No seedsnipe or conebill but 15,000 feet for sure.

But first, the end of our lunch stop after seeing Silvery Grebe and Aplomado Falcon.

Above and below:  Tambo Condor

No trip to South America would be complete without a photo of the ever present Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis), here in a pose we will recognize.

Common at this elevation, Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans)

Only at this elevation, Giant Hummingbird (Patagona gigas)

High elevation waterfall at the condor place.  We did see a condor take off from the mountain cliff.  

Rising to 15,000.  We missed the Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe on our first visit, but had a chance to return the next day when we missed it again. On our second try we also missed the Giant Conebill.  It was not so windy on our second visit making the temperature more comfortable for hanging out.  We got to 15,000 by doing some extra walking and climbing.  This is how Rhoda found the sleeping fox.   

Above and below:  Culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) sleeping in the sun until the sun disappeared.

Me

Above and below:  Endemic Viridian Metaltail (Metallura williami)

Above and below:  some botanicals and the views

This is also where Quito's antenna towers were built.

12,000 to 15,000 feet up

The first couple days of our trip were spent at elevation - around 12,000 feet to 15,000 feet - mostly birding along roads and from the van.  Fortunately, the windows of the van easily opened for some decent photos.  

I've been trying to think of the story that will go with my Ecuador birding posts, and unfortunately for me (not necessarily for you) there is little narrative to go with these photos.  Unfortunately for me only because I like the story and the writing of it.  This should not imply that the trip was not great - because it was - only that the way it unfolded was straightforward and uncomplicated.  There was no definitive Super Bowl of birding day, so to speak, but there were several fine and favorite moments.  I also made some observations about birding in a country with a well-established birding culture and infrastructure. Going forward most of my narrative will likely be comments on my observations. 

In no particular order, the following photos were taken enroute to and in and around Antisana National Park.

Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca fumicolor)

Terrible photo of White-crested Elaenia (Elaenia albiceps)

Plain-colored Seedeater (Catemenia inornata)

Great Thrush (Turdus fuscater) - seen and heard everyday

Black-winged Ground-Dove (Metriopelia melanoptera)

Above and below:  female Ecuadorian Hillstar (Oreotrochilus chimborazo)

View of Ecuadorian Hillstar landscape.

Above and below:  Stout-billed Cinclodes (Cinclodes excelsior)

Andean Lapwing (Vanellus resplendens)

Carunculated Caracara (Phalcoboenus carunculatus)

Tawny Antpitta (Grallaria quitensis)

Chestnut-winged Cinclodes (Cinclodes albidiventris)

Many-striped Canastero (Asthenes flammulata)

Horrible photo of Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis) - but nice to see.

Antisana Volcano (above) looms over the Artisana NP and was seen from all of our high-elevation birding locations.  Whenever I saw this volcano I couldn't resist yet another photo.

The photos above were taken around an elevation of 12,000 - 13,000 feet.  The landscape was stark, wide-open and very beautiful.  It was essentially a high-elevation desert.  The birds seen here were so different than any seen elsewhere in Ecuador and even very different than any North American birds. 

My next post will be from 15,000 feet where we went twice to look unsuccessfully for Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe (Attagis gayi latreillii) and Giant Conebill (Oreomanes fraseri).   

Return from Ecuador

Unrestrained by snow, snow, snow and more snow, I returned from Eduador less than 24 hours ago.  Going through just under 2,000 photos now - still in the deleting phase - and will be making some posts soon.

Have some running around to do, but more soon.  In the meantime, Dorian Anderson has also recently completed a trip to Ecuador and is writing about it on his blog The Speckled Hatchback.  His  post #129 includes many of the places we visited in the Tandayapa valley, including maps, which I am terrible at trying to do.

For now some photos of a charming little bird we all know and love for which it will be unlikely to find a place for elsewhere.

The photos above and many others were taken at Puembo Birding Garden.  The Puembo Birding Garden has a big on-line presence which I recommend checking out.