Ecuador Birding Trip

Thursday, January 22

Barbara’s Notes

Sachatamia at 4am was very dark, and drippy from an all night rain. We quickly dressed and headed over to the lodge for coffee and crackers (box lunch breakfasts to accompany us on trip). Still dark at 4:50am when our bus started a long drive, mostly on a rough backcountry road, slippery driving up, up, up... Our goal was to arrive at a blind at Angel Paz Reserve about 6am for sighting of the male Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, an elusive red parrot-sized bird, who “dances” and calls for a mate every morning in the same location. The location is down a dark, wet, muddy descent with a trail designed and maintained by the Ecuadorian family who own the property. Flashlights and hand ropes helped a lot. We followed two Ecuadorian guides and arrived shortly after 6am, and there he was. Of course he was dancing behind a significant amount of shrubbery, so sightings were somewhat obscured. And light was still very low (no flash allowed), so photos are grainy and fuzzy – but we do have proof! Some spotters saw another dancer too. We watched the dance until the show was over at 6:50am. We pulled out our packed breakfasts and energized with a ham and cheese sandwich, banana, and juice.

Andean Cock-of-the Rock	Yellow-breasted Antpitta

As we were hiking down we heard “Maria” call. Maria is a rare Giant Antpitta – she may come when coaxed with worms. Our two guides know her well and call her. This morning she didn’t respond, in spite of trials in various locations. Plan B: continue to descend down to a rushing creek at bottom of a ravine. Flashlights no longer needed. There was a Yellow-breasted Antpitta who may come in when called (and lured with worms). This worked. What a delight to see this normally shy robin-sized brown and yellow antpitta collect worms. We were again grateful for our boots, as the best view was from in the water.

Time for hiking back up. Our guides tried to call in a Mustached Antpitta but he was not cooperative today. They were very pleased when Maria’s brother/husband came in. He is brown and about crow size. We had good views of him as he stuffed his beak with worms. He may be feeding a chick.

Giant Antpitta	Brown Inca

We resurfaced late morning and were attracted to some action-packed hummingbird feeders. The Ecuadorian owners graciously served us some treats – plaintain-bean balls, croissants with melted cheese and tree tomatoes for dessert, with Nescafe or tea. Tree tomatoes are quite small. They are cooked with cinnamon and sugar – delicious. We also enjoyed watching three children who seemed very happy.

Green-crowned Brilliant	Fawn-breasted Brilliant

Velvet-purple Coronet	Fawn-breasted Brilliant

Empress Brilliant	Velvet-purple Coronet

Violet-tailed Sylph	Fawn-breasted Brilliant & Violet-tailed Sylph

White-banded Tyrannulet	Blue-winged Mountain Tanager

We birded around the area for about an hour and then started back, birding along the road. The highlight was a pair of Orange-breasted Fruiteaters at their nest – very rare birds!

Orange-breasted Fruiteater male	Orange-breasted Fruiteater female

Rain started and “dampened” our spirits. The local farm houses had their laundry lines full. George joked that they “hang their clothes out to wash”. Cloud forest is well named. We headed into Los Bancos, a small town, to a restaurant with hummingbird and fruit feeders. The latter attract multiple species of tanagers. Sit inside and sip fresh juice and watch the colorful show outside – a pleasant way to end the day.

	Black Phoebe

	Blue-gray Tanager

Lemon-rumped Tanager	Palm Tanager

Silver-throated Tanager	Thick-billed Euphonia

Bill is at the “bird list” meeting and I will be joining him shortly for dinner. An owling outing is planned for tonight but we may skip as it is still wet out and, hey, we have been up since 4am. Birding is not relaxing!