Introduction: Considered by many to be a world birding hotspot, Ecuador quickly became my choice for a nine day November, 2008 holiday. After considerable internet research of reading trip reports, and visiting lots of birding tourism sites we settled on a Mindo Birds pre-scheduled tour. The Northwest Ecuador Cloudforest Tour turned out to be excellent from start to finish. Jayne Lyons and her staff were friendly, helpful, and professional from start to finish. If you are considering a trip to Ecuador check out Jane's beautiful Las Gralarais Reserve and Guesthouse - you won't be disappointed. It also turned out exceptionally well that my friend Yvonne was able to join me on this trip. Made it extra nice that I had a birding-pal to share all the nice birds and exceptional habitats.
Resources:Derek Keverno's exceptionally well-done blog was a great help in learning about the various birding locations in Ecuador, and the birds that are possible to see - a Thank-You!
http://birdingecuador.blogspot.com/
David and Kathy Cook for tips on travel to Ecuador - another Thank-You!
http://davidcook.com.au/
Photos by John Dicus
http://www.pbase.com/jwdicus/ecuador
New York Times article on the interesting Club-Winged Manakin
Neotropical Bird Club article on Senor Angel La Paz, "Antpitta Paradise"
Nov. 22 (Saturday)
American Airlines flights from St. Louis to Miami and then on to Quito were uneventful and on time. Immediately after stepping off the plane in the Quito airport we could feel the effects of the altitude – we moved along in what felt like slow motion! After bags and customs a short taxi ride to the charming Hotel La Rabida - our hotel at the beginning and end of our holiday. A reasonable cost, good choice. If you stay there a tip - ask for a second floor room they are much larger than the patio level rooms.
Nov. 23 (Sunday) Quito
5:15 a.m. pick-up for a day at Hosteria San Jorge and its accompanying San Jorge Reserve, located a short 30 minute drive from our Quito hotel. We chose to stay close to Quito for a day of getting acclimatized to the high altitude. The Hosteria San Jorge was built as a traditional 18th Century Spanish Hosteria. It consists of 200 acres in the Pichincha Foothills. After an excellent breakfast, we were greeted by our guide and owner of San Jorge, Dr. George Cruz. George was a gracious, friendly host who was an excellent guide.
The birding started on the grounds of San Jorge with lots of hummingbirds flitting from the the trees to the feeders. As we traversed the trail the habitat was beautiful. Highlights included long good looks at the PLAIN-BREASTED HAWK (shown on the right), SWORD BILLED HUMMINGBIRD, TYRIAN METALTAIL, SAPHIRE-VENTED HUMMINGBIRD, GOLDEN BREASTED PUFFLEG, BLACK-TAILED AND GREEN-TAILED TRAINBEARER, SHINNING SUNBEAM, SPARKLING VIOLET EAR, GLOSSY, BLACK, AND MASKED FLOWERPIERCERS, SOUTHERN YELLOW GROSBEAK, BLUE AND YELLOW TANAGER, WHITE CHESTED WHITESTART, WHITE CRESTED ELAINIA, AZARA'S SPINETAIL, APLOMADO FALCON among others.
A nice long hike, and an elaborate lunch at San Jorge and back to the hotel by 5:00 p.m.
Nov. 24 (Monday) Yanacocha Reserve
We began our tour today - leaving early morning with our exceptional guide, Edison Buenaño, and driver Juan Carlos Cruz. Edison demonstrated never ending effort, birding skills, good nature, and friendliness that was so very much appreciated by the group. Our group included a solo lady from Canada, and a couple from California. All good traveling partners.
Leaving Quito on a rainy, drizzly day we immediately started driving on a rural road, winding up the flanks of Volcan Pichincha to the Reserva Yanacocha, owned by the Jocotoco Foundation, a group dedicated to protecting critical habitat for Ecuador’s endangered birds. The Jocotoco Foundation has seven reserves, and is evidently doing great things.
Yanacocha is around the northern slope of Volcan Pichincha, at an elevation of around 11,000 feet, it is a beautiful treeline forest that protects the sources of Quito's drinking water - some of which still runs through an ancient Inca canal.
Rain ended as we arrived and we began birding up an easy well maintained wide trail at 3,500 m (~11,500 ft.), discovering ROUFUS NAPPED GRASSFINCH, CINECIOUS CONEBILL, OCCLEATED TAPICULO, BLACK CRESTED WARBLER, FLOWERPIERCERS, BLACK CHESTED TANAGER, BARRED FRUITEATER, SCARLET BELLIED MOUNTAIN TANAGER, TYRIAN METALTAIL and many brilliant montane hummingbirds along the way. Along the trail and the end of the trail through deep forest at 3,660m (12,000 ft.), with a wonderful view, we came upon hummingbird feeders. There were lots of terrific, high-altitude hummingbirds zooming, buzzing, and snapping away. We watched SAPHIRE-VENTED PUFFLEGS, SWORD BILLED HUMMINGBIRDS, BUFF-WINGED STARFRONTLETS among others.
A hungry bunch had a picnic lunch and made our way along the Old Nono Mindo Road.
November 25 (Tuesday) Las Gralarias Reserve
Today we explored our home, the Las Gralarias Reserve, a 425-hectare/1063-acre wildlife sanctuary located in Mindo. Jane Lyon's has done a wonderful job creating the Las Gralarias Foundation which is focused on purchasing adjacent parcels of property to help protect the rare and endemic birds, plants, and other animals among other things. Starting out with 19 acres in 1998 Jane has accomplished a great deal. Seeing what she has accomplished made us even happier that we chose Mindo Bird Tours for our holiday.
Spending a successful day on the trails of Las Gralarias we saw the TRICOLORED BRUSH FINCH, RED-FACED SPINETAIL, WEDGE-BILLED WOODCREEPER, MONTANE WOODCREEPER, GOLDEN CROWN FLYCATCHER, ORNATE FLYCATCHER, STREAK-NECKED FLYCATCHER, RED EYED VIREO, BROWN CAPPED VIREO, DUSTY BUSH TANAGER, GOLDEN TANAGER, TROPICAL PARULA, SOUTHERN HOUSE WREN, BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, SMOKE-COLORED PEWEE, BLUE-WINGED MOUNTAIN TANAGER, BLACK-CHINNED MOUNTAIN TANAGER, BERYL-SPANGLED MOUNTAIN TANAGER, GOLDEN HEADED QUETZAL, CLUB-WINGED MANAKIN, ANDEAN SOLITAIRE, NARINO TAPACULO, SPILLMANN'S TAPACULO (brief glimpses in the undergrowth), WHITE-CAPPED TYRANNULET, MASKED TROGAN, ORANGE BREASTED FRUITEATER, SCALED FRUITEATER, BROAD WINGED HAWK, SLATE THROATED WHITESTART, RED-HEADED PYGMY TYRANT, WHITE-SIDED FLOWERPIERCER, and the CHESTNUT ANTPITTA.
Returning to the lodge before and after lunch the hummingbird feeders were very active and so much fun to watch. The hummingbirds we saw included: VIOLET-TAILED SYLPH, TAWNY BELLIED HERMIT, BOOTED RACKET-TAIL, BROWN INCA, COLLARD INCA, SPECKLED, PURPLE-THROATED WOODSTAR, FAWN BREASTED BRILLIANT, AND THE BUFF-TAILED CORONET.
The day ended with an excellent Thanksgiving dinner turkey, dressing, all the fixings and a champagne toast to a great group and a great day of birding.
November 26 (Wednesday) Tandayapa Pass / Bella Vista Area
5:30 a.m. breakfast and off for the day. Cool, comfortable temperature with overcast skies. We birded the Tandayapa Pass which was the Old Mindo Road. This was nice easy road birding that ended at higher elevation with lovely view of the lower Tandayapa Valley below. As we worked our way back it began to rain - shortly Juan Carlos was nice enough to come pick us up in the van. Highlights: brilliant GRASS GREEN TANAGER, TURQUOISE JAY, CRIMSON MANTLED WOODPECKER, GREY BREASTED WOODWREN, CINAMON FLYCATCHER, MONTANE WOODCREEPER, PLATE BILLED MOUNTAIN TOUCAN, PACIFIC HORNERO, MASKED TANAGER, STREAKED TUFTED CHEEK WOODCREEPER, And the stunning PLUSH CAP.
Next stop was the nearby home of Tony Nunnery and his wife. They welcomed us with coffee/tea while we had our picnic lunch on the deck. Panoramic view along with the 26 hummingbird feeders were teeming with activity. We saw HOARY PUFFLEG, WESTERN EMERALD, LITTLE WOODSTAR, BROWN INCA, COLLARED INCA, FAWN BREASTED BRILLIANT, and GORGETED SUNANGEL.
We drove down to the bottom of the valley and back up the Old Nono Mindo Road. It was a bit rainy - some in the group saw a WHITE CAPPED DIPPER. The BEAUTIFUL JAY and TURQUOISE JAY were seen. The birding had tapered off, but the scenery was very enjoyable.
November 27 (Thursday) Milpe Bird Sanctuary
Milpe Bird Sanctuary this 62 hectare (155 acre) sanctuary covers an altitudinal range from 1020-1150m (3350-3770 ft) and includes two small rivers that converge in a steep, forested valley. The reserve is a mixture of primary forest, regenerating forest, woodland and pasture. At one point on a very narrow section of the trail - we were going up and going down we were met by a cow. There was an area where shade grown coffee was being grown. From the parking lot we had good looks of the CHOCO TOUCAN.
November 28 (Friday) Refugio Paz de las Aves
Today was a special day. Leaving at 4:15 a.m. we were off with our "snack-breakfast" in hand - we needed to be at the now famous Refugio Paz de las Aves to visit a Cock-of-the-rock lek by day break, and to watch Senor Paz's "Antpitta Show."
A 45 minute drive and 30 minute walk down the steep, slippery although made safe by rope rails
we all descended down in the dark safely. Flashlights and walking sticks were necessary and worked out well. As we approached the blind we could hear the raucous, gutteral calls of the Cock-of-the-rocks as they were beginning to strut their stuff for the females. It was somewhat difficult to see them in the dense foliage, but with patience everyone had good looks at these spectacular birds. The display was over in about forty minutes and we were off to more excitement.
There are only two species in the whole world and both occur in South America. The male Guiana Cock-of-the-Rock is bright orange (yellowish) and as the name suggests is found only in the Guianas whereas the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock is encountered in the Andean cloud forest areas from Venezuela to Bolivia. Here is a knock-out photo:
http://www.ecuador-travel.net/biodiversity.birds.cockoftherock.htm
So exciting seeing them, and when it became light we could see what gorgeous primary rainforest we were in the middle of.
Senor Angel Paz and his brother met us on the trail - we were in for a treat. We were guided to a seating area where we sat quietly and watched Sr. Paz work his magic of gently calling the rare and hard to see Antipittas he has tamed. After a few minutes of calling "venga, venga, Maria," a Giant Antipitta hopped right out on the trail feeding on Sr. Paz's worms.
November 29 (Saturday) Silanche Bird Sanctuary
Today we headed out early from the lodge after our usual excellent breakfast. We went to the area downslope to the area of Pedro Vicente Maldonade area (500m) in order to bird the Silanche Road and Silanche Bird Sanctuary. We turned off the highway and started birding our way along the road.
November 30 (Sunday) Las Gralarias Reserve and return Quito
Ah, a "sleep-in" morning, until 5:30 - breakfast of banana pancakes. We were all a bit slow moving this morning. Edison took us on a nice walk around Las Gralarias. We saw AZARA's SPRINETAIL, RUSSET-CROWNED WREN, GRAY-BREASTED WOOD-WREN, and a beautiful MASKED TROGAN flew out of her nest about three feet off the ground which had two eggs in the nest. We also heard a DARK-BACKED WOOD-QUAIL.
Returning to the Lodge it was time to do final pack up, check-out and have our final looks at the hummingbird feeders. What a show they put on everyday! Saying good-bye to our hostess, Jane - the happy birders are here: (scroll down) http://www.mindobirds.com.ec/ecua_bird_tour.htm
Making our way to Quito a couple of stops, first the Mindo River we saw an immature SUNBITTERN on the rocks in the river. And some nice butterflies: WHITE DAGGERWING, BANDED PEACOCK, RUSTY-TIPPED PAGE, and a MAPWING.
Next stop about an hour from Quito was the La Pahuma Orchid Reserve for our picnic lunch. This would have been a place to spend an entire day if not more. This approximately 1,500 acre reserve is moisture rich and lush. We were able to see a WHITE-TAILED HILLSTAR just a few feet at the feeder as we ate lunch.
More about LaPahuma Reserve: http://www.ceiba.org/elpahuma.htm
There are some nice videos on the site, including the White-Tailed Hillstar.
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