There were lizards. There were sealions.
There were lizards ON sealions.
Yeah, I know, grasshopper=six legs. This guy was colorful, named “painted locust.”
Of course, there were those hefty terrapin-types. Four verrrry big tree trunk legs.
Buff-colored land iguana, a species endangered by loss of habitat and imported predators. Below the charcoal-colored marine iguana, abundant in years when the ocean currents bring upwelling and plenty of food.
Winner of the onshore leg count:
Old Winnie the Pooh was fond of an occasional “hummy kind of day.” Well, he would’ve loved Ecuador. Every day hums. On our recent weeklong trip to the Andes and the Amazon Basin we had nearly forty species of hummingbird. I’ve long avowed a deep love for the Collared Inca.
Dontcha just dig that purple crown? Anyway, if the Collared Inca throws me over, refuses to show up, just decides to go elsewhere when I’m around…well, I could be seduced by the smaller Golden-tailed Sapphire. Here are three shots I got while watching this beauts at Wild Sumaco on the eastern slope of the Andes, southeast of Quito. Elevation about 1800 meters.
Of course, there was a tropical downpour when I first saw these guys. But later…
But if you’re one of those for whom size matters in matters of the heart, here’s the imposing Swordbill at Guango Lodge:
So go see these hummers for yourself, here’s a link to our 2011 Ecuador trip schedule and details.
After a week of birding the Ecuadoran mainland, I got a chance to go on an extension trip to the Galapagos. Thanks to PIB and their Ecuadoran partner, Neblina Forest Tours. Of Galapagos, heads every list of 10 places you must visit during your lifetime. Like Venice, like the Grand Canyon, there is no comparison with other places.
This is a Nazca Booby, perched high on the sheer rock face of Lion’s Head (or Kicker) Rock off the west coast of San Cristobal Island. San Cristobal is the easternmost and thus oldest island still above the sea in the Galapagos. Archipelago. Like Hawaii, the Galapagos are a chain of islands formed by a fixed hot spot in the Earth’s crust. The newest islands are still being formed by volcanoes on the western end of the chain, the oldest islands have been moved to the east by the continually shifting tectonic plates. Because the Galapagos have never been closer than 700 miles to any continent, the selection process of species that reached the islands and survived and reproduced has created a unique flora and fauna.
Here’s a group of Galapagos Shearwaters just off the bow of our yacht. Endemic, of course.
And here are two Galapagos Penguins fishing near some of the human snorklers from our boat. Endemic, of course. And the only penguin whose range extends just slightly north of the Equator.
Click here for the list of Ecuador and Galapagos trips in 2011.
Birding Sani Lodge will be the highlight any birder’s trip to Ecuador. Reached only by river canoe, it is far from cars, power lines, city lights and plate glass windows. The birds seem to appreciate this nearly pristine habitat. And the birders on our PIB/Neblina organized trip certainly appreciated the birds. Here are some I managed to capture by camera: 
This is a Long-billed Woodcreeper who moved about the area near the dining hall. And displayed ther beak for which he was aptly named.
While we’re talking big beaks, take a look at this big beaker.
The White-throated Toucan. In our brief stay at Sani we got to see five members of the Toucan tribe. Here’s my best shot of a Many-banded Aracari seen from the Sani Canopy Tower, one hundred feet up.
And thirdly, an Ivory-billed Aracari. Also shot from eye level atop the canopy. I show these pics, not because they are much good, but they do prove that I wasn’t dreaming. The birds really were there, in profusion.
And there were a quartet of Trogons as well. Here’s my only medicore shot, but any birder knows these guys are serious lookers, and rarely easy to spy. But our guides were top-notch, always a key to good Neotropical birding for us Norte Americanos.
My Blue-crowned Trogon up high.
It’s the right time to plan your 2011 birding trip to Ecuador with Partnership For International Birding and Neblina Forest Tours.
I spoke by Skype with ace birding guide, Lelis Navarette, at his home in Quito, Ecuador. To get to the Galapagos most Yankee birders will pass through Quito. Ecuador owns the Galapagos Islands and their environmental agencies are now about to tighten restrictions on visits to some of the smaller and more sensitive islands. That means some bird species there will soon be off limits to most visitors. Human impact on the island habitat is threatening some of the unique species that amazed the young Charles Darwin over 170 years ago. Of course the different finch species on different islands of the Galapagos helped spur Darwin’s thinking about evolution and natural selection. Current science views the variety of finches in Galapagos as classic example of adaptive radiation. The evidence is that one single group of House Finches arrived int he Galapagos and over eons evolved into various habitat niches and new species to fit various islands and their survival requirements.
So any keen birder with a curiosity about how ornithology and biology themselves evolved can enjoy a trip to the Galapagos.
This is Lelis’s photo of a Mangrove Finch, found at Playa Negra on Isebela Island in the Galapagos. Not a dramatic eye-catcher, but a bird of immense scientific importance. One of Darwin’s Finches. Lelis tells me this is one of the birds you will likely never see if you don’t don’t get to the Galapagos before the end of THIS year. That’s when restrictions on travel in the islands become stricter. Tour boats will no longer get “special permits” to islands among the Galapagos where endemic species are endangered.
Another bird that will become unseeable is the Charles Mockingbird, already extirpated from Floreana Island and now resident only on two islets nearby: Champion and Gardner.
Here is link to the description of PIB and Neblina’s trips to the Galapagos later this year.
Besides the finches, you can expect to see three species of Boobies (Red, Blue-footed and Masked), the beautiful and nocturnal Swallow-tailed Gull, Magnificent and Great Frigatebirds, Waved Albatross and Red-billed Tropicbirds.
Land birds are also plentiful and include Dark-billed Cuckoos, Large-billed Flycatchers, and the richly-patterned Galapagos Doves. Sorting out many of the thirteen species of Darwin’s Finches provides a challenge, and among familiar birds such as Yellow Warblers and Vermilion Flycatchers you’ll notice slight variations. Several species of mockingbirds are very bold when seeking fresh water. We also search for Galapagos Flamingoes, Galapagos Hawks and the Galapagos form of the Short-eared Owl.
Masked Boobies on Galapagos. Photo by Lelis Navarette.
There’s great news and not so wonderful news about the Galapagos. Ecuadoran conservationists are getting serious about protecting many of the fragile islands their endemic species from over-exposure. That would mean fewer of us locusts tourists. But that also means if you wait to go to the Galapagos after Dec. 31, youn’t see many species that are still viewable this year. And this year only!
I’m going in late September. Thanks to Neblina Forest Tours and PIB, there are a few slots available for tours to the Galapagos this year. One trip that begins Sept. 19 in Quito would cost you $2990 per capita. That includes all in-country transit in Ecuador and three nights in Quito. Quito is a fascinating city. The air is thin (8000′) but the culture is thick. And they spend Yank dollars so the currency is easy to grasp. After Quito: seven nights on a boat as you see the Galapagos Islands.
I know those famous Darwin finches are all just off-shoots of the ordinary House Finch. But, hey, endemic off-shoots, and some you’ll never see if you don’t go this year.
Masked Boobies.
After September there are more trips possible. See the PIB website or email: charles@pibird.com. Trips after September will run about $3400 from Quito.
–Harry Fuller
PIB is offering trips to Brazil. Diverse, exciting, birdalicious trips. For photogs, listers or simply the love of looking, Brazil is a birders’ wonderland. Hundreds of species you will never see until you go there. Click here to see what’s possible in the near future.
Last year we had a successful small group visit to the Pantanal and Matto Grasso. We do all these Latin American trips with our partner, Neblina Forest Tours. Their ace guide, Lelis Navarette, led the Brazil trip and he took a few pictures for you to enjoy.
Top to bottom:
This little tyke is a juvenile Harpy Eagle. Seen at Currupira das Araras, Mato Grosso.
White Woodpecker. Pantanal.
Black Jacobin. Taken at Zizo, Sao Paulo.
This big beaker is a Euler’s Flycatcher. Seen at Zizo, Sao Paulo.
Cozy gang of Ccrimson-bellied Parakeets. Found at Alta Floresta Hotel.
Partnership for International Birding 