The Andes Introtour - December 2014
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Tropical Birding Trip Report ECUADOR: The Andes Introtour - December 2014 Trip Report The Andes Introtour 8th to 15 th December 2014 Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan Report and photos by guide Andres Vasquez www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report ECUADOR: The Andes Introtour - December 2014 ITINERARY: Accommodation 8-Dec Arrival in Quito Quito 9-Dec Yanacocha Tandayapa Bird Lodge 10-Dec Lower Tandayapa Valley Tandayapa Bird Lodge 11-Dec Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary Tandayapa Bird Lodge 12-Dec Upper Tandayapa Valley Tandayapa Bird Lodge 13-Dec Refugio Paz & Mashpi Tandayapa Bird Lodge 14-Dec Milpe Bird Sanctuary Quito 15-Dec Departure INTRODUCTION: It had been a while since I last guided this tour so I had forgotten how enjoyable it is. It covers a big spectrum of habitats and altitudes, each one with its own charm and set of birds, making the 6 birding days a whole new experience every day. From the cold temperate forest at 11000 ft. to the hot and steamy rain forest at 800 ft, with a short visit to arid inter-Andean scrub, and sleeping in the heart of the cloudforest in the famous Tandayapa Bird Lodge, this trip is hard to match. In only 6 birding days (8 in total counting arrival and departure days) we registered a total of 353 birds within 46 different families of which 303 were seen by at least one of the participants, 8 were only seen by the guide and 42 were heard only records. We recorded 39 hummingbird species, 58 species of the Tanager family, 5 toucans, 4 species of Fruiteaters (like this Orange-breasted in the photo here), 6 seen antpittas, and a bunch of iconic birds like Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Golden-headed Quetzal, Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Red-billed Scythebill, Toucan Barbet, the endemic and rare Beautiful Jay, and the hulking Andean Guan. It’s no surprise that this is our best-selling tour. DAY BY DAY SUMMARY: 9 Dec: Yanacocha Reserve: The first day of the tour takes place at the highest elevations of the entire trip while we bird in this reserve at 11000 ft. We left Quito (the capital of the country) behind and started ascending towards the temperate zone passing through some farmlands that host some open areas birds. The first stops along these farms produced Golden-bellied Grosbeak, Paramo Pipit, Black-tailed Trainbearer, Variable Hawk, and Tawny-rumped Tyrannulet. After a few more kilometers on a patch of forest still within the disturbed area, we stopped for noisy Black- crested Warblers which required some tape to bring in but while trying for it we found a perched Red-crested Cotinga and an active Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant. Later on, already inside the reserve, we walked the mile and a half long trail that ends at a hummingbird feeding station that attracts highland jewels among which the Sword-billed Hummingbird stands out. The walk is always enjoyable, not only due to the frequent flocks but also due to the amazing landscapes all along the trail. Some of the highlights that we got during the walk were Barred Fruiteater, Andean Guan, Black-chested www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report ECUADOR: The Andes Introtour - December 2014 and Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers, the rare but dull Paramo Seedeater, the recently split Gray-browed Brush-finch and more flock birds. After the walk we returned to the headquarters of the reserve where we had our box lunch, and immediately afterwards we started the descent towards the Tandayapa valley through the old Nono-Mindo road. We drove for not more than 5 kilometers and we already found some highlights like Andean Lapwing and a soaring Short-eared Owl. Further down the slope the road starts to cross through pristine subtropical forest where a whole new set of birds are on the menu. We stopped several times that afternoon before reaching our final destination, the famous Tandayapa Bird Lodge. Some of the best birds we found include Plate-billed Mountain-Toucans, Toucan Barbets, Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, the inconspicuous but beautiful Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant (photo left) and a hoard of tanagers that kept us on the road until quite late in the afternoon. We only in fact got to the lodge just in time to look at the hummingbirds on the feeders with the last light of the day for a super finale to an over-70-species day. 10 Dec: Tandayapa lodge grounds and lower valley: We started the day by visiting before dawn the forest blind located just a couple hundred meters from the main lodge. About 45 minutes there produced Ochre-breasted Antpitta, Streak-capped Treehunter, Russet-crowned Warblers, Zeledon’s Antbird, Masked Trogons (photo left), Uniform Antshrike, and Chestnut-crowned Brush-Finch. Just outside the blind and already with plenty of light I found a vocal Scaled Antpitta, but before I could show it to anyone, it jumped away never to be found again. On the way back to the lodge for breakfast we found a few birds out of which the best were a pair of Scaled Fruiteaters. We enjoyed breakfast overlooking the fruit feeders quickly found Montane Woodcreepers, more Toucan Barbets (photo below), Slate-throated Whitestart, Dusky- capped and Golden-crowned Flycatchers, a surprising Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner and the first of many Crimson-rumped Toucanets. Right after breakfast we moved down the trails towards the town of Tandayapa and further; during the rest of the morning we found several attractive birds like Rufous-winged Tyrannulet, Whiskered Wren, Barred Becard, Ecuadorian Thrush, Metalic-green, Golden, Golden-naped, Beryl-spangled, and Silver-throated Tanagers. During the afternoon we birded the road up towards Nono in search of a target bird that just a few on the group got to see the previous afternoon: White-capped Dipper. This time views were short but most of the participants managed views; this was a particularly skittish bird. We found a few birds that we had seen already the day before, and a few interesting new ones that made it worth the trip: Sickle- winged Guan, a pair of Torrent Tyrannulets, a couple of Beautiful Jays (a quite localized and uncommon bird), and Andean Solitaire, plus close up and prolonged views of a female Cock-of-the-Rock feeding on a low bush full of fruit. www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report ECUADOR: The Andes Introtour - December 2014 11 Dec: Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary: A very early start was required to get to the lowlands just past dawn. This small reserve, protected by the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation, is a safe haven for many scarce forest birds amidst the surrounding agricultural areas. The almost 6 km of dirt road between the highway and the reserve are quite open and this attracts species of birds typical of more disturbed areas and drier habitats, and can be surprisingly productive for birds, even scarce species like the pair of Barred Puffbirds that we managed to call in. We saw lots of new birds for us along the road, among the most interesting are Yellow-tailed Oriole, Red-billed Scythebill, Crimson-breasted Finch, Hook-billed Kite, Collared Aracaris (photo to right), Choco Toucans, Guayaquil, Lineated, and Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, Pacific Antwren, and many more. Once we reached the reserve we walked along the trails inside forest looking for birds that prefer the shady forest understory. Even though it was quiet at the beginning, activity picked up and produced some specialties like Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, Broad-billed Motmot, Dot-winged and Checker-throated Antwrens, Northern Barred Woodcreeper, Tawny-faced Gnatwren, Chestnut-backed Antbird, Fulvous-vented Euphonia, and more. We walked until close to noon and then had a break and a nice boxed lunch to help us regain some energy. We could not stop birding though due to the constant activity that started happening right around the area we were having lunch. So, we ate quickly and soon after we birded the forest edge around the parking lot were we found White-bearded Manakins, Orange- fronted Barbets, Slaty-capped Shrike-Vireo, Moustached Antwren, Dusky Pigeon, Olivaceous Piculets, and both Purple-chested and Blue-chested Hummingbirds. We started heading back to the lodge after a long day of birding, tired but very happy with what we had seen. 12 Dec: Upper Tandayapa Valley: We did not need to drive to far this morning to reach the upper valley, only 6 km up the hill from our lodge. The ride up, although short, takes us over 600 m higher in elevation where many specialties reside; this includes a couple hummingbirds that we cannot find elsewhere in the valley like Gorgeted Sunangel and Collared Inca, both of which we saw with some work. We spent both morning and afternoon in this location with a pause in the middle of the day back at the lodge for lunch. During this time we found other target birds like Grass-green Tanager, Hooded Mountain-Tanager (photo to left), Powerful and Crimson-mantled Woodpeckers (photo next page), Flammulated and Streaked Treehunters, Black-capped Tyrannulet, Green-and- black Fruiteater, Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant, and Slaty-backed Nightingale- Thrush, among the more eye-catching. Along this altitudinal belt the forest is patchily dominated by bamboo which forms thickets that form a micro- www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report ECUADOR: The Andes Introtour - December 2014 ecosystem in itself; there are a couple species that live exclusively in these bamboo thickets which we targeted, and with some work we found Plain-tailed Wren, Streak-headed Antbird, and Black- eared (Western) Hemispingus.