Birds of Ecuador--A Travelogue by Audubon Member Rick Greenspun

Hello From Ecuador Bird Friends,

After only one day in Ecuador, I thought I had brought my weather jinx from Sri Lanka!! We were met by torrential rain ( usually they get brief afternoon showers) that lasted 24 hours and resulted in being cut off from our lodge at Tandayapa, due to landslides. roads in and out were closed for the day and we retreated to a place called Mindo Loma Lodge and Preserve while our guide scrambled to find us alternative accomodations for the night.

WOW!! what a consolation prize that turned out to be. We were lucky enough to be able to bird from the balcony of the lodge protected from the weather while we were dazzled by Golden, Flame faced and Saffron crowned and Black chinned Mountain Tanagers. In the mix were dozens of Hummingbird species, Toucans, Flower Piercers and many others. The crown jewels of Ecuador are hummingbirds and Tanagers. There are 131 species of Hummers and 119 species of Tanagers and now, as of this email, we have barely made a dent.

Golden Tanager

Masked Flowerpiercer

Green Crowned Wood Nymph

Empress Brilliant

We have been birding mostly the Western slope of the Andes and today visited Antisana Reserve at about 11,000 feet for high Paramo species.

Dazzling flight displays by Andean Condors, Aplomado Falcons, Carunculated Caracara and vistas of the active volcanoes surrounded by clouds and snow made for a spectacular day.

Off to the Amazon tomorrow for five days and believe it or not I will have internet access( its a new world) and will try to send a few more emails.

As always, anyone wanting info on the itinerary can contact me. Stay tuned and Good Birding

Regards, Rick