Day 1: Arrival in Guayaquil

After arrival at Ecuador’s largest city, we will transfer you to a business-style hotel for the night. If you arrive in time, there will be a welcome dinner in the evening.

 

Day 2: Guayaquil to Umbrellabird Lodge

We will leave Guayaquil before first light, stopping at a large area of wetlands, woodlands, and mangroves site much of the morning, before heading south to Buenaventura Reserve in the province of El Oro. Birding the coastal area near Guayaquil first, we will be principally looking for key species like the endangered Horned Screamer, Jet Antbird, Plain-breasted Ground-Dove, and Royal Flycatcher. However, the combination of habitats in this area are likely to provide us with a very healthy morning birdlist, with other species like Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Comb Duck, White-cheeked Pintail, Cocoi Heron, Limpkin, Snail Kite, Wattled Jacana, Amazilia Hummingbird, Ecuadorian Ground-Dove, Peruvian Pygmy-Owl, Gray-cheeked Parakeet, Pacific Parrotlet, Ringed and Green Kingfishers, Red-billed Scythebill, Black-crowned Antshrike, Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant, Sooty-crowned Flycatcher, Greenish and Pacific Elaenias, Vermilion Flycatcher, Fasciated and Superciliated Wrens, Scrub Blackbird, and Saffron Finch all possible, among others. After much of the morning there, we continue on our southward journey, taking lunch at a restaurant en-route. In the late afternoon, we arrive at Umbrellabird Lodge, within Buenaventura Reserve, and will likely have done some birding along the entrance road on the way before our arrival in this Jocotoco Foundation Reserve (an Ecuadorian NGO).

 

Day 3: Buenaventura Reserve

This reserve is situated in the foothills on the western slope of the Andes. The reserve is especially rich as it covers elevations ranging from lowland forest at around 500m/1640ft around the lodge, up to foothill forest around 1000m/3280ft. Thus, the birdlife around the lodge differs significantly from that found higher in the reserve. Forests near the lodge are home to the incredible Long-wattled Umbrellabird, one of the premier site targets, as well as Choco Toucan, Club-winged Manakin, and Song Wren. Higher in the reserve the other flagship species for the reserve, the endemic El Oro Parakeet; almost the entire world population occurs inside the reserve, where it is usually readily viewable. Other target species in the reserve include Rufous-throated Tanager, Ochraceous Attila, and The lodge also comes with hummingbird and fruit feeders that attract Green Thorntails, White-necked Jacobins, Violet-bellied Hummingbirds and Bananaquits and Green Honeycreepers. Hummingbird feeders higher in the reserve offer up a totally different set of species that includes Violet-tailed Sylph, Velvet-purple Coronet and ‘Ecuadorian’ White-vented Plumeteleer, a possible split in waiting. This reserve is especially noted for its large concentrations of hummingbirds at the feeders and time will be made to spend some time with our cameras and them, at both of their feeder stations.

Others among the long list of species on the reserve that we might see include Rufous-headed Chachalaca, Gray-backed and Barred Hawks, Plumbeous and Swallow-tailed Kites, Red-masked Parakeet, Bronze-winged Parrot, Esmeraldas Antbird, Rufous-winged Tyrannulet, Ornate Flycatcher, and Whiskered Wren. At night we can also search for nightbirds, weather permitting, like Common Pauraque and Black-and-white Owl, which both occur near the lodge.

 

Day 4: Buenaventura to Urraca Lodge

After a final morning in Buenaventura Reserve, we will head south to near the border with Peru and the reserve of Jorupe, another Jocotoco Foundation property. However, we will save our birding in that reserve for the following day. Our afternoon birding will center at a site about one hour before there called El Empalme, where species like Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Collared Antshrike, Long-tailed Mockingbird, White-headed Brushfinch, Yellow-tailed and White-edged Orioles, Tumbes Sparrow, Baird’s Flycatcher and Golden Grosbeak can be all found. In the evening, we will roll into our comfortable lodging for the next three nights, Urraca Lodge situated within the Jorupe reserve. At night, we can go out in search of the Peruvian Screech-Owl or Spectacled Owl close to the lodge.

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Day 5: Urraca Lodge

This wonderful reserve close to Peru will be very different from what we have been in before at Buenaventura, being lower, in a drier climate, and where large deciduous trees grow, not tropical Andean forests. It is home to a stream of Tumbesian endemic bird species, and so we will have plenty to fill our time. The reserve is known for Ecuadorian Trogon, Watkins’s Antpitta, Blackish-headed Spinetail, Henna-hooded and Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaners, Ecuadorian Piculet, Slaty Becard, Pacific Elaenia, Gray-breasted Flycatcher, Speckle-breasted Wren, and Plumbeous-backed Thrush. Other more widespread species found there include Long-billed Starthroat, Streaked Saltator, and Thick-billed Euphonia. The lodge also has an amazing set of feeders for our cameras to feast on, and where species like Pale-browed Tinamou, White-tailed Jay, Whooping Motmot, and Black-capped Sparrow regularly come in. The lodge is named after the spectacular aforementioned blue-and-white jay.

 

Day 6: Utuana

On this day we will explore the forests higher in the mountains, upslope from Urraca Lodge, with a completely different birdlife in these southwester highlands, and where some further specialties can be found, like Rainbow Starfrontlet, Purple-throated Sunangel (both at feeders), Black-crested Tit-Tyrant, Chapman’s Antshrike, Jelski’s Chat-Tyrant, ‘Piura’ Black-eared Hemispingus, and Black-cowled Saltator all occur. At the end of the day after birding both within the reserve of Utuana and sites in between there and Macara, we will return to Urraca Lodge for a final night.

 

Day 7: Urraca Lodge to Casa Simpson

Once again, we will move from one Jocotoco Foundation reserve to another, and another of a very different nature to any that have gone before on this tour. We will drive across the Sabanilla Pass (c.3000m/9850ft), which will mark our arrival on to the eastern slope of the Andes for the first time on the tour. This will be the highest point of the tour thus far, where the lodge of Casa Simpson is located at 2500m/8200ft elevation within the reserve of Tapichalaca, surrounded by wet temperate forest covered hills. There are sure to be some stops on the journey, and we may find species in mixed flocks once we reach the temperate zone like Pearled Treerunner, Streaked Tuftedcheek, White-banded Tyrannulet, Cinnamon Flycatcher, Green-and-black Fruiteater, Barred Becard, Turquoise Jay, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Grass-green and Golden-crowned Tanagers. We should arrive with enough time to examine the hummingbird feeders at Casa Simpson, where we are likely to find Amethyst-throated Sunangel, Little Sunangel, Long-tailed Sylph, Collared Inca, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, and White-bellied Woodstar. Two nights will be spent in the Casa Simpson, within Tapichalaca Reserve, the home of the fabled Jocotoco Antpitta, our main focus for the following morning…

 

Day 8: Tapichalaca and Valladolid

Today will be a day of two very different halves and the full diversity of the Andes will be in full display. The morning will be spent chasing Antpittas and other interior forest birds on the Tapichalaca trails, which cut through chilly, bamboo-dominated temperate forest (around 2300-2500m/7545-8200ft; while the afternoon will comprise road birding below the lodge, at humid elevations (c.1100m/3610ft) within the foothills. The morning will be all about antpittas. A feeder near the lodge brings in Chestnut-naped Antpitta and occasionally even Undulated Antpitta. The star of the show however is Jocotoco Antpitta, which was discovered to science as recently as 1997, after its first sighing within what is now the reserve. It is regular at a feeder about a mile’s walk from the lodge. While we walk the trail to and from the antpitta feeding area we shall be in the lookout for other species, like Bearded Guan, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Golden-plumed Parakeet, Slate-crowned Antpitta, Chusquea Tapaculo, Rufous Spinetail, Black-throated Tody-Tyrant, Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher, Orange-banded Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied and Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrants, Barred Fruiteater, Plain-tailed Wren, Russet-crowned Warbler, Spectacled Redstart, Hooded Mountain-Tanager, and Blue-backed Conebill. In the afternoon, we will drive a short way down the road, particularly trying to find the local Maranon Thrush, Olive-chested Flycatcher, Mottle-backed Elaenia, and Green-backed (Yellow-cheeked) Becard, amongst a swathe of other new birds. At night, weather permitting, we can go out looking for White-throated Screech-Owl, which occasionally turns up near the lodge. A final night will be spent at Casa Simpson.

 

Day 9: Tapichalaca to Copalinga

Even though we will have dabbled in the eastern foothills the afternoon before, that forest would have been quite patchy compared with what we will be in and around in the coming days. Copalinga Lodge will be our destination for this afternoon (after some final birding in Tapichalaca), often earmarked as the best lodge of the tour, with its wonderful food, decent feeders, and wonderful grounds. It is also within easy access of Podocarpus National Park (10 minutes-drive), where the following day will focus. The afternoon activity will focus immediately in and around the lodge; sometimes there is an active feeding station for Gray Tinamou, and this will be our priority if it is active during the time of our visit. The feeders can host Green Hermit, Glittering-throated Emerald, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, and Violet-fronted Brilliant, while the blooms in the garden can be good for Violet-headed Hummingbird and Golden-tailed Sapphire; occasionally a Spangled Coquette comes in too. Other species we may see during our first exploration of the lodge area include Magpie, Blue-necked, Golden, White-lined and Paradise Tanagers. At dusk we will check for the local Blackish Nightjar not far from the lodge. Two nights will be spent within the comfortable forest-side cabins at Copalinga Lodge.

 

Day 10: Copalinga and Podocarpus National Park

While the grounds of Copalinga Lodge itself are worth exploring, (as we will have done the afternoon before), the real joy of staying there is its close proximity to one of Ecuador’s largest protected areas, Podocarpus National Park, which covers 1462 square kilometers, and stretches into two Ecuadorian provinces (Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe, the latter where Copalinga is located). There are two major gateways into the park, and the Rio Bombuscaro one is situated just a short drive from Copalinga. This part of the park consists of verdant tropical rainforest in the foothills of the eastern slope of the Andes. The bird list for this area is simply massive (in the region of 500 species) and so it is hard to predict what we will see, but here are some of the more exciting possibilities: Ash-browed Spinetail, Yellow-breasted Antwren, Lafresnaye’s Piculet, Black-streaked Puffbird, Lanceolated Monklet, Andean Motmot, Coppery-chested Jacamar, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Ecuadorian Tyrannulet, Lemon-browed Flycatcher, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, and Inca (Green) Jay. This part of the Andes is famed for its richness in tanagers in particular, and all of the following could feature on this day: Green-and-gold, Blue-necked, Golden, Paradise, Orange-eared, Golden-eared, Yellow-bellied, Spotted and Bay-headed Tanagers! Another night will be spent at Copalinga, before out departure out of the foothills the next day.

 

Day 11: Copalinga to Saraguro

After some final birding in the eastern foothills, we shall drive north towards Cuenca, stopping just south of there in the distinctive town of Saraguro. The peoples of Saraguro are some of the most easily recognizable in Ecuador, as they have retained their traditional black-themed dress, unlike all of the cities and towns around. Our arrival in Saraguro will mark a return to the temperate forests of the east again, but this time even higher than we will have been before, as this time we will be reaching the treeline (on the following day). This day will involve some final birding in the foothills before we depart on the lengthy drive to Saraguro, searching for birds en route like White-tailed shrike-Tyrant and the rare Red-faced Parrot. A single night will be spent in the historical town of Saraguro.

 

Day 12: Cerro Acanama to Cuenca

Today we will be birding a very special area near to Saraguro. We will be birding mainly along a dirt road and some short steep trails in search of birds near the treeline, I this bamboo dominated stunted elfin forest. Our main target will be the amazing Crescent-faced Antpitta, but the area also holds Mountain Caracara, Glowing Puffleg, Agile Tit-Tyrant, the rare Chestnut-bellied Cotinga, Masked Mountain-Tanager, and Black-headed Hemispingus. After much of the day there and lunch taken in the field, we will drive north to the colonial city of Cuenca for a single night in a hotel with hot baths on site.

 

Day 13: El Cajas to Guayaquil

An action packed morning will be spent in El Cajas National Park, which comprises largely of paramo grasslands above the treeline, interspersed with highlands lakes and ponds. However, there is also some temperate forest in the lower parts, replaced by scrub, grassland and a natural monoculture of polylepis woodland higher up; both parts will offer us plentiful new birds. The lakes and ponds are home to Andean Gulls, Andean Teal, “Ecuadorian” Virginia Rail, Sedge Wren; the polylepis woodland holds some specialties like Tit-like Dacnis, Mouse-colored Thistletail, the rare Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant, and Giant Conebill ; while the grasslands and scrubby areas within them host the endemic Violet-throated Metaltail, Andean Lapwing, Carunculated Caracara, Variable Hawk, Many-striped Canastero, Andean Tit-Spinetail, Tawny Antpitta, Stout-billed and Chestnut-winged Cinclodes, Plain-capped (Paramo) Ground-Tyrant, and Paramo Pipit. After a morning at the highest altitudes of the tour (between 3170m-4350m/10,400-14,270ft), we will drive sharply downhill and back into the steamy lowlands of Guayaquil in the afternoon, where we will spend a final night.

 

Day 14: Departure from Guayaquil

A transfer will be provided to connect with international flights out of Guayaquil. This Ecuadorian city is connected directly with several major hub cities in the US.