I’ve walked up that road varying distances 7-8 times so far, but only once to the very end which is 2.5 miles. As with any jungle in the tropics, visibility is usually limited because of the thick growth, and so finding birds can be both rewarding and very frustrating. There is never a dull moment as far as hearing them goes, really. But seeing them is another story. You are usually dependent on seeing movement, and then hope for a clear view of whatever it is. Finding a perched bird happens far less.
You always are rewarded to some extent in seeing some birds at least, and some days they seem to come right out in the open as if wanting their picture taken. Most other times it does not turn out that way. And if you are trying to photograph them, you have a different set of challenges, which only photographers would understand anyway. So I’ve been rewarded in seeing a number of new birds, and gotten pics of some as well.
Another challenge here is having to deal with the mosquitoes and noseums, biting insects. They are a force to be reckoned with. Even the locals take them seriously. Sometimes they are worse than other times, but I have not figured out why. If you wear long sleeves and long pants, and put up your collar to deal with the bugs, you’ll end up sweating lots, which is probably easier to deal with. Eventually the bugs seem to win out, even after using repellent. They get soo thick and you decide you’ve had enough and turn around.
As it rained last night, and I did not want to get cabin fever, I decided to give it another try. The rain had stopped by the time I was done with breakfast. I dug out my light weight rain jacket and baseball cap, doused them with repellent and lathered the backs of my hands, so figured I was as ready as ever. By the time I reached the jungle the sky started sprinkling again, so I figured I could protect the camera with part of my rain jacket - important to do. This was starting out to be one of those days when I could hear many but see few. After about 3/4 mile I turned around. I should mention that I was quite protected from the bugs, but sweating lots.
When I was half-way back I ran into what appeared to be a group of birders. Turns out it was a family of 4 plus a bird guide. So I stopped and to chat, more or less. They pretty much spoke only Spanish. As they were looking at a few tree top birds, I joined in the viewing. When they proceeded in the direction I had come from, I tagged along, hoping I was not out of line. I learned that the guide was associated somehow with the Jocotoco Foundation, who owned and ran the local reserve.
So we kept walking and finding birds. One bird the guide picked out was a King Vulture perched above us. Another one I got him onto was a Hook-billed Kite. When we were almost back he found a pair of Blue-headed Parrots.
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| King Vulture |
It turned out that the father of the family spoke some English, if I spoke slow. So I took advantage of that, and was able to get the contact info for the guide and he will be taking me out later this week. If that goes well I’ll talk to him about other nearby areas. I’d like to go father north a bit where the climate is dryer where there will be some different birds. Another benefit of birding with this group, was that the bugs were more attracted to that group, and if I lagged behind, they did not notice me near as much. That family were wearing shorts and short sleeves, so got eaten up pretty badly. Another advantage of a small group is more eyes and ears to locate the birds. My ears are fading so I can use the help.
On Wednesday, March 3, I decided to head to the jungle again. It was calling me, plain and simple. I sprayed some new repellent on which I’d gotten in Puerto Lopez and hoped for the best. I was pleasantly surprised. There were not many mosquitoes, but I was not sure it was because of the repellent or if it was just an off day for them. I figured it out when a young gringo passed me by and a cloud of mosquitoes was trailing him.
I finally heard, then saw one of the forest skulkers - a Slaty Spinetail. I had seen one years ago in Costa Rica, so it was nice to renew the acquaintance of another. I also finally got pics of a Chivi Vireo. They are common here but usually don’t pose very long for pics.
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| Chivi Vireo |
Also got a pic of a pair of Tropical Parulas.
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| Tropical Parulas |
After having started back, I moved off the road for a jeep to go by. Turns out Renee the bird guide was in the passenger seat. They stopped and I confirmed with him our Saturday outing, to which he was in the affirmative. Just before or after that I saw a Zone-tailed Hawk, a first for Ecuador. I thought the Slaty Spintail was also a first, but it did not register such in eBird so must have seen one here before, but I sure don’t remember it.
When I was almost out of the jungle I met a woman who I could tell had a German accent. But it turns out she has lived in Ecuador for 30 years, is a bird guide, and lives in Mindo. She put her email address into my phone so if per chance I go to Mindo, I may contact her. She also correctly guessed my name. I knew what was coming next, for the only way that could happen was if she had been reviewing eBird lists, of which I was responsible for all the latest ones.
3/5/21. It was supposed to rain pretty hard last night but when I looked outside this morning it was dry. Sky was overcast, but out over the ocean it looked threatening. I also heard thunder from that direction. And of course, it started raining. The weather app indicated 1-2 hours worth of rain, but I thought I’d chance it. I’d walk fast til I was under some foliage, then slow down. But in 10 minutes it seemed to be fading away, and I figured out the storm was going to the south of me as that was where the thunder was coming from.
Shortly after reaching the Colibri Road, I saw a Chachalaca sitting out in the open so got an OK pic of him.
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| Rufous-headed Chachalaca |
And shortly after that I began hearing a Trogon straight ahead of me, so maybe I was in luck to see it. I kept scanning the trees as they usually perch at mid level or so. This one however was at eye level, and I walked to about 10 feet of him, not realizing she was right in front of me. She flew up into a tree maybe 30 feet away. Right about then a small pickup drove by, and she stayed put, so I walked on by her so as to try to photograph her from the front, and she stayed put, so I snapped a few decent shots, and felt it worthwhile having put for the effort to walk this morning was all worth it.
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| Ecuadorian Trogon - Female |
I began hearing some caciques. This was in an area where I’ve heard then before, and this time I located another colony, and it turned out they were building their nests, maybe a dozen birds. They were about 100 yards away, and so I started walking toward them. Most of that distance was through a very young banana orchard, and about half way there a Yellow-tailed Oriole made and appearance, and posed long enough to get his pic.
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| Yellow-tailed Oriole |
As I’d located the former colony of caciques as well, I thought I’d just to a separate piece on them which will include this finding.
My next photographic encounter was with a Common Tody Flycatcher. He was fairly cooperative so I took a number of shots. I’ve seen plenty of them, but this was the first one I was able to attempt photos of.
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| Common Tody Flycatcher |
Other more or less mediocre shots I got were of a Streaked Saltator, Flame-rumped Tanager, Black-capped Sparrow and Golden-olive Woodpecker.
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| Golden-olive Woodpecker |
I also saw 2 Roseatte Spoonbills way down in the river. I also finally saw an Orange-billed Sparrow. He was in the deep shade and I thought I had acceptable settings in place on the camera for such, but they turned out way too dark, so maybe next time.
I’ve also been listening to some bird songs to try to ID some that way, and I finally figured out that one which I heard very clearly was a Black-crowned Antshrike. I also recorded what may be a Spectacled Owl, so I’ll play it for Renee tomorrow and see what he thinks. Turns out the bird I recorded was an Ochre-bellied Dove, a new one for me.
When I was almost out of the jungle I had 2 soaring raptors - Plumbeous and Hook-billed Kites.
I started out at 07:00 and did not get back til just past noon. 5 hours of walking. It was probably the best morning for birding so far. Good thing I had some coffee and chocholate before heading out or I’d be pretty wasted. I took it quite slow and did see and hear a lot of birds. Was pretty famished, hot and sweaty afterward so hopped in the shower. At the restaurant I had scrambled eggs, bread, juice, fruit and coffee. As I’m nearing the halfway point in my stay here I had a chat with Cucho who is like a temporary manager. I told him I may head to Quito in 9-10 days depending on my dental work, and would know better how things looked on Tuesday (3 days from now) when I visit the dentist next, and he was fine with that waiting til Tuesday for me to make a decision.
3/6/21. I went to the Colibri Road today, but this time with a guide named Renee, and we drove to the end and walked from there. I decided to do a separate piece for it since it deals with the Great Green Macaw reintro program.
3/7/21
According to the weather app we were supposed to get a real drenching, but I never heard any rain, and it was dry outside when I got up. I later learned that it must have rained inland quite hard as the river was up about 6 inches, flowing faster and the water was murky. I left after breakfast about 9:30 and did not get back til around 4:00, so it was a long day and my pedometer says I’ve walked 7+ miles today. Some was before breakfast though.
Soon after reaching the Colibri Road I found a Supercileated Wren attending a nest, feeding young I think. Got some decent shots of him with a large larva in his beak.
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| Supercileated Wren |
Shortly after that I ran into a pair of Guayaquil Woodpeckers. If I had not gotten good pics yesterday I would have tried today, but even though they were fairly close, I decided to pass them by. I had a goal in mind. That goal was to walk to where the Male Esmeraldes Woodstar had his territory, which was 1.5 miles farther.
I walked slowly, birding all the way. I did find a Bronzed-winged Parrot, but he was not cooperating, staying deep in the foliage. I saw plenty of other birds, and even the Common Tody Flycatcher came out to have a look at me, so I snapped a few pics of him as well.
When I reached the hummer territory I looked at the tree top where his perch was, but did not see him, but upon closer inspection he was actually there. He is just so small I overlooked him. The light was better so I got better shots than yesterday. I was just wishing I could get closer, but if I did the only result would be a bright sky background so the bird would be mostly a silhouette with little color. Then I got a bright idea. If I climbed up a tree to my left and edge outward on the branches, there just might be a chance of getting better pics. So that is what I did. At 66 this is no longer an easy chore. But once I was nearing where I needed to be, I cleared away some small dead branches and a few little lives ones also. Then I could see I had a clear view of him and maybe 10 feet closer.
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| Male Esmeraldes Woodstar |
So away went the shutter, like a machine gun. Photographers reason that if you take enough shots you are more likely to have a few turn out well. I think I took around 250 pictures, no big deal anymore. And then I heard a voice down below me - it was Dan Kotter who I’d had dinner with last night. He saw my paraphernalia on the ground first, and then heard my camera firing away, and looked up to see me in the tree. At first he did not know it was me until I say, “Hi Dan!” He had a good laugh then. After I was done up there he took his turn at the climb for better pics.
Eventually a Boat-billed Flycatcher landed on the hummers perch, scaring him off, so I got a few pics of him.
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| Boat-billed Flycatcher |
He soon left, and the hummer returned. So I resumed taking pics. Then we both realized there was a dragon fly perched just above the hummer, so we both tried to capture them both together. Luckily that was not a problem as the dragonfly stayed put and the hummer seemed oblivious to it.
We eventually had our fill of photography and headed back toward town. Dan wanted to see the nest I’d found a short time back, so we headed down to the river. But after assessing the situation Dan felt he did not have enough time to walk the river as he needed to be out of his room and heading to another location, and was already pushing the limits. So I went down the river, and I’ll add that to the River Blog.
3/10/21
Left about 07:00 to walk the Colibri Road. I did not plan to make it a long walk, so was only gone about 2 hours. About half way along I began hearing a lower pitched trill than I was used to hearing off to the south (my right). I could tell it was not real close to the road, and did not hold out hope of seeing it. But it dawned on my that I could record it, so I began that. Just when I was doing that, I spied a fairly large brown bird near the top of a well foliated tree, and when I got the bins on it, bingo! It was a Grey-capped Cuckoo. I’d seen that species on the eBird list, so knew it was around, but had pretty much given up hope to finding one. So I got some distant pics and cropped the best ones.
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| Grey-capped Cuckoo |
I was not keeping a bird list for the morning, but seeing the cuckoo was motivation to start one, so opened up the eBird app. When I was almost back I found a pair of White-lined Tanagers, and was able to get a pic of the female.
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| White-lined Tanager - Female |
That was my last walk into the jungle along the Colibri Road. I became quite familiar with every bend, incline and decline, where certain birds were nesting and where others had their territories. All said and done, I think I saw or heard the great portion of the birds present. I’d say in coming to Ayampe I made the right decision as far as birding goes.
Here are a few other shots I took along the Colibri Road on one of my many jaunts into the jungle:
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| White-beared Manakin |
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| Pacific Parrotlet |
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| Pacific Parrotlets |
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| Scale-crested Tyranulet |
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| Pale-legged Hornero |
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