On the final day of our Road Scholar “Birding in the Ecuadorian Andes” trip we set off from our Quito hotel early and drove southeast to Mt. Antisana National Park. Mt. Antisana is considered an active volcano, although it hasn’t erupted since 1801. Below we see Mt. Antisana and although we are at the equator note that the peak is snow-covered due to its height (18,891 ft).
As we drove from Quito we steadily gained altitude until we crossed above the tree line – for the first time in ten days we were not surrounded by thick forest but open plains. The water reservoir seen in the next picture provides the city of Quito its drinking water.
Below you can see the vast plains that dominated the region as our group scanned for birds.
On the way we spotted this Black-chested Buzzard Eagle perched on the slope above our van.
After our drive up from Quite we made a “comfort stop” at the Tambo Condor Bird Lodge. Here we found hummingbird feeders and I was immediately drawn to the Giant Hummingbird flying around. We saw our first Giant Hummingbird in Chile, but at a distance. Here I was able to observe its 12″ wingspan and was amazed at how quickly it could flap those wings.
It’s hard to gain an appreciation of its size without context so I photographed a Shining Sunbeam hummingbird (an average sized hummer) and then the Giant Hummingbird on the same feeder. Compare the two pictures and I think you’ll gain a better appreciation of why they are named “Giant”.
One of our main target birds for our day at Antisana was the Andean Condor, which has a mean wingspan of 9.25 feet, making it one of the largest flying birds in the world.
From the Tambo Condor Bird Lodge we had a perfect view of the condors’ roosts across the valley. All the white wash (uric acid) is from the condors. In the second picture you can see one of the condors sitting on its roost (the photo was taken through Tony’s spotting scope).
After leaving Tambo Condor Bird Lodge we drove through the national park in search of more condors. We saw a few flying very high in the sky – they were little more than dots even through our binoculars. We did see one perched on the ground at some distance and then watched as it flew slowly away from us.
On our drive we observed many Carunculated Caracaras on the ground. Believe it or not Caracara are a member of the Falcon family, but these are much larger than falcons we usually see in North America like the Kestrel and Merlin and they prefer perching on the ground.
Another bird that we saw on the ground was the Andean Ibis. We had good, but distant looks at these ibis, which appear to be much stockier than the White and Glossy Ibis we see in North America.
I don’t know why, because they can be found just about everywhere, I was surprised to see gulls at this altitude. These Andean Gulls resemble Laughing Gulls often seen along the shoreline in the southern U.S.
We drove on down to Lake Mikakucha, another major water source for Quito, to look for any waterfowl. There were some but they were so far away it was impossible to ID them, even through a scope. As we stood along the lake a Tawny Antpitta came sauntering up to us – a free-range Antpitta! Nobody put out worms for it or called it in – it was just walking around, minding its own business. As luck would have it, this was our final Lifer of the trip!
That does it for bird pictures from our Ecuadorian trip. I’ll have one more post to wrap things up next week.
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Links to previous posts of our Ecuador Birding Trip:
How to prepare for and get the most from your bird tour
Our Ecuador Birding Trip – Preliminary Data
Our Bird Tour In Ecuador – Overview
Birding a City Park in Downtown Quito, Ecuador
Out of Quito to Reserva Yanacocha
Into Mindo Valley – Sachatamia Lodge
Mindo Valley – Reserva Amagusa
Reserva Amagusa – Hummingbirds and Toucanete
Ecuador Day 4 – Sendero Fruitti Tour
Refugio Paz de la Aves in Mindo Valley
Birds Out Back Of Our Cabana At San Isidro