Ecuador 16: Gracias y Adios

[thumb:4018:r]The last full day, and much of it was to be spent travelling. After marvelling at the Turquoise Jays around the patio before light, we took an early breakfast, fed the antpitta again, and hit the road.

We headed back over the Papallacta Pass, and once more we were in luck; the weather was fine. Instead of going right to the top of the mountain, we concentrated on the Paramo below the summit and managed to add a few new birds, including the stunning Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant plus Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant and Blue-mantled Thornbill.

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We also got much better views of two species we’d seen last time, Tawny Antpitta and, gratifyingly, Andean Condor.

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The Papallacta Pass is a fabulous place and along with the incredible cloud forests, was the vision I took home with me of the Andes and Ecuador.

There was time for one more attempt at a new bird as we reached the edge of Quito. We parked near a suspension bridge and looked for the last new bird of the trip, another of those I’d really hoped to see. We scored within five minutes, as a Starling-sized Giant Hummingbird buzzed overhead. This is the world’s largest hummingbird, and it took out final tally of my favorite group of birds to a phenomenal FIFTY ONE species. Wow!

Add to that the eleven species of antpitta (as Mr. Schofield said, we managed it in 20 days but it took him 20 *&%*’ing years to see that many!) plus all the other special birds encountered on the trip, and the whole adventure had been a complete success.

Ecuador is a modern, sophisticated country that runs exceptionally well. Their attitude towards the environment is second to none worldwide and puts the US – Arizona in particular – to shame. We could all learn a lot from how the Ecuadorians care for their amazing natural resources. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Ecuador to anyone, especially if you’re into wildlife.

I had very few, if any, complaints. I’d like to have spent more time in different habitat and perhaps a little less time hacking through cloud forest looking for bloody tapaculos. Had we done that, we’d have seen a lot more species overall, in easier habitat, and got a lot more photos. But we would have missed some of the really special stuff, and besides, what would I have done with another 100 new species to get my head round? And the last thing I need is more photos!

In the end I finished on a total of 373 birds for the trip. I missed a few and with many more heard only, the final count was a little over 400. We added another seven new species on the last day…

367. Giant hummingbird 368. Blue-mantled Thornbill 369. Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant

370. Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant 371. Grass Wren

372. Plain-colored Seedeater 373. Paramo Seedeater