Adios Ecuador - But I'll be Back!

Ecuador is a country of sharp contrasts - culturally and scenically. While my visit didn't cover much more than a hundred or so miles to the east and west of the central valley - where Quito is located - the contrasting lives lead by its people and the differences in scenery added much to my appreciation and enjoyment of the country.

Quito is situated in an inter-mountain valley in the Andes, and as a result of the surrounding topography, it does not receive nearly as much precipitation as the east and west slopes of the Andes. On clear days, a number of volcanoes reaching skyward to nearly 20,000 feet in elevation can be seen. Parts of this inter-mountain valley are quite dry and resemble much of the Southwest US or even drier areas of Montana.But west of Quito on the west slope of the Andes, moisture from the Pacific Ocean banks up against the mountains to form a cloud forest vegetation type with precipitation in excess of 100 inches per year in places. This aerial view gives a perspective of how the moisture laden clouds meet up with the west slope of the Andes.The east slope of the Andes is also quite wet, being influenced by the climate of the the great Amazon Basin. As mentioned in previous blogs, the Epiphytes that adorn many of the trees on the east slopes add great beauty and diversity to this region.On the surface, Quito, a city of nearly 2 million inhabitants, probably looks like many other cities of its size around the world. Below is a photo of Quito from my hotel window. But it is the center of banking, and wealthy families on one hand, and home to many very much less financially fortunate on the other. In the rural areas of the country, there is very little sign of wealth where we visited with the exception of a few quite beautiful, but small resort facilities. This spa and resort facility was located about an hour or two east of Quito at an elevation of about 12,000 feet, near Papallacta Pass. It was not at all busy during our short visit but apparently gets much more business on weekends from wealthy Quito residents. On our first day in Ecuador, we ate lunch at a beautiful old "hacienda" type enclave near the town of Otavalo. This was certainly not typical of life in the country, but a wonderful pause from a day of birding.In rural areas, the homes are quite small and many seem to have small plots of land for gardens and animals. The market place at Otavalo was a rainbow of colors and a great place to to shop for gifts to take home to wives and family who - unfortunately - did not accompany us on this trip. The meals that were served at the lodges we stayed at were excellent, especially at San Isidro Cabanas. One of the owners of this facility - Carmen - had an advanced university degree in the culinary arts, and the gourmet meals served there certainly corroborated that fact!! The black pepper ice cream listed as the desert on this menu -click on it to enlarge - was really delicious!Perhaps in contrast (but maybe not), the meal of roast pig served on a Sunday in this town of Calacali was likely a special treat to its residents, although it did not look especially appetizing to me. The yellow "cakes" seemed to be some sort of corn or maybe potato dish. This town of Calacali was also the site of a monument to the Equator. Ecuador is equator in Spanish. That is John Shipley standing on my right. John organized this trip for me through his Kingfisher Bird Tours company and I was very pleased with the entire itinerary!This is the last Blog in my series on Ecuador. It was really a great trip and I hope to return to Ecuador in the future to visit the Galapagos Islands and perhaps visit some lower elevation lodges in the Amazon Basin. I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed putting it together. This coming summer, I'll be spending about a month on St. George Island of the Pribilof group in the Bering Sea west of Alaska. Although good Internet access there may be problematic, I hope to be able to do a series on my stay there - while I'm there!

Additional Ecuadorian Birds

Besides all of the charismatic and colorful bird species I have focused on in previous blogs, there are, of course, lots of everyday type species that are not especially noteworthy. The following images generally represent species groups that we find commonly in North America. It is interesting that upon the first sighting of most of these species, one can get a pretty good idea of what group/family they belong to because of experience with and knowledge of their North American relatives. General shape and appearance, plus behavior, seem to be the primary characteristics that evoke this familiarity.

For those of you who are birders, and maybe some who are not, one quick glance at this bird should give you a hint that it is shaped much like our robin. It is a Great Thrush, larger, but very closely related to our robin!This species hoped around on the ground a lot and it was quite common. It is a Rufous-collared Sparrow, very similar in habitat preference and behavior to many of our sparrows.Although we are used to seeing members of this family gleaning insects in trees, some members of the group prefer ground feeding and this is one of them. This is a Russet-crowned Warbler.This warbler species is a tree dweller and similar in behavior to our American Redstart. One of the interesting aspects of my trip was the number of North American breeding warblers that we saw. Among the most abundant of these were the Blackburnian and Canada Warblers, with fewer numbers of Black-and-white, Blackpoll, American Redstart, and Tropical Parula. The following is a Spectacled Whitestart.Owls are always of interest, even with non-birders. We saw only three species, including this Rufescent Screech-Owl that came easily to a recorded call one evening after dinner while staying at Las Gralarias Lodge and Reserve One other interesting owl we saw was at San Isidro Cabanas and is referred to mostly as the San Isidro Owl. The species of this owl has yet to be determined, but some relatively recent DNA sampling will hopefully lead to a conclusion in the near future. A Short-eared owl was the only other species observed.

This species may be an exception to familiarity leading to partial ID, but I had seen it previously in SW Mexico so determined rather quickly that it was a Masked Tityra.A Cinnamon Flycatcher - the color certainly aided in the ID of this one.This is a group with which I was not very familiar, but it belongs to the Tanagers, one of the most abundant groups in Ecuador with over 130 species. It is a Masked Flowerpiercer.Of course, you all know to which group this pair belongs, but the habitat they are found in is a bit different. These are Torrent Ducks and they are found year-round in very steep gradient rivers and streams, perhaps similar to our Harlequin Ducks. If you click on the image to enlarge it, note the relatively large feet that surely are indicative of the very swift waters they inhabit.Birders could make a very good guess as to this species - an Ecuadorian Rail. It was recently split off as a separate species from our Virginia rail.I included this image more for the setting than the species - a Russet-backed Orependula. The Epiphytes that adorn many or most of the trees in the Ecuadorian Andes often provide a truly idyllic setting for viewing birds. Again, click on the image to get a better feel for the vegetative "decorations" on this tree.And finally, another species that can rather easily be placed in its proper family by its shape and raucous behavior is the Inca Jay. Numbers of them would gather each morning near the vegetation surrounding the San Isidro Lodge buildings to feast on the moths that had been attracted to the lights the previous night.
This concludes the bird images that I will post in this Ecuador series. My concluding episode will focus on the overall view of the scenery of Ecuador - that I hope to experience again in the near future!

Hummingbird Heaven in Ecuador

Hummingbirds really are fantastic! They are beautiful, photogenic, and very cooperative - at least most of them. And Ecuador is blessed with over 130 species of hummers. We saw about 50 species in our 11 or so days of looking, and I got photo images of perhaps 25-30 of those species. While many of the images were of birds sitting at feeders, a setting that I am not very fond of, some species were quite accommodating by sitting at other nearby sites. More hummer images - and other Ecuador bird species - can be viewed on my Flickr Site.

While hummers in general may not display the variety of colors that other groups possess, I think it must be the iridescence of their feathers that makes many of them so attractive to me. Given the right lighting conditions, some look like they have a light bulb inside of them. Others may not be especially colorful or iridescent, but they have unique features like the very long bill on the swordbill hummers or the long tail feathers on the Sylphs. I did manage to get some video of a swordbill hummer coming to a feeder - preceded by several other species. Hopefully, the video will play on your computer. Sometimes on mine, it stops several times before restarting.

Sword-billed Hummingbird - bill seems to be about twice the length of the body. We saw these at several different locations. The following 3 images are Violet-tailed Sylphs - certainly near the top of my list of favorites. The range of colors on the Violet-purple Coronets was among the best of any species and they were very cooperative, often sitting fewer than 10 feet away from me.When the lighting was just right, Sparkling Violetears did just that - sparkled with an amazing brilliance that could be seen from quite a distance.The Shining Sunbeams did not come to feeders so we had to find a cooperative one feeding on flowers, in this case fuchsias. I could not get a shot of a Sapphire-vented Puffleg away from a feeder, so this image will have to do of this very regal looking hummer.The Gorgeted Sunangles were little guys!And the Fawn-breasted Brilliants were pretty common in some locations.This is about the only shot I got of an Empress Brilliant.Collared Incas added some variety with their white throats or "collars". Note the purple top spot.Chestnut-breasted Coronets were extremely tame and at one point, one tried to find some nectar in my ear! This image was taken with the little point-and-shoot camera I had with me. Buff-tailed Coronets were also quite common in places. They had a habit of keeping their wings open for a few seconds when they landed. These little Booted Racket-tails were another species high on my list of favorites. The "boots" and the long tail made this one very easy to ID - not one easily forgotten!Now it is time to try the video. There will be several species at the feeder before the swordbill hummer shows up. Hopefully it will play OK for you!

My next Blog in this series will show the Peoples Faces of Ecuador.

Ecuador - Faces of the People

When traveling to different countries in the world, it is always interesting to people watch. To me, this is a great way to get a "feel" for the country and what sort of lives they live. Ecuador was a fine example of this. Quito is a large city - over 2,000,000 residents - that shows wealth and poverty in the faces of its citizens, with poverty being dominant. In a general way, this may not differ much from the US and Western Europe, but in degree, there may be large differences. Many of the homes people live in seem to be quite small and still under construction. This may be due to what I understand is a law that spares owners from real estate taxes while their home is still under construction. Once you leave the city, there is very little sign of wealth, with most people living in quite small homes and almost everyone with a small garden space, or a relatively small farm with land cleared for grazing.

Differences in the dress of distinct native cultures also are evident. Spanish culture seems to be much more prevalent in the cities than in the countryside. Notice the variations in dress and head wear on some of the accompanying images. One wonders if these distinctions in culture will survive many more generations. In spite of the apparent poverty in rural areas, the people were generally well dressed and cleanly clothed.

Notice the light colored eyes on this elderly lady.Rubber boots are the norm for rural residents, especially farmers.
And transportation by horse or mule is the standard. Several times, we encountered individuals carrying large 10-gallon milk containers on their backs.As in all countries, the children are beautiful!
The head wear on this lady was different from others we had seen. She was tending livestock at Yanacocha, elevation about 12,000 feet.
The back of small pickup trucks were often filled with passengers headed to "town" for the day.
At the famous marketplace town of Otavalo, there were lots of "bargains" available. Our visit there was on a rainy afternoon, so there were few people shopping. But the different cultures and financial status of the booth owners and shoppers there was fairly obvious.

A few dollars a day was probably a good income for some of the locals.
Our driver -Nestor Alban - people watches while he waits for us to complete some shopping at Otavalo Market.All the people we met and associated in Ecuador were friendly. It was a great introduction to a country and multiple cultures I was not familiar with!