Ecuador day 10

Digital recording (on minidisc) the calls of a Pauraque
from outside a cabin at Tandaloma lodge

22 February - Friday. We woke to clear skies today and at 6am we drove for a second visit to ‘Progresso’ road and made stops on the main road for a couple of hours before returning to the lodge for breakfast.

Passing through the small town of Lita

Typical roadside view passing through rural settlements

At the Lita Woodpecker site

Today was moving-day and at 9.30 we first caught up with the Lita Woodpecker near the town of Lita and witnessed a pair close to the highway preparing a nesting hole. We managed some useful digiscoped video of the pair in action! We then went back to the Tilapia fish farm, staying until around mid-day and were lucky enough to get excellent views of the Scarlet-and-white Tanager in still, sunny conditions. As we climbed out of the lower Choco we made a detour to a small gully in the forest where we found 2 displaying male Red-capped Manakins on a thin branch some 15 feet off the forest floor.

Back to the Tilapia Farm

Sun halo (image by EJP)

Anyone think this is some sort of Protea? Wrong!

Another interesting blossom (image by EJP)

Unidentified butterfly (image by EJP)

We lunched at the 7 Waterfalls Lodge and with showers chasing us we pushed on to the Chorlavi Lodge in Ibarra for our next overnight stop.

Lunch with a view

View at lunch

Can be very muddy

Searching in vain for Choco Vireo Vireo masteri

Track heading down to the old railway line

Bamboo poles

Large-billed Seedeater

More roadside views through the windscreen

The highway up to Ibarra

A side road as we head into the central valley on the way to Ibarra

Fabulous stream side blossom

Bromeliads are everywhere!

Typical Andean stream torrent

Roadside stopoff on the way to Ibarra

We arrived early enough at Chorlavi Lodge to spend time walking around the extensive and productive grounds. The Lodge itself was a delight - comfortable rooms harking back to the time of cattleman's’ haciendas with wonderful old furniture, paintings and family exhibits and trophies. We ate in one of several large dining rooms redolent of past times and slept luxuriously in big iron bedsteads: even the cooler air couldn’t dim our enjoyment.

Bromeliads growing profusely along the telephone wires.
At a distance thought they were hirundines!

Evocative view of township hugging the lower slopes of the Andes

Andes foothills approaching Ibarra

The total for species recorded today was 101 with the extraordinary high figure of 31 recorded as heard only. Those species encountered today but at no other time included Lita Woodpecker, Scaled Pigeon, Plain-breasted Hawk, Barred Hawk, Western Wood-Pewee, Red-capped Manakin, Scarlet-and-white Tanager, White-shouldered Tanager and Large-billed Seedeater. Heard today but recorded at no other time were the Little Cuckoo, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Pacific Tuftedcheek and Ruddy Foliage-gleaner. Birds seen that were specially numerous included Maroon-tailed Parakeet, Blue-headed Parrot, Pale-vented Pigeon, Roadside Hawk, Cattle Egret, Black Vulture, Southern Rough-winged Swallow and Lemon-rumped Tanager.