Postscript

A bit of summing up…

All things considered our tour went well. No one ever likes long travel days to and from destinations. Specially flying anywhere these days. Air travel for us has become a necessary evil. We also seemed to have had a lot of “bus time” this trip compared to the last one. But if one is to experience as much of an area as possible in a compressed amount of time, travel is required. Road conditions seemed to be the biggest bugaboo: construction delays and occasional rockslides. Even with the best of roads, twisting, curving roads in mountainous regions are never traveled quickly. Having read a few Tropical Birding trip reports from other years, road conditions could have been a lot worse. We were never prevented from getting to where we needed to be.

Physically speaking, this trip seemed easier on the body than the 2008 tour. Were we in better shape for this trip? Hardly. We just didn’t have to deal with as much high elevation and the trails, while at times challenging, didn’t seem to be as taxing.

Accommodations in the beginning of the trip were a bit of a jolt compared to other tours. However we always had a dry roof over our heads and we never felt unsafe. Southern Ecuador isn’t as established for ecotourism as is the north. And psychologically, just imagine taking our tour itinerary in reverse and having Macará wind up at the end! In the end it all had to do with our expectations and how we managed them. Truth be known, some of the early overnights and meals will likely wind up being tall tale fodder for many years to come.

Our group dynamic was a good mix. No, make that a great mix. Everyone brought their individual brand of humor and perspective. And it helped that we had José again as our guide which provided continuity from 2008. Even when he remembered who we were from our last trip! His ability to pull birds out of seemingly thin air (or thick jungle) was nothing short of amazing. An added bonus was having Niko with us once more. He was superb. Anyone who has traveled in areas with challenging road conditions appreciated his skill and care for our safety. And of course his never-ending smiles.

As always it was a pleasure to be birding again with good friend Richard Garrigues. While José was our principle guide, Richard’s ornithological and natural history expertise essentially gave us two guides for the price of one! And besides, he's just a great all around guy!

As for the birds we did well. Not quite the count we had in 2008 but each trip is different. Extensive bus time may have cut down on the numbers a bit but the weather for the most part was very cooperative. There were only a few days I can recall when the weather had a noticeable negative impact on birding. But that's what umbrellas and rain gear are for, yes?

It's a given that not everyone on a birding trip will see every bird. But José made every effort for us to see as many as possible. Sometimes it was simply a matter of being at the right spot at the right time or getting on a bird before it disappeared. At best, jungle birding is always a challenge.

Overall the group saw or heard 508 species. Many new birds for Carol and me. I will shortly send out a file listing all the birds on the tour. Personally I picked up 148 life birds and my Ecuador country list now stands at 749. As for our memories associated with so many of the bird sightings? That list is endless.

Where are we headed next? Good question. There is certainly no lack of destinations.  Carol has been in contact with Tropical Birding about Columbia, which is just now opening up. Peru is a place that’s been on our radar for a while. There has also been some talk of birding Brazil. Even a possible return to northern Ecuador has been discussed.

We’re committed to Costa Rica in 2011 but being retired we are not now necessarily restricted to one trip per year. Or for that matter, traveling only in the winter months. There are compelling reasons for doing a Peru trip in July when the birding weather seems to be at its best. In the end it all boils down to time and money and maximizing both.

A caveat: This journal reflects our best recollection of how things unfolded. It is by no means all inclusive. Of course everyone will have their own recollections. Hopefully the journal will jog some of them. I know some of you took copious notes so by all means please let us know if there are glaring errors in timetable of events, the bird count, etc. Oh, yeah - and I'm still waiting for more photos...

Thanks to all of you for making our trip so pleasurable!

Puerto Lopez to Guayaquil and Beyond

Folks heard the Spectacled Owl again calling in the night but as with the night before, no luck at finding any.

As we gathered for breakfast, the chef eyed my ECO cap with an embroidered Gila Monster. I had purchased it during a stop in New Mexico specifically for our trip. Following my attempt to explain what a Gila Monster is, he rushed off to the kitchen and reappeared with a cap with the Mantaraya logo on the front and “Ecuador” printed across the back. Between our respective pigeons (English and Spanish) it seemed he wanted to trade hats. After breakfast we consummated the deal. I believe I edged slightly ahead in the bargain since I would be able to purchase another ECO hat online back in the States (I since have) and certainly would never be able to purchase a Mantaraya cap without a return trip to the lodge. Then again, he sure seemed pleased with the trade.

During our stay, staff was extremely attentive and flexible to our needs. Mediterranean style architecture, hospitality, and some much needed relaxation (as far as anyone can relax on a birding trip).

Having departed Mantayara Lodge we worked our way back south along the coast. North of San Pablo we stopped to inspect a series of salt ponds. More great looks at Andean Flamingos not only feeding but flying. Many various shorebirds including Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Black-necked Stilts, and Snowy Plover. And we added another tern Richard picked out sitting on a post in the distance: Sandwich Tern.

Further along we made a roadside pond stop which produced Least and Pied-billed Grebes, Green Kingfisher and Masked Water-Tyrant. En route we had our box lunch, the last of the trip (what would we ever do?). José then offered us a couple of options for our return route to Guayaquil. One was to take a route similar to the one we had taken to reach the coast. The other route was more direct with far less opportunity to bird but would put us in Guayaquil by mid afternoon.

After nearly 18 days of birding, and recalling how rushed Jim and Naomi were our last late arrival at the hotel, the group opted to take the more direct route. As promised we rolled into Guayaquil around 2:00 p.m. Not a terribly birdy day but with plenty of time to spare before dinner, Marge and some of the group went for a walk while others relaxed in their rooms.

During our return trip José had fielded a phone call from Tropical Birding. His services were needed in northern Ecuador the next morning (another guide had fallen ill and needed to be replaced). José would not be able to join us for our final, final farewell dinner but he did join us long enough to complete our last run through of our daily checklist.

Following dinner we made it an early evening. We needed to be up in time to leave the hotel at 4:15 a.m. to make our flight connections. Steve and Rita were flying on a different carrier and would depart a few hours later which netted them a few more zzz's.

Niko met us bright and early with the bus to run us to the airport. While we faced a long day of flights, Niko was driving straight through to Quito! Our flight check-in went pretty smoothly although our flight was delayed a bit before being allowed to take off. We met with another delay with our connection in Panama. In Houston we had to claim our luggage then recheck it for our flight to McAllen. We barely had time to bid Marge, Melissa, and Claire farewell as they headed back to Wisconsin. We missed Risé who had to move quickly to catch her flight to Colorado.

After an unexpected gate change we then learned that our connecting flight to McAllen was running late. And, it had been overbooked. Continental asked for volunteers to take the next available flight. How many times had we sat in an airport and said to ourselves "Gee if we were retired with extra time we could pick up some easy flight vouchers." Well, we are retired so we opted for the next available flight which, as it turned out, arrived a hour later than our originally scheduled arrival in McAllen. The flight we had given up? It had landed fifteen minutes earlier - 45 minutes later than scheduled. We were met by our good neighbors Harvey and Gayle Pagel who drove us home. Finally got to bed around 10:00 that evening.

During the next few days following our return we heard from our fellow tour mates. It seems that Steve and Rita encountered longer delays and wound up arriving at O’Hare just in time to miss the last bus to Wisconsin. They wound up spending the night at the O'Hare Airport with, as Steve put it, “The homeless and the House Sparrows.” It turned out sleeping in a bit longer in Guayaquil paid off – they needed it!

Río Ayampe Road and Puerto Lopez

Some of the group had heard Spectacled Owls calling during the night although none were seen. Breakfast at the lodge was timed so that we ate with the sun coming up – and it was fully up when we departed for our morning of birding at Río Ayampe Road, just outside the coastal town of Puerto Rico. Our bus ride south took less than thirty minutes as we retraced some of our earlier route from the previous day.

The Río Ayampe forms part of the boundary between southwestern Manabi and northwestern Guayas provinces. The river doubles as a road although with the recent rains this option was not advisable. Even so, we might have walked the river. Several locals were walking the shallow waters, although their goal was not birding, it was fishing. We instead took to the high ground and walked a road along a ridge that at times overlooked the river. The upper road passed through a range of hills, much of it unprotected. This is an important breeding area for our main target bird of the day, the endangered Esmeraldes Woodstar.

Niko drove the bus up the road as far as he dared go. Within minutes of starting our walk an Esmeraldes Woodstar treated us to good looks. Whew! Seeing one of these rare and very localized hummingbirds was not a given.  Current population estimates are between 250-1,000 individuals. A tiny, beelike hummingbird, the male exhibited a beautiful elongated glittering pinkish-violet flared-at-the-sides gorget contrasted with a prominent white postocular stripe. Bright green back and deeply forked long tail rounded out its field marks.

Note: While everyone had copies of Ridgely’s The Birds of Ecuador (with the plates removed and rebound for ease of use), hardly anyone carried the plates while we hiked. About half way through the tour the hefty field guides were mostly left on the bus to review only during “bus times.” Except Naomi. Inevitably the cry would go out “Does anyone have their plates handy?” whereupon Naomi would always whip out her plates. Of course with Naomi and Jim no longer with us…

Humidity and heat built during the course of the morning as we trekked the road. We had occasional overlooks of the river and of the locals seining for fish or hunting crawfish. Birding was good as José picked out: Black-throated Mango, Northern Violaceous Trogon (heard only), Olivaceous Piculet, Guayaquil Woodpecker, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Slaty Spinetail, Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Plain Antvireo, Shiny Cowbird as well as great looks at several other bird species seen earlier in the tour.

One new bird in particular, was very cooperative: White-backed Fire-eye. One was found near an army ant swarm. It and a mate that shortly appeared continued to call and display – great looks at the male’s diagnostic white patch just below the nape and fiery-red eyes of both sexes. We might have continued further up the road but it was nearing late morning and the road would not have allowed us to circle back to the bus. We doubled back instead.

Lunch at the lodge was followed by an unexpected turn of events: A shopping trip to Puerto Lopez thinly disguised as a birding trip. Some of the group wanted to browse the downtown shops but, those not wishing to shop, could checkout the beach for birds. Even more unusual: following lunch and preceding our trip to town was a period of “down time”. In other words pool or nap time. Carol and I opted for the pool and some cold beer.

The view from the veranda next to the pool looked out over the Pacific ocean with Isla de la Plata barely visible in the distance. Situated approximately 21 miles off the Ecuadorian mainland (adjacent to Machalilla National Park), this island has been called the “poor man’s Galapagos”, a reference to the high cost of visiting the real Galapagos. Although none of the bird species associated with the Galapagos are found on Isla de la Plata, it does support a small population of Waved Albatross. The boat ride to the island also offers a pelagic birding opportunity for ocean-going seabirds: petrels, tropicbirds, and boobies. Also a chance to see whales, green turtles, fur seals, and dolphins. Alas, we would not have the time to make such a trip. From the veranda our spotting scopes, while strong, were not that powerful as to pick out the birds mentioned above. We settled for the panoramic view, which truth be known, was a more than fair compromise.

The drive north to Puerto Lopez didn’t take long. Niko parked the bus along the main road that paralleled the beach. The womenfolk headed for the shops and the men for the beach. Not sure what to make of the gender split. Maybe if there was more time the guys might have spent time shopping (there was also talk of cold beer).

Not much shaking bird-wise on the beach. Large groups of Magnificent Frigatebirds were hounding the fishing boats. Numerous Blue-footed Boobies also joined in the hunt (several flew close by our vantage point). A lone Ruddy Turnstone was seen to be searching the gunnels of a small fishing boat. Laughing Gulls added to the mix with an occasional Kelp Gull flyby along with Gull-billed and Royal Terns. Try as we might we couldn’t pull out a Gray Gull. Probably seen further up the coast but there was some talk of us being seasonably too early or late to see them.

There was a lot of boat traffic coming and going – mainly fisherman. Small open boats fought the surf ferrying fishermen to and from their moored boast. Reminded me of watching lifeguard drills launchings into high surf along the California coastline.

The downtown was bustling with a form of motorcycle taxi (similar to a tuk-tuk) that we hadn’t previously seen on the trip. I associated their use more with Asian countries although they seem to be quite popular in parts of South America and Africa.

Back on the bus, instead of returning to the lodge we continued north to visit a portion of the Machalilla NP, Aqua Blanca. Although the park has some high elevations, this section was lowland dry scrub. Very dry. And owing to the time of day it was pretty dry of birds, too, although we managed Scaled Pigeon, several inquisitive Pacific Pygmy-Owls, and startled cattle and goats. A smattering of other species seen earlier (Red-eyed Vireos were out in the force) was seen.

Once again back at the lodge Ricahrd and I enjoyed some single-malt scotch on his veranda (with an even more panoramic view of the ocean) as we recounted many of the trip highlights (and talk of trips to come). Then more libations around the pool with the group and a relaxing dinner, complete with our daily bird checklist and as always, raucous table banter. Following dinner José assembled us at the top of the lodge’s driveway in the dark to search for Anthony’s Nightjar. One responded immediately to José's recording. It called and landed nearby in the grass (not out on the road as the very cooperative Blackish Nightjars at Podocarpus NP had done). It repeatedly teased us by calling nearby and with only the briefest of glimpses in José’s powerful spotlight.

Mosquitoes drove Carol and I back to the lodge – we foolishly were wearing shorts, sandals and t-shirts, which provided an expanse of exposed biting bug banquet (skin). The group continued on the driveway for a while trying for Spectacled Owls but nothing doing. (We heard them calling again later that night)

This was our last evening at Mantaraya. In fact this was the last full day of birding on the extension. We would spend the bulk of the next day returning to Guayaquil. We settled up our bar bill, packed for departure and turned in for the evening. Hard to believe our southern Ecuador adventure was coming to a close. But, we weren’t quite ready to throw in the birding towel just yet!

Guayaquil to Puerto Lopez

Our trip extension would last three days and two nights. Since we would be returning to the Hotel Continental one more time, we stored the bulk of our luggage at the hotel and took only what we needed. Niko was pleased. It also seemed strange to look at the seat on the bus formerly occupied by Jim and Naomi and see it empty.

Leaving Guayaquil behind, our route to the coast would take us through Salinas (140 km) before turning north along the coast toward Puerto Lopez (90 km). A long travel day but as we would be traveling on relatively flat roads for a change, we might make better time?

Roughly two-thirds of the way to Salinas, Niko turned off highway 70 and took Ancon Road. It was raining on and off so when we stopped for short roadside hikes, it made walking off the pavement an exercise in navigating slippery mud. Recent rains had also formed large puddles. At times we waded through near boot top high levels. Worth the effort, though, as we picked up Burrowing Owl, West Peruvian Dove, Short-tailed Woodstar, Necklaced Spinetail, Gray-and-white Tyrannulet, Short-tailed Field-Tyrant, Snowy-throated Kingbird, and Collared Warbling-Finch.

Signs that we were approaching the coast took the form of circling Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans. The temperature had also spiked after being in the mountains the day before. Humidity, absent during days in higher elevation, had also kicked in.

Along the coast we stopped at a few locations to explore the both the seashore and salt ponds. There was a definite uptick in both waterbirds and shorebirds. Of note: Peruvian Pelican, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Chilean Flamingo (stunning!), Wandering Tattler, Willet, Whimbrel, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderling, Wilson’s Phalaropes (thousands!), American Oystercatcher, Gray Plover, Collared Plover, Kelp Gull, and Gray-hooded Gull.

We continued up the coast passing through numerous small coastal towns before arriving at the Mantaraya Lodge late in the afternoon. As we walked through the hotel’s main entrance, staff greeted us with a cooling tropical drink.  During a brief welcome and orientation, our luggage was taken to our assigned rooms and another life bird for the day flew past: Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts.

Rather than numbered rooms, they were identified with a small painting on each room door representing the room's theme – ours was “Shark”. Keys were attached to hand-painted wooden key fobs (the fobs also represented a room's theme). Don't lose the fob, though, for it would result in a fifty dollar charge. Rooms had large screened windows that offered a dramatic view of the pool and/or the ocean beyond. Most rooms also had small private verandas.

We had time for drinks poolside before dinner. Aside from another couple we seemed to be the only guests at the hotel. After completing our daily checklist and getting our birding itinerary of the next day, we were off to bed. A few of the group took to the pool. I have to say we could easily get used to spending more time around the hotel grounds. However, no different from any of our other lodging locations, most birds were to be found elsewhere.

Cuenca to Guayaquil via Cajas NP

Consistent with the night before, we left the hotel as we had arrived - in the dark.

Portions of Cajas NP were not open to us without a park guide onboard. José had made arrangements ahead of time to stop near of one of the park’s entrances to pick up Diego, a qualified park naturalist. Miguel ultimately proved to be a fountain of information over the course of the morning answering questions about the park’s natural history and flora and fauna.

Our first stop was at an interpretive center. Roaming the grounds were Llama, our first close-up looks. They were represented as wild llama although several bore ear tags indicating they were part of a controlled herd. Free to roam "wild", at least within the park’s supervised boundaries. Measuring 111 square miles, Cajas has a lot of space to roam.

The park is situated in a section of older Andes, thus Cajas lacked active volcanoes. And being older, the peaks exhibited more erosion and were overall lower than peaks in northern Ecuador. One similarity with the northern Andes was the presence of Polylepis trees, "Arbol de Papel" or “paper tree” due to its papery bark. It is of the highest altitude growing tree species in the world.

We hiked back to a Lago Llavijuci where we picked up: Andean Teal, White-cheeked Pintail, Carunculated Carcara, Andean Coot, and Andean Gull. A flock of a species we had already seen earlier in the tour, Red-crested Cotingas, was present in an unusually large number.

Back on the bus we rode to a more public park entrance. Within park boundaries again, we stopped along the road and walked through an Elfin forest of Polylepis trees. The texture of the reddish papery bark reminded us of birch trees. The trees were weighted down with epiphytes, bromeliads and arboreal ferns. At any moment we expected to see Bilbo Baggins pop out (we settled on birds).

We walked/rode to another interpretive center on the shore of Laguna Toreadora where we hiked around a portion of the lake's craggy rocky outcroppings, carpeted with a microcosm of flowers and deep velvety mosses.

Since we were continuing toward Guayaquil without returning to Cuenca, we heartily thanked Diego, said our farewells and pushed on (he would catch a shuttle ride back with other park guides).

Before leaving the park we pulled over for one more short bird hike and to dig into our box lunches. Our combined birding at Cajas NP netted us several high elevation specialties: Andean Tit-Spinetail, Mouse-colored Thistletail, Undulated Antpitta (heard only), Tawny Antpitta, White-throated Tyrannulet, Tufted Tit-Tyrant, Brown-backed Chat Tyrant, Cinereous Conebill, Black Flowerpiercer, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, Variable Hawk, Bar-winged Cinclodes, and Stout-billed Cinclodes. Our last stop in particular gave us close-up looks at a Tit-like Dacnis.  As for new hummingbirds on the day we added: Sparkling Violetear, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Great Sapphirewing, Sword-billed Hummingbird (a quick flyover), Sapphire-vented Puffleg, Violet-throated Metaltail, and Blue-mantled Thornbill.

We also noted a few more “bankable birds”: Grass Wren (a Sedge Wren subspecies), Andean Ruddy Duck (a Ruddy Duck subspecies), and Ecuadorian Rail – heard only (a Virginia Rail subspecies).

Our route back to Guayaquil took us across the continental divide of the Andes. The straight-line distance to the ocean at the pass summit was dramatic: about 35 kilometers, which represented a drop in elevation of some 4,000 meters. But we rarely went in a straight line anywhere. Were we a raindrop, we would have a journey of 200 miles to the Pacific, or, a 4,000-mile sojourn to the Atlantic, depending on which side of the pass we had fallen. As people on a bus? Our relative return to sea level would be far more rapid.

By now we had seen or heard nearly 500 species of birds and traveled through five provinces. Sadly, this was also the last day of our “official tour”. Most of the group had signed up for a three-day extension but this would be Naomi and Jim’s final day with the group. A few days earlier they had investigated staying on for the extension. We would have loved to have them continue on, but after looking into what it would cost to rearrange their flights, plus scheduling issues at home, they decided that it was simply going to be too much of a hassle.

While today’s bus time would be less than the day before, we still wouldn’t reach Guayaquil until late afternoon. Jim and Naomi needed time to repack, join in our official end-of-tour farewell dinner and still be able to depart the Hotel Continental no later than 9:30 PM to make their flight. Fortunately we arrived in time for all this to happen…and they still had about ten minutes leftover to rest! But then why should today be any different from the regular tour’s “birding boot camp” pace?

In addition to the daily checklist tally, everyone shared their top five favorite trip birds. It prompted much laughter and smiles remembering various birds and the circumstances surrounding the sightings (White-capped Dipper was a big hit). After many hugs and handshakes, we bid farewell to Jim and Naomi and retired to our rooms to prepare for the trip extension: a visit to the Ecuador coast.

Zamora to Cuenca

Although we suspected they were in the area, an early morning rain greatly reduced any chances of picking up a Band-bellied Owl. Umbrellas were still in order as we walked down the path to breakfast. We had already left our bags under the eaves of our cabin for staff to bring to the bus while we ate.

Today would include a very long bus day as we traveled from Zamora (via Loja) up to Cuenca. Mileage was listed as a little over 100 miles. In WI a 100-mile trip, say from Appleton to Milwaukee, could be done in two hours or less.  Narrow, winding roads, slow traffic on cloud-shrouded mountain passes, and road construction delays would guarantee adding several more hours of riding. Scenic – but slow.

We bid Catherine and the staff at Copalinga farewell and bordered our bus. On our way out of Zamora we stopped to revisit the Old Zamroa Road, one last try for a Cock-of-the-Rock. Overnight rain had caused a section of road we had walked on the day before  to give way. It made it unsafe for bus travel so walked. However, we had no luck connecting with a Cock-of-the-Rock. Rain continued on and off. Back onto the bus again, we returned to the main highway.

Indeed, road construction played a major role in delaying our forward progress. There were a few stops for fuel or bathroom breaks before we pulled off in the early afternoon at “Acanama Road.” We ate our Copalinga prepared box lunch then went for a walk. The walk was as much to stretch our legs as it was to bird. We found several birds we’d seen earlier on the tour and managed to add a few new trip birds: Bar-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Dacnis, Supercillaried Hemisphingus, and Black-billed Treehunter.

Back on the bus, everyone slipped back into their bus time routines: Sorting and sharing digital photos, journaling, snacking, grabbing photos through the bus windows, and napping. Lots of napping.

It wasn’t until well after dark that we pulled into Cuenca and the Hosteria Duran. The grounds had swimming pools, spas and hot springs. The architecture was captivating. Walkways to rooms between buildings were punctuated with courtyards and gardens. Even a gift shop with local art for sale and a nearby art gallery (both closed owing to the lateness of the day). The realization that we had to get up and leave early the next morning left many thinking how unfair it seemed to spend so little time at a lodge with so many attractive options. Specially when contrasted against our three nights spent in Macará. Alas, we were on a birding trip, which dictated more about where the birds were rather than the accommodations. Still…

The next morning we were scheduled to pick up a local guide who would accompany us to La Cajas National Park. “Cajas” is derived from the Quichua word “cassa” meaning “gateway to the snowy mountains.” We would be headed into the highest elevation habitat of the trip: páramo and mountain lakes.

Podocarpus and the Airfield

Speaking of owls, early in the morning two were calling. They sounded close to Richard’s cabin, up the hill from our cabaña numero cuatro. Richard and José ID’d them as Band-bellied Owls. A few of us gathered on the trail in the dark to listen and watch but nothing doing. It would certainly be worth keeping an ear out that evening and early the next morning.

Candlelight in the cabin in the morning wasn’t an inconvenience. But it meant no power for hair driers. In fact, the use of hair driers, even when the power was on, was strongly discouraged. The system would not be able to sustain multiple driers running simultaneously. It should be noted that once we got going on a day of birding, that “hat hair” was the norm anyway. What difference did it make?

Breakfast behind us, we headed back to the Podocarpus trail head where we quickly found ourselves engrossed in listening for Amazonian Umbrellabird calls. Not too far along the trail we found a small flock of Gray-breasted Parakeets working a colpa or clay lick. Ingesting small amounts of kaolin-type clay is thought to help detoxify the poisons found in seeds of rainforest trees, which members of Psittacidae consume as part of their daily diet. The lick was at a bend in the trail making it difficult to get a straight line of sight for photos but we certainly had good looks through binoculars. This would be a good place to stake out early some morning for photos and video opportunities.

Standing at an overlook and watching the river valley below, a movement attracted José’s eagle eye. A male umbrellabird had glided in from across the valley and landed somewhere below the overlook but out of sight. We craned our necks as far over the edge as we dare. Another umbrellabird flew past – a female. We quickly retraced our steps along the trail to track the bird’s flight path into the jungle. José found the perched female and put up the scope for quick looks by the group. We managed more looks with binoculars as she flew further away. For such a large bird (crow-sized) they certainly were tough to see!

We encountered a few small foraging flocks of birds at various times, which caused us to backtrack depending on which way the flocks moved. Foraging flocks can be so large and move so quickly making it difficult to observe every species present. Fortunately these flocks were relatively small so José and Richard had more opportunity to call out species as they were seen. The trick was finding the same bird that the guide was calling. New birds on the day included: Crimson-bellied Woodpecker, Dark-breasted Spinetail, Olive-backed Woodcreeper, Orange-crested Flycatcher, Pale-eyed Thrush, Golden-collared Honeycreeper, Bronze-green Euphonia and Subtropical Cacique (both were heard only).

Some of the group ventured onto a side trail from the headquarters area to investigate a waterfall. The trail wound up being rather steep and narrow in spots with slippery rock but everyone managed to stay on firm ground. While we gathered at the waterfall a couple of hummingbirds appeared, moving rapidly as hummingbirds tend to do. There were two possibilities – a Green-fronted or a Blue-fronted Lancebill. Eventually José was summoned for a look and ended all speculation, pronouncing them to be Green-fronted.

As we headed back to the bus José decided to take a few alternate trails which presented more challenging elevation changes (i.e., steep ups and downs). One trail produced a Blue-rumped Manakin. The male is black with a shiny white crown and nape and a pale azure blue rump. Definitely a pocket-bird. We also pulled out a Sickle-winged Guan. Definitely not a pocket bird. Another new hummingbird for the day: Green Hermit. And a heard only bird: Yellow-cheeked Becard.

Back at the same clay lick a flock of White-eyed Parakeets appeared. Not nearly as nice looks as the Gray-breasted but pretty decent just the same.

By now the trail was full of flocking Carnival revelers headed toward some of the same water features we had visited earlier. Time to leave.

Lunch at the lodge was followed by another relaxing break. José wanted to try some roadside birding on the other side of Zamora in the afternoon. Richard elected to stay back at the lodge for some solo exploration of trails around the lodge.

Outside of Zamora the road was still pretty busy with Carnival festivities as many vehicles made their way to the Río Bombuscaro. Parallel to the road was a flat, straight and narrow length of pavement, which looked liked an airstrip. In fact, it was an airstrip. Niko pulled off onto a road leading to it. Although it looked as though it could still be in use (probably by the military), it didn’t appear to have been used for sometime judging from a other vehicles parked on the tarmac near houses that butted up to the airfield. We opted to walk.

By now the sun beat down pretty hard but birding turned out to be pretty good. Black Caracara, Little Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Spot-breasted Woodpecker, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher (which we also saw at the lodge), Black-crowned Tityra, White-banded Swallow, Black-capped Donacobius, Thrush-like Wren, and Black-and-white Seedeater.

At the end of the runway was a small wetland. A big surprise was when a Blackish Rail jumped up and flew the length of the marsh. Attempts to show itself resulted in two Blackish Rails carrying on a “discussion” with one another but never out in the open where we could see them again.

Back on the bus we made another run through the Carnival gauntlet in Zamora. At one point the police stopped our bus to allow young people to board and solicit funds (by way of selling a T-shirt or a hat) aimed at supporting efforts to curtail drunk drivers. How could we resist? A few people bought T-shirts. A worthy cause.

José had apparently equipped himself with an aerosol can of “silly string” which he used to squirt unsuspecting pedestrians as our bus passed them. Some of his targets didn’t seem to mind – one young woman in particular was talking on her cell phone when she was doused. She never blinked an eye as she kept walking and talking as if nothing had happened. No doubt she would receive a bucket of water somewhere down the road to help wash it off.

Back at the Copalinga some of us gathered for a small impromptu party at Claire and Melissa's cabin. We also spent time speaking with a handful of other tourists who were also at the lodge watching the “Tanager Tree”. After dinner and our daily checklist, we settled up our bar bill  since the next morning we would pack up and head north toward the city of Cuenca. Another long period of “bus time” lay ahead. A very long time.

Podocarpus NP and Old Zamora Road

While we didn’t have far to drive to begin our birding at the northeast entrance to Podocarpus NP, we still needed to get an early start. That’s when birding is most active. A charming candlelight breakfast got us off in the right direction.

Pordocarpus NP is part of the El Cóndor Biosphere Reserve, which covers over 2.6 million acres in southern Ecuador. Podocarpus is critically import for protecting endemics like the White-breasted Parakeet, just one of many target birds today.

We would spend time hiking a trail at roughly 1100 meters in elevation (3800 feet). A bit overcast but that’s fine since full sun would have heated us up pretty quickly. One bird in particular we hoped to find was another one of the umbrella birds, the Amazonian Umbrellabird.

There were a few parakeets as heard only: White-eyed and White-breasted. Blue-headed Parrots did a nice flyby and landed within viewing distance. A short detour off the main trail to the Río Bombuscaro netted us a male Torrent Duck. Nice looks at Coppery-chested Jacamar and Black-streaked Puffbird. A Lineated Woodpecker (heard only) and Ash-browed Spinetail were added along with Plumbeous Pigeon and Swainson’s Thrush. Montane Foliage-gleaner put on a nice show along with a Strong-billed Woodcreeper and Lined Antshrike. Flycatchers included Ecuadorian Tyrannulet, Golden-winged Tody-Flycatcher, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Olive-chested Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher and Cliff Flycatcher. Oh, yes, and a Lemon-browed Flycacther. We added a few tanagers: Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager and a Summer Tanager observed feeding a Shiny Cowbird youngster. Alas, while one was heard, we whiffed on the umbrellabird.

We eventually reached the headquarters building where a few families had pitched tents in primitive campsites. Their children seemed to be enjoying the experience – what a terrific opportunity. With the sun now overhead, a number of butterflies were found in a large clearing near the headquarters building. Oh, yes. And a much needed potty stop (not in the open field but in the restroom!).

By the time we began our hike back to the bus, the trail had become saturated with dozens of boisterous locals enjoying their Carnival holiday. Another reason for an early start: avoid heavy trail traffic, which was now made it difficult to bird.

Wow! No box lunch today! We returned to the lodge for instead. As we ate we were constantly distracted by more bird watching from the dining area. A new hummingbird species: Ecuadorian Piedtail. The “Tanager Tree” was quite productive: Orange-eared Tanager, Golden-eared Tanager, Paradise Tanager, Green-and-gold-Tanager, Spotted Tanager, Yellow-billed Tanager. We had caught passing glimpses of tanagers while hiking earlier but now through a scope, we had great looks. Included in the mix were some of the tanagers we had seen the day before.

After a very filling lunch, we took a short break and relaxed around the lodge. About 3:00 PM we regrouped and boarded the bus to try the Old Zamora Road. Our route took us back through town where we were subjected to many more Carnival water baths.

The Old Zamora Road used to be the main road connecting Loja and Zamora. The new paved highway now bore the brunt of traffic, which left the old road (still needed to reach distance farms) open to more sedate pastimes – like bird watching.

As we crossed a “suspenseful” cement bridge over a swollen river we observed a Fasciated Tiger-Heron perched on a boulder in the raging river. Just down stream we finally caught up with a “Jim bird” – a White-capped Dipper. For real this time.

Chestnut-tipped Toucanet, Red-headed Barbet and for some in the group, a decent look at a Cock-of-the-Rock as it flew across the road – if one happened to be looking in the right direction at the right time.

After a brief break on the road, José stopped and began to setup up his scope. We all had learned by now that this was a good sign. With the scope in place he said two words, “Lanceolated Monklet”. He didn’t have to say repeat them. Carol was on the scope in a shot. Happy Valentine’s Day! How on earth José had plucked that bird out of the tree was nothing short of amazing.

During the course of the trip there was a good deal of comical banter (for José’s benefit) about what a bird’s rating should be. “Charming” or a “cute” or a “pocket bird”. This was definitely a “pocket bird”, a bird so small and “adorable” that one wanted to scoop it up, put it in one’s a pocket and take it home.

Golden-eyed Flowerpiercer, Black-billed Thrush, and a typically secretive but eventually cooperative Blackish Antbird after José recorded and then played back the bird's call. Yellow-breasted Antwren, Little Woodpecker and another pocket bird: Lafresnay’s Piculet rounded out our walk. Old Zamora Road had turned out to be very productive. Before leaving the lodge in the afternoon, José had asked us to bring flashlights. We would be returning to the trail head at Podocarpus to try for an owl and a nightjar.

Darkness descended as we parked the bus. José played a Blackish Nightjar recording. Almost immediately one landed on the road near us. José shined his beam and there was the bird in plain view. Boy, was that easy or what? Next he played a Spectacled Owl call as we walked a short way in on the trail (I expect some in the group were wondering just how far we would walk in the dark!). The owl didn't pop out as the nightjar had done. In fact, it didn’t even bother to return our call. We whiffed on the owl.

Back to the lodge for another scrumptious meal and our daily checklist. The next morning we would return to Podocarpus to mop up of a few species we had missed and won't have a chance at elsewhere. Like the Amazonian Umbrellabird.

An “honorable mention” bird species for the day was the Highland Motmot. A number were heard and seen over the course of the day. This is considered a subspecies of the Blue-crowned Motmot. It doesn’t appear that the SACC (South American Checklist Committee), an official committee to the AOU, is going to upgrade it to full species status any time soon. Technically it's not a "countable" bird since it lacks this status. We refer to these birds as “bankable birds”. That's a bird we take note of having seen in the hopes that some day it will be granted full-species status and thus become countable. It reinforced the idea of keeping reliable field records. You just never know.

Vilcabamba to Zamora

Up in time for our 5:30 AM breakfast I wandered down to the lodge’s restaurant only to discover the place deserted and dark. A quick check of the time – no, I hadn’t set the alarm clock incorrectly. It really was 5:30. The large coffee urn was not perking and the kitchen was not open as it usually was at this hour. This wasn’t good.

The night watchman appeared with the lodge’s two dogs (both dogs reminded us of Nick and Paul’s “Mr. Wilson”). I asked about coffee and why the kitchen was closed. In rough English he asked if I spoke Spanish. “Un pequeño – a little”, I replied. He then launched into a lengthy explanation in Spanish about why the kitchen was closed. What little I did understand was that the chef, Alejandro, was last seen the night before headed to town with a “chica” and that his room was empty. The night watchman then left to inform the manager who lived on the premises. By now others had gathered for breakfast to discover what I already knew: desayuno was nowhere to be seen.

Early in the tour it became evident that this was a creative and inventive “can do” bunch of folks. When the watchman returned (without the manager) José explained why we needed to eat now and if the chef was not available could we make our own? The watchman eagerly agreed to open the kitchen and assist us.

It took a bit of exploring to figure out where food was stored, how to start the gas stove, and most important – to get some coffee brewing. Within minutes Jim had begun creating scrambled eggs. Niko and José cut bread while Carol worked on rustling up toast using a toaster oven. Naomi was busy cutting up fruits. Tom and the watchman worked on coffee. José, finished with cutting bread, lent Jim a hand with more batches of eggs while Condiments, plates and flatware were set out. In no time at all, folks were seated and eating the impromptu breakfast.

The manager never did show up. We’re not sure if she had ever gotten the word. But a very embarrassed Alejandro finally appeared as we finished eating. He was left to deal with cleanup and to explain, we assume, to his boss about not being on hand at the appointed hour. The breakfast cock-up put us a little behind schedule but no matter. Like Marge’s purse adventure and Jim’s unexpected dip in the pool, this would turn out to be one of those “memorable trip experiences” that will be talked about for years to come.

Bags loaded we headed out for our first stop: Podocarpus National Park. The park spans 360,00 acres with one of the largest concentrations of bird species in Ecuador - 500 registered species. Some biologists believe the number could be as high as 800. It has more than 40 mammal species including jaguar, wooly tapir, Andean bear, pudí (the world’s smallest deer), giant armadillo and Neotropical otter. The park is estimated to have more than 260 species of butterflies and over 1,200 moth species. Created in 1982 the park encompasses habitats ranging from cloud forest, to high-altitude grasslands (Páramo) with mountain lakes.

Our first foray into the park would be at the northwest corner near Nudos de Cajanuma, south of the city of Loja. The Andes in Ecuador are spilt into two parallel ranges: Cordillera Occidental and Cordillera Oriental. United at intervals by transverse ridges referred to by the Spanish topographers as nudos (literally translated: “knots”), the southernmost nudos is the Nudo de Cajanuma, which forms the divide between the Pacific and Amazon-Atlantic drainage. Protecting biological diversity is key since water drawn from the four rivers that have their headwaters in the park is critical to over one million people.

We hiked a long, narrow and winding road which climbed to about 7800 feet elevation, and ended at a group of buildings. These appeared to be part of a research station with primitive accommodations. There was a bathroom with a door, a light, and a flush toilet with a seat – the women were ecstatic. The weather was wet and windy and not at all conducive to good birding. It was scenic but no new birds of note were added.

Back on the bus we headed to Loja. Requests for a shopping stop resulted in a visit to a very well stocked supermarket. Staples like peanut butter, power bars, beer and rum topped the “must have list.” Carol, Melissa, and Claire found a shop selling cheeseburgers and fries. How long had it been? It made for an interesting break from our box lunch staple jamon y queso sandwiches.

Loja is an intriguing town. Of note: the city uses Llamas in the public parks to control the grass. Several were at work, tethered in a large public park that we passed.

We stopped later at a highway pull-off to have a box lunch for those who had missed or not chosen cheeseburger and fries…

Late in the afternoon we entered the town of Zamora. By now Carnival was in full swing as our bus was repeatedly pelted with water. The Río Bombuscaro was the scene of huge river parties with hundreds of vehicles and thousands of locals.

We followed the river road out of town to Copalinga (pronounced copal-INGA). One of the owners, Catherine Vits, welcomed us to the property. She organized room assignments and baggage handling and shared a brief overview of the property. Cabañas Ecológicas was the theme – we were to have our own eco-friendly cabins.

“Rustic” was used to describe the lodge prior to our arrival. "Rustic” conjured up visions of our stay at Gareno Lodge in 2008. No running water and no electricity in primitive cabins. That to us was rustic. "Rustic" at Copalinga meant there would be no electricity after 10 or 11 PM and none when we rose in the morning. Hardly an imposition. Far more like charming. Their principle source of electricity came from a hydro-electric generator, which they could not yet leave running 24/7 (perhaps in another month or so). We would make do with flashlights and candles. Several cabins had decks with chairs and all had high ceilings and large screened windows. Ceiling fans would have been nice but then there was the deal with no electric at night...

We checked into our cabin, unpacked bags and met back at the main lodge/dining/bar area. The restaurant/bar was open to a small courtyard with several orchid plants. A series of hummingbird and fruit feeders were within easy viewing – there was even a hummingbird feeder sitting on the edge of the bar. We sat, relaxed with a cold beer and/or wine and watched the feeders. New hummingbirds added: Violet-headed Hummingbird, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Violet-fronted Brilliant, Mountain Velvetbreast, and Rufous-capped Thornbill (everyone finally got to see one). Large flowering shrubs in front of the main lodge next to the parking lot served up: Spangled Coquette and an incredible male Wire-crested Thorntail.

A large tree in the distance (dubbed the “Tanager Tree”), along with fruit feeding stations near the lodge produced great looks at: Magpie Tanager, Silver-beaked Tanager, and White-lined Tanager.

Other new birds seen on the day include: Piratic Flycatcher, Barred Becard, Canada Warbler, and Russet-crowned Warbler. The foul weather at our earlier Podocarpus NP stop, combined with a longer travel day, knocked the daily tally of birds way down, both new and seen before.

The meals at Copalinga were wonderful. The service and attention to detail by staff was superb. Our cabin was extremely comfortable. The next morning, Valentine’s Day, we would spend more time in another section of Podocarpus NP. Valentine's Day - traditionally a day when lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, confectionary, or greeting cards. There would be none of those commercial trappings for us. My hope was to give Carol a nemesis bird – a Lanceolated Monklet. Now that’s true love!

Tapichalapa Redux

We have now been birding for a solid week. To date, as a group, we have tallied nearly 300 bird species so far – 33 of them hummingbirds. In addition to our daily excitement of adding new birds, we also have enjoyed repeated looks at birds we have already seen. After all, this is a bird watching tour, not simply an exercise in math.

As planned the night before, we assembled before daybreak around the lodge’s swimming pool to try for the Western Peruvian Pygmy-Owl. Richard had again heard one calling around 2:00 in the morning from his balcony. As the group jockeyed in the dark, Jim took one step too many backward toward the pool. Splash! There was Jim fully-clothed, treading water. His first words, "Don't worry - I'm an excellent swimmer!" Thank goodness his binoculars were waterproof! Of more concern were his hiking boots and trying to get them dried. Alas, Jim's unexpected plunge in the pool was for naught as the owl never responded to José's recording.

With Jim in dry clothing, we found ourselves on the bus headed back to Tapichalaca. Our plan was to re-hike part of the trail we navigated the previous day to try again for a quail-dove and a tinamou.

Back at Tapichalaca, Carol, Claire, and Rita elected to stay back near the bus feeling that the group’s size was going to preclude everyone from seeing the target birds, plus, they didn’t feel up to negotiating the muddy trail. The rest of us forged on. After walking beyond the trailhead along a dirt rut road for an hour, we returned and started up the trail.

As with the day before, we approached the hide one at a time. A few would stay in the blind while others came and went. I had briefly seen the quail-dove the day before on the trail but being last in the group to get into the hide, just missed the tinamou. But then that’s the way it goes – not everyone got to see everything.

Meanwhile back at the bus, Carol, Rita and Claire had picked up a new hummingbird while on their own walkabout: Rufous-capped Thornbill. They also had good looks at a Barred Fruiteater.

We ate our box lunch again on the lodge's porch while watching the hummingbird feeders. New at the feeders for the day: Buff-winged Starfronlet.

A bit of journal catch-up: During lunch the day before, Niko and José had left the group. When they reappeared it was with two other men carrying boxes of what appeared to be parts for a new air conditioner. We assumed they were helping with the delivery of equipment to be installed at the lodge. Not exactly. It turned out that a car had plunged off the road immediately below the lodge. The equipment we saw them carrying had been retrieved from the wreckage.

Investigating the crash site we barely saw the remains of a vehicle lodged 100 or more feet nearly straight below in thick vegetation. The saving grace for the driver and passenger was that the car had become wedged in tree branches, which had kept the vehicle from tumbling a lot further. Amazingly, neither of them appeared hurt. They sustained only scratches but the car was a total loss. When the accident happened, we never heard a sound! It was believed that during a straight-through drive from Guayaquil, the driver had fallen asleep - in broad daylight - and swerved off the road. It was fortunate that the car left the road where it had as opposed to 50 feet further where it would have dropped straight off of a cliff. Given the amount of effort and expense to retrieve the car, it was going to be left for the jungle to reclaim it (after gas and oil had been drained and parts scavenged). In a week, all visible signs of the car from the road would vanish.

After our afternoon walk down the road, Niko picked us up and we headed back to the Hosteria Izhcayluma. New birds added during our morning trail walk and afternoon roadside birding include: Bearded Guan, White-capped Parrot, Scaly-naped Amazon (flyover), Rufous Spinetail, Streaked Tuftedcheek (heard only), Rufous Antpitta (heard only), nice looks at a very cooperative Chusquea Tapaculo, Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant, Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant, knockout look at Barred Fruiteater, Rufous Wren, Citrine Warbler, Capped Conebill, Glossy Flowerpiercer, Golden-crowned Tanager, Páramo Seedeater.

We arrived back at the hosteria in daylight. What a nice trend! A few local artists had arrived and set up tables laden mainly with hand-made jewelry. Melissa and Risé lost no time picking out treasures, as did the rest of the group when they discovered the shopping opportunity.

Richard suggested that we try again for the pygmy-owl from his room’s balcony (well away from the pool). José’s recording was finally successful in calling in the owl. Flooded with José's powerful spotlight, we all got great looks before the bird discovered the deception and disappeared.

Today's checklist, as it was pointed out to Richard, included a very “special bird” seen by all early in the morning: a White-capped Dipper. Jim took the ribbing well (specially since it was Naomi who had suggested the name owing to Jim’s white head of hair). The joke of course was that there really IS a bird in Ecuador called a White-capped Dipper.

José reminded us that we would be moving on in the morning and to have our bags packed and ready to be loaded onto the bus when we came down for breakfast. Next up: the "rustic" Copalinga Lodge outside of Zamora in Zamora-Chinchipe Province.

Tapichalaca JFR

Since we would have a 2 1/2 hour drive today, we had to get up even earlier than usual. After a comfortable night’s rest, it didn’t seem like quite as difficult.

Today we were headed to another Jocotoco Foundation Reserve: Tapichalaca. Our target bird: the Jocotoco Antpitta. Once at Tapichalaca, we would still have a long hike in order to arrive at the viewing site by 8:30 AM. A bit of irony that we had to get up so early but the bird got to sleep in…

Off the bus, we walked up a dirt road to the trail entrance. The trail was steep and made muddy from rain. Definitely a boot day.

First stop along the trail was a blind to try for a couple of local specialties: White-throated Quail-Dove and Andean Tinamou. Owing to the small size of the blind and the narrow approach, we had to move one person up at a time. The problem with this plan was that the chances for people further back of seeing the birds would be greatly diminished. These species are skittish so any disturbance would likely spook them. That’s exactly what happened. About two-thirds of the group got to see either both or one or the other of the birds. That’s the trouble with group birding on narrow trails. It is what it is.

Pushing on we came to a small covered viewing station. Similar to our 2008 visit to Angel Paz’s to see antpittas, our “antpitta” guide at Tapichalaca, Miguel, used the same technique to lure in “Pancho”, the nickname given to the male Jocotoco Antpitta. “Venga, venga, venga, Poncho!”, Miguel called out as he dropped cut-up mealworms on the trail. Within a few minutes, Pancho crept (hopped) out of the jungle. Oblivious to clicking camera shutters, Pancho downed the worms within four feet of us. Pancho’s mate “Vivi” has been known to make appearances but this morning it would be one of the recently hatched chicks, a now nearly adult bird.

Very little is known about the breeding cycle of the Jocotoco Antpitta but on July 19, 2009 a second nest was discovered at Tapichalaca. Data from nest monitoring are far from complete but over time it is hoped a good deal more about Grallaria ridgelyi is gleaned.

Leaving Poncho behind, we pushed forward on the trail. It quickly became obvious that this portion of the trail was less developed. At times we found ourselves calve-deep in sucking mud trying to keep our balance. Where the trail split into other trails, signs for the new trailheads rated them as “difficult”. Ours was rated “easy.” Easy? You must be kidding! Fortunately no one took a serious tumble.

Aside from what turned up at the blind - a Highland Tinamou (not an Andean as it turned out) and a White-throated Quail-Dove, plus taking into account "Pancho" and one offspring, our trail walk added other bird species: Pearled Treerunner, Black-capped Tyrannulet, White-banded Tyrannulet, Black-throated Tody-Tyrant, Cinnamon Flycatcher, Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant, Smoky Bush-Tyrant, Turquoise Jay, Brown-bellied Swallow, Plain-tailed Wren, Mountain Wren, Spectacled Whitestart, Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager, Hooded Mountain-Tanager, Red-hooded Tanager (heard only), Gray-hooded Bush-Tanager, Black-capped Hemispingus, Rufous-naped Brush-Finch, Northern Mountain-Cacique. Walking slowly made quite a difference (not that we could have walked any faster if we had wished to!)

Another of the reserve's specialty species is the Golden-plumed Parakeet. We found a small flock at the bottom of a deep valley where a few nesting boxes have been placed. Their population ranges from Columbia to Peru but are most notably impacted in Ecuador. They are found only in far southern Ecuador in temperate cloud and elfin forests. The birds rely heavily on Podocarpus cones and nest in dead wax palms. Cutting of dead wax palms is impacted largely by the palm's use for Palm Sunday services. Replanted young palms are subject to increased browsing by cattle.

We had to take the same trail back and saw many of the same birds we had going out. Another (or the same) White-throated Quail-Dove was seen very briefly walking ahead on the trail for a short distance before it evaporated into the underbrush. A Chestnut-naped Antpitta popped up out of nowhere – and popped back just as quickly. An added bonus: We found fresh Puma tracks on our muddy trail!

Back at the bus we boarded then drove a few more kilometers to the main lodge where we ate our box lunches while watching the lodge’s hummingbird feeders. We added: Fawn-breasted Brilliant, Collared Inca, Buff-tailed Coronet, Velvet-purple Coronet, Amethyst-throated Sunangel, Flame-throated Sunangel, Glowing Puffleg, Tyrian Metaltail, Long-tailed Sylph. Other bird species picked up in surrounding cover include: Blue-backed Conebill, Bluish Flowerpiecer, White-sided Flowerpiercer (better looks than the day before). The lodge also had a small gift shop – more like a gift cabinet – where most everyone bought Jocotoco Antpitta T-shirts (now that we had all seen the bird!)

Field research is conducted at all Jocotoco reserves but we rarely got to meet any of the folks collecting data. Tapichalaca proved to be the exception. Two brothers - their parents originally from Wisconsin - were collaborating on an antpitta study under the direction of Harold Greeney from the Yanayacu Biological Station in northern Ecuador (we had met Harold during our 2008 tour). The lads were entering data on their laptops when we bumped into them. They had recently collected video of a Jocotoco Antpitta vocalizing on a nest – the first ever video recorded. We were able to watch part of the video – how exciting! Carol took their photo and got their parent’s email address, promising to send their photo (she did upon our return – the brother’s parents were very pleased).

Owing to the length of our return drive to Hosteria Izhcayluma, we needed to leave Tapichalaca. Several of had hoped to return before dark. It was still very light when Niko pulled into the lodge's entrance, then stopped. Richard posed to us a birding option. Would we be interested in trying for a local specialty, a Plumbeous Rail? It would probably take less than a half hour. Hey, we’re on a birding trip right?

We drove up the road for a few kilometers and stopped along a busy street next to a remnant wetland. We walked a short distance up a side road while José played a recording to pull the bird out. That didn’t work, but he had heard a rail calling in another location along the wetland. We walked back out onto the busy road to another vantage point along side the wetland. A rail-like bird suddenly jumped up and flew to another location and quickly disappeared. Many missed seeing the bird. We continued on to a section of barbwire fence that allowed José access. He forged into the tall grass playing the rail’s call. Suddenly the rail jumped up, posed nicely on some reeds then just as quickly, disappeared. Good enough for field marks to be ID’ed by most in the group. The bird would not be coaxed out again.

Even with our day's end birding opportunity detour, we managed to get back to the lodge in time to relax, regroup, collect our clean laundry (it had been turned in the night before) and just hang out a bit before dinner. José had mentioned another possible bird – a Western Peruvian Pygmy-Owl. Richard had heard one calling near his cabin the night before. We agreed to meet at 7:00 and if it were dark enough, we would try for the owl.

7:00 PM came and went but it wasn’t dark enough. At dinner we agreed to meet the next morning near the swimming pool before breakfast to try again. After Richard presided over the daily checklist tally, we learned we would be heading back to Tapichalaca. But because we had already seen the Jocotoco Antpitta, we didn’t have to leave as early. Yeah!