Southern Ecuador

29 September - 13 October 2011

Buenaventura

From Copalinga, we traveled to the western slope and the Jocotoco Foundation's Buenaventura Reserve, which Mark called, "one of the birdiest spots in the country".  Buenaventura is home to the rare and endangered El Oro Parakeet (which we saw!), as well as the exceedingly bizarre Long-wattled Umbrellabird and the musical Song Wren, both of which we were able to see with a little work.  A tolerable video of the Umbrellabird is on the videos page, as well as some clips from the Buenaventura hummingbird feeders. Also - click here! for the awesome Buenaventura webcam!	En route to Buenavista, on the Loja-Zamora Road	Pretty flowers...	Zoom in on this grasshopper...!
A melostome!  Always look for the parallel lines and ribbing	Flowers for the plant at left	Pretty in pink	White-fronted Capuchin
Raging río	Mark looking for dippers	Check out the river video on the videos page	Cliff Flycatcher at the river stop
Finally at Buenaventura - pretty purple flowers outside the dining area	Breakfast time at Buenaventura	Morning mist	Relatively low in elevation - around 3000 ft? - but nearly permanently foggy, making for some lovely vistas
Robert on the Umbrellabird trail	Lush growth	White-necked Jacobin	Gray-backed Hawk - so Robert got the better shot of the bird, except for the head
I got the bird's head, but is a fuzzier shot overall	Green Honeycreeper (female)	Violet-bellied Hummingbird, White- necked Jacobin, and Bananaquit	Green Honeycreeper (male)
Trailhead at Buenaventura Reserve	Tough shot of a Long-wattled Umbrellabird (see and hear him on the videos page!)	\ View from Cow Dung, er, El Oro Parakeet Hill	Robert running downhill after seeing the El Oro Parakeet...and as Mark said, it's a good shot of some of the only sunlight during our stay!
Robert photographing from the vehicle	Southern Crested Caracara	Broad-billed Motmot	Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
Buff-rumped Warbler	Pale-mandibled Araçari	Lonely horse	Things you'd like to see...Jocotoco Antpitta, Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Black-and-White Owl...and we did see them all!
A troop of White-nosed Coatis roamed around the dining area at Buenaventura	The braver ones ran through the dining area...	Ginger?