Introduction & arrival. I visited Ecuador with Michael Grunwell for
three weeks in August and September 1999.
Michael visited the Galapagos for 4 days during the first week, an
option my finances didn’t allow. I had
visited Ecuador in 1986 and both Michael & I had been to Peru in 1984 but
neither of us had visited the Neotropics for nearly 10 years. We were therefore somewhat rusty on bird ID
and had forgotten how frustrating most views of hummingbirds were! This blog is based on a report I wrote at the
time, further unreliable memories and some scanned prints taken with an instamatic.
Michael & I
arrived in Quito at 10 pm on the evening of 19 August. Nowhere at the airport would change pounds
sterling which could have been a slight problem. We stayed in the Hotel Aeropuerto
conveniently located immediately outside the airport entrance, although the
location was the only good thing about this place. We picked up a pre-booked car from Budget the
next morning and set off for Bellavista, arriving just over two hours later.
Bellavista (20-21 August). An interestingly
constructed but very basic timber lodge located rather precariously on a
ridge-top, surrounded by good forest, although many of the trails were quite
steep. It seemed expensive to stay at,
considering the lack of facilities, although the staff were friendly and the
hummingbird feeders on the porch superb.
We joined up with Tom Love who had arrived at Bellavista shortly before
us and enjoyed his company for the next three days. An afternoon was spent on the porch at Loma
Linda, 2-3 kms below Bellavista, talking to bird guide Tony Nunnery and
admiring the view from his porch and the hummers at his feeders.
Birds
seen included Sickle-winged Guan, White-throated Quail Dove (at bottom of trail
O), Red-billed Parrot, Scaly-naped Amazon, Common Potoo (2 spotlighted from the
road, one just below Bellavista and one just above it), Fawn-breasted
Brilliant, Buff-tailed Coronet, Gorgetted Sunangel, Booted Racket-tail,
Green-tailed Trainbearer, Violet-tailed Sylph, Purple-throated Woodstar (including
2 young in nest at Loma Linda), White-bellied Woodstar, Masked Trogon,
Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Striped Treehunter, Tyrannine
Woodcreeper, Chestnut-crowned Antpitta (seen well along the start of the Nanegalitos
Road), Rufous-headed Pigmy-Tyrant, Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, Sepia-brown
Wren, Grey-breasted Wood-Wren, Capped Conebill and Golden, Golden-naped,
Beryl-spangled, Blue and Black, Grass-green and Blue-winged Mountain-Tanagers.
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| Violet-tailed Sylph at Bellavista |
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| forest below Bellavista |
Mindo & Los Bancos Road (22 August). We left Bellavista in the
dark, driving down to a Lyre-tailed Nightjar site just beyond Tandayapa for
dawn. Here we saw a pair and nearby another
male on the road. We then drove on to
Mindo concentrating on the track to the big hotel being built a few kms below
the obelisk on the right. Birding was
good here and we reluctantly left late morning for the gazebo track near km 73
on the Los Bancos road. The track was
rough in places and we drove little more than a km down it, to the first forest
patch on the right, and probably walked a further 2 kms along it. Despite being in the middle of the day a
couple of hours walking along the track between the small forest patches proved
to be excellent. We then returned to
Mindo for a late lunch, by which time it was quite hot in the valley, briefly
looked at the hotel track again and called in at Mindo Lindo but nobody was
home. We returned to Loma Linda along
the old Mindo road, stopping on occasion and encountering one particularly
large bird flock. Michael and Tom left
at dusk, returning to Quito with the car.
Birds seen included American
Swallow-tailed Kite, Plumbeous Pigeon, White-whiskered Hermit, Andean Emerald, Brown
Inca, Violet-tailed Sylph, White-bellied Woodstar, Golden-headed Quetzal,
Masked Trogon, Rufous Motmot (I missed it), Red-headed and Toucan Barbets,
Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Pacific Tuftedcheek, Pacific Hornero,
Golden-faced Tyrannulet, Ornate Flycatcher, Turquoise Jay, Andean Solitaire, a good
selection of tanagers (Swallow, Glistening-green, Golden, Flame-faced, Metallic-green,
Beryl-spangled, Rufous-troated, Blue-winged and Hooded Mountain-Tanager) and
Tricoloured Brush-Finch.
Loma Linda & Tandayapa (23-25 August). I had originally planned
to stay in Mindo while Michael was on the Galapagos but I was not overly keen
on it as I would have no transport and most of the good birding sites were a
fair walk from the town. As an
alternative Tony Nunnery kindly allowed me to stay on his floor at Loma Linda,
a house he had recently built himself and was in the process of equipping. This offered good birding, literally from the
porch, excellent company and a breathtaking view - its name translated as Pretty Hill which seemed very appropriate. On the first morning Tony & I climbed
down a rather steep track Tony was cutting to the Tandayapa River, returning to
spend the afternoon around his house and a couple of trails behind it. A female Purple-throated Woodstar with 2
young at her nest were a particular delight, being visible from the porch. The next day I followed a well-established
trail down to the Tandayapa River and up to a clearing on an adjacent hillside. Back at Loma Linda the young Purple-throated
Woodstars had left the nest although they remained in a tree near it for the
rest of my stay. On the final morning I
walked down to Tandayapa to meet Iain Campbell.
Iain was completing the building of an impressive new tourist lodge at
Tandayapa and, through Tony, had offered to give me a lift back to Quito. I spent the afternoon walking the trails at
Tandayapa with Iain and was very impressed that he and some friends had put substantial
savings into the project which if successful would provide a long term
investment for them (a sort of pension) as well as protecting a decent area of
forest. I was less impressed when back
at the lodge it became apparent that the lift he’d lined up wasn’t going to
materialise. We and his Ecuadorian
girlfriend got a lift to the main road and started hitching back into Quito. We got picked up by a pickup and hunkered
down in the back to try and get out of a cold wind. It then got dark and started raining! I was very pleased when we were dropped off
on the outskirts of Quito and found a taxi to take us to Iain’s apartment where
they kindly put me up for the night.
Birds
seen included: Barred Forest-Falcon,
Sickle-winged Guan, Plumbeous Pigeon, Red-billed Parrot, Chestnut-collared
Swift, Rufous-bellied Nighthawk (2 below Loma Linda one dusk), Tawny-bellied
Hermit, Green-fronted Lancebill, Western Blue-tailed Emerald, Fawn-breasted
Brilliant , Collared Inca, Buff-tailed Coronet, Gorgetted Sunangel, Booted
Racket-tail, Green-tailed Trainbearer, Purple-throated Woodstar, Masked Trogon,
Red-headed and Toucan Barbet,
Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Crimson-mantled
Woodpecker, Yellow-vented Woodpecker, Azara’s and Rufous Spinetails, Striped
Woodhaunter, Striped Treehunter, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Long-tailed
Antbird, Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, Torrent Tyrannulet, Rufous-crowned
Tody-Tyrant, Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant, Green and Black Fruiteater, Andean Cock
of the Rock (2 females), Golden-winged Manakin, Beautiful Jay, Grey-breasted
Wood-Wren, Tropical Parula, Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, Slate-throated
Whitestart, Black-crested and Russet-crowned Warblers, Yellow-collared
Chlorophonia (on ridge opposite Loma Linda), Golden-rumped Euphonia, Golden,
Golden-naped and Beryl-spangled Tanagers and Tricoloured and White-winged
Brush-Finches.
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| view looking south from the porch at Loma Linda |
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| looking west from Loma Linda |
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| the river below Loma Linda |
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| forest below Loma Linda |
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| looking back at Loma Linda from the hill to the west |
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| looking up at Bellavista from Loma Linda |
Yanacocha (26 August). Yanacocha was an area I’d tried to visit on
my earlier trip to Ecuador but hadn’t managed to find the right place. Once back in Quito Iain had arranged for a
taxi driver to take us to Yanacocha for a few hours on the morning of 26
August. As the taxi driver had been
there before I was relatively confident of us not getting lost and it was
actually fairly straightforward when one knew the way (I’d gone too high previously). Birdquest, led by Paul Coopmans, were already
in the field when we arrived, their breakfast table looking rather incongruous
on a mountainside in the middle of nowhere although I was a little envious of
it! After unsuccessfully chasing after a
couple of species they had seen we went our own way and after about an hour
Iain found an Ocellated Tapaculo in tangled bamboo just below the track. I eventually got a stunningly good, but
brief, view of it after scrambling down the rather steep slope. Iain and I returned to Quito and after visiting
a bank (to change my pounds) I then met up with Michael, back from the
Galapagos, at the not-to-be recommended Hotel Aeropuerto. Michael had left a bag in store there while
he went to the Galapagos but those on the desk denied all knowledge of it. After much argument and us threatening to
call the tourist police they finally found it and returned Michael's bag with extreme bad grace.
Birds
seen included Mountain Velvetbreast, Great
Sapphirewing, Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Sapphire-vented Puffleg, Purple-backed
Thornbill, Tyrian Metaltail, Bar-bellied Woodpecker, Tawny Antpitta, Ocellated
Tapaculo, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, Rufous Wren, Spectacled Whitestart, Scarlet-bellied
and Hooded Mountain-Tanagers and Tricoloured Brush-Finch.
