Peter James Fullagar

Rocky Mountains Trails

2009-05-15T11:35:00.009+10:00

Blue Grouse

8th May. David and I head off north for a walk in the mountains. We go to Estes for breakfast at 'The Egg and I' then head up to Bear Lake from where we wanted to walk to Dream lake or beyond but we find that the snow is still widespread and the tracks far too icy.

David at Bear Lake

We move down to the Alberta Falls trail and chance upon a fantastic Blue Grouse right beside the walking trail and only 100 m from the start! We head on down to see if we can see the falls and find the grouse still alongside the trail when we return - despite other walkers unknowingly passing by within metres of it! Lots of pictures taken. There was still too much snow and ice and anyway the trail was short so we decide to try for a walk up to Cub Lake which proved to be excellent with a 6.4 km round trip. We saw few birds but several mammals and two lively Garter Snakes! Species seen included: Spotted Ground Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, Colorado Chipmunks, Yellow-bellied Marmots, Elk and a Coyote! The next day, 9th May, was mostly spent at Cherryvale except for a walk in the mountains with David and Alice. Up Gregory Canyon, across E M Geenman and back down Saddle Rock. Good but no birds!

DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS

2009-05-14T22:09:00.011+10:00

7th May. Tracey, James and I head into Denver this morning to have a look at the Botanic Gardens. Unfortunately we had overlooked the fact that a giant plant sale was to occur at the weekend and the gardens were to be closed this afternoon in preparation. Masses of trestle tables and marquees being set up but we had an hour to rush round and find as many of the dinosaurs as we could! James was enraptured and ran here and there to discover each model.

There was a lot of work going on at the gardens with many new facilities being installed. New buildings and new exhibits. This dinosaur idea is a good one to link past flora with the age of reptiles using contemporary examples of plants that link back to that era.

More pictures at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsham/sets/72157618078641157/

Mid-week Bird walk with the 'Roadrunners'

2009-05-08T00:50:00.006+10:00

Walked to the recreation Centre at 07:00 this morning to join today's outing with the Roadrunners - the Wednesday morning group of the Boulder Bird Club. We headed out to the Eldorado Canyon and then took a leisurely walk up the Towhee trail to the junction with the Mesa trail down which we returned to the car park. In all we were out for about 3 hours. A good turn up for the first Wednesday walk of the year with more than 20 participants. We saw something like 35-40 species depending on where you where in the pack at the time! I think I saw most of what was spotted. I enjoyed the Black-headed Grosbeak, several Orange-crowned Warbler (what a misnomer!), hearing and seeing a Vesper Sparrow, a Lazuli Bunting and finally a gorgeous Baltimore Oriole singing and blossom searching in the tall trees of the car park area. I walked back from the Centre using the same South Boulder Creek trail - The Bobolink Trail - that I had used earlier in the day, but no Bobolink yet reported. Earlier in the day I had the unusual experience of hearing a cock Ring-necked Pheasant call from the rough pasture to the east of the trail, however, I did not see it.

More pictures at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsham/sets/72157617740022091/

Returning down the Mesa trail

The Bobolink Trail along South Boulder Creek

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

DENVER ART MUSEUM

2009-05-06T10:32:00.013+10:00

A fun day in town visiting the art museum with a quick look at some of downtown Denver. Best thing in the museum was the 'Red Foxes' in the modern art section! There were many other galleries ranging across time with very good exhibits of North American Indian art and fine collections from eastern Asia with interesting exhibits of Chinese art and craft along with those of Korea, Japan and elsewhere from the region. Some good examples of European art through the ages. A nice Edward Lear and some Monet.

Views of the new extension to the Denver Art Museum

Work on part of the roof to the new extension!

View from one of the interconnecting walkways at the Denver Art Museum

A really good provincial art gallery with many clever ideas. It is a large collection spread over several interconnected buildings. Each floor had one or more areas for study set up with relevant reference books and videos with plenty of places to sit and read or investigate further the theme of that gallery or floor. Lots of thing to inspire kids and some clever interactive spaces for them. A dramatic building design for the new extension! I liked the settee set in the Entrance Hall!

More pictures at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsham/sets/72157617670022463/

Seating in the entrance foyer of the Denver Art Museum

Downtown Denver

Colorado and New Jersey 2009

2009-05-05T12:02:00.030+10:00

A panorama of the Gunnison Sage-Grouse Lek at Siskadee. There are about 9 males that should be visible in this landscape, however, they are all across the far side of the foreground flats!

Back in the USA!

I fly out of Canberra on Thursday 30th April - Helen takes me to the airport and the flight connexions with United Airlines are all smooth with a 40 minute gain on the Sydney to San Fransisco leg but a hour lost on the next leg to Denver. All the same, I am greeted by James and Tracey meeting me at the airport and I am back in Boulder by early evening.

The first two days are overcast with drizzle some of the time. It is cold and uninspiring.

Our first planned outing is for Tracey and me to head down to Gunnison for the weekend of 2nd-3rd May to see if we can catch up with viewing Gunnison Sage-Grouse at a nearby lek. David is left with James who is unlikely to want to sit in a car for 5 hours there and again back, let alone go out out long before dawn in the freezing cold and sit in a car for several more hours! The rules are that you must arrive at the Sisk-a-dee site one hour before dawn and never leave the car until all grouse have departed. Best not to have a hot coffee before departure!

Some Rock Mountains Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis right alongside the road on the way to Gunnison!

We stay at the Water Wheel Inn on the west side of Gunnison alongside US highway 50 and dine at the associated restaurant The Trough on Saturday evening. Both are very satisfactory and the Water Wheel Inn gives a discount for birdwatcher - would you believe! A huge (10 oz) sirloin steak and some pork ribs served in fascinating surroundings fill us up! We both have unsettled nights and wonder what exactly it was that might have bothered us both. Tracey blames the gin in the gin and tonic we both had before the meal but I am uncertain that was the cause although it was a common denominator!

We are up at 0415 and out to the site which is on highway 50 to the east of Gunnison about 16 miles. the special viewing platform is at a turnoff north (left hand side) on country road 887 to Waunita hot Springs. This is about 0.5 mile short of Doylesville. The viewing platform (parking area) is only half a mile off the highway. There is a small trailer parked for groups to use but it is said to be much colder than staying in your car! There is a portaloo for use AFTERWARDS!

Part of a poster at the viewing platform

We settle in for the wait for dawn. A volunteer guide is parked ahead of us and another car draws up with two locals who, we later find out, thought it was about time they came out to see these Sage-Grouse!

The main area of the Gunnison Sage-Grouse lek at Siskadee. There should be about 9 males visible displaying in this view but you would be hard pressed to find them! The fenceline at the back has a wooden style-like construction and at least three males are to the left and about 10 metres in front of it.

It is all quiet except for the drumming and bleating of Wilson's Snipe displaying over the marshy areas alongside us to the east. Scanning in the very first glimmer of light I can eventually make out the shapes of some Sage-Grouse. It is cold and very overcast but not raining and perfectly still. At about 0550 the first Sage-Grouse are now obvious to us and we watch as they strut about, puff themselves up and spread their spiky tails in display. We really cannot hear them despite the calm conditions because they are so far off! It is good with the Swarovski 10x42 bins but the Zeiss telescope comes into its own for better viewing though a little awkward balanced on the car window without a proper car bracket (I left mine at home because it is bulky and weighty). I take some pictures at ISO 1600 and they work out OK except no way can you honestly say you can see any grouse on any of them! In all we think we accounted for 19 males and 3, perhaps 4 females. One by one and sometimes in small groups they depart with strong straight flap and glide flights. They are huge and lumbering in flight and have extraordinarily long pointed tails. All fly OUR way! They pass just to the north of us across the road. So much for them worrying about the viewers! Dawn is at 0606 and all have gone by 0630. We get out of the cars and stretch and compare notes and then Tracey and I return to the Water Wheel Inn for a light breakfast.

Looking across the marsh to south east from the viewing platform. Wilson's Snipe here but no Sage-Grouse lek

Portaloo, trailer and our cars parked at the viewing platform

We head back to Boulder on route 50 crossing Monarch pass at 11,312' to Poncha Springs then turn north to Buena Vista. On the next leg along route 285 to Dinosaur Ridge at Morrison we see some good large mammals - plenty of Elk (Red Deer); Mule Deer and Pronghorns, some right up against the roadside. Surprisingly, we also spot a few Yak with some cattle! We had seen some Bighorn Sheep on the way to Gunnison. While having our morning coffee in Buena Vista we had been told by the cafe assistant that occasionally a Bison or two can now be seen sometimes along this route. No luck for us today but the Yak was some compensation I suppose. We are back at Cherryvale Road by 2:30 PM.

A herd of wild Elk Cervus (elephas) canadensis

A Pronghorn antelope Antilocapra americana. Both sexes have horns!

More pictures can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsham/sets/72157617623560581/

On Monday 4th May I take a leisurely walk in the morning around some of the wetlands at Walden Swamp. The water levels are very low despite it now being springtime. There was a distinct passage of Yellow-rumped Warblers in progress and I did find at least one Yellow Warbler and a Yellowthroat. Red-winged Blackbirds were beginning to hold territories and display to each other. I saw one Eastern Kingbird and a delightful group of Buffleheads with many displaying. The head pattern on the male becomes almost pure white when it is puffed up to the extent that the white cheeks almost obscures the dark crown. Beautiful little ducks! A good morning of birding and a reasonable selection of photographs resulting!

More pictures can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelsham/sets/72157617624712467/

American Robin

Eastern Kingbird

Red-winged Blackbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Cherryvale for Christmas 2008

2008-12-20T10:33:00.051+11:00

Cherryvale in the snow

Three ducks

One of the backyard hens still laying despite the cold

FIRST TWO WEEKS

Back in Boulder for Christmas. I arrived on 5th December and Iain, Kate and Rohan joined us briefly for four days arriving on the 9th. They were passing through on their way to New York for a week and will return on 21st. Andrew and Lachlan arrived from Los Angeles on the 18th but their flight was much delayed and they only got in after midnight at Denver. David collected them on a very late run to the airport.

It has snowed twice in the two weeks that I have been here! In between it was very cold with temperatures down to -20C over several days and almost all ponds froze over. They will possibly not now thaw until well after Christmas. Much of the time has been spent in preparations for Christmas which will be spent in a lodge up at Winter Park in the rocky Mountains not far to the west of Boulder. Birding is hard at this time of year and walks often yield few birds actually seen! Tracey, James and I joined the Sunday monthly bird walk with the Boulder Bird Club on 7th at Walden Ponds. About 15 to 20 members turned up but we did not accompany them for more than the first half hour preferring to go at our own pace and let James do his own thing. Had a talk to several of the members all the same.

Canada Geese are back and the typical flocks are seen flying over or grazing alongside the roadways especially in Denver near the Zoo and alongside the Denver Museum.

Part of a flock of more than 1000 Canada Geese on the ovals

outside the Denver Museum on 18th December

In the garden there are several birds to see. A couple of Northern Flickers, maybe three birds in fact, visit often as does a Downy Woodpecker and less often a Hairy Woodpecker. Also seen occasionally is a White-breasted Nuthatch. American Robin is not often seen in the garden in fact rarely visible anywhere. A good number of House Finches visit daily - maybe up to 20 or more and so do House Sparrows in much the same numbers. Lesser Goldfinch come in most days in twos and threes and up to three Black-capped Chickadee visit the seed hoppers ever so briefly from time to time throughout the day. They always seem to dart in and stay at the food tray for no more than a few seconds and away.

Northern Flicker

Male Northern Flicker - note the red malar stripe

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Three male House Finches

A Lesser Goldfinch with two House Finches at the feeding tray

Male House Sparrow.

I have noticed some individuals with heavy mite infestations about the eyes (see next picture)

Male House Sparrow with heavy mite infestation round its eyes

Blue Jay. An occasional visitor to the yard. Rather nervous.

At least tow birds have been seen.

Black-capped Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

Other species seen occasionally at Cherryvale are Starling (but very few), Black-billed Magpie, Blue Jay (two birds at least in the garden) and infrequently a Dark-eyed Junco.

Early on (7th) I saw a few ducks at Walden Ponds - Goldeneye, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon and Mallard but once the ponds froze they could no longer find anywhere to go. Also seen on the first visit to Walden was a Greater Yellowlegs. Both times I have been to Walden Ponds I have seen a Northern Shrike (7th and 17th). Very little else seen either visit and certainly almost nothing was found on the 17th.

Walden ponds on the 19th - all frozen over

Lots of Mallard at the Zoo on 11th and I noted that EVERY female had plain tertials. There were hundreds packed in on several of the ponds. Not a single barred or patterned tertial to be seen while all of the males were, as expected for the time of the year, in superb plumage. Females in Alternate plumage (?) at this time suggesting that they move towards BASIC plumage when on nests with a post BASIC full wing moult. Males are also in Alternate but change to a brief BASIC plumage during full wing moult AFTER breeding then quickly revert to Alternate. Seems perfectly reasonable to me (contra Peter Pyle, 2005, Waterbirds 28(2): 208-219).

Splendid drake Mallard

Duck Mallard with spectacular plain tertials!

[These females were inciting often or gag-gaging to stir up the drakes!]

An occasional Bald Eagle has been seen. An adult headfing slowly S over South Boulder Creek on the 13th was in splendid afternoon light. It had flushed all the Canada Geese off the Baseline reservoir before coming into sight. An immature was seen circling low over the Power Station reservoirs on the 19th. The Hillcrest reservoir on the 19th had a good number of Common Merganser (properly known as Gooseanders), some American Coot, Green-winged Teal and scattered Goldeneye and Ring-necked Ducks (at least I could pick out the males) and probably some other waterfowl not spotted at the range I was scanning from the hill. Strangely I saw no gulls. In fact gulls have not been abundant anywhere and only small numbers of Ring-billed Gull have been seen - often single birds flying over.

A Belted Kingfisher was seen during my first walk along South Boulder Creek trail on 6th and another at Walden Ponds on the 7th but none were seen after that date.

A Northern Harrier was seen on 12th and 13th quartering fields between Cherryvale road and the South Boulder Trail and American Kestrels have been seen here and there. One Kestrel took a large rat (Rattus norvegicus) from less than 20m in front of me as I was leaving South Boulder trail near Baseline road late in the afternoon of 15th. I heard the smack as the Kestrel, a female or first year bird, struck its victim on the ground in the open amongst snow and low vegetation and watched with amazement as it managed to lift the prey and head off towards some trees across the road. I caught up with it and watched as it steadily set about its capture head first. The hind legs of the rat were still kicking at first but soon it was dispatched. The body of the rat equalled that of the size of the Kestrel. The rat had only a short tail and this at first confused me in my identification of it but I am certain it was a Brown Rat. Several Red-tailed Hawk have been seen most days and on the 11th there was a Harlan's Hawk (subspecies of Red-tailed breeding in Alaska that is usually very dark and lacks rufous colour in tail) at Walden ponds but I did not see it.

Feral Pigeons are seen in Boulder and in Denver and it is while in town that I usually see American Crow and often a few Common Raven although Ravens are seen often elsewhere in small numbers and I have spotted small flocks of Crows along Cherryvale road opposite the Reservoir. A small flock of about 10-15 Red-winged Blackbird flying west across the fields near South Boulder Creek in the late afternoon on the 11th has been the only time I have seen this species during these first two weeks. I presume they were heading to a roost site somewhere near or beyond the Recreation center.

Tracey, Kate, Rohan, James and myself visited Denver Zoo on the 11th in cold but clear conditions. Some interesting animals to photograph as usual. I like this Zoo in winter when the crowds are not here and we can have the place more or less to ourselves.

Munching Giraffe!

African Crowned Crane

James (above) and Rohan at the Komodo Dragon exhibit

The Komodo Dragon

Cheetah

Kori Bustard in snow!

Arctic Fox in winter pelage

We have also been to the Denver Museum (18th) to view the special Dinosaur exhibit - unfortunately photography was not allowed so I have no images to post!

Lastly the numbers of Eastern Fox Squirrel coming into the garden to feed on the spillage below the bird feeders reached a maximum of 8 individuals on the 19th. Usually it seems that only two squirrels are commonly present in the backyard at Cherryvale.

Views along South Boulder Creek trail - The Bobolink Trail

James sploshing about in the creek

Note the tick on this squirrel's cheek

Some of the many Fox Squirrels

Chifley Chronicle #16

2008-11-09T10:17:00.003+11:00

Roses in the garden - a montage from early summer.

Chifley Chronicle #15

2008-09-06T10:17:00.013+10:00

September 2008

A mob of 16 Eastern Grey Kangaroo outside the garden to the west

A cheeky King Parrot on the gutter above the feeder

King Parrot red

Chifley Chronicle #14

2008-08-26T14:02:00.009+10:00

Crimson Rosella at one of my feeders
August 2008

Not a lot happening this month. Several species of parrot have been visiting whenever I put out sufficient seed for them in the feeders! There is always a bunch of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo that spot a free feed almost immediately. Uncanny! They are dominant bullies by virtue of their bulk but otherwise I have a group of Crimson Rosella with splendid coloured adults and a group of young in transition plumage between the green of the immature and the full red and blue of the adult. Maybe these are a family party with late young from last season still associating with parents.

Crimson Rosella in transition plumage

A small band of about half a dozen Gang-gang call in some days, usually late in the afternoon. A pair of Eastern Rosella in spectacular plumage zip through hastily now and again. Their stay at the feeder is short. They rarely seem to hang about for long and appear to be more nervous than the Crimsons. Also regular at the feeders are several King Parrot - maybe up to a 8-10 individuals. Again, their plumage at this time is immaculate. A few Galah occasionally visit the feeders, although like most of the species mentioned so far they do visit other neighbouring gardens and Galah, especially, can be abundant at times ( I mean up to 50+!)only a couple of blocks away from my place.

Male Gang-gang

Female Gang-gang

Two Crested Pigeon seem to be nesting somewhere close by but I haven't discovered exactly where. I take it they are nesting because a bird is often calling from an elevated spot in my garden; usually high up in my Tulip Tree. Much the same could be said about Magpies; they are now chortling away before dawn which is a sure sign that breeding is underway but I have not yet spotted them nest building. I may have missed it and if so then I am not aware of where they have their nest. Mention of spotting, it seems that the Spotted Pardalote that was often so noisy last month has gone. At least I have not heard it of late. By the end of the month at least one White-eared Honeyeater was seen in the garden on several days. Passing through no doubt. As was the occasional Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. Pied Currawong do not now seem to have a territory that includes my plot but on several days the typical wandering mob of noisy birds has been in the area or passing through the garden constantly calling "see-you" along with other typical flock calls. Red Wattlebirds must be nest building or about to do so because they are becoming more aggressive, calling a lot - including loud duetting and giving regular pre-dawn calls at least during this last week or so. Other notable species include the regular occurrence of some Weebills in the front garden area and a party of Superb Fairy-wrens that visit often. Laughing Kookaburra call nearby most mornings early in the day but have not visited for a while. That just about sums it up.
No Magpie-larks, Eastern Spinebills, Silvereyes or whistlers this month that I can recall and the Australian Ravens never put in appearances these days. It's a long time since I saw a Blackbird in the garden and none are singing at present. My last observation must have been back in June or possibly in early July. House Sparrow were often in the garden last month but again this species seems to have passed on. They often occurred in numbers up to 15-20 on some days, particularly in the back garden, but have apparently abandoned my place of late. It is a long time since I last saw White-winged Chough in the garden and Noisy Miner have not been seen of late despite being regular visitors a month or so ago whenever they did their rounds of the district. They would seem to relish a wash in the bird-bath whenever they came into D'Arcy Place. Indian Myna are now infrequently seen in the garden - no doubt because their numbers have been reduced locally by the concerted efforts of a Canberra based group dedicated to their eradication. The local anti-Myna brigade work under the title of CIMAG - Canberra Indian Myna Action Group and I believe they have removed more than 20 000 birds over the last two years! They have been trapping them in the belief that they can be eradicated from the city. The Indian Myna is viewed as an unwanted introduced species and therefore a pest. It is supposed to compete for nest holes with other less able native hole nesting species. In the bigger picture I am unsure of this claim and I am not sure their persecution has any useful ecological value in the long term. About as useful as trying to eradicate Common Starling by the same method. Starlings also use holes! All too late to have any real chance of success anyway and without doubt recolonization will follow any down turn in the local population. Indian Mynas are not being targeted nationally and are now so widespread that this approach is obviously doomed. It seems about as pointless as trying to eradicate European Rabbits also by trapping.

Some of the gang of thieves! Cocky Sulphur-crested Cockatoos

Grey Kangaroos and Flame Robins

2008-08-25T17:57:00.011+10:00

Eastern Grey Kangaroo - at rest!

Male Flame Robin

Yankee Hat

Afternoon walk on August 24th 2008

A pleasant afternoon walk across the grasslands from the car park at Yankee Hat, Namadgi Nature Reserve, to as far as a liitle beyond the first hill after the Gudgenby river crossing. Mavis Russell was visiting from Nowra and we decided to go looking for some robins. so we drove down to the bottom of Namadgi Nature Reserve.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

A chill light breeze was blowing from the north but it was calm on the southern sides of the ridges. It was a cool (ca 9C) but sunny afternoon. Large numbers of Eastern Grey Kangaroo were grazing with many of them close to the trail. We estimated at least 300 but quite possibly there might have been more. However, we saw no robins until a Flame Robin was spotted at the point where we had decided to turn back. A brilliant male but he appeared to be on the move and quickly disappeared northwards. A lone Spotted Pardalote called briefly from the somewhere at the top of the wooded hilltop just before we saw this Flame Robin but precious little else was seen or heard except for a large mob of Yellow-rumped Thornbills (ca 20) nearer to the Gudgenby and probably three bands of Superb Blue Wrens, with only one definite male although he was only just beginning to colour-up. Surprisingly, we did not come across any honeyeaters or Silvereyes. A few Little Raven (ca 10) were foraging about in the marshy area upstream from the boardwalk across the river but at least two Australian Raven were heard calling in the distance to the east and a pair of Brown Falcon were noisily displaying far to the south of this point as we began to saunter back to the car. A few Crinia signifera were calling near the slow moving stream that was the Gudgenby and most of the extensive wetland area upstrwam from the bridge still looked very dry and brown.

Little Raven

We were perhaps 300 m from the trail-head when we came across a whole lot of birds ! A large party of noisy Eastern Rosella was moving about from tree to tree on the skyline to the north and we spotted at least three Common Bronzewings together on the ground but probably 5 birds in total if two others seen flying a few moments earlier were not part of that group. Suddenly we saw a male Flame Robin not far in front of us close to the path but he too was soon passed us going northwards. almost immediately we then came upon another three males and at least three females but these birds seemed to be more interested in feeding and behaved more typically as they foraged on the sloes near the trail.

Female Flame Robins

More male Flame Robins

We also recorded a Laughing Kookaburra, one or two Pied Currawong, a similar number of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, a dozen or so Australian Magpies, a few Common Starling, a single Australian Pipit and a splendid party of 10-15 Diamond Firetail finches first noticed when feeding on the pathway a short way ahead of us. An enjoyable and rewarding walk. We had started a little after 1400 and we were back at the car shortly after 1700.

Diamond Firetails

Magnificent gnarled gums at the back of the car park

Green Cape 2008

2008-08-11T18:46:00.016+10:00

The Green Cape light station from the headland

Sunrise from the verandah of Cottage 2

View at the Cape

Green Cape - August 4th to August 8th

Mavis Russell discusses some important point with John Disney

Visit by Mavis Russell, John Disney and PJF.

We arrived on Monday 4^th August in the early afternoon and settled into cottage 2, the northern cottage of the duplex. Monday was fine with cloud building in the late afternoon. The sea was calm and few seabirds were observed. Tuesday was grey, wet and windy all day and again few seabirds were to be seen. The cold wind blew at moderate strength from the south west and continued to blow from this direction for the next two days. Wednesday started overcast but cleared by mid day to give long sunny periods in the afternoon with wind strength easing but still persisting from the south west. Thursday morning was calm but overcast and by late afternoon rain and a strengthening wind returned. Friday morning was sunny but few seabirds were evident early in the day. The seas throughout this trip remained mostly placid with only moderate swell at times and there were few occasions when whitecaps were evident. The following map, courtesy of the CSIRO 'point n click sea surface temperature' website, shows the sea temperature conditions at the time of our visit.

Wave washed platform near Pulpit Rock

Rock platform at the bottom of the staircase - Pulpit Rock

We did not venture far on the Monday; visiting the point briefly in the mid afternoon. Wednesday afternoon we walked to the Pulpit rock and back from the main track and on Thursday morning we again left the car at the start of the Pulpit rock track and walked back to the cottages along the light to light trial. PJF had visited the point early in the morning from soon after dawn until 0800hr.

Heath formations at Green Cape and track to Pulpit Rock

Almost nothing was in flower on the heaths with very few Banksia sp. showing fresh flowering spikes and there was little sign of flowering in Leptospermum or Melaleuca. No butterflies were noted.

The following pictures illustrate some of the flowering plants we did find.

Old-man Banksia Banksia serrata

A Donkey Orchid - Diuris sp.

Silky Purple-Flag Patersonia sericea

Needlebush Hakea (sericea?)

Dwarf She-oak Allocasuarina nana - female flowers above and male below

Common Heath Epacris impressa

A small Boronia?

Names and order of birds follow Les Christidis and Walter E. Boles, 2008 Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds (CSIRO: Collingwood).

Birds seen:

Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche malanophris
Single adult birds seen on 5^th and 6^th. Not confirmed to species (melanophris/impavida)

Shy Albatross Thalassarche cauta subsp.
The most numerous species of albatross seen this trip with numbers up to 10-15 seen most days. Separation of Tasmanian Shy Albatross Thalassarche c. cauta and Auckland Shy Albatross Thalassarche c. steadi is not possible.

Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos
Seen every day but fewer than Shy Albatross at all times. Two subspecies occur which are identifiable in the field. Western Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche c. chlororhynchos and Eastern Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche c. bassi. Birds seen were taken to be of the latter subspecies.

Giant-Petrel sp. Macronectes sp.
One immature seen on 5^th and a pale phase Southern Giant-Petrel M. giganteus was seen far out to sea the late morning on 6^th.

Fairy Prion Pachyptila turtur
Two birds identified feeding not far off the point, mid afternoon on 4^th.

Fluttering Shearwater Puffinus gavia
A few birds seen each day. Never in large numbers.

Common Diving-Petrel Pelecanoides urinatrix
Two or possibly a few more seen just before noticing the Fairy Prions on 4^th. They were sitting on the water and making short flights before diving into the face of the waves.

Little Penguin Eudyptula minor
A few heard at sea each day.

Australasian Gannet Morus serrator
Seen every day but not in large numbers and all plumage types from juvenile to adult seen.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster
Two adults and at least one sub-adult seen. Two adult birds calling and circling over the forest north of Pulpit rock trail in the area where a nest site is known to be present. For some of the time they were mobbed by an Australian Raven.

Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus
One seen moving down east side of the Cape towards the point in the late morning of 7^th.

Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides
One bird seen near cottages on 6^th.

Brown Skua Stercorarius antarticus
One bird seen off the point during the morning on 6^th and another seen flying out from Disaster Bay early in the morning on 7^th.

Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii
A few passing back and forth each day at the Cape.

Pacific Gull Larus pacificus
One immature seen on 5^th flying north along the east side of the Cape and one adult seen rounding the point going south early on 7^th.

Silver Gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae
Present at sea each day but never in large numbers.

Superb Fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus
A group of at least 8 present near the cottages each day. At least two coloured males seen; one still obviously in transition moult.

White-browed Scrubwren Sericornis frontalis
One seen near cottages on 4^th.

Brown Thornbill Acanthiza pusilla
A few heard close to Cape 6^th and 7^th.

Little Wattlebird Anthochaera chrysoptera
Recorded each day. Often present in the large Coast Banksia Banksia integrifolia close to the entrance gate. Not very vocal. Not numerous nor conspicuous and not seen elsewhere.

Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata
One seen at the end of the Pulpit Rock trail on 6^th.

The Tawny-crowned Honeyeater

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Glyciphila melanops
One bird seen along Pulpit Rocks trail on 6^th.

New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
None singing. Seen on heath in small numbers during walks on 6^th and 7^th.

Eastern Whipbird Psophodes olivaceus
Heard in dense Melaleuca sp. scrub near Cemetery on several occasions.

Grey Shrike-thrush Colluricincla harmonica
Heard occasionally on heath and one seen during walk on 7^th.

Australian Raven Corvus coronoides
Two birds seen near Cottages and another mobbing the White-bellied Sea-eagles over the forest area on 7^th (see above).

Eastern Yellow Robin Eopsaltria australis
None seen.

Australasian Pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae
One seen near cottages 7^th.

No pigeons were seen, no cormorants, no Sooty Oystercatchers, no parrots, no Southern Emu-wrens and no Striated Fieldwrens. Several other species usually noted at Green Cape were also not observed on this trip.

Mammals and reptiles seen:

Bandicoot sp.
Numerous fresh diggings seen to the cemetery on 7^th.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo Macropus giganteus
One seen near cottages on 6^th.

The Swamp Wallaby at the Cape

Black (Swamp) Wallaby Wallabia bicolour
One seen near the Point on 7^th. Another seen on the walk on 7^th.

Australian Fur Seal Arctocephalus pusillus (doriferus)
The usual loafing group of about 10-15 individuals seen in the water off the Cape every day

European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus
None seen.

Common Dolphin Delphinus delphis
None seen.

Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncates
None seen.

Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae
Two seen moving north on 5^th during the afternoon. No others seen.

Amphibolurus? Sp. (a Dragon sp.) found on Banksia serrata during the walk on 7th.

Tidbinbilla Lyrebirds

2008-08-01T11:15:00.028+10:00

Start of the Camel Back trail at the bottom of our study area
View south in July 2008

July has been a busy month for the 'Lyrebird Team' at Tidbinbilla. Chris Davey, Ed Slater and I have been mulling over how we should best continue with the studies we have been carrying out at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and we have decided it is now time to revise some of our methods and move to other ways of monitoring the Tidbinbilla Superb Lyrebird populations. In particular we have been thinking about better ways to account for the number of lyrebirds on our main study plot.We do not have the time nor the energy to search each spring for all the active nests but we ought to be able to account for the number of singing and territory holding males present in the breeding season. Our automatic sound recording station can no longer provide the necessary data for this purpose but it has fulfilled its role splendidly as an early detection system during the first few years of the re-establishment of the lyrebird population. Multiple stations might solve the problem but that idea is not practicable with our limited resources and time. We need to keep it very simple but robust.

Superb Lyrebirds are spectacular songsters! Their song output is all high energy stuff and is commonly sustained for long bouts of singing, particularly at dawn but again at dusk. In their song they mix distinctive lyrebird elements, including regionally characteristic territorial calls, along with huge amounts of mimicry. They sing in the depths of winter and they sing from within dense mountain forests where the reverberation of sound is magnificent! There are few other birds calling at this time of the year. Listening to lyrebirds is a truly unforgettable experience.

Click the following to hear a short segment of Superb Lyrebird song:

TNR%20hut%20sample.mp3

This recording was made in territory 6 (see later) early in the morning on 29th July this year.

By way of introduction it is probably necessary to mention a few other important features of lyrebirds. First, there are two species. A northern Albert's Lyrebird Menura alberti which is restricted in range to a relatively small area of mountain forests in South-eastern Queensland and far north-eastern NSW. The second species, the Superb Lyrebird Menura novaehollandiae, has a much larger distribution in south-eastern Australia extending within the Great Dividing Ranges and associated coastal wet forests from northern NSW to Melbourne. Superb Lyrebirds have been introduced successfully to Tasmania. This occurred in the 1930s but they are still restricted to the few areas near where they were originally liberated in the south of the island. In Canberra we are near to the western limits of the range of the Superb Lyrebird but, nevertheless, they are widespread in the ranges to the west of the city, at least they were until the disastrous fires of early 2003! It is also important to remember that lyrebirds breed in winter. Females lay a single egg and perform all of the incubation and chick rearing duties. Males indulge in long periods of singing, mostly, in the case of Superb Lyrebirds, from specially prepared stages or courts or mound courts. Again in the case of Superb lyrebirds these are cleared, roughly circular patches of raked soil on the forest floor that are constructed by the male and are kept clear during periods of use. This sort of breeding strategy is often termed lekking and the system of courts spread across a territory, as used by Superb Lyrebirds, has been termed a dispersed lek (see Paul A. Johnsgard 1994 Arena Birds, Smithsonian Inst. Press).

Landsat images of the ACT from before the fire (left) and on the 26th January 2003 (right) when the fire was still burning to the south in the Namadgi National Park (plumes of smoke visible drifting SE). Our study site at Tidbinbilla is marked by the blue arrow on the left-hand image. The white lines indicate the ACT borders with NSW and shows that most of the western half of the Territory was destroyed by this fire

Superb Lyrebird display mound or court - July 2008

Now back to our studies!

We have been trying to follow the recovery of the population of Superb Lyrebirds in the forests surrounding the Tidbinbilla valley following the wildfire that burnt out the whole area in January 2003. In part we have done this by annual one day co-ordinated surveys along all the regular trails within the Nature Reserve. These one-day surveys have been organized each winter since 2004 and have depended on the help of a bunch of enthusiastic volunteers from the Canberra Ornithologists Group. The method certainly gives us an overall idea of distribution and with it some idea of the relative densities of lyrebirds across the valley but to look at population recovery in more detail we decided to concentrate our efforts within an area that had been studied in great detail nearly 50 years ago.

A diagrammatic representation of the Superb Lyrebird territories found in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve during each of the three winter surveys of 2004 (red), 2005 (blue) and 2006 (yellow). The main ridge lines are indicated in brown and the walking trails used for surveying the whole valley are shown in green

Norman Robinson at the weather station near the CSIRO hut on the study site in the 1960s
Our automatic recording station was set up near this point.

Another view of the Tidbinbilla hut. This site was referred to by Norman Robinson as the High Camp. Note the microphone cables running off into the study area. This array of microphones was used to sample the song output from lyrebirds occupying several surrounding territories. Associated cables also lead to thermistors that were used to record air temperature close to selected display mounds in the same territories

Norman Robinson at a Superb Lyrebird's display mound - October 1964

Jim Bell and Charlie Kogon with piles of microphone wire during a clean up at the hut site in September 1967

In the early 1960s Harry Frith and Norman Robinson carried out innovative studies on Superb Lyrebirds at Tidbinbilla. Norman, in particular, developed an interest in the mimicry content of lyrebird song and by applying new techniques of field recording coupled with the newly emerging technologies of bio-acoustics he made significant advances in the understanding of Tidbinbilla Superb lyrebird song structure and particularly the role of mimicry. A newly aquired Kay-elemetrics Sonagraph permitted the spectral analysis of sound samples. Being able to graphically view the frequency and amplitude structure of sound was crucial in characterizing song. This had not been possible before. It was cutting-edge science at that time. Norman worked for CSIRO and with Harry Frith, who was the Chief of the Division of Wildlife Research they established what at the time was a world class wildlife sound laboratory equipped with one of the very first Sonagraph machines. This laboratory was the starting point for the extensive archive of regional wildlife sound recordings that has been inherited by the Australian National Wildlife Collection. With this background it is by far the largest and most comprehensive collection of Australian wildlife sound recordings and, of course, includes an enormous collection of lyrebird material!

Vertical aerial photo-image of the study area at Tidbinbilla taken shortly after the wildfire in January 2003. The main creek lines are highlighted in blue. The Camel Back fire trail is also clearly visible

Again, returning to the Tidbinbilla of today it is important to realize that our present studies have developed from these important earlier investigations. Using information from the CSIRO studies (Robinson and Frith 1981 Emu 81:145-157) and Norman Robinson's preserved field notes (now in the ANWC sound library) we have been able to delineate their original study area above Mountain Creek with some confidence and with this as the starting point we have tried to follow the re-occupation by territory holding males within this particular area. Our aim has been to see how long it takes for numbers to return to those observed years ago by Norman Robinson and Harry Frith.

The creek system in the study area. The altitude difference between the upper and lower sides of this image is a fall of more than 200m. The dots indicate the positions of nests found during the study by Robinson and Frith in the early 1960s

A view in the area where the CSIRO hut had once stood. Remains of the galvanized water tank can be seen. This picture was taken on 8th May 2003 four months after the wildfire. The hut and most of the other associated materials had been removed from the site many years before the fire

The old hut site on 8th May 2003 - four months after the fire. The remnant base-plate for the weather station (see picture above from the 1960s) is visible in the left foreground

Panorama at the hut site (Norman Robinson's High Camp) taken a year after the fire (January 2004). The slow regrowth of ground cover or dense shrub layer is evident

Unfortunately, we were unable to gain access for several months after the devastating wildfire of January 2003 because of the danger of falling burnt timber but eventually we were given permission to make short visits. Initially, the lyrebirds occurring on the study area were easy to detect. This was especially so during the first year because during that time there was almost no ground cover. It was abundantly obvious that few birds were present. Signs of lyrebird activity were found immediately we inspected the study area. Our first question was - where did these surviving lyrebirds come from? Did they survive as residents within the area or were they immigrants from some more distant refugia? We have no idea. Because the wildfire was so widespread and so intense it is difficult to see how they could have survived much better elsewhere. We may never know the answer to this critical question but we have some clues in that the song structure does not seem to have altered very markedly when compared with the recorded songs of earlier years. This suggests that the cultural characteristics have been maintained. For example, the highly distinctive whip-crack call of the Eastern Whipbird Psophodes olivaceus is not included in the list of mimicry we can recognize today nor was it in the past. This is unusual in that Superb Lyrebirds elsewhere throughout their wide range frequently include Eastern Whipbird mimicry but not at Tidbinbilla! There are no Eastern Whipbirds in the Tidbinbilla Valley catchment.

A view into the weather-proof box containing the automatic sound recording equipment used at Tidbinbilla

The gear in the box in July 2008
Some technology improvements and some compromises!

Back to our survey methods. We set up an automatic sound recording station which we then ran for a week each month for the next five years. These 50 or so week-long samples form the basis of our observations on the return of lyrebirds to the study area. Each sample contains a series of 10-second long sound clips taken at half hourly intervals night and day for the whole week. This gives us 48 acoustic samples per day. The analysis of these data is still in progress but it has certainly provided us with a good measure of the intensity of lyrebird calling month by month through this period of five years.

In addition, we have done ground searches across the area to detect lyrebirds. In the early days this was relatively easy and we considered it a reliable method of finding where lyrebirds were active and indeed most times we were pretty sure that all birds were seen. As the vegetation thickened it became increasingly difficult to move about the study area and to see lyrebirds or even find the evidence of their scratchings in the soil which would confirm that they were foraging in particular areas. Ground cover became very dense and this method was clearly becoming impracticable.

We thought about plotting the distribution of display mounds. We tried a transect surveys method to plot sample segments of the area but this proved to be too time consuming and in any event was considered it to be inadequate for determining the number of birds in any reliable way.

The transect trail (2km of the Camel Back Trail) along which we counted singing Superb Lyrebirds in July 2008. Change in elevation from bottom to top was approximately 900m to 1000m ASL.

In July 2008 we decided to do some count surveys along the main trail that leads up through the centre of the study area. We planned to start at dawn and run the trail up and back two or three times. By taking GPS (Global Positioning System) fixes each time we heard a calling lyrebird and by noting the compass bearing to each singing bird from two or more Waypoints we would plot the positions of each singing individual. Numbers of birds detected each transect fell off remarkably quickly after the first two hours following first light and we concluded that it was unrewarding to do more than a single run up and back down the trail. The climb involved a 200 metre difference in altitude so the less often it had to be done the better! We did four consecutive morning counts with two ascents and two descents each morning, thus giving four transect counts per day. The results were spectacularly convincing that we could detect practically all birds in a single run up and down! The following map shows what we concluded to be the distribution of singing males in July 2008.

Waypoints used on the first ascent transect 20th July 2008. Note that waypoint 1 is missing on this map but was at the start point

Plotted positions of singing Superb Lyrebirds across the study site at Tidbinbilla in July 2008. Colours signify plots from different transect runs and different days

Deduced Superb Lyrebird territories constructed from field data (above) collected 19th -22nd July 2008. The size and shape of these territories is arbitrary and does not necessarily represent the true area for any one of them. These representations are purely to indicate the distribution of discrete male territories. Numbering is also arbitrary

To finish here are three more cuts of Tidbinbilla Superb Lyrebird song. This is the male from territory 9 (on the map above) singing at a little after 0800hr on 29th July this year. The three cuts follow in sequence and are continuous but the original was slightly edited.

These recordings, by the way, and the one earlier, were made on a minidisc (Sony Recording MD Walkman MZ-R900) as compressed files, expanded to AIFF files, edited in Peak 4 and then re-compressed to MP3 format using Amadeus ll so they could be added to this blog. Not much loss of detail despite such treatment!

Lyrebird%201.mp3

Lyrebird%202.mp3

Lyrebird%203.mp3

Roll on 2009 and our next Tidbinbilla lyrebird surveys!

Frozen trail-side pool - 24 July 2008

Delaware Bay 2008

2008-05-21T12:07:00.018+10:00

Reed's Beach Houses - high tide
Our main house is behind the blue-grey house on the right;
the second house is out of view on the opposite side of the road.

Shorebirds

May 12^th to June 2^nd

Back again!

As I write this at the end of the first week there is a Carolina Wren singing heartily outside this window not 2 metres away. It is late afternoon. His loud and musical twidgaloo, twidgaloo, twidgaloo, twidgaloo, is ringing in my ears. This is a very common sequence from this bird and I remember it from last year so it may in fact be the same individual. Regular as clockwork he will give it at dawn from a scraggly bush just below the window beside my bed and he seems to be the first bird I hear just on first light. Often it takes 200 repeats of this four note sequence at the start of the day before he switches to another song and maybe a third if he does not move along to another song post beforehand. A Willet is calling in the distance. Fascinating!

Gathering Turnstone near the house at Reed's Beach and wind blown spume

My Carolina Wren

Mockingbird in song at Reed's Beach

I started off a week ago when I headed to Sydney to stay the night with Kate, Iain and Rohan in Erskineville before taking a United Airlines flight across to Boulder (actually to Denver) via San Francisco. I then stayed the night with David, Tracey and James before heading on to Philadelphia. My flight out of Denver was held back because of air traffic problems at Philadelphia caused by high winds following severe storms along the east coast over the past weekend. However, this did not matter to me as I was originally due to arrive some 3 hours ahead of my other Australian colleagues who were due in at about 7pm. Clive Minton, Susan Taylor and Prue Wright came in from Melbourne via Los Angeles. As it happened we arrived at different parts of the terminal and there are several baggage halls to make matters more complicated. Humphrey Sitters eventually found me and, along with Dick Veitch and Larry and Mandy Niles, we all headed to Reed’s Beach. It was raining! We are back in the same two cottages as before and we soon settled in for the first night.

Week one – 12^th - 19^th May

High winds and stormy weather during the week before our arrival has left some very visible signs. The view from the back of the cottage on the first morning was unusual. The marsh was flooded at high tide to an extent that I had not seen before. There was nowhere for secretive marsh birds to go and the rails were wandering along the roadside or were heading to any other high ground they could find.

Remarkably there are few Horseshoe Crabs to be seen this first week. The high tides, wind, rough water and cold conditions seem to have prevented spawning along most of the beaches we normally work on. It takes more than a week for me to see a live horseshoe crab!

By the time we arrived two catches had already been made at Reed’s Beach by Larry’s local team. On the 7^th they caught: Ruddy Turnstone 10 (2); Red Knot 5 and Sanderling 77(2) a total of 92. Then on the 10^th they made another catch: Ruddy Turnstone 72(7); Red Knot 93(12) and Sanderling 59(3) a total of 224. Figures in brackets are retraps.

We get off to a good start on Tuesday 13^th with a small catch just south of the Nordberg’s house, which is about half way along Reed’s Beach road on the Bay side. We process: Ruddy Turnstone 68(6) and Sanderling 20(1) for a total of 88. Then things begin to get frustrating. Difficult conditions including wind and rain and early and late tides add to the fact that we simply cannot find any Red Knot on the usual beaches in sufficient numbers. Our only concentration at first seems to be at Stone Harbor where up to 3000 seems to be gathering at high tides but an all day effort on 15^th at Stone Harbor ended in no catch being possible.

Panorama of Red Knot at Stone Harbor

Red Knot

Tightly packed Red Knot roosting at Stone Harbor

Red Knot in flight at Stone Harbor

Sanderling at Stone harbor

Red Knot flock at Stone Harbor

Luckily by the 16^th we had found Red Knot on our local beaches at Cook's and a catch was possible that day with the following numbers being processed: Ruddy Turnstone 25(4); Red Knot 150(13) and Sanderling 48(12) giving a total of 223. Condition of the Red Knot was remarkable with heavy birds in a reasonably normally distributed spread of weights averaging 140g. This looked good for the birds and confirmed what we had seen at Stone Harbor suggesting that many of the Red Knot looked fat and healthy judging from body profile.

Processing in foul weather at Cook's

Two more catches at Reed’s Beach on the 17^th and 18^th gave us the following numbers processed: 17^th: Ruddy Turnstone 34(10); Red Knot 1 and Sanderling 26(2) for a total of 71. 18^th: Ruddy Turnstone 39(8); Red Knot 38(5) and Sanderling 103(8) for a total of 188.

Red Knot

Shorebird viewing platform at North Reed's Beach

Bird observations can be summaries as follows. Most of this week we have concentrated on trying to find catchable shorebirds and this has limited our exploration to the Reed’s Beach area and Stone Harbor. However, on the 18^th in the afternoon a small group of us visited Belleplain for some birding. We heard Prothonotary Warbler and Red-bellied Woodpecker and saw a Louisiana Water Thrush and a singing Wood Thrush but best of all was a male Yellow-throated Warbler gathering food with a female sitting tight on a nest nearby. Unusually, the nest was at about 4 metres above ground level along a branch and outside a cabin! We also had splendid views of Eastern Towhee and Hooded Warbler and saw a Black-and-white Warbler and a Common Yellowthroat. Eventually we headed up to Heislerville when it began to rain more heavily. At Heislerville on the main pond we saw, despite the fact that it was much fuller than at this time last year, good numbers of shorebirds. A spectacular gathering of at least 3000 Short-billed Dowitchers, lots of Dunlin and Semi-palmated Plovers, good numbers of Semipalmated Sandpipers, several Black-bellied Plovers (c 10) and at least 2 Least Sandpipers. There was a roosting flock of at least 300 Black Skimmers and we spotted a number of other interesting birds including Osprey, Turkey Vultures and a Bald Eagle. The best bird, however, was a superb full summer plumaged Curlew-Sandpiper. It was (as we had half expected) in the same general area that we had seen one using the previous year! Probably the same individual we suspect.

Curlew-Sandpiper

On the 20^th we took the morning off to go to Higbee’s on Cape May Island and then on to the nearby Rea Farm. Specially interesting sightings included a Red-bellied Woodpecker, several Indigo Bunting and a male Blue Grosbeak for comparison. We saw several Northern Cardinal, a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a splendid Yellow-breasted Chat, some Field Sparrow, together with sightings of Orchard Oriole, American Redstart and American Goldfinch and a couple of male and a couple of female Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Northern Cardinal

Male Brown-headed Cowbird

Yellow-breasted Chat

Carolina Chickadee

Indigo Bunting

Tortoise

There have been a few small groups of Brent Geese about the place during this first week but I suspect we are soon to see the last of them. Mostly they have been seen at Stone Harbor or nearby on the Spartina marshes. Three Red-breasted Merganser late in the afternoon at Stone harbor on the 14^th were nice to see and an adult male Long-tailed Duck was also seen in the area a few times but not by me. Other waterfowl have not been noteworthy. I have only seen one Common Loon at Stone Harbor flying over along the ocean side. Groups of Double-crested Cormorants have been seen here and there – mostly at Stone Harbor or flying over at Reed’s Beach, often in flocks of 25-50. Small numbers of Great and Snowy Egrets have been seen here and there with an occasional sighting of a Black-crowned Night-heron and one or two Great Blue Herons. However, we have seen several small groups of Glossy Ibis. A Northern Harrier was seen a couple of times quartering the marshes at Stone Harbor but no other diurnal raptors have been particularly noteworthy. I have the impression that so far I am not seeing the numbers of Osprey that I would expect, particularly on the road across the marshes to Stone Harbor. This may be due to the windy overcast condition that prevailed for much of this first week. Clapper Rails have been seen along the roadsides a few times, but no doubt this was due to the high tides flooding them out of the marshes!

Other noteworthy comments about shorebirds would be that Piping Plovers lost a many nest in the gales and high seas a week ago but several sites made it through and relaying is now under way. American Oystercatcher followed the same pattern. This is mainly at Stone Harbor where we most often seen these species. I have not seen many Killdeer Plovers so far this trip and Willet have been remarkably undemonstrative up to now but again conditions have not been very favourable for them. The Laughing Gulls have lost their first attempt at laying and despite being raucous and conspicuous everywhere they have rarely been concentrated on the beaches. I saw only one Least Tern feeding in the Bidwell river mouth on the 20^thand few Forster’s Terns were established at the regular sites although they were beginning to do so by the end of the week. Common Tern arrived in some numbers by 15^th when about 20-30 were roosting on Champagne Island at Stone Harbor. Other gulls and terns were not noteworthy although I have seen both Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull in some numbers, mostly sub-adults on the beaches. Ring-billed Gull and Royal Tern have been scarce. I have seen Gull-billed Tern once.

A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was seen at Higbee’s on 20^th along with a Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a Belted Kingfisher. A few Chimney Swift were also seen on 20^th.

Several Great Crested Flycatchers were seen either at Belleplains or Higbee’s along with Eastern Wood-Peewee, Eastern Kingbirds and Acadian Flycatcher and of particular interest was the finding of up to three or more Willow Flycatchers at Higbee’s on 20^th. Also calling loudly at Higbee’s was Carolina Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse.

Fish Crow again seem to be the only crow to be found on Cape May itself. Purple Martin were active at some ‘martin houses’ near our base camp at Reed’s Beach but apart from the fact that Northern Mockingbirds have been in full song during warmer and less windy periods, including a very persistent songster near our base that has occasionally sung for long spells during the nights, there has been little else to comment upon from amongst the jays, wrens, warblers, blackbirds and sparrows seen up to now. Boat-billed Grackles certainly have been noisy in display on calmer days at Reed’s Beach and much the same can be said for Red-winged Blackbird. I have seen few House Finches or House Sparrows. Common Grackles have been few in number but when seen have been along the roadside at various places. Song sparrow have not been obvious to me but I have had a few pointed out to me on the marshes.

Participants this year include (apart from those already mentioned): Claudio Moraga and Jose Cabello (from Chile – they work in Tierra del Fuego. Claudio studies Guanaco); Laura McKinnon and Cedrik Juillet (from Quebec – they work on Bylot Island where Laura is studying Baird’s and White-rumped Sandpiper breeding success); Mark Peck and Jerry from Toronto (Mark is from the Royal Ontario Museum); Angela and Barrie Watts (also from Toronto); Graham Harrington, Sue Rice and Rosemary Gibson. Allan Baker and Patricia Gonzales are based with Ron Porter at Stone Harbor and Steve Gates mostly works on his own and concentrates on flag re-sightings. There are others in the team that concentrate on swabbing and collecting blood samples for avian diseases. This avian disease team is also radio tracking Turnstones and Sanderling during the time the birds are in the bay area this May. David Mizrahi from the Cape May Audubon Research Centre is continuing his studies of Semi-palmated and Least Sandpipers with daily catches when possible.

Boat-tailed Grackle

Willet

Ruddy Turnstone squabbling over food resources

Sanderling

Laughing Gulls

Ecuador day 1

2008-04-12T14:00:00.008+10:00

ECUADOR

Naturetrek special tour

12^th to 26^th February 2008

Tour report

Leader: Alejandro Solano. Participants: Peter Fullagar, Barbara and Eric Pilcher.

Introduction This tour was arranged at short notice by Naturetrek Ltd following the cancellation of their tours to Bolivia owing to political unrest in that country.
Naturetrek put together an itinerary with their ground agents (Neblina Forest) which was a compromise between their ‘Cock of the Rock’ and 'Choco' tours with additional sites of importance ornithologically.
The paragraphs below follow the daily program together with short notes on items of interest. Daily records of birds seen and heard can be found in detail in the accompanying spread sheet. Some photographs are included with the text but a website link to a more extensive photo-gallery is provided.

Ecuador

Topographical map showing roughly the three areas visited

Two oblique views in Google Earth showing GPS clusters from this trip.
The upper one is viewed from the NW and the lower one from the S

12 February - Tuesday. Our flight from Heathrow was delayed almost 2 hours because of fog which in turn meant a frantic rush through ‘transit’ in Miami to catch our flight to Quito.
Needless to say our luggage didn’t make it and it only caught up with us 36 hours later.
We were met and transferred to our hotel in Quito grateful for the chance to go straight to bed in this, the second highest capital in the world, at 2850 metres (9600 feet).

Grasslands (anthropogenic?) along our approach road to Yanacocha reserve

on the northern slopes of volcan Pichincha

Heading up the track to the Yanacocha reserve

Alejandro Solano - our guide

13 February - Wednesday. An early continental breakfast and departure at 6am set the pattern for most of the trip. Our leader Alejandro and driver Milton soon had us driving out of Quito and climbing the lower slopes of Pichincha, the volcano which dominates the city. We visited the Yanacocha reserve in temperate moss-clad forest seeing our first Great Sapphirewings and Sword-billed Hummingbirds at feeders - unlike them we noticed the altitude, having recorded a height of 3570 metres (11700 feet).

Our walk today in the Yanacocha Reserve on the west slopes of Pichincha.
The map is orientated with N to the right. The viewing altitude is 3km.
We walked from point 14 to point 15.

Unfortunately this was the only area explored by us in Ecuador that was covered at the time, in Google Earth, by high resolution satellite mapping. For this reason it was impossible to repeat such detailed topographic mapping of our daily activities elsewhere. The only other GPS location at such resolution was a fix on our hotel in Quito!

Our trail in Yanacocha reserve traversing some steep ridges

Sheltering from the rain at the end of the trail - Yanacocha reserve

Trumpet flowers the like of which the hummingbirds feed from (image by EJP)

We ate our packed lunch in the vehicle. Having left Quito in clear conditions with only early mist swirling among the lower slopes, heavy rain began after mid-day. Besides the early starts this was to become a more troublesome feature of the trip, repeated almost every afternoon (that is when it didn’t rain most of the day anyway!).

Start of the trail in Yanacocha reserve

In the afternoon we took the old Nono - Mindo road over the western ridge of the Andes joining the new highway towards Nanegalito in improving weather, making for the turn-off to the Maquipucuna Lodge where we were to stay for 3 nights. We made several birding stops along the way calling in for coffee and Bolones at the Café Armadillo. Bolones, we discovered (constructed rather like a large Scotch Egg) is a staple and filling snack, consisting of a core and outer covering based on corn mash with varied vegetables and some chilli.

Coffee while waiting for our bolones Armadillos Cafe

Today we saw 67 species. Some we are to encounter regularly over the next fortnight: Black Vulture, Tropical Kingbird, Southern House Wren, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Rufous-collared Sparrow and Lemon-rumped Tanager. Fifteen others we do not see again. These included, Bar-bellied Woodpecker, Sapphire-vented and Golden-breasted Pufflegs, Burrowing Owl, Rufous-naped Brush-Finch, Stripe-headed Brush-Finch, Superciliaried Hemispingus, Golden-crowned Tanager, Grassland Yellow-Finch and White-sided Flower-piercer. Also, we recorded five species which we only heard today and did not again encounter – Tawny-breasted Tinamou, Barred Fruiteater, White-browed Spinetail, Undulated Antpitta and Ocellated Tacapulo. Especially abundant on this first day was the Great Thrush but we see few of these splendid large ‘Blackbirds’ over the next week or so until we again encounter them during the last three days of the trip.

Sapphire-vented Pufflegs and Buff-winged Starfrontlets
at hummer feeders - Yanacocha Reserve

Sword-billed Hummingbird

Buff-winged Starfrontlet

Great Sapphirewing

Sapphire-vented Puffleg

Golden-breasted Puffleg

Violet-tailed Sylph

Masked Flower-piercer

Glossy Flower-piercer

Look at that bill! The Flower-piercers extraordinary bill morphology.
The hook holds the flower while the lower mandible pierces into the bloom

Burrowing-owl (image by EJP)

Ecuador day 2

2008-04-12T13:00:00.002+10:00

Rio Santa Rosa. Three torrent species here today:
Torrent Duck, Torrent Tyrannulet, White-capped Dipper

One of the White-capped Dippers (image by EJP)

14 February - Thursday. Having arrived around 6pm last evening to comfortable rooms and a good dinner we took an early walk around the Lodge before breakfast. Running past the buildings is a fast-flowing river (the Rio Santa Rosa) – a sound not easy to sleep with if you’re not used to it! But on the credit side we found 3 ‘torrent’ species within a few minutes, namely White-capped Dipper, Torrent Tyrranulet and a female Torrent Duck. After breakfast we walked the Arrieros trail with intermittent showers until mid-morning turning to steady, heavy rain until late afternoon. We were glad to get back for lunch; not that the rain deterred the 7 species of hummingbirds visiting the feeders and the Rufous and Broad-billed Motmots nearby.

The Ballast road leading to Maquipucuna Lodge

Birding along the Arrieros trail to the east of Maquipucuna Lodge
and here above the Rio Santa Rosa

Nest with three nestlings of the Golden-crowned Flycatcher
under the bridge at entrance to Maquipucuna Lodge

Look at the mandibles on this beast!

Huge grasshopper -approx. 10cm long!

We managed a walk before dusk and were rewarded with close views of a Golden-headed Quetzal plus 3 Pacific Horneros during the day. Even at this lower altitude of 1330 metres (4360 feet) the rain kept us chilly at 18°C.

White-necked Jacobin

Green-crowned Brilliant

Green-crowned Brilliant

Buff-tailed Coronet

White-whiskered Hermit

Green-crowned Woodnymph

Rufous Motmot (image by EJP)

Our total species list for today was 93. We encountered Barred Parakeet in good numbers and would do so again over the next few days. We also see good numbers of White-necked Jacobin, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Lemon-rumped and Swallow Tanagers. Other birds which we see today and regularly over the next few days include: White-collared Swift,Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Swallow-tailed Kite, Turkey Vulture, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Ecuadorian Thrush, Bay Wren (most days only heard!). Bananaquit, Blue-grey Tanager, Palm Tanager and Buff-throated Saltator. Several species are not seen again. These include: Crested Guan, Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Buff-fronted Parrotlet, Band-rumped Swift (10+ seen), Yellow Tyrannulet, Streaked Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Spotted Nightingale-Thrush (only heard) and Yellow-rumped Cacique.

Ecuador day 3

2008-04-12T11:00:00.023+10:00

Early morning birding along the road leading into Maquipucuna Lodge

15 February – Friday. This was a repeat of yesterday - early morning walk before breakfast and the whole morning along the Main (or Forest) trail. At first it was dry with periods of hot sunshine and temperatures up to 27°C At lunch the heavy rain began again but we were able to walk part of the Wetlands trail later in the afternoon. The Maquipucuna Reserve covers some 4500ha and is characterised by steeply sloping cloud-forested hillsides covering three-quarters of the area, waterfalls and fast-flowing rivers and streams.
A feature of the day was the parties of noisy parrots flying over the canopy - Bronze-winged and Red-billed Parrots and many Barred Parakeets.

Ferns

Lantana!

Interesting dumplings!

Signage along the Main trail

Birding from a raised platform in the forest off the Main Trail

The forest viewing platform

unidentified plant

Butterfly with semi-transparent wings -approx 10cm wingspan
(lower image by EJP)

Observation point along the Main Trail - not far from the lodge
(upper image by EJP)

Close to the lodge on the return self guided loop

We saw an impressive 102 species today including our only encounters with Olivaceous Piculet, Collared Trogon, Green-fronted Lancebill, Common Nighthawk (at dusk flying over the Lodge), White-faced Bristle-Tyrant, Black-and-white Becard and Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Also heard but not seen at any other time on the trip was Wattled Guan, White-backed Fire-eye and Spotted Barbtail. Notably large number of Barred Parakeet were seen today and White-collared Swift, White-necked Jacobin, Lemon-rumped, Blue-grey and Swallow Tanagers were again numerous.

Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner

White-necked Jacobin - preening

This is why it is called the White-necked Jcobin

A Jaobin must shelter from the rain somewhere!

Not sure of this species

Buff-tailed Coronet
Wing-stretch on alighting is typical of this species and the genus Boissonneaua

Ecuador day 4

2008-04-12T10:00:00.045+10:00

Maquipucuna Lodge

16 February - Saturday. We left Maquipucuna Lodge after an early breakfast to drive to Tandayapa, stopping during the morning to watch garden feeders for an hour at Alambe. Again it was dry at first with occasional sun breaking through the clouds. We drove on to eat our packed lunch at Pacha Quinde where an excellent array of sugar-feeders was present. By this time the rain was heavy again and we began to see the results - trees undermined, hillsides washed down on to roads, local bridges at risk. We were unaware of the serious flooding in the lowlands around Guayaquil to the south since we had seen no TV or newspapers.

Alamba

Birding along the road - Tandayapa

Vegetation along the Tandayapa road - the lower one is Selaginella sp.

Crowns of Cecropia (sp.?) in the rainforest canopy

On the equator!

We found the juvenile Common Potoo reported here perched at the top of a tall dead stump and in all today we recorded 20 species of hummingbirds. After our lunch-break the rain was relentless and we had a very wet drive to the Tandayapa Pass on the lower Nono/Mindo road and on to Los Bancos for our next 2 nights at the El Mirador del Rio Blanco.

Juvenile Common Potoo perched on a stump (EJP)

More spectacular roadside vegetation

A spectacular Butterfly - upper and underwings shown(images by EJP)

Today we saw 97 species with our only views of Spot-fronted Swift (2), Gorgeted Sunangel (2) Purple-bibbed Whitetip (4), a White-throated Quail-Dove, two Short-tailed Hawk, a Sierran Elaenia and a Tanager Finch. Four species were heard today but were not seen or heard on any other occasion. They were Green-and-black Fruiteater, Spillmann’s Tapaculo, Beautiful Jay and Black-striped Sparrow. We saw a Bran-coloured Flycatcher brooding three nestlings. Again Barred Parakeet was very numerous along with Chestnut-collared Swift, Andean Emerald, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Buff-tailed Coronet, Booted Racket-tail and Blue-and-white Swallow.

Green-crowned Woodnymph

Booted Racket-tail

Booted Racket-tail - female

Andean Emerald

Fawn-breasted Brilliant

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Assorted hummers at a feeder -Andean Emeralds, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird,
Purple-throated Woodstar & Fawn-breasted Brilliant

Green-crowned Brilliant - female

Green Violetear

Purple-throated Woodstar

Buff-tailed Coronet

Collared Inca in the rain

Violet-tailed Sylph in the rain

This seems to be a Puffleg we didn't record this day?

Buff-tailed Coronet with pesky bee!

Fawn-breasted Brilliant

A Puffleg again? Is it really a Buff-tailed Coronet?

Purple-bibbed Whitetip in flight on the right

Thick-billed Euphonia female

Two Thick-billed Euphonia

Blue-grey Tanager

Golden Tanager and Orange-bellied Euphonia

Buff-throated Saltator

Glossy-black Thrush

Bran-coloured Flycatcher brooding three nestlings

Ecuador day 5

2008-04-12T09:00:00.032+10:00

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock

The valley of Angel Paz's - Refugio Paz de Las Aves

Giant Antpitta - this is Maria. (image by EJP)

17 February - Sunday. A very early start today, leaving the lodge at 4.45am to drive to the Refugio Paz de Las Aves (also known as Angel Paz’s). Before dawn with our head-torches on, we negotiated the muddy trail down to the Cock of the Rock lek viewed from behind a low screen. In the approaching dawn we were rewarded with good views of 3 males calling and displaying. When the birds departed we walked down a forest trail and the guide (and owner of the land) who had accustomed various birds to the presence of humans by a careful program of feeding, was able to call a Yellow-breasted Antpitta into close view.

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock - male
Composite from images taken at San Diego Animal Park in 2008

Giant Antpitta comes in to feeding tray with worms

Babara and Eric on the path following our viewing of the Giant Antpitta

Back at another observation site the calling produced a pair of Giant Antpittas which one by one collected their supply of worms – and provided superb opportunities for close watching but photography was difficult in the dim light and the need not to use flash. As if on cue 5 Dark-backed Woodquail joined in the feeding a little further back up the trail (a group known as the Spice girls!) and nearby 5 Sickle-winged Guans flew quietly away at our approach.

Angel Paz's place

Ablutions block; Eric for the use of

The Mitsubishi on the left is known as 'Maria' and was paid for from the accumulated
small entrance fees charged to see the Giant Antpitta of the same name!

Barbara waiting for breakfast!

Bolones. The one at the top has a bite out of it!

By mid-morning we were ready for the al fresco breakfast which was provided, including the best Bolones yet and an amazing array of local fruits. We walked on higher ground and up a ridge following the road where Tree Tomatoes were being grown and we were lucky to see a stunning Orange-breasted Fruiteater.

Remnant and regrowth rainforest on the slopes and old pastures
or paddocks now intended for return to tropical rainforests

Rural activities along the road near Angel Paz's

Fruiting berries

Tree Tomato (upper image by EJP)

Digiscoped image of Orange-breasted Fruiteater (Canon Ixus 800IS + Leica scope)

Bromeliads everywhere!

Further along the morning walk

Returning to the El Mirador for a late lunch we watched the bird feeders, and the river 150 metres below, from the rear patio of the lodge. In spite of the rain at 4.30pm we walked part of the Milpe road area, where we planned to enter the reserve the next morning.

Our motel - El Mirador Rio Blanco (EJP)

View of the river from the motel patio - El Mirador Rio Blanco (EJP)

Black Vulture

Green Thorntail

Green Thorntail

Green-crowned Brilliant - female

Pale-mandibilled Aracari (Ecuadorian Endemic)

Choco Toucan

Plumbeous Pigeon

Black-cheeked Woodpecker - male

Lemon-rumped Tanager

Part of vesper flight of White-collared Swifts drifting past the patio at El Mirador at about 4:30pm

White-whiskered Hermit

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Green Thorntail

Green-crowned Woodnymph

Today at the hummer feeders

With a total of 107 species logged and the bonus of visiting a site with lekking Cock-of-the-Rock followed by superb views of Giant Antpitta this was undoubtedly another very good day. Birds seen only today included Sickle-winged Guan, Dark-backed Wood-Quail, Pale-mandibled Aracari, Green Thorntail, Rufescent Screech-Owl, Rufous-bellied Nighthawk, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Scaled Fruiteater, Olivaceous Piha, Giant Antpitta, Yellow-breasted Antpitta, White-winged Brush-Finch and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Not encountered at any other time but heard today were Barred Forest-Falcon, Flavescent Flycatcher and Narino Tacapulo. Specially numerous today was Barred Parakeet (again!), Bronze-winged Parrot, White-collared Swift, Green-crowned Woodnymph, Andean Emerald, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Blue-and-white Swallow, Lemon-rumped Tanager, Blue-grey Tanager and Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager.

Ecuador day 6

2008-04-12T08:00:00.013+10:00

Milpe Bird Sanctuary entrance and building

The MCF

18 February - Monday. By 6.30am this morning we were on our way to the nearby Milpe road but this time we were able to enter the Milpe Bird Sanctuary, a project of MCF (the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation).

The road outside the MCF Milpe sanctuary

Signage at the MCF Milpe Bird Sanctuary

Here, in mist and drizzle we managed an hour of excellent birding before steady rain drove us on. Of special interest was the endemic Chocó Warbler and an amazing display by at least 2 lekking Club-winged Manakins. From the Manakins we heard the distinctive click and buzz sounds made by vibrating their wings vertically over their backs.

Trail near the Club-winged Manakin lek

Milpe is at about 1100 metres (3600 feet) and our route further into the Chocó took us via Rio Silanche (another MCF site with an observation platform deep in the forest), only 35 km NW - but already down to 350 metres (1150 feet). Overall today, in rainy conditions with occasional sunny periods, we travelled 340km via San Lorenzo towards Esmeraldas on the coast. We arrived at our next destination, the Cotinga Lodge at Tundaloma at 6pm where we would stay for 4 nights, only 20-odd Kilometres from the Colombian border.

Along the trail at Milpe

Yes, they are even here in Ecuador!

Heading north from the Milpe area

Lunch break on the way north

Birding along the highway heading north

Bat Falcons use this area. We see two of them sitting in a tree to the left of this view

This was the day of the Club-winged Manakins! The total of 103 species seen today included White-tipped Swift, Peregrine Falcon, Black-tipped Cotinga, Golden-winged Manakin, Club-winged Manakin, Russet Antshrike, Esmeraldas Antbird, Plain Xenops, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Brown-billed Scythbill, Pale-vented Thrush, Ochre-breasted Tanager, Yellow-collared Chlorophonia, and Chestnut-headed Oropendola that were only seen today. Also, White-breasted Wood-Wren and Scarlet-rumped Cacique were heard only today and not encountered at any other time. Numerous birds today included Barred Parakeet (yet again!), Bronze-winged Parrot, White-collared Swift, Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon seen while passing though towns!), Band-tailed Pigeon, Cattle Egret, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager and Lemon-rumped Tanager. We see Bat Falcon near a cliff face cave. We have now moved into the Chocó region proper.

Lineated Woodpecker - male (EJP)

Ecuador day 7

2008-04-12T07:00:00.029+10:00

Tandaloma Lodge

19 February - Tuesday. It was cloudy this morning and it stayed that way until lunchtime with hot, sunny periods from time to time. We spent the whole day close to the lodge, breakfasting at 6am and viewing the canopy and river (Rio Mira) from the lodge balcony for the first hour or so. This really was the ‘lowlands’ – an elevation of 55 metres (180 feet) with high humidity and temperatures of 26 to 30°C.

Views around Tandaloma Lodge

Looking down from the balcony of Tandaloma Lodge across the gardens towards the river

Interesting little skink on the handrail outside PJFs cabin, Tandaloma Lodge

Another fine lizard of unknown species

Setting off on the morning walk

Alejandro scanning for birds

Heaps of mosquitoes hereabouts!

Ivory-nut Palm seeds. The lower image shows a fruit case slashed open with a machete to expose an ivory nut

The Ivory-nut Palm Phytelephas aequatorialis (or Tagua Palm) has a woody trunk which grows to 20m in height and has very long pinnate leaves. The palm is dioecious with female individuals bearing large brown conical fruits, each approximately the size of a grapefruit and covered in a hard husk. The fruits occur in clusters which can measure more than half a metre across. Each fruit usually contains four seeds. Immature fruits contain sweet edible pulp. Mature seeds are harder than wood and are encased in a bone-like shell. The endosperm is white and so hard it can be polished and carved like ivory. (these details adapted from Wikipedia).

Presumably a flower of a Strelitzia sp. seen in the forest

A fabulous fungus

Thorny spines on the trunk of another plant

A particularly fine species of butterfly seen today

Fearsome but handsome crab from one of the drains leading into the river

The Rio Mira alongside Tandaloma Lodge

Boating along the Rio Mira

Tame 'Peccary' that joined us during our late afternoon bird walk!

During the rest of the morning we walked a forest trail near the river away from the main road recording 10 species of flycatcher. Heavy rain from 1 to 3pm kept us on the balcony of the lodge again but when it cleared we went along the river and around the paddocks near the main road. The day was notable also for the 4 new parrots, 4 new woodpeckers, the splendid Blue Cotinga, Choco and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans and an array of Tanager species.

Streak-headed Woodcreeper

Blue-headed Parrot

Guayaquil Woodpecker (digiscoped images)

Poison-dart frog

Another unidentified small frog

Another good day with 106 species seen. Birds observed only today included Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Band-tailed Barbthroat, Violet-bellied Hummingbird (female only), Blue-chested Hummingbird, Osprey, Double-toothed Kite, Little Blue Heron, Greenish Elaenia, White-ringed Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, Scarlet-browed Tanager and Yellow-tufted Dacnis. Also, Rufous-headed Chachalaca, Bicoloured Antbird, Rufous-browed Peppershrike and Stripe-throated Wren were only heard on this the only day they were noted. Particularly numerous today was Blue-headed Parrot, Red-lored Parrot, Mealy Parrot, White-collared Swift, Black Vulture, Tropical Kingbird, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Bananaquit, Lemon-rumped Tanager, Blue-grey Tanager, Thick-billed Euphonia and Variable Seedeater.

Ecuador day 8

2008-04-12T06:00:00.018+10:00

Choco Toucan

20 February - Wednesday. We made an early start this morning heading for the Ricaurte road and on to the Sirua Reserve which is part of the Awacachi project dedicated to raising awareness of the need to create and preserve corridors between isolated pockets of habitat (and ultimately to prevent future habitat fragmentation) from the lowlands to higher terrain in order to maintain continuity for species distribution and diversity.

The Pancho Foundation

Birding in the hollow at the reserve

Dragonfly

We were fortunate here to come upon several White-bearded Manakins lekking deep in the undergrowth. Whilst they were very difficult to see we could hear the amazing sharp ‘fire-cracker’ sounds apparently made by their wings.

Having had a relatively dry and sunny morning it rained for an hour at lunchtime and by 2pm we were on our way towards coastal wetlands at Laguna de la Cuidad. Here were our first real waterbirds – grebes and herons, Pinnated Bittern and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Also spectacular were Vermillion Flycatchers and Peruvian Meadowlark.

With the threat of rain approaching we made a brief visit to the nearby Esmeraldas coast to look at our only true seabirds on a very grey and choppy Pacific Ocean. Rain eventually drove us back to the lodge for a 7pm dinner.

White-necked Puffbird (lower picture EJP)

Western white-tailed Trogon - back view in the shade!

Today the total species count came to 134 - our best day so far! A long list of species seen only today included many wetland and coastal species as would be expected from our itinerary, and included, Orange-fronted Barbet, Ecuadorian Ground-Dove, Blue Ground-Dove, Purple Gallinule, Greater Yellowlegs, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Wattled Jacana, Laughing Gull, Royal Tern, Harris’s Hawk, Laughing Falcon, Least Grebe, Cocoi Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Pinnated Bittern, Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Pacific Antwren, White-flanked Antwren, Lesser Greenlet, Tawny-crested Tanager, Red-breasted Blackbird, Peruvian Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle. Today was the first day that we had no specialities only heard! Numerous species today, other than those figuring in the list above, were Smooth-billed Ani, Pacific Parrotlet, Blue-headed Parrot, Mealy Parrot, Pale-vented Pigeon, Plumbeous Kite, Roadside Hawk, Neotropical Cormorant, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Vermillion Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Pacific Hornero, Grey-breasted Martin, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Lemon-rumped Tanager, Blue-grey Tanager, Variable Seedeater and Chestnut-throated Seedeater.

Pale-mandibled Aracari (image EJP)

Three-toed Sloth sleeping in a Cecropia at the back of the Tandaloma Lodge

Ecuador day 9

2008-04-12T05:00:00.021+10:00

'Blue Cotinga Way'. Entrance road to Tandaloma Lodge

21 February - Thursday. Foggy at 6am but we were soon on our way to the Yalare forest wetlands. The fog lifted and we were treated to the warmest sun yet as we made our way to the new road under construction called ‘Progresso’ Road for the rest of the morning. As might be expected it was a scene of bulldozed devastation through wonderful forest to ‘open up’ the area (presumably for timber extraction). However, today seemed to be a raptor day - 2 Gray-headed and 3 Swallow-tailed Kites, 15 Roadside Hawks and 9 Plumbeous Kites.

Yalare Forest wetland both sides of the highway!
Good spot for Green Ibis

Roadside plant

Heading off along the Progresso Road

Continuing destruction of lowland rainforest

This is what is going

Roadside Hawk (image by EJP)

After lunch at the lodge we set off to Las Minas Vieja to bird along the road and onwards to a Tilapia fish farm at Ponderosa which we had to abandon after heavy showers became more persistent. The target bird here was Scarlet-and-white Tanager but the rain defeated us. We stopped again along the Las Minas road on our return to the lodge for dinner.

What so often follows clearance of rainforest - Oil Palm plantation

Tilapia ponds at Ponderosa.
I wonder what the spent shotgun cases suggest?

Views around Ponderosa

Today we recorded a total of 113 species including the following birds only reported on this day: Grey-rumped Swift, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Grey Hawk, Black Hawk-Eagle, Green Ibis, Black-crowned Tityra, Guira Tanager, Fulvous-vented Euphonia and Giant Cowbird. Only three species were heard today but not reported on any other occasion. They were Barred Puffbird, Spectacled Owl and Song Wren. Other than those species already mention for today the following species were specially numerous: Stripe-billed Aracari, Pacific Parrotlet, Blue-headed Parrot, Bronze-winged Parrot, White-collared Swift, Pale-vented Pigeon, Plumbeous Kite, Roadside Hawk, Black Vulture, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Lemon-rumped Tanager and Variable Seedeater.

Car park and entrance of Tandaloma lodge

In the garden at Tandaloma Lodge

Milton in the garden

Various flowers seen today (images by EJP)

Ecuador day 10

2008-04-12T04:00:00.013+10:00

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.

Ecuador day 11

2008-04-12T03:00:00.046+10:00

Yahuarcocha Lake from NE side

23 February - Saturday. We walked the lodge grounds again for an hour at 6.30am. In the clear early morning we could see snow-capped Andean peaks on two sides of us. A check on the altitude revealed we were at 2200 metres (7200 feet) so the cool air was not so surprising.

Cobbled entrance to Chorlavi Lodge - Ibarra

Tethered Alpaca and the Andes

This evil-eyed Alpaca was about to spit on me they say.
It's really only the effect of early morning light and my flashgun!

Front office - Chorlavi Lodge Ibarra

(Above three images by EJP)

Views round the extensive gardens and buildings of Chorlavi Lodge

Anyone for tennis?
Federer, Nadal or the Williams sisters would love those cracks in the surface!

Good 'wasteland' birding area within the grounds

Wall decorations - Chorlavi Lodge

The Chorlavi brand?

Flatirons

Mist and cloud soon hid the peaks as we made for breakfast but at 8.30 we drove to the nearby Yahuarcocha Lake (Blooded Lake) in warm sunshine with fine-weather white clouds. Over the next 3 hours we drove around the lake stopping at good viewing points, one of which finally yielded good views of an Ecuadorian Rail in an area of reeds. Back at the lodge we spent another hour birding the grounds before lunch, finding several Black-and-white Seedeaters.

First views of Yahuarcocha lake
There is a motor racing circuit to the left of this area!

Views round the southern side of the placid lake

Under the Peppercorn tree - just like home in Australia for PJF!

Heading down to where we expect to find the Ecuadorian Rails

Rail habitat! Some sort of Eleocharis we presume

There is a rail in there somewhere!

Grazing cattle didn't make seeing the rails any easier

The low bank from which we called up the rails.
Just like Woodhens! Typical of Rallus sp. of course!

More excellent rail habitat

Looking back across the lake towards Ibarra

Vermilion Flycatcher - looking away! (image by EJP)

Neotropical Cormorants (image by EJP)

Andean Coot (image by EJP)

Unidentified marsh plant (image by EJP)

Habitat of the Ecuadorian Rail (image by EJP)

Unidentified blossom (Images by EJP)

Early in the afternoon we drove back to Quito, stopping on the way at a large street market in Otavalo for some souvenir shopping. The selection of brightly coloured cloth and woven or knitted articles was amazing; much of it picking up on traditional Inca designs which we have come to recognize in Europe.

Street market in Otavalo

Milton admiring the stalls

More views at the street market - Otavalo

We arrived at our previous hotel in Quito (Hotel Embassy) with lightning resounding about the mountains and as a result we opted for an early dinner and bed.

Views from Hotel Embassy in the rain

Today the total count was our lowest of the trip with only 34 species being recorded but only one of them was heard only. A total of eight species was seen today and only today and they were Blue-headed Sapphire, Purple-collared Woodstar, Ecuadorian Rail (a highlight), Slate-coloured Coot, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Golden-rumped Euphonia, Scrub Tanager (the only endemic from the central valley of Ecuador) and Black-and-white Seedeater. However, we saw several species in much larger numbers including Eared Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Slate-coloured Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Cattle Egret, Black Vulture, Vermillion Flycatcher, Blue-and-white Swallow, Hooded Siskin, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Blue-and-yellow Tanager and Southern Yellow Grosbeak.

Main courtyard at Chorlavi Lodge

Courtyard fountain and fish

What have we here?
A 'Cockpit' no less!

The Cockpit building and entrance

More Guest Rooms. The accommodation is vast at Chorlavi!

More from Chorlavi Lodge

Ecuador day 12

2008-04-12T02:00:00.048+10:00

Fantastic views of the snow covered Pichincha volcano to the south and west of Quito

24 February - Sunday. As last time we were the only guests for breakfast in the hotel at 6am - our vehicle arrived to be off at 6.30 (our driver and guide sensibly seeing their respective families overnight).

Pichencha

Torrent

Good for Andean Condors?

Distant Pichincha from the road to Papallacta Pass

Giant's footsteps?

Changing views of Pichincha as the clouds roll in

Birding on the way up to Papallacta Pass

Further up the highway to Papallacta Pass

The reason for this stop. A fine Polylepis tree at the roadside

The exfoliating bark of Polylepis

Pinnate leaves of Polylepis

Polylepis australis, also known locally as Tabaquillo or Queñoa is a South American member of the family Rosaceae. The genus Polylepis originated in eastern South American Andean forests. Polylepis australis is presumed to hold the high altitude record for any woody plant, growing at up to 5,000 m in the Andes. The plant has small, pinnate leaves, 7–10 cm long, normally composed of five or seven leaflets. In harsh winters, Polylepis australis survives by producing rolls of loose, papery like exfoliating brownish bark; the rough outer covering of the woody stem of tree. (text based on Wikipedia entry).

We drove up the old Papallacta road in fairly settled conditions stopping at increasing altitudes to birdwatch the changing terrain. At our first stop we were rewarded with great views of Giant Hummingbird, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker and Azara’s Spinetail.

Crimson-mantled Woodpecker

Heading along the old Papallacta road

Hopeless very distant digiscoped shot of the local Andean Cottontail rabbit.
This is supposed to be the widespread Forest Cottontail Sylvilagus basiliensis but
I really do not believe it. Look at its short ears and rounded face.
Is it an as yet undescribed Andean species?

Looking down on the new highway from the old Papallacta Road

Getting up to and into the Paramo

Polylepis forests on the slope opposite

Tussock grasslands and an alpine flora

A grizzly find but useful.
A road killed rabbit showing some of the features of these Andean Rabbits

Sphagnum

At the top of Papallacta Pass. Raw; very cold and windy!

Lake Papallacta

We eventually reached the top of the Papallacta Pass at 4078 metres (13,380 feet) amid mist and drizzle and managed to see some speciality ‘Paramo’ region species in their bleak tussock habitat, such as Stout-billed Cinclodes and Paramo Ground-Tyrant.

In view of the cold, damp conditions we moved down what were now the eastern slopes of the Andes stretching out into the vast Amazonian basin – but still a very long way away. We stopped for our packed lunch alongside Lake Papallacta but, it being Sunday, there was quite a lot of local disturbance.

We decided to move on to Termas Lodge, our home for the next two nights, arriving soon after 2pm.

Once we’d checked-in and stowed our luggage we took a closer look at our surroundings. At 3300 metres (10,800 feet) we were in a bowl amid towering mountainsides - clearly volcanic in origin, which was confirmed by the steaming hot pools in the lodge grounds being used by hotel guests.

We drove over to the other, better-known Guango Lodge spending time around the many hummingbird feeders and walking along the nearby river bank until dusk.

Gunnera

Views along the track south of Guango Lodge - avoiding the bull!

Eric walking off a decidedly unsafe looking bridge!

Further views along the trail and stream south of Guango Lodge

Today’s bird list came to a total of 70; seven of which were only heard and only one of these was heard only on this day - the Streak-backed Canastero. Another 13 species were only recorded on this day and they were Yellow-billed Pintail, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Red-backed Hawk, Carunculated Caracara, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant, Paremo Ground-Tyrant, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Andean Tit-Spinetail, Many-striped Canastero, Paremo Tapaculo, Capped Conebill, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch and Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch. Numerous species today included, apart from species already mentioned, Andean Teal, White-collared Swift, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Tyrian Metaltail, White-bellied Woodstar, Rock Pigeon (feral town birds), Black Phoebe, Great Thrush, Brown-bellied Swallow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Plain-coloured Seedeater and Black Flower-piercer.

Great Thrush

White-bellied Woodstar

Tyrian Metaltail?

Chestnut-breasted Coronet

unidentified

Unidentified

Collared Inca

Tourmaline Sunangel

Unidentified

Sword-billed Hummingbird

Long-tailed Sylph

White-bellied Woodstar

Tourmaline Sunangel

Long-tailed Sylph