10 November 2010

Back "Home" in the Tropics: ECUADOR (8 Nov 2010)


Having been enjoying a two-month spell down under in Australia, I am now back in my adopted homeland, Ecuador. After trying desperately to recover from a bad cold, jet lag , and come down from the high of all those weird Aussie birds, I got back in the field and on tour in Ecuador, with a four-day trip for Tandayapa Lodge. After a trip to Yanacocha on the 7th , (where I miraculously , and finally, got my nemesis bird, Curve-billed Tinamou, that skidded off the road in front of our van), I was back in the lush Tandayapa Valley, and soon after watching one of my favorites: the rare Tanager Finch jumping clumsily around in the bamboo (photo). It's good to be home!

More photos from Ecuador and Australia to come when possible...

2 comments:

Mathieu W said...

Hey Sam,
this is a cool blog I enjoy much to read it. Especially the ecuadorian reports as I was there and also several times at Tandayapa.
Did I understand right, that you hadn't seen Curve-billed Tinamou before (I'm not anglophone)? Because that would make me really proud, as I saw that one during my time in Ecuador and it isn't that easy to see a bird, a bird guide hasn't seen yet...
MfG Mathieu

Sam Woods said...

You were absolutely right, it took me five years to see that one in Ecuador. It is not an easy bird at all, and I have had some bad luck with this one. It was my nemesis bird! Well done on seeing it on a single trip, that was fortunate!