Tandayapa Bird Lodge Trip Report March 8-11, 2007
Report by Scott Olmstead (Birding Guide)
Photos by Scott Olmstead and Michael Woodruff

Roger and Michael, experienced North American birders on their first trip to South America, had four days in Northwest Ecuador with Tandayapa Bird Lodge as their base. To say they were excited about birding in Ecuador would be a monumental understatement! Their strategy for their limited time was to see as many birds as possible, and of course this would include visiting as many different elevations as possible. Eager to comply, I was happy to approach my time with them as three consecutive big days!

Day 1: Yanacocha & travel to Tandayapa.  I picked the guys up at their Quito hotel at the usual time (5:30) and we headed for the Yanacocha Reserve, a Jocotoco Foundation reserve set at 3500 m (11,500 ft.) on the slopes of the Pichincha volcanoes west of Quito. It was ominously overcast as we began to climb out of the city, but eventually we passed through the clouds and realized it was going to be a pretty nice morning! Driving through the highlands, we made our first stop about an hour later, for a Tawny Antpitta hopping along beside the road. While driving the entrance track to the reserve, we picked up a few other birds in the low scrub flanking the road, including Black Flowerpiercer, a handsome Black-tailed Trainbearer, and a pair of vocal Stripe-throated Brush-Finches. Normally very shy and secretive, I was pleased to get such a good look at the brush-finches.

When we got to the reserve the birding only got better! We started picking up more hummers right away, including Mountain Velvetbreast. The morning was spent walking out and back along the “Inca Track”, an easy trail a little more than two kilometers long that passes through temperate forest – hummingbird feeders placed at several points along the way. Mixed flocks were full of tanagers, including Scarlet-bellied and Hooded Mountain Tanagers, Blue-backed Conebill, and Superciliaried Hemispingus. Glossy and Masked Flowerpiercers were common, especially around the feeders. A Red-crested Cotinga, perched far downslope, made a nice scope view. We had a solid nine species of hummingbirds along our walk, among them Golden-breasted Puffleg, Great Sapphirewing, Shining Sunbeam, Rainbow-bearded Thornbill (at the last feeders), and the outrageous Sword-billed Hummingbird. Leaving the main track for a distance, we also walked the Spectacled Bear trail, a more challending (ie: steeper) trail that enters the closed forest, and is better for some forest interior species. The trail was a bit quiet overall, but we had nice looks at Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant and Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant, and a peek at a Blackish (Unicolored) Tapaculo. On the walk back, the clouds were closing in, but we still picked up Barred Fruiteater.

After lunch we drove along the old road from Nono to Tandayapa, dropping through subtropical cloudforest in the Alambi River Valley. We found one Beautiful Jay moving with a group of Turquoise Jays, something I haven’t seen before (though it's not unprecedented). A Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant by the river was a nice find as well. Further down, we stopped at an active lek of Andean Cocks-of-the-rock; the males were visible across the valley as they flew around shrieking in excitement. Nice scope views! Late in the afternoon we finally arrived at Tandayapa Bird Lodge (elevation: 1750 m or 5740 ft.) with just enough light to watch the hummingbirds coming in to the feeders on the patio – Booted Racket-tail, Brown Inca, Western Emerald, and Purple-throated Woodstar, to name but a few. We finished the day with 23 hummers!

Day 2: Day trip to Rio Silanche.  We elected to spend our second day in the low foothills, where species diversity is highest. After a 4:30 breakfast, we set off for the Pedro Vicente Maldonado area (1.5 – 2 hours from Tandayapa). Our real destination was the Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary, but the reserve is set several kilometers back from the main highway, and I always wind up birding along the entrance road, so I rarely get to the reserve before mid-morning. Roadside birding was good, as usual, and before long we had picked up some typical forest edge birds, including a small group of Orange-crowned Euphonias, both Black-winged and Buff-throated Saltators, many Yellow-bellied Seedeaters, the aptly-named Dull-colored Grassquit, a couple of Olive-crowned Yellowthroats, a pair of striking Pacific Antwrens, and an obliging Slaty Spinetail perched in the open. A Rufous-tailed Jacamar – a new family for Roger and Michael – showed briefly. In the more open areas we found Rufous Horneros, Masked Water-Tyrants, Pacific Parrotlets, and a perched Gray Hawk. Then near one of the plantation houses we came upon a flowering tree attracting many hummingbirds. Purple-chested Hummingbirds and a female Little Woodstar were the real highlights at the tree, and nearby we picked up Ruddy Pigeon, Ecuadorian Thrush, and Western Slaty-Antshrike. Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts overhead were a good sighting. Further along, we encountered a couple species more typical of the dry deciduous forest southwest of here: Scarlet-backed Woodpecker and Red-billed Scythebill. The Scythebill especially was a good find – one of very few records for the area.

Arriving at the reserve (elevation: about 300 m or 1000 ft.), we first went out for a walk on the main loop trail that goes through the old-growth forest patch. A Yellow-rumped Cacique moving with a group of Scarlet-rumps made for another surprising record. (This species is also typically a bird of drier forest in west Ecuador). White-flanked and Checker-throated Antwrens were foraging in the understory, and Purple-throated Fruitcrows were making quite a racket as they moved through the canopy. A singing Collared Trogon was difficult to locate, but in the end we had a nice study, and nearby we scoped up the endemic Dusky Pigeon, sitting out in an exposed treetop. Before long, we stumbled into a good-sized mixed flock, with Dusky-faced and Tawny-crested Tanagers moving through the lower levels. Lesser Greenlet and Scarlet-thighed Dacnis (nice spot Roger!) were in the canopy, as was a singing Griscom’s Antwren that never came into view. Arriving back at the car park for lunch, we coaxed a skulking Chestnut-backed Antbird into view near the trailhead, and enjoyed our pack lunch.

We were fortunate that there were enough clouds to permit birding all day; a clear sky and blazing sun at Silanche can suck the afternoon right out of you! So beneath gray skies we tried a second trail after lunch. This shorter loop trail on the other side of the road passes through mostly younger secondary forest, and can be quite good for flock activity in the afternoon. Sightings included Dusky Antbird, Dot-winged Antwren, Spotted Woodcreeper, Plain Xenops, Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Brown-capped Tyrannulet, Chocó Toucan, and Chocó Trogon. Emerging from the trail, we found a canopy flock moving along the road’s edge, and mixed in with the Purple Honeycreeper, Golden-faced Tyrannulet, Bananaquit, and Golden-hooded and White-shouldered Tanagers was a beautiful adult male Blackpoll Warbler dressed for his long trip north. A fantastic sighting for northwest Ecuador!

It would have been a great end for our day, but we departed the reserve a little after 4:30, leaving just enough time for one more stop before dinner. (Well, two stops actually, since we also stopped to scope a perched Plumbeous Kite from the road.) By 6:30 it was dusk as we were driving up the Tandayapa Valley. A little more than halfway up to the lodge, we stopped to make a try for Lyre-tailed Nightjar. Sure enough, a male responded to my recording by flying out from the steep forested hillside and looping over our heads, making for a spectacular silhouette against the darkening sky. As an encore, it settled down closer to the road and we were able to see it perched in the spotlight. We were back at the lodge for a late dinner (7:30-ish), and got to work on our checklists right afterward. 120 species (seen) for the day…not bad!

Day 3: Milpe & the old Nono-Mindo road. After another early start, we headed down to Milpe for the morning. We started the morning birding the patchy woodland and open areas along the road, and later walked the forest trails at Milpe Bird Sanctuary. This area is in the higher foothills at around 1200 m (3900 ft.) and supports a mix of birds from both higher and lower elevations, as well as quite a few specialties of its own. Ochre-breasted Tanagers were singing all over the place just after dawn. Our best birding came in mixed-species flocks, with Red-faced Spinetail, three species of Foliage-gleaners, Olive-striped Flycatcher, Red-headed Barbet, Pale-vented Thrush, Black-and-white Becard, Russet Antshrike, Tricolored Brush-Finch, Squirrel Cuckoo, Chocó Warbler, and Smoky-brown Woodpecker just a few of the many sightings. Tanagers were plentiful and  a few of the day's highlights were Yellow-collared Chlorophonia and Glistening-green Tanager, both Chocó endemics. The reserve, operated by Mindo Cloudforest Foundation, also supports a lek of Club-winged Manakins, and we had a nice study of the males doing their fantastic “wing-lift” display. Ornate Flycatchers were rather common on the trails, and an Esmeraldas Antbird, skulking near the ground, was a very rewarding sighting. We also spent a bit of time watching the reserve hummer feeders, which attracted Green-crowned Woodnymphs, White-whiskered Hermits, Green Thorntails, and Green-crowned Brilliants.

By late morning we departed Milpe and headed for the old Nono-Mindo road. Our plan was to spend the afternoon birding our way back to Tandayapa via the backroads. The birding was good all afternoon (Are you sensing a pattern here? These guys have incredible bird karma!) and we stopped several times to sift through mixed flocks. Barred Becard, Toucan Barbet, Capped Conebill, Flame-faced Tanager, and Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager were in one flock; Streaked Tuftedcheek, Sepia-brown Wren, and White-tailed Tyrannulet were in the next. A beautiful pair of Grass-green Tanagers feasting on fruit allowed us a close approach. Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan (the cover bird on the field guide) and Crimson-rumped Toucanet were seen well. A Spillman’s Tapaculo, singing from the roadside vegetation allowed itself to be seen briefly, as did a Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher hiding in a stand of bamboo. A Sickle-winged Guan that flew across the road stayed put just long enough to a get a look at it through the scope, and finally toward the end of the afternoon, a small group of Plain-tailed Wrens put in an appearance.

Day 4: Tandayapa. Roger and Michael had saved their last day to bird around the lodge trails on their own, and I asked Michael to tell me how it went. From his account, it sounds like they did quite well. They started the morning in the hide at dawn, with Immaculate Antbirds showing really well. On the trails they had some common stuff like Beryl-spangled, Black-capped, and Metallic-green Tanagers, Flavescent Flycatcher, and Dusky-capped Flycatcher. They also picked up some rarities like Tawny-throated Leaftosser and White-rumped Hawk. Near the car park they found a flock of White-winged, Chestnut-capped, and Tricolored Brush-Finches, and they saw Streak-capped Treehunter going into a nest burrow. Of course they spent a lot of time watching the approximately 15 species of hummingbirds at the feeders too… Who could resist that?