After days chained to my desk in Quito enough was enough. It was time to get back in the field. So Pablo Cervantes (my old Antarctica accomplice) and I headed out from Quito for a day trip into the high Andes. Leaving the smog of Quito behind we rose into clean crisp mountain air at a heady 3800m or so elevation. Before we even caught sight of Antisana's most prominent feature (its 5700m volcanic cone) birds starting popping up, and I felt at home once more. A bridge provided support for a colorful high Andean flycatcher, the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, and a fencepost held a blue sparrow-like bird that is common in the paramo of Antisana: Plumbeous Sierra-Finch.
We then continued higher and emerged up onto the paramo grassland plateau where some of the best scenery in the reserve can be found, and some of it star residents...
We then continued higher and emerged up onto the paramo grassland plateau where some of the best scenery in the reserve can be found, and some of it star residents...
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