Tanagers

Even more than hummingbirds, tanagers have come to define the beauty of Ecuador. Luckily this time around I was able to see quite a few of these beauties whether at feeders or out in the wild. Starting with #240 the Blue-necked tanager. Followed by this lifer the dusky faced tanager #241. Guira tanager #242. Rufous collared tanager #243. black-chinned tanager #244. bay-headed tanager #245. The ubiquitious lemon rumped tanager #246. and the equally as common palm tanager #247. blue-winged mountain tanager #248. blue-grey tanager #249. #250 while not a tanager, I find them with them often, rufous collared sparrow. silver-throated tanager #251. dusky bush tanager #252. beryl spangled tanager #253. golden tanager #254. golden-naped tanager #255. flame-faced tanager #256. swallow tanager #257. white lined tanager #258. Also had flame rumped tanager #259, black winged saltator #258, masked flower piercer #259, slate-throated whitestart, #260 and ecuadorian thrush at #261. Finally I got some really beautiful birds but the pix werent great. Those were #262 yellow-tufted dacnis, #263 green honey creeper and #264 yellow breasted elenia. Finally had the one-colored becard #265.

Isla de la Plata

Im not even going to try to put into words how awesome this place was. My pix here will only approximate the stark yet rich beauty. The one small disappointment is that we couldnt see the waved albatross because they were nesting. We did have a few thousand blue-footed boobies #230 though. There were also thousands of frigate birds #231. My favorite was the nasca booby #232, although the tropicbird #233 is truly one of the most beautiful birds in flight. We also had red-footed booby #234, which eats predominately squid. On the trails by the station we had the little woodstar #235 and the endemic warbling finch #236. On the boat ride over we had inca tern #237, Peruvian Pelican #238 and Parkinson's shearwater. #239. Also had a close encounter with 2 humpbacks!

Birding La Segua on the way to Isla de la Plata

Took a trip to the coast to a place known as "the poor man's Galapagos." Isla de la Plata is about 25km off the coast of Manta and hosts many of the same birds as the Galapagos but is far easier and cheaper to reach. Birding along the way as well as the La Segua Wetlands, it was a truly beautiful experience despite the spartan conditions. There are many wading and waterbirds along the many farms you can pull off onto for viewings. We were able to see a great variety this way including: Black-necked Stilt #197, Ringed-kingfisher #198, and the elusive sun bittern #199. Also seen were many white-edged orioles #200, Wattled Jacana #201, Wilson's plover #202, White-faced pintail #203, tri-color heron #204, neotropical cormorant #205, vermillion flycatcher #206, peruvian meadowlark #207, tropical mockingbirds #208, boat-tailed grackle #209, least grebe #210, southern yellow grossbeak #211, paraque #212 and saffron finches #213. La Segua was teeming with birds despite being very hot. Many lifers here for me including: #214 Cocoi Heron, Purple Gallinule #215, Supercilliated Wren #216, Silver-throated kingbird #217 striated heron #218 Many smooth billed #219 and groove-billed anis #220, Also had the green kingfisher #221, The american pygmy kingfisher #222, grey-breasted martin #223, brown-chested martin #224, Many doves were in attendance. White-tipped dove #225, peruvian dove #226 and these beautiful croaking ground doves #227, Along the entire coast, there are large flocks of cute Pacific Parrolets #228 Last but not least were two kraiks...both completely new to me. The white-throated kraik #229 and this grey-breasted krail #230!

Urban Jungle Premiere Sunday Night

Although the hawk section got pared down considerably, it was still cool working on this project. Cant wait to see the finished product!