Our tour to Ecuador overcame a rocky start with the closure of the Quito airport two days before the planned start. Carmen Bustamante, our co-ordinator in Ecuador, convinced me that things would quickly return to normal-and so they did. The trip began only about an hour later than planned on Oct. 1.

YANACOCHA: Our first day took us up to 11,000 ft on the northwest slope of Volcan Pichincha, one of the volcanos that looms over the city of Quito. The level walk along the road through the Jocotoco Foundation Preserve was welcome given the altitude we were functioning at. We were quickly treated to great looks at an Andean Guan clambering through the lush vegetation on the slope above us. Seems too tropical a bird to be that high! Almost immediately, our guide Gabriel called in a Rufous Antpitta. With great patience, he lured the bird into one of the few openings on the slope. Amazingly, the bird lingered just long enough for all to have a decent look. After some further walking, a mixed species group swirled past with Hooded Mountain Tanager and Superciliared Hemispingus (say that 10 times fast) being the most prominent members of the group. Perhaps our best treat was the feeders at the end of the road where we savored the likes of Great Sapphirewing (big enough to almost count the wingbeats!) and Sword-billed Hummingbird as well as two dazzling pufflegs, Sapphire-vented and Golden-breasted. Though our walk back to the bus was through a hail storm, we stayed quite warm with the memories of what we had seen.

RIO SILANCHE: Day two provided major contrast as we descended to the edge of the western lowlands with the Milpe Cloudforest Foundations’ Rio Silanche Preserve our goal. Indeed, we began to sweat some but I think we hardly noticed as we observed White-bearded Manakin, Purple-chested Hummingbird and Purple Fairy in our first 15 minutes. Once in the forest a group of Western White-tailed Trogons “tailed” us for awhile, a Crimson-bellied Woodpecker drummed persistently enough for most of us to get a look at this impressive Campephilus, and a pair of Dot-winged Antwrens gave all good looks. A bit later, the group got split with the lead party enjoying a tangara flock that included Gray-and-Gold Tanager, while the laggards found a lively flock that included Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, and two species of Myrmotherula antwrens: White-flanked and Checker-throated-hard to see but real gems when you get your bins on them.

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