Ecuador - Day 3 (Lower Tandayapa Valley)

We began the day with a visit to the lodge’s blind before sunrise; this offered an excellent close-up encounter with a pair of White-throated Quail-Doves as well as a Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch and Streak-capped Treehunter.

John Wilkinson at the blind interance

After a quick breakfast, we continued up the trails into the lush cloudforest reserve surrounding the lodge. We searched for a calling Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl but only one or two of us got a quick glimpse. We continued on adding Powerful Woodpecker, Olivaceous Piha, Immaculate Antbird, Golden-headed Quetzal and a perched Wedge-billed Hummingbird.

  Olivaceous Piha

Around midday we drove down the valley birding along the way adding Squirrel Cuckoo, Red-headed Barbet, Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Tawny-bellied Hermit and a Torrent Tyrannulet hunting in a stream. We then searched for a distant Black-and-chestnut Eagle nest up on a mountainside. It took us a while but we soon had two eagles souring along the ridge.

Birding along the road in the Tandayapa Valley
(Photo courtesy by John Wilkinson)

We continued birding along the road finding Golden-olive Woodpecker, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Pacific Hornero, Red-billed Parrots and beautiful, Beautiful Jays. Once it got dark, Nick Athanas took us to a Lyre-tailed Nightjar stake-out and after a little bit of searching, we found an amazing, long-tailed male. That was a fantastic ending to a great day of birding.

Sorry for the lack of bird pictures, more will come.

Addition birds added to our trip list:
Black-and-chestnut Eagle
Rock Pigeon
White-throated Quail-Dove
Red-billed Parrot
Squirrel Cuckoo
Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl
Lyre-tailed Nightjar
White-tipped Swift
Tawny-bellied Hermit
Purple-bibbed Whitetip
Wedge-billed Hummingbird
Golden-headed Quetzal
Red-headed Barbet
Toucan Barbet
Crimson-rumped Toucanet
Golden-olive Woodpecker
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Pacific Hornero
Red-faced Spinetail
Spotted Barbtail
Lineated Foliage-Gleaner
Streak-capped Treehunter
Montane Woodcreeper
Uniform Antshrike
Immaculate Antbird
Chestnut-crowned Antpitta
Nariño Tapaculo
White-tailed Tyrannulet
Torrent Tyrannulet
Flavescent Flycatcher
Smoke-colored Pewee
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Rusty-margined Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Scaled Fruiteater
Olivaceous Piha
Golden-winged Manakin
Beautiful Jay
Red-eyed Vireo
Brown-capped Vireo
Andean Solitaire
Ecuadorian Thrush
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
House Wren
Tropical Parula
Olive-crowned Yellowthroat
Slate-throated Whitestart
Three-striped Warbler
Fawn-breasted Tanager
Orange-bellied Euphonia
Golden Tanager
Golden-naped Tanager
Metallic-green Tanager
Black-capped Tanager
Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager
Lemon-rumped Tanager
Buff-throated Saltator
Black-winged Saltator
Variable Seedeater
Yellow-bellied Seedeater
Tricolored Bush-Finch
White-winged Bush-Finch
Chestnut-capped Bush-Finch