2007-08 Tour Narratives
February 2008
See below for Gary’s June/July 2007 report.
In Brief: The 2008 WINGS Week in Paradise tour was the fifth trip we have organized to the wonderful Mindo area of western Ecuador. Located within two hours of the capitol city of Quito, our very comfortable lodge, Séptimo Paraíso, made a perfect base to visit such areas as Tandayapa, Milpe, the Rio Silanche, Tony Nunnery’s house, and Mindo Loma. The highlights for this trip were many, and included such great birds as Andean Cock-of-the-rock; Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan; Toucan Barbet; Black-chested, Scarlet-bellied, Blue-winged, and Black-chinned Mountain-Tanagers; Beautiful Jay; Golden-headed Quetzal; and Yellow-vented and Powerful Woodpeckers, as well as a number of “Choco” specialties such as Dusky Pigeon, Purple-chested Hummingbird, Blue-tailed Trogon, and Blue-whiskered Tanager. Hummingbirds are a huge part of this incredible tour, and we saw nearly 40 species, including such stunning birds as Sword-billed Hummingbird, Booted Racket-tail, Violet-tailed Sylph, and Brown Inca. A total of more than 300 species for the week is testimony to just how great the birding is around Mindo!
In Detail: The lovely Séptimo Paraíso lodge served as our comfortable and well-situated base for an entire week. The birding was excellent as usual, despite a wetter-than-normal year, which, in the end, affected just a few afternoon sessions. In all we saw more than 300 species for the week, which included nearly 40 species of hummingbird. Our hosts at Séptimo Paraíso made our stay even more enjoyable and comfortable, and it was sad that the week ever had to come to an end!
We began with a visit to Yanacocha, a Jocotoco Foundation reserve located on Pichincha Volcano above Quito. The reserve is always an enjoyable place to begin a tour, with excellent high-elevation tanagers and hummingbirds, including wonderful looks at Sword-billed Hummingbird, lots of Buff-winged Starfrontlets and Great Sapphirewings, Scarlet-bellied and Black-chested Mountain-Tanagers and Grass-green Tanager, and other great birds such as Glossy Flowerpiercer and White-browed Spinetail. We worked our way down the Nono Road to Calacali, along the way seeing the Ecuadorian form of Virginia Rail and a pair of Crimson-mantled Woodpeckers. After arriving at our lodge in the late afternoon, we had our first session with the hummingbirds, which included such gems as Purple-bibbed Whitetip, Violet-tailed Sylph, and Brown Inca.
One of the best aspects of a week in the Mindo area is the opportunity to visit many different birding locations, most of which are protected private reserves. Not only is the birding fantastic on or near the grounds of our lodge, but all of the birding locations within about 30 minutes are also wonderful. The highlights were many during the week. One of our favorite mornings involved visiting the streetlight at the Mindo turnoff, where birds gather in the early morning to feed on moths. It was like a bird buffet! Some of the specialties that visited the light included Toucan Barbet, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Streak-capped Treehunter, Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, and Golden Tanager—to name just a few!
On one morning we got up early and visited a Cock-of-the-rock lek, one of the most amazing birding experiences anywhere. It was a real adventure getting to the lek, hiking before it got light, passing a beautiful waterfall, and eventually getting to the lek site in time to see the wonderful cotingas doing their thing. This subspecies is blood red, quite different from other populations in the Andes, and we enjoyed at least eight males visiting the lek. Returning through the forest, we found a mixed-species flock with a stunning Glistening-green Tanager, and later we spotted a male Golden-headed Quetzal: not too shabby a morning.
Along the Tandayapa Ridge road we found a variety of slightly higher-elevation species, among them the Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan—always a crowd favorite—and a small group of Beautiful Jays, a species that has become quite rare in the region. A pair of Powerful Woodpeckers was a nice find, as was the male Yellow-vented Woodpecker, quite uncommon on the western slope. The highlight of this day, as usual, was the visit to Tony Nunnery’s house for hummingbirds. Although we did not break the leader’s single-day record of 23 species coming to the feeders, we did see an amazing number of hummingbirds, including lots of Booted Racket-tails, Buff-tailed Coronets, Fawn-breasted Brilliants, Violet-tailed Sylphs, and Purple-throated Woodstars. It’s hard to imagine a better place in the world for hummingbirds!
The Milpe Road is always an enjoyable area to bird, especially the new loop trails at the Milpe Reserve. This continues to be a prime place for great views of Club-winged Manakin, and watching the birds raise their wings above their heads and hearing their mechanical buzzy calls is a real treat. The trail is also great for other specialties, and we had wonderful views of a close Brown-billed Scythebill, a somewhat responsive Rufous-rumped Antwren, and a singing Ochre-breasted Tanager, along with fabulous views of Orange-billed Sparrow. Amazing was a pair of Immaculate Antbirds totally oblivious of us! The birding along the road was equally interesting, with some nice tanager flocks that included Blue-necked and Rufous-throated Tanagers, and very close views of several Ornate Flycatchers. The hummingbird feeders at Milpe had an abundance of Green-crowned Woodnymphs and Green-crowned Brilliants.
Our day on the Pedro Vicente Maldonado Road and the Rio Silanche was, as usual, one of the best on the trip. The entire road is situated at a lower elevation, and thus has a very high diversity. There were lots of fun species such as both Choco and Black-mandibled Toucans, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Olivaceous Piculet, Yellow-tailed Oriole, White-tailed and Collared Trogons, and White-whiskered Puffbird. The real highlights along the road and at the Silanche Reserve included several “Choco” specialties, such as Blue-tailed Trogon, Dusky Pigeon, Purple-chested Hummingbird, and Blue-whiskered Tanager. Even apart from the specialties, the Rio Silanche is just very birdy! Forest birding there produced a number of interesting understory birds, such as Western Slaty-Antshrike, Chestnut-backed Antbird, and Tawny-crested and Dusky-faced Tanagers, along with canopy species that included the tiny Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant, Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher, and Rufous-winged Tanager. All in all we saw more than 100 species on this day.
On our last day we visited yet another private reserve, Mindo Loma. The hummingbird viewing here was excellent again, with the most common species being the stunning Velvet-purple Coronet. There were also some hanging bananas that attracted both Golden-naped and Blue-winged Mountain-Tanagers. A mixed-species flock came through the yard, with great birds like Barred Becard and another Yellow-vented Woodpecker. But the bird of the morning was undoubtedly the three Black-chinned Mountain-Tanagers that came in to feed on the bananas. We ended the trip in the drier country near Calacali where we picked up a few new birds, including Golden-rumped Euphonia, Tufted Tit-Tyrant, Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch, and lots of Sparkling Violetears. Our return to Quito was capped by a fine farewell dinner.
Gary Rosenberg
In Brief: Our Ecuador: Week in Paradise tour, which spends a week at the beautiful Séptimo Paraiso lodge near Mindo, has rapidly become a WINGS favorite. This was our first time running this successful trip during the June/July period, and although we were confident the birding would be fantastic, there was some uncertainty about the weather. As it turned out, the weather was also fantastic - cool clear nights, warm sunny days, generally getting overcast and cool in the late afternoons, with absolutely no rain! The birding was wonderful with an amazing 37 species of hummingbirds, 45 species of tanagers and fabulous specialties such as Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Plate-billed mountain-Toucan, Toucan Barbet, Giant Antpitta, Ocellated Tapaculo, and Slate-throated Gnatcatcher, just to name a few. Our accommodations were very comfortable, and the hospitality at Séptimo Paraiso cannot be beat. It is the ideal short tour!
In Detail: We began as usual with a visit to the high-elevation reserve called Yanacocha. Nestled on the slopes of the Pinchincha Volcano, Yanacocha is famous for its hummingbirds and tanagers. At the feeders we found all the regular specialties such as Sword-billed Hummingbird, Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, Sapphire-vented and Golden-breasted Pufflegs and Tyrian Metailtail. Glossy and Masked Flower-piercers were also evident at the feeders. Mixed species flocks along the trail had gems such as Spectacled Redstarts, White-tailed Tyrannulet and Blue-backed Conebill, but the real star of the show was the Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager. Our journey down the old Nono-Mindo Road produced a variety of montane species, the best of which was an amazing view of a Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan. Finally, we arrived at our comfortable accommodations for the week - Séptimo Paraiso.
The week went by too fast as we visited all of the amazing birding locations in the Mindo/Tandayapa area, where there are lots of private reserves resulting in the protection of an incredible diversity of habitats (and birds!). Clearly the big highlight of the tour was the fabulous variety of hummingbirds available. Our 37 species are indicative of this assortment (and we even missed a few!), and the availability of hummingbird viewing at a nice selection of feeding stations has truly revolutionized hummingbird watching in the Neotropics. Many of the species we encountered were historically very rare or seldom seen, but have become common at the feeders. Seeing lots of Booted Racket-tails, Violet-tailed Sylph, Brown Inca, Empress Brilliant, Purple-throated Woodstar and Green-crowned Woodnymph - just to name a few of the fancy ones - is a real joy. If you like hummingbirds, then Mindo is the place for you!
One of the new excursions we now do on this tour is a visit to Paz de las Aves to visit a wonderful Cock-of-the-Rock lek, and to witness the owner, Angel Paz, feeding the antpittas - that’s right, feeding the antpittas! Perhaps the rarest and most-difficult bird to see in Ecuador is the Giant Antpitta, and Angel has one (Maria!) habituated to eating worms from the trail in front of gawking crowds of birders. It is truly an amazing sight. Angel also had a number of other interesting birds on his property, and we had great views of Toucan Barbet, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Black-chinned mountain-Tanager and Velvet-Purple Coronet - to name a few.
Another great birding location we visited was another new reserve on the Rio Silanche and near Pedro Vicente Maldonado, only about an hour from Séptimo Paraiso. This has become a favorite area to visit on the tour, as it is located at a lower elevation and chock full of new and exciting birds. There were many highlights at this location, including a nice variety of antbirds such as Russet and Western Slaty Antshrikes, Dot-winged, Checker-throated, Mustached and Pacific Antwrens, and Dusky Antbird. Tanagers were also exciting, with Scarlet-browed, Tawny-crested, Golden-hooded and Guira being some of the more fancy ones seen. One favorite of the trip was the unique Slate-throated Gnatcatcher we found in a mixed flock. Dusky Pigeon was also one of the specialties found during the day.
Other fun places visited during the week included the Restaurant Mirador in Los Bancos where we saw a close-up selection of some great tanagers - including Rufous-throated and Silver-throated. Tony Nunnery’s house is always a highlight, and we saw more violetears there than you could shake a stick at! Mindo Loma was a new place we hadn’t visited before, and the close-up views of Black-chinned Mountain-Tanagers and numerous Violet-tailed Sylphs made the visit more than worthwhile. The Milpe Trail was also very productive, with glimpses of Spotted Nightingale-Thrush to entice us, while more tanagers (there are tanagers everywhere!), Choco Warbler and a male Red-headed Barbet augmented the dozens of Green-crowned Woodnymphs and Green Thorntails coming to “their” feeders. The Tandayapa Ridge road was also very productive and produced a couple of the best birds of the trip – Grass Green Tanager and the amazing Ocellated Tapaculo! And there was our owling excursion that produced a male Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Common Potoo and Black-and-white Owl.
We could go on and on listing all the nearly 300 species we saw during the week, but the birding on this tour is clearly great. Add to it the hospitality of Lily, Pablo and Anna, and the well-used hot tub, and this really was a week in Paradise!
Gary Rosenberg
Updated: March 2008