Birding In and Around Quito Ecuador, Part One

A dream trip of mine has always been to go to Ecuador and The Galápagos Islands.  We didn’t have enough days to go to Galapagos this winter, but we did have a week to explore some of mainland Ecuador, specifically the areas within a few hours of Quito.  As I type we are flying down to Panama, to catch a connecting flight to Quito.  Maybe the birding will even start before we get there, with a few birds at the airport in Panama.  Tonight we are staying at a Holiday Inn Express in downtown Quito, but in the morning will be whisked off to out lodge for two days of guided birding, before heading back to Quito.  Our trip was made slightly more affordable using my points for 5 of the nights in Holiday Inns, with guides picking us up each morning.

Day One, and introduction to the birds of Quito:

Our first bird of the trip was an Eared Dove just outside our window at the Holiday Inn while having breakfast before our guides picked us up for our first day of birding.  We were then driven over some very bumpy roads to the Hotel Hacienda La Jimenita where we began our tour with Luis and Diago. Luis was, we thought, just the driver, but as we learned over the next three days he was every bit the birder as our official guides.  Over the course of our first day of birding within an hour drive of our hotel, we added another 32 Lifers, including the Andean Condor and seven Hummingbirds.  Hummingbirds and more hummingbirds.  In all shapes, colors and sizes.  Hummers with long beaks and short tails and some with tails so long they are called trainbearers.  We ended the day at the Hotel Hacienda La Jimenita, where we were treated to a few more amazing hummers and other small birds before enjoying a lovely dinner that evening. 

Andean Condor being chased by a Carunculated Caracara:

Sparkling Vilotear:

Ecuadorian Hillstar:

Black-faced Ibis:

Andean Lapwing:

Before heading to the lodge for the night we had one more stop, but it was so wet and cold my teeth were chattering by the time we headed back to the car, and was worn out for the day. Still it was worth it to see the Andean Duck, a split from our own Ruddy Duck, but with an even more striking blue beak.

Back at the lodge we had a few more treats, including...

Black-tailed Trainbearer:

White-bellied Woodstar:

Saffron Finch:

Day Two, Seedsnipes and hummers and bears, Oh My:

We were up early the next morning for a lovely breakfast and a longer tour of the hotel grounds before heading off to explore some fine birding locations within a couple hours drive of the hotel, exploring roads that seemed more like dry river beds at times, interspersed with beautifully paved modern highways.  The weather was cold and damp in the morning as we made our way up a mountainside to a radio antenna array, where the target bird was a Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe.  I expected a long snipe-like beak, but being a seed eater it had more of a Quail like body and beak, with quite fancy paisley plumage.

We warmed up in the car as we made our way to the Guango Lodge where an entirely different habitat awaited us.  But before we even arrived we made a stop along the highway for a glimps of an often difficult to see Spectacled Bear.

From there we continued on to the lodge where we were treated to a hummingbird feast, including the famous Sword-billed Hummingbird, before being served lunch.  Afterward we hiked into the forest by a river, where we once again got rained on, but still saw some wonderful birds, before ending the day at the Holiday Inn back in Quito, where we enjoyed a traditional Ecuadorian dinner at at small restaurant where no one spoke a word of English, yet we all seemed to communicate just fine.

Long-tailed Sylph:

Tyrian Metaltail:

Chestnut-breasted Coronet:

Speckled Hummingbird:

Masked Trogon:

One last treat of the day was another look at the rare Spectacled Bear, this time with a surprise.  It was dragging a deer up the mountain slope.  No one knew if it had killed the deer or found it dead.  I guess this guy was going to eat for a nice long stretch.

Day 3, A Little Rain Can’t Hurt Us, but the Cameras, Not So Much:

The day started off okay,  warm enough and dry as we set out for a 3 mile hike to a magnificent waterfall and the target bird, the White-cappped dipper.  This time I remembered my walking stick, which I had forgotten on hikes the previous two days, and was glad I had it.  It was a tough, but fantastic hike, full of amazing scenery and fabulous birds.  Once we got to the waterfall, we had a well deserved rest and another picnic lunch.  But once we felt some light rain we made haste to get going, but with still two miles to go, the rain started coming down hard and both my camera and Sue’s suffered water damage.  Sue’s didn’t work for the rest of the trip, despite our use of hairdryers on it back at the hotel, and mine functioned just enough to get a few good photos the final days of the trip.  

Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager:

Tufted Tit-Tyrant:

White-throated Tyranulet:

White-capped Dipper: