Ecuador: Day 10

We started December 10 in the mountains around Papallacta  before moving east to San Isidro Lodge.

This day was notable for my seeing the bird I most wanted to see in Ecuador, the Torrent Duck.

That any of the babies live to grow up is amazing.

There were multiple times when one or the other was completely submerged.


The White-capped Dipper is also fond of rushing water.

The Green Jay, not a new bird to us but a beautiful one, was on the edge of the river.

The Tawny-rumped Tyrannulet was found on the grounds of the lodge.

Most of our hummingbirds were seen at Guango Lodge, a stop on our way between Papallacta and San Isidro.

These Chestnut-breasted Coronets may be having an argument, but it could have just been a conversation.

We saw our first of many Long-tailed Sylphs at Guango Lodge, but this photo was actually taken the next day.  His tail might not be as long as some, but the colours show magnificently.

In case you are wondering about sylphs, I couldn't tell the Violet-tailed from the Long-tailed, but fortunately they know on which side of the Andes they belong.  There are several species of birds that have the same characteristic: similar birds but they stay in either the east or the west but not both.


One of the colourful birds of the day, the Crested Quetzal.

December 10, the beginning of our East Slope birding: 55 total species, 25 new trip birds, 22 lifers.

Another Saskatchewan lifer...

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Seen on May 5 beside what we used to call The Pavilion by Gardiner Dam on Diefenbaker Lake.

Ecuador: Day 9

Before we went to Ecuador I read as much as I could about the area we would be visiting. And the more I read the more I worried that it was going to rain ALL THE TIME while we were there.  Therefore it was not unexpected when it rained the first day (go back about 10 posts to see that).  What was unexpected is that it rained little or not at all for the next 8 days.  And then December 9 arrived.  Have you ever seen a less happy looking Great Thrush?  I may have looked somewhat similar.  On December 9 it rained and December 10 and December 11...


We still managed to see about 30 birds of which 12 were new and most were wet.

This Blue-backed Conebill was not the first of our trip but this was the best photo.

This is an Agile Tit-Tyrant, a new bird for the trip and our life list.  Our guide commented on the bird's name saying that birds are difficult enough to see without being recognized for being agile.  This one stuck around for quite a while allowing for many photographs, but I will add that he also moved around a lot, so the photos have several different backgrounds.

It wasn't a big hummingbird day, but we did get views of this bird, which I am fearlessly calling a Viridian Metaltail because it really can't be any of the other birds we saw that day.

Unless it was a bird that missed our day list, like this White-throated Tyrannulet.  Our guide said that when he missed a bird on our daily list, he would wake up in the night saying something like "I forgot the Green Heron!"  This time that did not happen, but as I had about 30 photos of this bird, I knew it was not something he hadn't seen.  It took very little detecting to deduce its proper name.  It was a bird we had glimpsed earlier in the week, but this was the only day he posed for photos.

The Rainbow-bearded Thornbill was appropriately named, given that it was one of the few birds of the rainy day that I was able to photograph. I did not get to see its rainbow-coloured beard, but did see its decorative head design. It is called a Thornbill because of its short bill.