LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN!

                     THE MOUNTAINS OF ACACANA

The weekend of November 15-17 was planned to be an adventurous birding jaunt.  Some weeks ago I mentioned to my Ecuadorian birding friend Christian that I’d like to visit a couple places to the north of Loja, and he said he would go with me, even suggesting these dates.  The time finally arrived, and we arranged to meet at a park in North Loja.

I got there early as there is a marsh there where Rosie and I went looking for a pair of Brazilian Teal, rare ducks from the east of Ecuador, with only a few records in this country.  By the time we had gotten there to look for them a few weeks back they were not there.  I figured, if they were really wild, they could have flown to another location, and maybe they were still in the area.  Fortunately one was there, the male, and I was able to get some pictures.

BRAZILIAN TEAL

BRAZILIAN TEAL

THIS PLUMBEOUS RAIL WAS ALSO AT THE MARSH

Christian arrived on time (01:30) and I told him one was here.  He had never seen one, so we went back to the marsh.  It was a “Lifer” for him, and certainly a great way to start the trip.  We headed north toward the town of Saraguro.  Nearing the town we hung a sharp right on the Acacana Road, which goes up fairly high to some radar towers.  It is a hot spot to which birders go to try for 2 species in particular:  The Cresent-faced Antpitta and the Chestnut-bellied Cotinga.  And while there are mountains in every direction, I never did figure out their names even though Christian tried to explain them to me - but somewhere between his Spanish and my English, it did not register.

It was around 03:00 when we reached the turn off, and we birded our way up to the top.  Hummingbirds were seemingly everywhere, even though it was mid afternoon when bird activity is the least.  The ones we saw were Little Sunangel, Purple-throated Sunangel, Tyrian Metaltail, Glowing Puffleg and Mountain Velvetbreast.  Others wee saw included Blue-backed Conebill, Glossy Flowerpiercer, Citrine Warbler, Lacrimose Mountain Tanager, Black-headed Hemispingus and Rufous-chested Tanager.

Tyrain Metaltail

LACRIMOSE MOUNTAIN TANAGER

We made it to the top with about 45 minutes before dusk, and we were fortunate to locate a pair of the Cotingas.  A lifer for me.

Chestnut-bellied Cotinga

As we were about to drive back down hill, an Andean Pygmy Owl piped up, always nice to hear, better yet to see.  With playback he did not show himself, which would have been nice for Christian as it was a lifer for him, which surprised me.  

Here is a shot of the sun in the smoke ridden sky.  

En route back down the hill Christian heard some parakeets, so we stopped and I was able to get a distant shot of a Golden-plumed Parakeet.  

When we were almost to the highway we saw the headlights of another car coming our way, maybe 50 meters away.  I stopped and right in front of me was an Equatorial Antpitta, often heard but rarely seen. 

We found a motel for the night.  At $15 per room, it was certainly easy on my budget.  However, due to the rationing of electricity, the place was being run by a portable generator, which was somewhere outside my window.  Sometime during the night it went off, and needless to say, I did not get a whole lot of sleep.

We were off at daybreak going up the same road.  We pulled off and parked at a wide spot.  There was a mixed flock of many birds right there, so we ended up not walking very far.  Here is a list of birds which we tallied in the first hour: All the hummers from yesterday plus a Rainbow Starfrontlet, Paramo Tapaculo, Pearled Treerunners, Azara’s Spinetail, White-banded and White-throated Tyrannulets, Turquoise Jay, Sierran Elaenia, Plain-tailed Wren, Russet-crowned and Citrine Warblers, Supercilliated and Black-headed Hemispingus, Lacrimose and Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanagers and Masked Flowerpiercer. 

All the while we were looking at birds Christian was playing the song of the Cresent-faced Antpitta, but even though we were in the area where they are seen and heard, none responded.  We finally broke away from that area and headed up toward the top.  About a mile from the summit we parked and walked the rest of the way.  Birds were few, but about 2/3 of the way a Tawny Antpitta made an appearance on the side of the road.  We coaxed him closer with playback and I got this shot of him.  

TAWNY ANTPITTA

We walked around the summit area, but not much was being seen except some White-collared Swifts which buzzed quite close by at times. We could hear the wind over their wings! We began the walk back to the car, and about half way there we ran into a hefty mixed flock which included:  Barred Becard, Agile Tit-tyrant, Sierran Elaenia, Yellow-breasted Brush-finch, Blue-capped and Golden-crowned Tanagers, Lacrimose Mountain Tanagers, Blue-backed Conebill, Masked Flowerpiercer, Plain-colored and Paramo Seedeaters.  Here are some shots of birds from the morning:

BLACK-HEADED HEMISPINGUS

PEARLED TREERUNNER

TURQUOISE JAY

MOUSE-COLORED THISTLETAIL

BARRED BECARD

Here are a couple shots of the scenery along the road:

YOU CAN SEE THE ROAD WE CAME UP ON IN THIS PIC

We reached the car and headed to town.  We needed to have lunch and then drive 3 hours to our next destination - Cerro de Arcos.  That would truly be an adventure deserving of a separate blog.