I am posting these posts from two years ago while we wait for our ship to set sail on its 3-1/2 year voyage....
Today, Andrés and Edison would take us west very early in the morning to the lowlands for a different look at Ecuador. We were up before the birds, which did not please Dusty. After breakfast, with plenty of coffee, we made our way down the damp stone steps by the light of my phone to the van. I had my case with camera gear as well as Dusty's binoculars.
Before the sun was up, we saw sections of the road had washed out, and our two-lane dirt road was now only one lane with a long drop-off to the right into a ravine. Andres said the road was 99% likely to be open when we returned. Edison stayed to the left, and we stayed out of the ravine. As we made our way down to lower elevations, the drizzle that we experienced on the way out of our lodge was turning into a steady rain. Not really the best thing for bird watching. We were supposed to be going to a three-story-tall watchtower in the forest to see birds, and we would be soaked to the skin if we went there.
Andres knew that the weather would make it both uncomfortable and unsuccessful to try this now. He knew a property owner nearby that had a covered area with an opportunity to sit outside and still see a few birds while we waited for the weather to clear. Andres made a quick phone call and soon we were pulling up to a closed gate that was opened by the owner from inside (it turns out that they were closed, but opened for us!). It is nice to have a local guide. This short stop was not our best, but we saw a few birds and did pass our time out of the weather in comfort. When it did clear, we drove on to our lowlands tropical forest viewing tower. With thanks and a small tip, we were on our way to the Santuario de Aves de Rio Silanche, where the tower above the trees was waiting for us.
When we finally arrived at the bird sanctuary, it was a solid three-story climb up that thing to look out over the tops of the trees. Andres got out his remote speaker and started playing bird recordings from his phone to get them to come into sight. In the distance, we could hear the same call as he was playing on his speaker. He said it was an aracari.
I had seen them before in Costa Rica: a member of the toucan family with a black back, a yellow breast, and a bill that looked like someone had spray-painted it.
And another bird with polka dots on the head. We learned it was a piculet. Later, we found out it was an olivaceous piculet. Who knew there were so many piculets? And another bird, and another, and another.
When we finally climbed down from the tower, Andres and I took a look around while Dusty waited at the foot of the tower. We probably walked a half mile on a circular trail through the gigantic forest we had been looking over for the past half hour. The trail was covered in soft moss, and the trees were full of life and sound. Along the path I saw a tree I was familiar with from Costa Rica. A walking tree. The roots of the tree will gradually migrate in the direction of the sun allowing it to "walk" itself out of the shade.
While all this was going on, Edison was setting up lunch back where he had parked the van.
After our picnic lunch, we were back on the road to our next stop. This was another established bird sanctuary dedicated to maintaining the primary growth forest that supports its ecosystem.
Milpe Bird Sanctuary was a well-established bird site at about 3000 feet elevation along our return to Tandayapa Bird Lodge. They had tables and chairs looking out on the feeders. We got a few cups of coffee and relaxed as we waited for the guests of honor to arrive. There were already two guests there that we recognized from our first day in the mountains. The two European photographers with the long lenses were there and set up waiting for the owners to entice the hummingbirds in closer.
The owner was doing something similar to our first stop, where they would put fresh flowers out with sugar water to allow for more natural photographs. The photographer was getting a little pushy with how he was telling the owner to set it up in a certain way and to angle it that way, and so on. The owner looked at me and rolled his eyes. I later thanked him for his hospitality and said I was uncomfortable with how he had been treated. He thanked me for coming and laughed it off. I guess it had happened before.
I found it funny that while he was taking pictures of a flower without any birds around while there was a Chestnut Mandible Toucan right behind him. I took a picture. I appreciated the irony even if he didn't.
More toucans, motmots, and hummingbirds at this stop. Good stuff.
We were going to do a little road birding for our final stop of the day. Walking along the road with Edison following at a distance behind, we saw a flock of parrots in a tree and a number of other cool birds along a mile-long stroll out in the countryside.
It was nice to have the variety of birds and environments, all at a pace that allowed us to really enjoy and experience it all. And just be there.
On the return to the lodge, we found that the road had been blocked by a landslide. It had also been cleared before we arrived. It seems this is what road construction is like in Ecuador.
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