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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

Ecuador: A Week in the Clouds

We’ll leave Quito for the high elevations of Papallacta Pass. That’s right, snow on the Equator… …and Variable Hawk is one of the species to be looked for way up here… …as are Furnariids like the White-chinned Thistletail. Heading downhill we’ll stop at Guango Lodge for lunch. Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan can often be found in the parking lot. The famous hummingbird feeders offer a stark contrast between the long-billed (Sword-billed Hummingbird) and the long-tailed (Long-tailed Sylph)… …and Collared Incas are as aggressive as they are striking. Further down hill we’ll arrive at Cabanas San Isidro… …with all the comforts of home. The birding is excellent. Green Jays are common and noisy in the morning… …as is Common Bush-Tanager. Peruvian Antpitta, barely known from only a few locations in all of South America is now a regular on one of the lodge trails… …and an Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek is also on the property. Cinnamon-mantled Woodpecker is a splash of color in the foliage… …as is Saffron-crowned Tanager, one of more than a dozen tanager species possible on the property. One morning we’ll watch for swifts at Guacamayos pass. Here the White-collared Swifts whoosh by. Among many other species, Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant can be found along the Guacamayos trail. East from the pass at Guacamayos the Andes drop into the Amazon Basin through the altitudinal zones of hundreds of species of birds. In the lower foothills the rare Orange-breasted Falcon becomes a possibility. …as does the local Cliff Flycatcher. In this “magic” elevation between the Amazon lowlands and the Andean foothills at the foot of the Sumaco volcano… lies Wildsumaco Lodge… …whoseback porch overlooks forest and some of Ecuador’s best hummingbird feeders… …with possibilities of Napo Sabrewing, a foothill specialty… …Gould’s Jewelfront… …and Wire-crested Thorntail… …and Chestnut-fronted Macaws may fly overhead at any time. From here we ascend back into the Andes toward Quito, but not before stopping again for other mountain specialties like Viridian Metaltail… …and Red-crested Cotinga. At tour’s end, I suspect we’ll all agree that the east Andes are great for birds and epic views alike.

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