Southeast Arizona Bird Guide, Birding Tours SE AZ: Welcome to Fun Birding Tours in AZ with Richard Fray » ecuador

Ecuador 16: Gracias y Adios

Richard — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:00:04 +0000

[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 [...]

Ecuador 15: Guango

Richard — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:02:43 +0000

After yesterday’s washout we had to make the most of our remaining morning at Wildsumaco, so we were again out bright and early and heading for a new trail. We’d heard it was quite muddy, so took up the lodge’s kind offer of wellies (rubber boots). Good decision! Another good decision was leaving the still [...]

Ecuador 14: Wildsumaco

Richard — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 06:28:59 +0000

We had a full day at Wildsumaco, so got out early to make the most of it. We hadn’t gone too far before it started to rain, and that set the tone for the rest of the day. The camera was safely tucked underneath the rain jacket, and the binoculars steamed up, making the huge [...]

Ecuador 13: Hangover

Richard — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:35:06 +0000

The morning after the night before. Wine bottles and cigarette ends everywhere. The disturbing feeling that anything – anything - might make you vomit at any moment. There’s only one cure, when in Ecuador, for these symptoms. And it’s simple – all you need is a big, fat breakfast, a new antpitta (White-bellied – that’s [...]

Ecuador 12: San Isidro

Richard — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:07:51 +0000

We had a full day in the San Isidro area, so the morning was spent birding the Guacamayos Ridge Trail. Another chunk of primo cloud forest, and once again it was hard work. But we scored with a few great birds – Black-billed Mountain-Toucan, Greater Scythebill and Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant were all special ones [...]

Ecuador 11: Papallacta Pass

Richard — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:27:06 +0000

A change of scenery was on the cards today as we set off from Quito early and headed towards our next destination, San Isidro. En route we would take in our highest birding of the trip, the paramo habitat of Papallacta Pass. Reaching an elevation of more than 14,000 feet, we would be at the [...]

Ecuador 10: Back to Loja, Quito

Richard — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:57:47 +0000

Once more it was time to pack our bags and head off to pastures new. We took the opportunity to get out early and were immediately justified in doing so by getting great views of a splendid Barred Antthrush in the trail at first light, one of the birds of the trip. We [...]

Ecuador 9: Quebrada Honda

Richard — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:53:42 +0000

A bit like the day after Angel Paz, today was going to have a hard time living up to yesterday. But we were going to give it a good go anyway.

We spent the morning birding the famous Quebrada Honda trail. It was hard work! A Slate-crowned Antpitta was calling and Mr. Schofield led Rob and Micky [...]

Ecuador 8: Jocotoco

Richard — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:25:21 +0000

Mr. Schofield seemed excited this morning – something special must be on the cards…

The reserve at Tapichalaca, like Yanacocha and several other world class birding sites in Ecuador, is managed by the excellent Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco, a relatively new environmental organization. We’d seen the word Jocotoco all over the place, and [...]

Ecuador 7: Tapichalaca

Richard — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:09:29 +0000

We left the hotel early, took a taxi to the airport and caught a flight to Loja in southern Ecuador. En route we had superb views of the iconic volcano Cotopaxi as dawn broke above the clouds.

The legendary Mr. Schofield had arranged for a 4×4 pickup to take us for an incredibly [...]