Cotopaxi

This friday I went to the Cotopaxi volcan, which is the highest active volcan on earth and birding wasn't the priority, eventhough I didn't spend too much time with the girls, because it was just impossible to go this slowly for me, when we climbed up to the 4800m. There we could have been a bit, but I just had to go to the snow at almost 5000m, so I went with Rafael, one of the Xplorer-"workers" (I don't find the right word). And when we were together in the bus, the girls slept, but we still had some nice time together with very cool landscapes. There were only two remarkable animals on this trip, since we didn't visit the lagoon where we would possibly have encountered Noble Snipes and more common stuff like ducks, gulls and Andean Lapwings.
Okay, even without going I saw Andean Teals and Andean Lapwings but those are very common here. New for me was the White-browed Ground-Tyrant and this time I could be sure of having seen the Ecuadorian Hillstar.
But really remarkable were the two Paramo foxes we saw, of which one let us get very close, like 5m distance only. They are incredibly beautiful with their long bushy tail and the shining grey back.
Do you think the same as I do, that this is a very beautiful animal?
We got very, very close to it...
The other more remarkable animal was a bird, which in my list of "50 Most wanted birds of Ecuador" is on position number 2. It is the worlds biggest flying bird and it is estimated to be very rare, as there are only 70-80 pairs estimated in all of Ecuador.
You pürobably already know, to which bird I'm referring: To the Andean Condor. It is the national bird of Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile.
We noticed it when we saw a group of people pointing to the sky. Following their looks we saw 5 Andean Condors high above us. On eperson of the group it had been 8 Condo in the beginning that had come from the Antisana. I was so happy that I saw it...
The Condor didn't come down, so this is the best picture I got. But you can see its unique shape...
Well that's it...

Coca: third part

Finally I will also bring you the third part of my trip to Coca, where I made some incredible sightings of wildlife and birds, I would never in all of my life have expected about 1,5km around Coca.
The day after I had returned from Tiguino I went another time to the lagoons I had discovered only a few days before. On the way I got some nice birds and also some bird that I still ask me, what it may have been. It must have been some flycatcher with a long tail, but there are too many species to find out which it was...
When I was at the lagoon there were about 50 Black Vultures along with 5 Great Egrets and about 20 Snowy Egrets. A bigger grey heron flew away before I even noticed it had been there and don't know what it was... The juvenile Little Blue Heron was still there. When I came near all those birds flew up making a lot of noise and flying everywhere to sit down in other trees.
The Wattled Jacanas and the Southern Lapwings were all over and from time a few passerines came up. A group of 4 parakeets sat down in a tree nearby and both Green and Amazon Kingfisher showed up. A pair of greyish birds were hiding in the high grass, which I couldn't identifie and a Blackish Rail flew over the lagoon.
This day I ended with only a few new birds, but when I was already going to cross the bridge back to Coca a guan crossed the street in front of me, which somehow confused me a bit... So close to Coca?!

Well the next day I slept rather much and went birding only during the late afternoon. I found a big flock of Toucans if you can say so. There were all three species of Aracaris I had seen before, but Many-banded and Lettered Aracari were new for me in this area. Then I noticed some big birds in a tree in which I was oping for raptors. It was clear it were guans, but what could they be? They were far away and sometimes looked black, sometimes brown I tried to get closer, but they flew away everytime. They were too big for Speckled Chachalaca and had no white like Blue-throated Piping Guan. So there were just 3 possibilities left. Spix's Guan or one of the two Curassows It was a group of 8 birds and because of their activity that began only 20 minutes before it got dark I suggest it are the Nocturnal Curassows, but am Already asking other people which it was... Eventhough I don't think my pictures are sufficient for this...
But the best was when came back onto the street and looked back and there were two Macaws flying. I tried to catch up with them running down the street, butthey were too fast. I need to get the ability of flying!!! But I could at least identifie them as Military Macaws, meaning this was my third macaw species and the both easiest are still missing! I will probably get to see them in Cuyabeno, maybe also the Chestnut-fronted Macaw. The only one I doubt I will see is the Great Green Macaw...
The next day was going to be the last day, but for sure it was not the least, rather the best. It began with a pair of Cobalt-winged Parakeets, that sat down in a palm, almost at eye-level and didn't fly away, eventhough I got VERY close to them.
I only got very few times so close to birds... This time to Cobalt-winged Parakeets...

Then I went to see the birds at the lagoon another time. Before I even entered the fields I noticed some movement in the underground, where I found a smaller Black-and-white Tegu a big lizard which I had seen once on my trip into the jungle. There it had been almost 70cm, this time it was only about 30-40cm. The next animals I got were two Capybaras fleeing from me into some nearby plants. A beautiful Black-throated Mango was followed by some big bird, which I think must have been a hoatzin. When I tried to find this one in the tree where it had landed I found an Anhinga with its wings outstreched. On the other side of the small grassway there were Wattled Jacanas and another grey rail, which I soon got to see very good and could ID it as the Grey-necked Wood-rail. I got very good pictures.
Also the Black-throated Mango let me get rather close
Aswell as the Grey-necked Wood-rail

Before I got even close the big grey heron, which I suggest must be a Great Blue Heron, already took off. There haven't been many records of Great Blue heron in the Amazonian Lowlands, so this one really interested me, but I only got very short looks before it vanished behind some trees. Then i noticed something swimming in the lake and got to see my first cayman in daylight, this time a Spectacled Cayman. This day seemed to turn out rather a wildlife day, than a bird-day. A Purple Gallinule was there aswell and the Capybaras came to swim and feed between the swimming plants after a while. The Black Caracara and greater Anis showed up, bot birds I had missed the days before.
This Spectacled Cayman was my first cayman in daylight.
And those Capybaras were there too

I ended my Coca-Tiguino-Coca trip with 117 species of which 43 were new for me and only 31 birds had I seen on visits before, which I didn't see this time... And i have been here already 5 times before, once I even went to a jungle lodge... My Ecuador total is now 361 and there are still some birds that need to be identified. Also are there many regions I have not been too, especially the coast!

Tiguino

This is the second part of my Coca trip.
Well it wasn't exactly in Coca, but in Tiguino a very small village, with only a few workers there and an indigenous community of the Huaorani tribe at the end of the street. There's still very much rainforest around and much wildlife. My brother has some work there and had asked me, if I didn't want to come visit him there. So I caught a bus and after a 3 hours ride I had arrived there in the middle of nowhere.
It was already dark and time for dinner, so my brother brought me to a house where we could eat a bit of rice and talk with other people. My brother told me he had just seen some panther in the afternoon, so it seems there is very big potential in this area. I think it must have been a jaguarundi, but in his opinion my description of a melanistic jaguar fits better. We will probably never know...
So while talking with the other people who ate there I learned, that they knew a place where a few macaws would come and feed in a tree. We organized that they would take me with them and the next morning I met them to start one of the best trips ever in my opinion.
Two Macaws flying over. They like to fly very high but their calls reach very far so you can hear them clearly before you can n see them.

We arrived at the end of a street, where a small path went through the jungle. One of the men knew a bit about the animals here and showed me places where some animals had had their nests or a rest a few months before. He showed me the footprint of an Agouti and then we came to a clearing in the forest. We heard monkeys and the first birds we saw were two Red-and-green Macaws feeding in a tree, but taking of when I wanted to take pictures of them. We followed our way, because still hadn't arrived. Two White-throated Toucans flew over our heads. We arrived at the place where the men had seen the macaws the two days before but they still weren't so I tried to find other birds. I failed in the beginning, but found about 50 grasshoppers, with every step I did. There were brown, green, blue, yellow and even red grasshoppers around me.
Since there were no birds apart from a few Oropendolas and Troupials, I went back to the other clearing were the Macaws and Toucans had been. There I had some fantastic birding with more Macaws flying over, Lettered Aracaris in some trees, White-fronted Nunbirds gathering on empty branches and making much noise. But the best birds I think were the Purplish Jacamar sitting in a far branch and the group of Black-headed Parrots. They are just "wow", their colors are so beautiful. More interesting birds were a Yellow-backed Tanager, Crimson-crested Woodpecker and other rather common birds.
I hope you can see the Black-headed Parrots. There are two of them. I think Orange-headed Parrot fits better...

I went to look if the macaws had arrived in the other tree, but they hadn't so I went to walk back and bird along the road on which we had come. Just for coincidence I saw another toucan and trying to see him better I followed another trail. I didn't see it better, but didn't turn back and just followed the way. I came to a small river. Soon I turned back, but somehow got onto another trail, than the one on which I had come. I came to a place where heliconia-plants grew. There seemed to be bit of bird activity and soon I found the reason: a big antswarm. A few Sooty Antbirds tried to escape me and I tried to find more birds. After a bit of waiting they came.It were too many to identifie them all and I don't even have the field guide for the amazon, for which I'm searching since about 2 months!
I don't understand why the Sooty Antbird has this blue eyering?! But it makes it beautiful I think.

I remember a few antbirds of which the best was for sure the Fasciated Antshrike with its cool pattern. A few green Manakins caught my attention aswell as a pair of Gilded Barbets. A Green-and-rufous Kingfisher flew along the river and perched on a branch and the noise of the wings of a buff-tailed Sicklebill made me turn around and I got glimpses of the oddly-downcurved bill. 5 species of woodcreepers picked up the ants from the tree and a few Tyrannulets and antbirds from the ground and twigs.
After watching them almost two hours I went back. I came another time on another trail, not finding much more. Than when I was back on the road I saw Blue-headed Parrots in palms showing themselves very well. Then a pair of Red-bellied Macaws flew over the road and ended this very good day for me.
The Blue-headed Parrots liked those branches in the middle of the palms.

The next day I just birded along the road seeing Blackish Rail and Purple Gallinule aswell as Brown and White-eared Jacamars. There was not very much more so I caught another bus and went back to Coca, having experienced such an incredible trip with many very interesting birds. The macaws were for sure the best, but I won't forget the other parrots nor the Sicklebill, the Fasciated Antshrike and a few others...

Coca: First part

Finally I can report you from my trip to Coca...
For those who don't know, Coca is the capital of the Province Orellana in the Amazonian lowlands and often considered the capital of all the Oriente. My family owns a Hostel there, so from time to time I go to visit the jungle. One of those trips was the reason that got me into birding and "wildlifing". When I went to a jungle lodge, the Yarina Ecolodge I discovered how fascinating the wildlife out there is and since I looked everywhere for animals.
This time I had much more time than normally and so I went for almost 10 entire days.
This is too much to count in just one, so I will write about it in 3 parts.
I already now Coca very well but nevertheless there is still very much to discover.
After I had arrived at 4AM from a long busdrive I went to sleep a few hours and then at 8o'clock I was already searching for birds in Coca. The activity was very high, I got many of the bigger flycatchers aswell as 2 species of parrots almost all of the common birds in the city. Then I went on to go and cross the river, where I knew a cow-field with many birds. By 2PM I had cleared up like 90% of birds that I knew from here. But the highlights of this day were for sure a Pygmy Marmoset I found just near the roadside and the four Pink River Dolphins which I observed almost for 2 hours from the middle of Coca, while they were playing in the Rio Napo. It seemed they had smaller greyish dolphin which I think was a juvenile. It was so incredible for me to see those dolphins play just in the middle of the Rio Napo, because I didn't even know if I would see them in more remote areas.
The back of a bigger one. They would almost never show much than this...
...but once I got also a head. Two times half the body came out of the water but I wasn't prepared those times...

The next day I tried to clear the stuff I hadn't seen the day before, and with most birds it worked. I even added a few birds like Turquoise Tanager and the very beautiful Masked Crimson Tanager. I found the Pygmy Marmoset and its mate another time in the same tree.
I first thought of some Amazonian Dwarf Squirrel, but soon I knew better.

The next day there was not too much because I just checked of an area where a huge group of probably like 80 or more Dusky-headed Parakeets let me get very close. The best bird though was a Little Tinamou that I flushed up and which I saw pretty good.

Wattled Jacanas are very common in wet areas...

Then on the 4th day I went further on the street, than I had ever done and found a new areawhich held many good birds for me. I got most herons and my first Anhinga ever aswell as a juvenile Little Blue Heron another new bird for me.
When I arrived back to our Hostel my father asked me if I wanted to go to Tiguino, where my brother Roberto was working I agreed, but the bus was going to leave in about 15minutes, so I packed my stuff quickly and then went to Tiguino, from what I will tell you in the following post...

Another visit to Mindo

Weekend had come another time and I was thinking of what I would do. This Sunday I wanted to go with my hostsister Diana to Bellavista Cloudforest Lodge, so I was thinking were to go the Saturday... In fact I had only two options: Milpe and Mindo.
I wasn't sure, where I wanted to go but in the end I decided I would go to Milpe another day, when I would have more time...
So this morning I arrived just in time at the bus-station and two hours later I was in Mindo. I started walking, but soon was picked up, to go to the Canopy where I always find some intersting birds. And so it was today. There was very much activity in the trees and I got very good views of beautiful birds like Blue-necked Tanager and added about 4 new species in 10min.
I saw a bird that seemed to be the rare Uniform Treehunter and then went to the feeders where I hoped for some bigger birds. There was nothing even the hummingbird-feeders were abandoned so it would have been better to stay where the flocks were. At least I had flushed a Pauraque several times as it always sat down on the trail I was walking... Soon I found another canopy-flock including the stunning Flame-faced and the cool Fawn-breasted Tanager, aswell as some other nice birds like a Guira Tanager eventhough it was only the female.
I made my way back to Mindo and was picked up by a pick-up^^ At the river I jumped down and hoped to find the Sunbittern, which I have been searching for so long, but I only found a resting White-capped Dipper and some Torrent Tyrannulets.
Back in Mindo I found two young Masked Water-Tyrants calling for their mother, which soon came in to bring them food and just under them there was another hatchling, this time from a Scrub Blackbird, the mother wasn't far, either.
I ate a pizza and then went a way I hadn't seen before. It began with the Slate-throated Gnatcatcher, a bird I had been waiting for so long already. Then a Squirrel Cuckoo hopped in the branches and I got to some house whitch was called the Yellow House. Some person of the staff I think came out and greeted me. He told me there were trails, where some good birds are and also the Spectacled Bear could be seen with a possibility of 60%. I already now, where I'm going next time!!!
And like the nature wanted to give me a little impression of what I might see there a Golden-headed Quetzal shot out of somewhere and flew over us, showing its incredible colours...
Then I had already to go back to take the bus to Quito...
Pictures will come soon, but first I will go to Coca tomorrow, from where I'm sure to report very much...
Oh yes, eventhough I had birded Mindo already 2 or 3 times before I still got 13 new species, so that I'm already going 320 species!

I don’t only bird alone…

Me standing in the magnificient Polylepis forrest

Last time I told you why I birded alone, because it was just so difficult really to bird being with others, who don’t understand your hobby and have no idea of what you’re doing. But how would it be to bird with other birders, people who have exact the same interests as you do, who know about birds like me or, even more? Now I got the answer. It’s fantastical!!
I talked with Dusan Brinkhuizen, the webmaster of Aves Ecuador, a very good website for birders in Ecuador but birders still not are using the internet very much to tell us about their sightings. Let’s hope that changes in the next time…
So in the end we made up a plan for a birding day together… We would go to Papallacta and search for some highland endemics.
7:30AM we met in Cumbaya, took a bus and went to Papallacta. He had brought his wife a friendly Ecuadorian… The day began for me with a Caranculated Caracara walking on a field. Then we had arrived at the place where we were going to start our day…
The birds were shy and I got only very short views, so short I couldn’t identify a single bird. The first birds we got were some Andean Ruddy Ducks and a few Andean Teals and Andean Coots. We walked on, tried to call a Paramo Tapaculo out his hiding place but failed. The next birds were the uncommon Silvery Grebes and I was getting very sure in something… I knew this site, only from the other side… We were at Laguna Sucus, a place where I had once seen 11 Tawny Antpittas and the display flights of Variable Hawks in just one day!
We made our way through high Paramo grass seeing not much only hearing Tawny Antpittas, Grass Wrens and a far away Rufous Antpitta. Our only birds were Many-striped Canasteros and a high sitting Red-crested Cotinga. Then a highlight of the trip was an adult male White-tailed Deer…
Soon we changed the habitat, as we were getting a little lower and the birds got more. A big flock included birds like a Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanager, White-throated Tyrannulets (bird-species no. 300 for me in Ecuador) and two bird I was going to swear it were Jays. But there are no Jays at these altitudes and so it must have been the Golden-crowned Tanager. But it is still so strange that I should have confused Jays with Tanagers!?
We found another Cotinga, this time much lower and also some Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers sang from treetops. After a short pause we went on to see a rabbit standing on its hind-legs giving such a cute picture I had to take pictures of it…
Finally we found another big flock with many new species for me. A few Pale-naped Brush-finches were the first birds we saw before some Spectacled Whitestarts brought us to more White-bearded Tyrannulets, a few Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrants and one or two Superciliared Hemispingus’. But the best bird was probably the Spillmann’s Tapaculo calling so incredibly close to me, that I even saw it just about 1m away. This skulker is heard far more often than seen.
To end the day we went to Papallacta Lake where I got my last new species the Yellow-billed Pintail. On the drive back I had another two Caranculated Caracaras, so that ended the day with the same species with which it had begun.
A great day, due to fact birding with other people can be very cool and I learned a lot. I hope for another time with them. I got 14 new species on this day, so that I can now go for the 400 species! Thanks to the very friendly Dusan and his wife, who showed me birding with other people can be very nice too
I soon got sure I had seen that place before...
That was a big surprise for all of us. It was really beautiful with his antlers...
Dusan in the highland grass looking for birds...
. The rabbit in its cute pose...
At in the end finally a bird: The cute Spectacled Whitestart