Photo Gallery
Images by Steve Howell and Jon Feenstra (jf)
As a hedge for travel or baggage delays we’ll spend the first day birding in the high Andes east of Quito…
…where we may see a condor or two …
…and hummingbirds will likely include the spectacular Sword-billed.
But this trip focuses on the Amazonian rainforest, which we’ll first see as we descend into the town of Coca, gateway to the Amazon.
Here we’ll board our comfortable and speedy canoes for a relaxing ride downstream along the Napo River,…
…an aquatic superhighway used by big barges as well as by locals.
At the Napo Wildlife Center (NWC) welcome station we’ll transfer into smaller canoes…
…and bird our way to the lodge along Añangu Creek, home to the bizarre Hoatzin,
The NWC lodge is set on a lake amid a huge tract of primary rainforest.
It’s extremely comfortable, likened by one friend to an African safari lodge…
..with porch views over the lake.
Hunting is prohibited as evidenced by frequent sightings of “gamebirds” such as Blue-throated Piping Guan…
…and numerous monkeys, including Common Wooly Monkey…
…and White-fronted Capuchin.
Each day starts with a fine buffet breakfast, followed by canoe rides to the various trails.
During these commutes we’ll see species such as Black-capped Donacobius…
…and noisy Black-fronted Nunbirds.
A highlight will be a morning or two at the very solidly built tower, overlooking the “otherworld” of the rainforest canopy.
Birds here include the diminutive White-browed Purpletuft…
…groups of feeding aracaris, here some Ivory-billeds…
…the stunning Spangled Cotinga…
…and perhaps the handsome Yellow-throated Woodpecker.
In the New World, most parrots are seen in flight, like these Chestnut-fronted Macaws from the tower,…
…but we’ll also visit a couple of clay licks or “saladeros” where spectacular hordes of parrots come to eat clay…
…and offer wonderful views in the process, such as this mass of Cobalt-winged Parakeets.
Most days we’ll return for lunch and a siesta…
…followed by leisurely late afternoon canoe rides around the lagoon and adjacent creek that can result in…
… great views of toucans…
…and the little-known Zigzag Heron, fairly common at NWC,…
…plus groups of confiding and endearing Common Squirrel Monkeys.
Good trails through the forest interior allow us to look for many other species,…
…in particular for antbirds, the icons of Amazonia – here a Pygmy Antwren.
The very local Black-necked Red Cotinga adds a splash of color
One afternoon we’ll visit a river island in the Río Napo, home to another suite of birds…
…such as the retiring White-bellied Spinetail…
…and perhaps we’ll find a roosting Ladder-tailed Nightjar.
Any day in Amazonia has a chance for surprises, perhaps a tiny Pygmy Marmoset, which could fit in the palm of your hand…
…or a huge, prehistoric-looking Horned Screamer flying by – look at those wing spurs!
But all to soon we’ll board the canoes for our ride back to the “real world” at Coca and flights homeward