DAY TWO
A drive to the slopes of the Antisana volcano. This is one of several volcanoes that encircle Quito. It’s not as high or as well-known as the nearby Cotopaxi volcano but it offers the most exciting birding. Our first stop will be at 11,500 feet, at a site where Andean Condors often roost. There are only about 100 of these iconic birds in Ecuador so it can be a difficult species to connect with, but here we should see at least one or two as they rise from their roost site. The same place also has a number of feeders which attract some of the country’s most exciting hummingbirds. Great Sapphirewing is a magnificent beast but will be dwarfed when a Giant Hummingbird flies in. This is the largest hummingbird in the world with a wingspan of 9 inches. Perhaps even more spectacular is the Black-tailed Trainbearer, a medium-sized hummingbird but with an outrageously long ‘train’ of a tail. And if colourful markings are what impresses you most you’ll be blown away by the rainbow pattern on the rump of the magnificently named Shining Sunbeam. Other birds possible here include Paramo Pipit and Black Flowerpiercer but the most thrilling sighting could well be a Spectacled Bear. A family of bears has lived in the area for the last few years and one of their offspring, a young male, is sometimes spotted on the opposite slope. We were lucky to get good views on our 2023 tour. We’ll then explore even higher areas where llamas roam, as we look for an exciting endemic, the Ecuadorian Hillstar and another species, the Andean Ibis, (recently split from Black-faced) which is found hardly anywhere else in the world. We’ll also get close to some of the dozens of impressive Carunculated Caracaras plus Andean Lapwings and Andean Gulls and look for birds such as Chestnut-winged and Stout-billed Cinclodes. Overnight Puembo Bird Gardens.

DAY THREE
Today we fly to Loja in the south of Ecuador. Before we’ve even left the airport car park we might have seen great birds such as Peruvian Meadowlark, Croaking Ground Dove and Pacific Parrotlet. The airport is actually in Catamayo and along the river valley nearby there is some great open country birding to be had we’ll in quite different habitat, to a partly cultivated area at lower altitude by the river Bombuscaro at Zamora. Here the birds are not as specialised as in the forests but more numerous and easier to see so the birding is easy and varied. The river might have Fasciated Tiger-heron and Amazon Kingfisher and the tree-lined fields are good for birds like Squirrel Cuckoo, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, flycatchers, kiskadees, Lined Antshrike, Long-tailed Tyrant and Lemon-throated Barbet. Overhead we’ll look for Gray-rumped Swift and White-banded Swallow. We then push on to Copalinga, to the east of Loja, a distance of about 100 km. En route we’ll make several birding stops, always adding to our species list. Birding along lanes and tracks is often quiet but interspersed with flurries of activity – maybe a woodpecker such as Crimson-mantled, swifts such as Chestnut-collared, swallows including White-banded, thrushes including Black-billed, a flock of American Wood-warblers such as Blackburnian or a mixed party of tanagers. This is when you are likely to experience the classic ‘flock-of-ticks’ as a single flock might include several species of tanager, euphonia and dacnis. On our last trip we had great views of Pacific Pygmy Owl, Golden Grosbeak, Tumbes Sparrow and Drab Seed-eater too (the last two species endemic to the Tumbesian region of Ecuador/Peru.).
Copalinga is a beautiful lodge with cabins set on a forested hillside, overlooking the dining area which, of course, is surrounded by feeders. You can sit on the open veranda of the dining area looking for glistening hummingbirds such as Sparkling Violet-ear, Black-throated and Violet-fronted Brilliants and Many-spotted Hummingbird. Fork-tailed Woodnymphs will come and drink at the bar with you. Tanagers, saltators, euphonias, guans and chachalacas come for fruit at the feeders too. Some of these are dazzling birds such as Green Honeycreeper, Golden-eared and Green-and-gold Tanagers while it’s the size of Speckled Guan that makes them impressive. The flowering bushes around the car park attract some of the tinier hummingbirds including Spangled Coquette, Wire-crested Thorntail, Golden-tailed Sapphire and Violet-headed Hummingbird. At dusk we are likely to hear the calls of the local Band-bellied Owl and there’s a chance we might actually see the bird in torchlight. Overnight Copalinga.

 

DAY FOUR
A whole day in the Copalinga area gives us time to enjoy the hummingbirds and tanagers at the feeders which may also attract a Coatimundi – a raccoon with a long prehensile snout. It’s also a good place to see Montane Woodcreeper both Crested and Russet-backed Oropendulas. From the lodge there are walks in all directions. One such walk will take us to a salt-lick – a cliff-face which is sometimes visited by White-necked Parakeets. The birds come here to extract minerals from the rocks and we might be rewarded with views of them right next to the path. The same trail offers a chance of two other special birds, the strange-looking Amazonian Umbrellabird and the Lanceolated Monklet, but neither are easy to find. This is probably the best place in the world to see the Monklet (a tiny puffbird) so we’ll make a special effort but may have to be content with just hearing it. Of course, wherever we go we’ll be finding extra species such as flycatchers, tyrannulets, woodcreepers, thrushes, wrens, pigeons and more. Later in the day we’ll climb the path above the cabins in search of another exciting bird. Tinamous are secretive birds that creep through the forest undergrowth and are very often heard but not seen. For example we’ll often hear the calls of Little Tinamou from deep in the forest. But there is a much rarer species here, the Gray Tinamou which the guides often manage to lure onto the forest trail. There’s every chance that we’ll get fabulous views of this remarkable bird. It’s a short-but-steep climb to the Tinamou site and from there we can explore more forest trails. . Overnight at Copalinga with another chance of the Band-bellied Owl.

 

DAY FIVE
Apart from the usual pleasures of the birds at the Copalinga feeders, we will plan the morning depending on how we have fared the previous day. This could involve a few hours at the excellent Podocarpus National Park, where we can search again, if necessary, for Lanceolated Monklet. This is an excellent location and some special birds could be added here such as White-capped Dipper, Orange-crested Flycatcher, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Paradise Tanager, Fulvous-breasted Flatbill, Green-fronted Lancebill and even a small chance of Andean Cock-of-the-Rock! We’ll then begin to make our way towards Loja where we will sleep tonight, checking along the way a couple of sites for one of South America’s most exciting birds. We’ll follow the course of a raging river where, with luck, we’ll spot one or two pairs of Torrent Duck and we even saw Oilbird here in 2023! Arriving in the evening to Loja, we will have one more treat in store as a tiny population of the previously Peruvian endemic Koepcke’s Screech Owl occurs in the town and we have good chances to find it before dinner. Overnight in Loja at Sonesta Hotel.

DAY SIX
Today we drive south of Loja to a lodge called Casa Simpson in the Tapichalaca reserve. There are some top-drawer birding stops en route though in open country with scattered scrub and we might have chances to find such gems as Black and White Tanager (a migrant), Plumbeous-backed Thrush, Elegant Crescentchest, Chapman’s Antshrike, Grey & Gold Warbler, Ecuadorian Piculet, Rufous-headed Pygmy-tyrant and Plain-coloured Grassquit. We also pass by a small pond where if we are lucky, we might spot the Plumbeous Rail! We then continue our journey to Casa Simpson, and as ever, there’s great birding to be had just from the balcony of the lodge. The feeders swarm with Chestnut-breasted Coronets but with patience you should also spot Flame-throated and Amethyst-throated Sunangels, Collared Inca, Speckled Hummingbird, Fawn-breasted Brilliant and the fabulous Long-tailed Sylph. Look out too for Russet-crowned, Citrine and Black-crested Warblers, Masked and White-sided Flowerpiercers, Pearled Treerunner, Spectacled Redstart and Yellow-breasted Brushfinch. Overnight Casa Simpson, Tapichalaca.

 

DAY SEVEN
The next day we get up at dawn to look for one of several antpittas in the area. We will probably have already heard Chestnut-naped Antpitta but if available a local guide will take us to a favoured feeding area where we could get exceptionally close to one, albeit in dim light. Even such a remarkable sighting is likely to be totally eclipsed on our next excursion when we look for the star bird of these forests. As recently as 1997, Robert Ridgeley, author of the Birds of Ecuador, was birding here when he heard a completely unfamiliar sound. If it was a bird it wasn’t any of the species in his book! He recorded the sound and played it back over a loudspeaker. Within minutes a bird popped out of the forest and he was looking at something completely different from anything any birder had ever seen – a ‘new’ species of antpitta, later to be christened Jocotoco Antpitta. And what a bird. Taller than any other antpitta, chestnut above, grey below and with a startling black and white face pattern. Following his discovery a foundation was set up, the Jocotoco Foundation, to establish a reserve on the site and to try to show this amazing bird to visitors. Hence you will get a chance to see this species for yourself, probably just a few feet away from our cameras. The local guides do what they can to lure birds from the cover of the forest and in this way we should also get great views of White-throated Quail-Dove. Here we will also start to get our first views of tanagers such as White-capped, Grass-green and Golden-crowned and the wonderfully named Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager, parrots such as Scaly-naped and Golden-plumed Parakeet and wrens such as Plain-tailed and Gray-breasted Wood-Wren. Apart from spending time perusing and photographing the birds around the lodge, we’ll also take a walk lower down the valley where the range of species becomes quite different due to the altitude. Here in 2018 we added species such as Maranon Thrush, Yellow-browed Sparrow, Streaked Saltator and Rufous-browed Peppershrike. Overnight Casa Simpson.

DAY EIGHT
Today we spend the morning enjoying the birds at the feeders at Casa Simpson and we will also have a few hours birding on the Casa Simpson trails again, This gives us another chance to try for the Jocotoco Antpitta if we missed it yesterday, or to just enjoy some of the other great birds on offer here. In the afternoon we then trannsfer back to Loja for the flight back to Quito. The most famous birding areas around Quito are the forests only about 40 km to the west of the city along Route 28. We’ll be spending our last 3 nights in this area and if we arrive at the lodge before dusk then we will get our first taste of its fantastic array of hummingbird feeders. These attract what can only be described as clouds of hummingbirds: loads of Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, Andean Emeralds, Purple-throated Woodstars and Fawn-breasted Brilliants plus a host of other species such as Brown and Sparkling Violetear, Brown Inca, Purple-bibbed Whitetip, White-whiskered Hermit, Green-crowned and Empress Brilliant, Green-crowned Woodnymph and White-necked Jacobin. Of course, all these birds are gorgeous and to see so many together is almost overwhelming, especially when you get 4 or 5 species together on one feeder, but standing out amongst them will be a few White-booted Racket-tails. What gems these birds are, with tiny bodies, cute little white boots and, in the males, two dangling ‘rackets’ sticking beyond the tail. We will certainly be excited to see these birds first thing in the morning tomorrow! Overnight Sachatamia Lodge.

DAY NINE
A very special day indeed. We’ll begin by getting up before daylight and driving to a site where Cock-of-the-Rock is known to display. This is one of most wanted birds of South America and there’s no wonder. They’re members of the Cotinga family, about the size of a thrush but rather plump. The males are dazzlingly red with black wings and tail and grey tertials that hang like roof tiles over their lower back. Their most startling feature is a vertical comb-like crest over the front of the head, making the head look grotesquely swollen. Both males and females gather to display at traditional lekking sites so we’ll be arriving at one such site in time for their dawn performance. In the dim light the red plumage of the males seems to glow, the forest comes alive with the sound of their jay-like squawks and kikoo-oooooawwk calls and we’ll watch their intense bowing and wing-flapping displays. On our 2018 visit we were further rewarded by the appearance of a Cloud-forest Pygmy Owl perched and calling right above our heads – a newly-split species endemic to Ecuador. The lekking site is in the Refugio Paz de las Aves a reserve owned and managed by Angel Paz and his brothers. Angel is famous for pioneering a way of attracting antpittas to particular locations where they can be easily seen by visitors. The most famous of these is ‘his’ Giant Pitta called ‘Maria’. He calls her name and if she comes he rewards her with grubs. So, instead of wandering through these jungles with the vain hope of seeing an antpitta, we’ll be able to follow Angel or his staff to particular spots where, all being well, the birds will come to us. In addition to Maria, we might also be introduced to ‘Shakira’, an Ochre-breasted Antpitta famous for her gyrating hips as well as a Moustached Antpitta, a Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, several Dark-backed Wood-Quails and ‘Pepito’ a Rufous-breasted Ant-thrush – all ‘impossible’ birds made possible by Angel and his staff. Of course this fabulous forest also has other birds and on our 2018 trip we had our first Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Masked Trogon, Swallow-tailed Kite, Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, Metal-green Tanager and Golden-headed Quetzal here too.
Back at Sachatamia we’ll get some more photos of hummingbirds and tanagers at the feeders before going off in the minibus to explore the jungles behind the back-packers village of Mindo. Who knows what species we might encounter here but they often include Guira, Bay-headed, Fawn-breasted, Rufous-throated and Swallow Tanagers, Andean Solitaire, Cinnamon Becard, Ornate Flycatcher, Yellow Tyrannulet and Buff-fronted and Lineated Foliage-gleaners. Overnight Sachatamia Lodge.

DAY TEN
Our lodge has another rather unusual feature which is great for luring skulking forest birds out into the open where we can see them, as we head before dawn down to a covered hide overlooking a clearing in the forest. What makes this clearing special is that overnight it has been lit by powerful lamps shining onto the surface of large white sheets pinned vertically on posts. Basically a huge moth trap – creating an artificially high concentration of food for the insect-eaters in the neighbouring jungle. As daylight breaks, the first forest-dwellers come into the arena, lit by the lamps, to feast on all these moths. This gives us an extraordinary opportunity to watch forest birds that would normally be frustratingly difficult to observe: Strong-billed and Montane Woodcreepers, Lineated Foliage-gleaner, Streak-capped Treehunter, Spotted Barbtail, Spillman’s Tapaculo, Cinnamon Flycatcher, Smoke-coloured Pewee, Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Gray-breasted Wood-wren, Slaty-backed Nightingale Thrush, Uniform Antshrike and even Yellow-throated Antpitta. The photographic opportunities here are excellent, despite the dim light, as many of the birds are so close to the hide. After breakfast we may head up to Bellavista reserve and work some of the cloud forest trails in that area. The birds are pretty special with more feeders that inevitably attract some smart birds including up to 9 species of hummingbirds plus Masked Flowerpiercer and Blue-winged Mountain Tanager. Birding the trails we could spot not only Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Masked Trogon, Turquoise Jay and Cinnamon Flycatcher but also Toucan Barbet an endemic to this region and we will be trying for this tricky species throughout our time in this area. We’ll make a couple of excursions into the surrounding forests, looking for birds that are harder to find at lower altitudes. Some of these species are notoriously hard to spot but we’ll make special efforts to see the beautiful Ocellated Tapaculo and the much-sought-after Tanager Finch. Another small bird feeder set-up we may visit gives a good chance to see the gorgeous Plate-billed Mountain-toucan if we haven’t already been lucky to find it, and if it does come in then again the views are likely to be excellent. Overnight Sachatamia Lodge.

DAY ELEVEN
There will be time for some more birding around Sachatamia, but our main target today is to visit a mountain area closer to Quito an en route back to the airport, at Suroloma. Here we will be in search of one of the most amazing birds in the world, the Sword-billed Hummingbird. There will be plenty of birds to keep us entertained here including Yellow-breasted and Stripe-headed Brushfinch, Masked and Glossy Flowerpiercers, Black-chested and Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers and a host of hummingbirds. The commonest of these will be Buff-winged Starfrontlet and we should also encounter once again the Great Sapphirewing and the Shining Sunbeam. Gorgeous as these birds are, they will be completely outdone by another species, the Sword-billed Hummingbird. The bird itself is quite large for a hummer but what makes it extraordinary is its bill, over 4 inches long and sometimes longer than the entire body of the bird! No other bird in the world has a bill longer than its body and we’ll be able to watch how it uses that bill to feed in long-tubed flowers, how it has to sit with its bill pointing upwards to stop it toppling forward and how it has to preen itself with its feet because it can’t touch its own body with its bill. Away from the visitor centre, the reserve has other delights. We’ll listen for the calls of pittas which might include Undulated, Rufous and Chestnut-naped but, as in most South American forests, they will probably stay hidden—though this depends on which species the local guides currently have sites for. We had excellent views of two of these three species on our 2023 tour. Instead Sometimes it is also possible to see White-throated Screech-owl here though it does involve an hours walk at what is pretty high altitude. The great thing is though, if you don’t fancy the walk you can stay by the feeders and try to get more views and photos of the Sword-billed Hummingbird! After lunch here, we then transfer back to Quito
in good time for our evening flight back to Amsterdam.

DAY TWELVE
Arrival back into the UK where the tour will conclude.

 

 

 

This is a typical Neotropical birding tour so expect to start at 5.30 every day, sometimes earlier, as dawn is the most productive time of day. We will end the birding day at 6pm and eat at 7pm, ready for an early night each day (though there may be an optional chance to look for owls and nightjars too on some evenings). Physically, this is not a hugely strenuous tour but some of the trails to access antpitta sites are muddy and steep, though all less than 1km. Wellingtons are provided at Casa Simpson for reaching the Jocotoco feeding site which is 1.5km along wet trails into the forest. Most of the sites have steps and handrails though to help us along and anyone with a standard level of fitness can participate. We spend two days at altitude on this tour (over 3500m) but only take very short walks at these levels so it is not too strenuous. The rest of the trip is spent at mid-elevations so it is never really hot, though expect rain at some point every day. 

 

We stay at a variety of excellent lodges on this tour, all of which have en suite rooms and provide very comfortable accommodation with excellent food. However, the two Jocotoco Foundation Lodges we use (Copalinga and Casa Simpson) are small lodges, and we take all the cabins available there (6 in total). This means depending on the number of singles in the group, some group members will be required to share in a twin for these lodges (four nights in total). Please note that larger groups cannot stay at these lodges, which are brilliantly located and have their own expert local guides that help us out, their own viewing screens, feeding sites (including for Jocotoco Antpitta) and have all the best birding spots close to hand, without the need to commute from more distant, larger lodges. So we feel this small sacrifice is well worth it.