blocked roads. As we made our way to the Jocotoco reserve at Utuana in the dark we were relieved to find only small and easily avoidable ones! After a few fairly unprofitable stops we reached the reserve. As we walked up the entrance track a chestnut-crowned antpitta scurried across in front of us. Playing the tape failed to bring it back, although it did call. Another inside the reserve called enthusiastically from incredibly close by, but just would not show. A silver-backed tanager was seen and I picked up a red-crested cotinga - unusually I could even see some red on the crest! Walking a trail named in its honour we soon had excellent views of the stunning black-crested tit-tyrant, a bird which puts its near relative - tufted tit-tyrant - in the shade. A male green-tailed trainbearer perched up nicely before we came to some hummer feeders. The main species here were the beautiful purple-throated sunangel and the large and spectacular rainbow starfrontlet, both of which were present in good numbers.
We left Utuana late morning and proceeded via a rather poor lunch in Cariamanga (for which Nick apologised) to the town of Catamayo. Here we birded the fields by the airstrip and connected with our 2 main targets - drab seedeater (found by Iain) and the more impressive parrot-billed seedeater. Birding was cut short by the advent of a violent thunderstorm, which soon had the streets flowing with muddy water/liquid mud - most impressive. Fortunately it was fairly localisedand by the time we reached a checkpoint above town the rain had almost stopped. We had an abortive search for band-tailed sierra-finch, but did see Tumbes sparrow once again. Our journey took us via the city of Loja (where we saw Loja hummingbird at a filling station!) to Vilcabamba, a town celebrated for the number of centenarians who live there. In the grounds of our very pleasant hotel we failed to locate West Peruvian screech owl but there was a fine display of fireflies.

Rob

 

[mountain man]

Great stuff Rob. Making me even more excited for Peru.

How did you find the Ecuador field guide? I've got it and much of it seems far superior to the Peru guide, as well as covering many of the same sp, but it's a fair weight so wondering whether I should pack it?

 

[edenwatcher]

Hi Tom,
Ecuador field guide is excellent - much better than the Peru guide, but yes it is heavy! Plenty of people just chop out the plates and use those - an ideal solution for Peru as the text is less use. You still need the Peru guide for the endemics, but at least those are illustrated by Eustace Barnes!

Rob