A Taste of Tandayapa (Ecuador)...4 Oct 2017

When a journalist come to visit, they rarely have time to stop for too long, so my objective for the day was to give him a taste, a big, bursting mouthful of a taste, of the joys of birding both the lower and upper Tandayapa Valley (which are quite different in the nature of birds found there)...

We started out in darkness, and with headlamps lit, walked into the forest surrounding Tandayapa Bird Lodge, to see what would come into the purpose built forest blind, best visited at the crack of dawn. We might have arrived a little before the crack, but with some patience the birds started showing up. The first one to creep into view was a Streak-capped Treehunter, furtively approaching then dropping down right in front of the hide to pick off some of the moths attracted by the nightlight alongside. The the jangling sound of warblers approacgung could be heard, with Russet-crowned and Three-striped Warblers being typically confiding, if hyper active (think American warblers on speed). Then, one of the other blind regulars turned up, and were as confiding as ever, a pair of Zeledon's Antbirds (formerly known as Immaculate Antbirds before taxonomists spliced that species in two); which appear rather like they are wearing blue eye shadow, as with many antbirds their eyes are surrounded by bare skin (in this case sky blue in colour). Slaty Antwren also betrayed its presence by calling to let us know it was coming, and a female was seen, and then a pair of Uniform Anthshrikes followed the same routine. 

Within 40 minutes of dawn, activity was waning and stomachs were rumbling, so we returned to the lodge for breakfast. Breakfast is not always an easy affair at Tandayapa though, as this is also the peak time for birds to come around the lodge picking off the various insects forms that have come to sit on the lodge and moth sheet during the night. On this day, the procession opened with the star species, a pair of Toucan Barbets, and also included the normally timid Rufous Motmot, giving the performance of a lifetime. Chestnut-capped and White-winged Brushfinches, were also seen on the fringes of the feeding areas. Somehow, in the midst of all of this avian activity, we squeezed in a breakfast, and then set off for the higher cloudforests in the upper Tandayapa Valley. We opened at a traditional spot for the rare Tanager Finch, and less predictably opened our visit there with a pair of Tanager Finches, which were rather easier than usual, and were a mighty first bird on site! The sublime really did turn into the ridiculous, when we next focused on an Ocellated Tapaculo that screamed at us (as they do), from the nearby hillside. I noticed, that rather fortuitously an indistinct trail snaked its way right towards the loud sound of the bird. This bird is very easy to hear (you would need to be near totally deaf to be able to miss the call of this bird within sight of you!), but can be exasperatingly difficult to put binoculars on. And that is exactly how it played out initially with mere glimpses of its polka-dotted form. But then we stepped off trail just a fraction, and the bird was there in full glory for all to see. Our second bird of the morning at this site; we were walking on water!

The rest of the morning up there was understandably not so outstanding, but with some effort, we finally tracked down one of its most famous residents, the endemic Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, which is daubed in so many colours it could have been designed for a clown (one of the non scary ones). Other finds included Streak-headed Antbird, Turquoise Jay, Masked Trogon, Green-and-black Fruiteater, and  4 more Toucan Barbets in the middle of all this. Finally, lunch beckoned, and we headed down the forested valley in readiness to eat, but were abruptly stopped in our tracks, when we noticed an impressive Barred Hawk staring down at us from above the car, where it lingered for longer than a sharp-eyed raptor would be expected to do...

With rain coming in with force in the afternoon, and having admired the hummingbird feeders at Tandayapa Lodge, we opted for birding undercover elsewhere, at the nearby San Tadeo feeders, which were buzzing with activity, and highlights included Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager, Flame-rumped, Black-capped, Golden-naped and Golden Tanagers. Meanwhile, a study of the hummingbird feeders brought regular interactions with Velvet-purple Coronets, Empress Brilliants, and even led us to a treetop Yellow-throated Toucan, yelping its heart out in the afternoon rain. A taste of Tandayapa finally came to a regretful close.

A Handsome Redhead….ECUADOR (3rd Oct.)

After recently finishing with some Scottish-based birders in Eastern Ecuador, I had a quick turnaround, and was soon at Tandayapa Bird Lodge, over on the opposite, western, slope of the Andes; this time to guide a South African family for three days. Our first day opened with a dawntime meeting, and a visit to a local forest blind/hide. There were plenty of birds calling in the area, like Toucan Barbet, Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl, Golden-headed Quetzal, and Andean Cock-of-the-rock, although those striking species remained unseen. The forest blind overlooks a compost pile, and also possesses a powerful light that attracts insects through the night, and therefore birds the following dawn. The first to appear was a Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch hopping through the gloom, and was followed by a clearer view of a Spotted Barbtail creeping up a mossy trunk; and it was not long before the reliable pair of Zeledon’s Antbirds also appeared, hopping around on the floor and low branches, with their characteristic tail wagging behavior being observed at length. The same trunk that hosted the barbtail, hosted another from the same family of Ovenbirds and Woodcreepers, when a Strong-billed Woodcreeper appeared suddenly there too. These birds were followed by regular visits by both Three-striped and Russet-crowned Warblers, a pair of Slaty Antwrens, and a lone female Uniform Antshrike. We returned to the lodge for breakfast at around 7am, noting Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, Golden-crowned Flycatcher and Streak-capped Treehunter right around the lodge itself.

The remainder of the morning was spent in the Upper Tandayapa Valley, which quickly brought success, with a pair of Plate-billed Mountain-Toucans, a species from a group that is confined to the Andes of South America, and a species only shared with Colombia. The morning was fairly slow going outside of this, but we did get another cracker, in the form of a Grass-green Tanager moving through with one of those dizzying feeding flocks that the Andes is famed for.

After lunch back at the lodge, we took a trip out to San Tadeo in the afternoon, where we were hooked on a series of feeders; the fruit feeders were busy with birds, like Red-headed Barbets (both male and female), 1 confiding Toucan Barbet, several Black-capped Tanagers, a pair of Black-chinned Mountain-Tanagers, and both Flame-faced and Golden-naped Tanagers too.

We had been hoping for the Metallic-green Tanager too; a rare species to find at feeders, and so hard to photograph, although strangely the species did not visit, in spite of the landowner’s insistence it is usually both regular and reliable! Down at the hummingbird feeders, we were graced with visits from regional specialties like Brown Inca, Velvet-purple Coronet, and Empress Brilliant among others. At dusk our try for Lyre-tailed Nightjar in the lower Tandayapa Valley failed completely with nothing heard, but we were still excited by the prospect of our upcoming visit to the foothills of the Andes, and the Milpe Bird Sanctuary, the next day…