CERRO BLANCO

 

3/27/21  CERRO BLANCO

As I would need a negative Covid test to fly back to the states, I knew I’d need to be in Guayaquil the last 3 days of my time in Ecuador.  So I asked Roger Alman to refer me to a local birding guide, who turned out to be Juan Carlos Figueroa.  He is still in his 20s and an expert birder and guide, was making his living guiding before the pandemic hit and, like all the other guides, has hardly worked at all for the past year.  So he was happy for the business.

There is a well known place to bird west of Guayaquil called, “Cerro Blanco,” which means White Hill, and refers to the limestone formation there.  Much of the land here is owned by a concrete company who have been gracious enough to let a conservation group keep a lot of it in its natural state.  It is just over 23 square miles.  I have heard about it for a long time, and hoped to visit there this trip.  It used to be a hold out for the Great-green Macaws, but Juan was doubtful there were any left here now. 

Juan picked me up at 5:45 AM for the 45 minute drive over there.  It would be a solid morning of birding while walking the trails.  It has many square miles of pristine dry forest untouched by the chain saw, which is rare to find anymore.  Juan had made a reservation and so the guard was waiting to open the gate when we arrived.  It was still pre dawn when we struck out on a trail.  Not far along thereon Juan actually stepped over a small snake that turned out to be one or the two poisonous vipers in the area.  As I saw this happen right before me, I stopped and alerted Juan.  The snake was only about 18 inches long and not interested or curious in going off course, so after Juan IDd him via his iPhone flashlight, we went on.  In a few more steps a big black tarantula scurried off the path.  A few more and another one scurried off the trail.  By now I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into.  

Juan wanted to have us in a certain location early with hopes of hearing and seeing a Henna-hooded Foliage-Gleaner, but today he would be a no show.  We were on a loop trail which went up one side of a creek and down the other side.  We were certainly hearing a lot of birds, and the first lifer I’d encounter was a Black-and-white Becard.  Others we saw or heard were Red-lored Parrot, Collared Antshrike, Red-billed Scythebill, Streaked Flycatcher, Black-capped Sparrow and Gray-and-gold Warbler. 

We then drove slowly over to the headquarters and walked trail after trail, seeing and hearing more birds.  We heard a few Pale-browed Tinamous, but never saw one.  Photo ops were few today, but one-stand out were 2 Peruvian Pygmy Owls, one an adult and the other a juvenile. 

Juvenile Peruvian Pygmy Owl

Adult Peruvian Pygmy Owl

There was a nice cloud cover so the temperature was fine, but that did not stop the mosquitoes from finding us.  Yep, I was in the humid lowlands again so renewed my acquaintance with them. Juan had told me to bring some insect repellent so once I knew they were going be a problem, paused on the trail and sprayed myself and clothes where needed.  

One of the birds foreigners hope to see here is the White-tailed Jay, a real beauty.  But at this time of the year the flocks were disbanded and they were now in breeding pairs, so hard to find.  But we finally succeeded in locating a pair, but they did not allow any good pics, so here is the best one.

Other birds of interest to me that we saw were: Gray-capped Cuckoo, Hook-billed Kite, Harris’ Hawk, Gartered Trogon, Crested Caracara, Laughing Falcon, Gray-cheeked Parakeet (Lifer), One-colored Becard (Lifer), Rufous-browed Peppershrike, and Fasciated Wren, of which we saw a family and here is a pic of an adult with one young.

I added 5 lifers and 10 for the country, which is now at 688.  

It would be a short day of birding, stopping at 11:00 so I could return to the city and get the results of my Covid test.  Juan has gotten 5 of them so far, and at $80 a pop, it puts a dent in the wallet of the locals here.  So he knew right where to go.  It was not nearly as crowded as yesterday, and he was able to park near the clinic entrance.  The security guard was handling the exchange of test results, so thankfully Juan was there to do the talking.  I handed him my receipt and in a few minutes he came out with a few test results and called, “Wee'-yam Tee’-say,” which is how a Spanish speaking person would pronounce my name.  While I was anticipating this, it still surprised me, but I was exuberant that this was now out of the way, clearing me to go through airport security tomorrow.  I did not sleep much the night before worrying about how it would work out.  

I was walking on air after that, so suggested Juan and I go somewhere for lunch, and he took us to a place where the main dishes are Cerviche.  Cerviche is raw fish marinated in lime juice and flavored in various ways.  While eating we talked a lot about birding in Ecuador, and I gleaned a lot of info which will be useful if I come again.  Here is a pic of me and Juan.  

There was also a salad I ate, which may have been the cause of my GI problems after getting back.  Montezuma TKOd me, I had  fever, weakness, and in general felt poorly for a week  After 10 trips to the tropics without any such problems, I more or less felt immune and did not worry about it, so was not as careful as I should have been.  I had a touch of that early on at Ayampe, and immediately went to the Pharmacia for Cipro, and only had to deal with it for 3 days.  At least I was back home by the time this one laid me out.  I even had to delay going after Oregon's first Winter Wren - for one day.  Next time I'll be more cautious.