Birding in Ecuador - A Blog Series

While there is certainly no doubt that I am a passionate birder, I am really not a dedicated lister - one who intensively birds in specific regions or all over the world to add to their "list". Yes, I do keep track of all the birds I see, wherever I might be, but I have no goal for numbers to be seen before I pass over to that great aviary in the sky! When I visit a new area or new world country, I like to absorb the culture, the various habitats, the people and, of course, the birds and other wildlife.

Ecuador has long been among a number of "exotic " birding areas on my short list, so when the opportunity arose to join a custom designed trip to this country, one of the most ecologically diverse in the world, I jumped at it. The trip was organized by John Shipley of Kingfisher Bird Tours with time split between mostly mountainous regions west and east of the Andes and with some time at higher elevations, in the 12,000' + range. On this trip, we did not venture into the lower Amazon basin, an area I'll look at in the future.

On Sunday, 10 January 2010, Kathy dropped me off at the Helena Airport about 5:45am for an expected arrival at the Quito, Ecuador Airport about 11pm EST. All went well and on time!
Quito lies at an elevation of about 9,000' and pretty much straddles the equator. Helena lies at a latitude of about 47 degrees North. Google Earth calculates a direct line distance of nearly 4,000 miles. Ecuador is about 3/4ths the size of Montana or about the size of Colorado, but its boasts of more than 1600 species of birds, nearly 4 times as many as either Montana or Colorado. That fact certainly supports the contention that few places on earth can match it for avian diversity. The physiography and climate of the country likely are important reasons for this incredible diversity. There are three major regions in the country - the western coastal plain, the Andes Mountain Range, and the Amazon Basin. The following image details the elevational makeup of the country, with the mountainous region depicted by the reddish/brownish hues. A quick perusal by me located at least 8 or more volcanoes in the elevation range of 18-20,000 feet. While cloudy weather compromised clear views of these mammoth mountains, the the partial and brief looks we had revealed snow and glaciers down to maybe the 15-16,000 foot elevation. Our birding group - besides me - consisted of the following: tour leader John Shipley, bird guide extraordinaire Roger Ahlman, driver Nestor Alban, and a very enjoyable couple from Maui. I will not use their names here because I didn't ask their permission to do so! John Shipley is a tour operator and friend who plans custom tours to Ecuador and other exclusive birding destinations. Roger's native country is Sweden but Ecuador has been his adopted home for the past 7 years. He and his Ecuadorean wife live in Quito and have a young daughter. Roger can be reached at rahlman@yahoo.se and has a great PBase website with bird photos. Nestor was a GREAT driver and can be contacted at njalbanm@hotmail.com. Driving in Quito and the rural areas is definitely an adventure and not something I would undertake myself. But for the adventurous, it can be done.

So when am I going to get to the birds?? I gathered enough information and took enough photos on this trip for probably a half dozen or more individuals epistles, and they will be following over the next several weeks. Topics will include, of course, birds - maybe 4 or more episodes - , flowers, scenery and vegetation, insects....and maybe a few more! For those of you who are avid birders, here is a little tidbit for you to savor in the hope that you will take a look every several days to see what is new here. This is a Velvet-purple Coronet.

Nature's Abnormalities

About a week ago, I received an email about a "white hawk" that has been seen occasionally in the Helena Valley since last summer. While doing some random birding in the valley several days ago, I encountered this bird. Indeed, the bird was mostly white but had some pigmentation on the head and tail, and a small amount on the abdominal area and under-wing. This is a condition called leucism and results from a genetic abnormality wherein pigments are not produced on all or parts of the skin and feathers. It is different from albinism. Based on the fact that the bird was present last summer and the pigments that are present in photos, this appears to be a red-tailed hawk. The bird was quite spooky so I did not get very good pictures of it, but here are a few so you can get a general idea of what this unusual hawk looked like.For the next several weeks, you will not find anything new on this blog site - as I will be doing some birding in Ecuador. But don't forget to join me again later in January for lots of fresh dialogue, thoughts, and pictures about one of the most diverse birding areas in the world. I'm looking forward to using this medium rather than a diary as a way to document and share travel experiences. Dairies have a way of disappearing into drawers or other "black holes" only to be rediscovered many years later after their relevance has likely faded. Hopefully the black hole that cyberland sometimes emulates will not be quite as deep as my night stand!!

There is a function available to notify you when I have posted a new blog to my site. Scroll to the very bottom of this group of my blogs to where it says "Subscribe to:". Follow the instructions so that you will be notified when I post something new. Although I have no yet used this function for other blogs I follow, it seems like it might be quite useful.