Ecuador: The Southern Andes Aug 14—26, 2007
Posted by Paul Greenfield
Paul Greenfield
Paul Greenfield grew up near New York City and became interested in birds as a child. He received his B.F.A. from Temple University where he was an art major at the Tyler S...Related Trips
Ecuador's Southern Andes are incredible—in such a small country, one would not expect to experience much difference between one site and the next, but in Ecuador one always should expect the unexpected. This is a region of incomparable diversity—a land of tanagers, and hummingbirds, and endemism! Our August trip brought much excitement and a couple of all-time "firsts"—we became the first group ever to see a juvenile Jocotoco Antpitta! We later found a small, undescribed population of "red-backed" Golden-olive Woodpeckers, and we made a first record of Cinnamon Neopipo at Bombuscaro, in the Podocarpus National Park.
I guess one might say the rest of the trip was pretty unimpressive—IF you consider seeing 46 species of tanagers, 32 hummingbird species, and 3 species of male manakins in one shrub unimpressive! Our point-blank encounters with a Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan and the endemic Violet-throated Metaltail weren't bad either!
Our stay at Tapichalaca Reserve was a joy. What a wonderful place, wedged into this rich, montane, forested mountainside. Perhaps the most memorable experience of the trip was our encounter with Pancho, Bibí and Panchito—a family of Jocotoco Antpittas now being fed by one of the reserve wardens. This is a tremendous improvement for us birders, as well as for the antpittas, who will never again be hassled with tape playback. Though definitely not a "sure-thing" (so don't be mistaken!), but when these marvelous birds came into view, my heart began to pound like a bass drum—and to see, for the first time ever, this spunky juvenile Jocotoco checking us out while his mom tried to lure her foolish kid back into the woods with incessant hoots—I knew we were all immersed in a truly priceless life experience!
Our journey continued down along the eastern foothills to the sleepy town of Zamora, with its huge psychedelic clock—the "Land of Waterfalls and Birds," it claims boldly on several roadway signs. I guess they know what they're talking about! I do not know if it was the spectacular array of multicolored tanagers that seemed to adorn the entire area, or the unbelievable emerging Lyre-tailed Nightjars that caught everyone's breath, or the White-necked Parakeets, Highland Motmot, or Coppery-chested Jacamar—or the scarce Neopipo that sat out along the trail at Bombuscaro, or could it have been the male White-crowned, Striped, and Blue-rumped manakins feeding on Melastome fruit along the side of the road (!), but this is a very special area, and I got the feeling that all of us enjoyed the whole scene—our hosts at Copalinga, the lodge and cuisine, and the entire experience.
In all, we covered much ground in a country where every mile counts! We shared some very special moments in a very special region of this surprisingly rich country, and we made the best of the unpredictable nature of birding. I had so much fun!