San Isidro and environs

November 26-29 2007

San Isidro is one of those places where you really feel that you would like to spend more time. The lodge is well laid out with nicely situated cabins, a fine common room with a mirador on the roof, good trails and spectacular catering. Our time there was relatively short but a great taster to suggest that the venue would be good for a weeks self guiding sometime in the future.

The trip from Papallacta to San Isidro had packed in a few must see birds, prime amongst these being Torrent Duck. This superb fast river specialist (the clue is in the name) is just great to look at and it has the advantage of not living in a dense tangle claiming a loose association with ants!

The first full day at San Isidro was to comprise a morning on the trails, the afternoon out birding on a road but first we had been promised pre breakfast birds in the shape of the light attracted bounty snafflers. The paths at San Isidro are illuminated at night and the lights have the effect of attracting some pretty hefty night fliers. Moths the size of dinner plates are consumed by the noisy gangs of Subtropical Caciques and Russet-backed Oropendolas. Add to this melange the retiring Highland Motmot and a variety of smaller but equally opportunistic birds and we are talking ten ticks before breakfast.

Our next bit of business, before hitting the trails, was to feed the antpittas. Antpittas are elusive species but they have been found to be ‘trainable’ and will come to take worms provided at regular times. Our first consumer was the lumpy Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, an individual we were to meet pretty frequently over the course of the next few days.

Flash photography is discouraged so the shots below are poor but you do get the idea of what the birds look like. The Chestnut-crowned fed pretty voraciously by the trackside, bins were not required. Nearby a White-bellied Antpitta required a little more vocal persuasion but eventually gambolled up the track like a haemerroid affected pensioner to the shaded clearing and fed circumspectly of the fare provided. Next we checked out the hummer feeders and then off we went into the ‘woods’.

The trick of birding the woods is to find a feeding flock and stay with it, this we did for quite a while and we managed to get onto most of the species Scott called out. Some gave prolonged views, others fleeted by or took some digging out for satisfactory views, it was great fun. At one point we chanced upon a Variegated Bristle-Tyrant, a compact flycatcher which seemed to be quite inquisitive. It soon became apparent that the bird had food and was nesting nearby. Cautious observation revealed the nest to be just above the path and we watched both parents zipping in and out feeding young.

As the day heated up the woods went fairly quiet so we slipped back to the lodge for lunch before climbing aboard the van for a bit of lane birding. The lanes were quite productive and we managed to see quetzals, fruiteaters, many tanagers and, by good fortune, a roaming flock of the nomadic and noisy White-capped Tanager.

After dinner we had scheduled to do some more extensive night birding. Our first evening's stroll back from dinner had resulted in a Rufous-banded Owl being surprised by the spotlight. A little after our group had retired I also managed to see the star bird of the night at San Isidro, the ‘mystery’ owl.

Our second evening’s dinner had a pause between mouthfuls while we all went outside to see the mystery owl perched up in one of its regular spots. Sandra and myself then joined Scott up on nearby Guacamayos Ridge were we had very good spotlight views of Andean Potoo and White-breasted Screech-Owl.

The next day we were due to visit a waterfall but the bridge was out so we did a little exploring, finding some good lower elevation birds. Our good fortune with the weather continued and we were only slowed by a brief shower mid afternoon. Our last afternoon at San Isidro still produced a few birds before we set off the next day to bird Guacamayos Ridge in daylight, then we moved on towards our Amazon destination.

Below a few shots, anyone reading this blog knows I’ll stick anything on it so don’t be too surprised by the quality of some of the shots.




















Highland Motmot, an early morning snacker on the mega moths.




















The Chestnut-crowned Antpitta. After the hushed excitement at watching this being fed, we saw if frequently hopping around in the cover ignoring us, once, late in the afternoon, we nearly fell over it as it just would not get off the path.


















White-bellied Antpitta, it was darker and this bird was shyer hence the dross shot.


















A virtually tail-less Long-tailed Sylph, its colours changed daramatically by the use of flash.



















The San Isidro mystery owl. its true identification as most likely a previously undescribed species will soon be established after it was trapped in early 2007 and DNA samples taken. Another lamp hunter attracted by the family sized moths. For more info just Google 'San Isidro mystery owl'.


















One of very few shorebird types seen on the trip, a small pasture had a few Southern Lapwings posturing to each other.






















Torrent Tyrannulet, usually seen hopping amongst the rocks in rivers.


















Magpie Tanager. We missed them in Brazil last year (see previous blog) so it was nice to catch up with them, just FYI, they are a tanager species that looks like a Magpie!
























Our aborted waterfall trip led us to explore a nice river valley where we found loads of birds. This female Golden-olive Woodpecker was a local nester.



















A Rufous-breasted Flycatcher, reasonably common.


















Cinnamon Flycatcher showing its very wide bill.



















Pale-edged Flycatcher, one of those names that make no real sense as many members of the myiarchus flycatchers manage a pale edge somewhere in their plumage.

















A roadside bird hastily snapped before a good shower, a Red-breasted Blackbird.

















Another Brooke-Bond bird, this female Andean Cock-of-the Rock paused for photos. En-route back to San Isidro a male shot across the road like an orange flash, truly spectacular birds.


















A group of Turquoise Jays were part of a good flock on the Guacamayos Ridge.



















This Dusky Piha was also with the flock. Apparently it is a cotinga but its actions are more reminiscent of a trogon, very deliberate.

Breathless

Antisana-Papallacta and down to Guango Lodge 25-26 November 2007.

First a few details and tips about such a trip and just to say that this is not meant to be a trip report, just a few comments and photos.

The birding venue for the first couple of days was at altitude, this has a deleterious effect, even on someone as obviously fit as me. The result of the altitude is difficulty breathing and a slight disorientation which results in some of the longer winded bird names being mispronounced i.e. Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher might be reduced to “what is this”. Also the sheer volume of new species means that when your head is as full of seventies pop music, football and other utterly useless information as mine is, then you have to make some hard disc space for the new stuff. To that end a load of the pop music was deleted so please don’t rely on me in a pub quiz answering such questions as “what are Bangles’ three greatest hits”. That information has been cast to the eternal flame and it will have to be a manic Monday before I walk like and Egyptian again.

Now that I have lost your attention I’ll introduce the group for the first part of the trip. Our leader, henceforth known as ‘Boss’ was Scott Olmstead. Scott is as good a field birder as I have ever met (and I’ve met quite a few). Sharp ears and eyes, enthusiasm and energy and a diplomacy beyond his estimated 24 years, he also almost has a beard, one of those young people beards reminiscent of the growth seen in popular 70s mag ‘Health and Efficiency’ some of you will get that joke, some definitely won’t.

Our fellow group member was Jim Scarff a resident of California. His performance at altitude was impressive given a severe bout of bronchitis. He was on part two of his Ecuador trip having been out west in part one. Our driver was Louis on his first real ‘Tropical Birding’ excursion, what a nice guy he was, patient, attentive and we really enjoyed his company.

We pushed out of Quito early and climbed up to Antisana in the Andes birding as we went. We saw lots including the much desired Andean Condor, a Brook-bond bird (I’ll explain later).

Our route took us onto the high paramo above the tree line and eventually to a large and windy lake. The birding was pretty exciting given that most of the species were new. The day’s total was 70 species, the highlights were condors, Andean Gulls (sad I know) and my bird of the day, a Curve-billed Tinamou, my first tinamou of any kind. The weather was kind with just a short shower wetting the van rather than us, we ended the day at Guango Lodge and marvelled at the hummingbirds zooming around the many feeders, those Sword-billeds are a joke right!

After a comfortable night in the cosy lodge we birded the local hill and then went back up high to try to dig out another much wanted species, Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe. The seedsnipe eluded us despite much energetic bog bouncing by the Boss, but other stuff was seen, again most of it new, and when we pulled into Cabanas San Isidro for three nights we had seen 80 species for the day and, more importantly, we could breath again




















Andean Condor, one of about five seen. Big birds but this one was over a mile away. I mentioned that it is a Brook-bond bird, that means it is one of the species depicted on cards given free with tea when I was a kid. I collected them all and now I'd like to see them all.


















Cinereous Harrier, a tick for the Boss. It looks like a female Northern Harrier but with a Spanish accent. We were very excited, we saw two more so I put them down as 'common' in my notebook!























An unexpected sight, sitting as it was in the middle of the barren paramo. This Great Horned Owl could have tried harder to be Megallenic, split them all is what I say.



















A Stout-billed Cinclodes, common at altitude, you can see the stout-bill here but the cinclodes are well hidden by the feathers.


















Its hard taking their photos when they have hiccups.


















Ecuadorian Hillstar, a male and one of the 50 (yes 50) species of hummingbird seen on the trip.



















And the missus, they were breeding under the eves of an abandoned hut.







































Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle. In shape like a Bateleur, a very imposing hawk.

















Aplomado Falcon, just one seen up on the paramo but great views. For Europeans this species reminds me of a heavy Eleonora's Falcon.


















A good sized flock of Andean Gulls were around at Antisana but the preoccupation with everything else meant that I only managed one hasty snap.


















Streak-backed Canestero, this grassland skulker prompted us to walk up a steepish incline over a muddy field to get views. It turned out to be a serendipetous choice as a Curve-billed Tinamou, previously undetected in the field, bolted to the vegetation nearby giving great views.





































Tawny Antpitta's are,or where, the easiest of this group to see. We heard them frequently but only managed to get views of a couple. The first called from a bush, peeping out at us trying to figure out where the playback was coming from. The second I imitated and drew it from its song perch until it was within reasonable range.

















Once we got to Guango Lodge the focus changed to hummers. The light was 'challenging' but I managed a few shots. This is a Chestnut-bellied Coronet.


















The Sword-billed Hummingbird is surely one of the creaters' apprentice peices. They have to be seen to be believed, so disproportionate is the bill. They do, however, retain a certain grace and when you see some of the flora you realise that the design is pretty specific.


















An arty shot.


















A Long-tailed Sylph, this design is a little less obvious but impressive nevertherless.

Next stop San Isidro.

Wow – so that was Ecuador

24 Nov – 9 Dec 2007

Vacation time came around and this year we went to Ecuador. Our trip was with Tropical Birding, the Quito based birding tour company and they were of the highest calibre. The trip was their High Andes to the Amazon tour and we tacked on three days at the end in the west, staying at Tandayapa Bird Lodge just so we did not have to return to the snow early!

This is just a short post, more shots will follow and a little more detail. The basics of the trip were that we birded the Andes around Antisana and at the Papallacta Pass (4000m+), we then moved on to Guango Lodge, then San Isidro. After a few nights we then moved to overnight in a lodge on the Rio Napo before boating downstream to Sacha in the Amazon. To see details of the lodges, just google them. To see the trip itinary Google Tropical Birding, you might want to bookmark it, their tours are very very good.

The raw details of the trip, in terms of birds seen, are: Overall trip list of birds seen (by me), 590. Species heard only, 42. Leader only birds around 10, Sandra saw another 10 species from the canopy walkway at Sacha, I was too windy to walk the suicide bridges but I did get half way up one of the 50m towers and saw a few birds. I also made it up their canopy tower but was put off when a lump of a tourist appeared at the top and I doubted that it would support her and me!

So the whole trip, including our extension yielded in excess of 650 species, an astonishing total for two weeks birding.
I have a fair few pictures and video clips to sort out, below is one of the species everyone who visits the Amazon wants to see, the Hoatzin. This bird eats leaves as its staple diet, if you ever have to share a car with one you might want to keep the windows open!

Last gasp for the Big Year? – Almost

17 November 2007

With the big year opportunities running out, the appearance of a Townsend’s Solitaire at Boucherville and a Carolina Wren that was not in someone’s garden was enough to tempt us to wander out to east Montreal. The wren had been seen around the feeders in part of the Montreal Botanical Gardens. The solitaire was found at one of the spots we always enjoy visiting, the Parc de la Freyer at Boucherville.

The day was bright but a brisk and decidedly cool breeze was enough to encourage us to don hat and gloves, good training for the forthcoming Andean exercise where it will almost certainly be windy and cool! It won’t come as a surprise to anyone to know that we saw neither target, its been that sort of year. Both had last been reported on November 15th but that means nothing here as observer coverage is not exactly at saturation point. As it happened we had a very nice day, especially when we got to Boucherville, and we saw some nice birds too.

At the Botanical Gardens we saw a few birds, House Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos and an alert Sharp-shinned Hawk intent on snacking. I managed a few snaps of the sharpie, they might have been better had a couple out strolling not marched up behind me as I stalked it. It was just bad luck that they had to walk the path where I was, we were the only people in the Alpine Garden and any of the seven or so other paths were available but no, they had to walk mine for the few minutes I needed it undisturbed!

At the Parc de la Freyer we hit birds straight away, a Long-eared Owl was ensconced in the top of a tangle and gave partial and entirely normal views for this species, we nipped back later when the admirers had moved on and took a few fuzzy shots. Further on and lots of calling indicated the fruit munchers` location, American Robins were in abundance along with some ridiculously tame Pine Grosbeaks. The grosbeaks were patiently destroying the crab apples and berries, oblivious to the clicks of the many cameras pointing their direction. As always seems to be the case with these birds, they may be close but they always have a face full of mush to detract slightly from their photogenicity.

In a more woody part of the park a Barred Owl was regretting choosing to roost in a fruit tree and the robins were giving it severe grief. Our presence, though tolerated, was just one more inconvenience associated with the task of avoiding the irate mobbing masses and killing something big for tea. The owl later chose to slip into a less obvious spot for some R & R, using its cunning and camouflage to hide behind a thin branch thus avoiding detection (see below).

It is a pity that the Parc de la Freyer is so far away, a 170KM round trip from home, I’m sure there must be something as attractive to birds out west here but as yet I haven’t found it. Visiting the parc has always been fruitful birdwise and the atmosphere is always good, the people we have met there are always very friendly and helpful.

Below are a few shots.



















Just another 30 seconds and I would have been in place to avoid the branch across the sharpie's head, merci!


















Male House Finch, they are not very common out where I live so it was nice to see a few healthy flocks.



















Dark-eyed Junco showing its dark eye but I've never seen one's junco.

















Are you a man or a mouse, I have to ask you understand.























Female/immature Pine Grosbeak, they outnumber the males about 4:1.

















Male Pine Grosbeak. called a grossbeak either because their bills are large or that they are always 'gross'























Grosbeak feeding strategy, bite off big bits.
















Almost decent, just needs a once over with a wet wipe.


















They just look so out of place, surely something tropical?
















The Barred Owl, virtually invisible thanks to its subtle plumage and careful positioning!




















For those of you struggling to spot the owl in the photo above here is a close up, still tricky though as the branch partially obscures it, or am I just making excuses for a bad shot?

A nip in the air

10-11 November 2007

With the clocks going back birding is now pretty much limited to weekends, here in Canada it was a week later than Europe to match with the USA. Perhaps with the strength of the Loony (Canadian Dollar) against the US Dollar we should have demanded a change of an hour and ten minutes, a little political joke there. Interestingly, despite the Loony rising by 25% against the US Dollar in the past six months, prices of imported goods from the USA have not dropped, yet another way for the thieves of banking and commerce to rob you.

Back to the birding and unless we were willing to drive over to Abitibi to stand in someone’s yard to look for a Painted Bunting or the same distance but the opposite way to Rimouski, to stand in someone’s yard to look for a Blue Grosbeak, our options were slim. Purple Sandpipers have returned to Tadoussac, good, we might eventually, but the thoughts of a long drive after another long week was not tempting and so birding was to be a strictly local affair. This turned out to be OK and the ‘pits’ (St-Lazare sand pits) had Northern Shrike and Bohemian Waxwing to enjoy, plus lots of Canada Geese to pick through for the inevitable Cackling Goose.

In the garden a nice pair of visitors were a pair of Evening Grosbeaks. Hopefully they will stick around and the male will get his chance to pose for the camera. Another visitor that is becoming increasing regular is Pileated Wodpecker. As an experiment I moved a feeder to just outside the living room window. The regulars soon took to it and the endless procession of Black-capped Chickadees is a big improvement on Canadian TV (except for the excellent Corner Gas). The Pileateds soon found it and bound in regularly to make short work of the suet blocks. Having this beast of a woodpecker less than four feet away from you is pretty memorable, I wonder if the Ivory-billed Woodpecker searchers have tried suet blocks.
























Especially for Derek, Woody Woodpecker.





















A Hairy Woodpecker damaging our trees again!


















A late Fox Sparrow, not dead you understand, just late in the season.













































Mme Evening Grosbeak, the male was a little coy but its nothing to carp on about.

Duck double

4 November 2007

In an effort to fill the last duck gap in the year list, we went off to Chambly in the hope of securing the Canvasback that had been there a few days. As ever this required a trek across Montreal but traffic was light so it was pretty easy. The duck was there, sat in the middle of the river. A bonus was male Barrow’s Goldeneye with it.

Neither bird came closer than 150m so below are just record shots. The Canvasback was 266 for the year, it may well turn out to be the last addition or am I just being pessimistic!