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.