Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

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reptileexperts
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Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

Post by reptileexperts »

Hi guys and gals,

I'm new to posting on the FHF, and thought I'd set my bar high :thumb: I spent 10 days traveling across the amazon and highlands of Ecuador during May, to prepare for co-leading a photography workshop intro tour in November, and after this experience, I can not wait to go back! Questions, comments, concerns bring them up.

Image
Toucan Barbette, Mindo Ecuador

Image
Crested Quetzal, Alamby Ecuador

Image
Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Refugio de Paz, Mindo Ecuador

Image
Smooth-billed Anis, Rio Napo, Ecuador - Amazon Basin

Image
Hoatzin, Rio Napo, Ecuador - Amazon Basin - I ended up printing this image 36x24 for my reptile room office, and it came out just spectacular!

more can be seen at www.pbase.com/codyconway

Cheers :beer: ,

Cody Conway
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chrish
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Re: Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

Post by chrish »

Great stuff. You got some great photos.

Did you get to go to the hummingbird feeders at Yanacocha? Awesome photo op, if you don't mind the 2 mile hike at 12,000 feet elevation.

I made a trip down to Ecuador last year and it is a photographer's dream trip.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9889 - birds
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9757 - hummers

BTW - Toucan Barbette is spelled Toucan Barbet, unless that bird is a female I guess? :lol:

Looking forward to a follow up post after you get back from the workshop.
reptileexperts
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Re: Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

Post by reptileexperts »

Heh yeah Barbet*

I did make it up to Yanacocha to photograph pufflegs as well as the sword-billed and other species of hummers. I ended up with 11 new species just from the feeders there, along with masked flower piercer, and rufous Antpitta. It was great but elevation sickness from spending a few hours up at the top feeding station left a lot to be desired personally!
reptileexperts
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Re: Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

Post by reptileexperts »

Also great trip report from your trip last year!
J-Miz
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Re: Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

Post by J-Miz »

Love those shots...my favorite being that quetzal. Jealous of that trip, that's for sure.
reptileexperts
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Re: Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

Post by reptileexperts »

Thanks J-miz, if you are serious about birding, Ecuador and Columbia should both be high on your list to visit. If Columbia scares you too much though, at least go to Panama, the birding is ALMOST as good, but the conditions are worlds safer.
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chrish
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Re: Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

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reptileexperts wrote:Thanks J-miz, if you are serious about birding, Ecuador and Columbia should both be high on your list to visit. If Columbia scares you too much though, at least go to Panama, the birding is ALMOST as good, but the conditions are worlds safer.
If I had a choice between Panama and Ecuador, I would do Ecuador hands down. I've been to both and Panama is great, but Ecuador is extraordinary. The diversity of habitats and critters you can see in Ecuador blows away Panama.

Panama has 875 species of birds. We spent 2 weeks there and had a very productive trip seeing 220 species of birds. We had as much birding as we wanted and never found ourselves wishing we could have birded more. When we had guides, they were unbelievable.

Ecuador has 1425 species of birds. We spent 12 days there and got 290 species of birds. Over 4 of those days, we had an excellent guide in the mountains, we got 107 new lifers out of 181 species seen. This in spite of the fact that most of those days it was pouring rain all day long, making birding very difficult. Our guide apologized to use for only showing us 181 species in 4 days. We spent 6 days in the Amazon. However, our guide in the Amazon was a complete idiot and frankly a major A-hole. We told him what we were interested in doing and he went ahead and showed us the things we would "rather" do instead. He kept promising "oh...we'll do that this afternoon, or tomorrow when it will be better". We stupidly believed him. He claimed to know his birds, but he was lying. And he couldn't find a bird if his life depended on it. He wasted most of our birding time doing other stupid things. In the 6 days we were in the Amazon with our idiot guide, we saw 118 species (most of which we found ourselves in spite of our guide) of which 72 species of were lifers. I could beat 118 species in one day in Texas! We were pissed.

I have no doubt whatsoever if we had a decent guide in the Amazon, or gone by ourselves there rather than wasting time with our guide, we would have seen over 400 species of birds in Ecuador in the same time we saw 290.

So given a choice, Ecuador is much better for your birding dollar than Panama.

Of course, YMMV. :lol:
reptileexperts
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Re: Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

Post by reptileexperts »

chrish wrote:
reptileexperts wrote:Thanks J-miz, if you are serious about birding, Ecuador and Columbia should both be high on your list to visit. If Columbia scares you too much though, at least go to Panama, the birding is ALMOST as good, but the conditions are worlds safer.
If I had a choice between Panama and Ecuador, I would do Ecuador hands down. I've been to both and Panama is great, but Ecuador is extraordinary. The diversity of habitats and critters you can see in Ecuador blows away Panama.

Panama has 875 species of birds. We spent 2 weeks there and had a very productive trip seeing 220 species of birds. We had as much birding as we wanted and never found ourselves wishing we could have birded more. When we had guides, they were unbelievable.

Ecuador has 1425 species of birds. We spent 12 days there and got 290 species of birds. Over 4 of those days, we had an excellent guide in the mountains, we got 107 new lifers out of 181 species seen. This in spite of the fact that most of those days it was pouring rain all day long, making birding very difficult. Our guide apologized to use for only showing us 181 species in 4 days. We spent 6 days in the Amazon. However, our guide in the Amazon was a complete idiot and frankly a major A-hole. We told him what we were interested in doing and he went ahead and showed us the things we would "rather" do instead. He kept promising "oh...we'll do that this afternoon, or tomorrow when it will be better". We stupidly believed him. He claimed to know his birds, but he was lying. And he couldn't find a bird if his life depended on it. He wasted most of our birding time doing other stupid things. In the 6 days we were in the Amazon with our idiot guide, we saw 118 species (most of which we found ourselves in spite of our guide) of which 72 species of were lifers. I could beat 118 species in one day in Texas! We were pissed.

I have no doubt whatsoever if we had a decent guide in the Amazon, or gone by ourselves there rather than wasting time with our guide, we would have seen over 400 species of birds in Ecuador in the same time we saw 290.

So given a choice, Ecuador is much better for your birding dollar than Panama.

Of course, YMMV. :lol:
My first trip to Panama, sticking to the canal district with one more at Cerro Azul with a guide, I tallied over 290 species in 6 days. In Ecuador, I spent 10 days with guides nearly every day, but focusing more on quality images rather than species totals, I still bested slightly over 350 species at current count (more to be added after I go back through my notes). Dollar for dollar, depending on where you stay, and how far you want to travel, Panama is exceptional for birding. Ecuador is a class of its own though and held againt no standards in terms of diversity if not strictly for the fact you can be on the coast, then at 14k ft elevation, and then in the amazon all before the end of the day, heck you could throw some desert birding in too on the south western side of the andes ;-). But for those not ready to tackle the ventures in Ecuador, or the risks associated with Columbia, I still highly suggest a stay for a week in Panama, just staying in the canal zone near Gamboa, gives you access to some of the best birding in the world (Pipeline Rd, Plnatation Rd, Ammo Dump Ponds). Not saying it's better than Ecuador, but for someone new to tropical birding, its some of the easiest, but still rewarding, birding I've ever done!
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chrish
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Re: Couple shots from my last trip to Ecuador

Post by chrish »

reptileexperts wrote:My first trip to Panama, sticking to the canal district with one more at Cerro Azul with a guide, I tallied over 290 species in 6 days. In Ecuador, I spent 10 days with guides nearly every day, but focusing more on quality images rather than species totals, I still bested slightly over 350 species at current count (more to be added after I go back through my notes). Dollar for dollar, depending on where you stay, and how far you want to travel, Panama is exceptional for birding. Ecuador is a class of its own though and held againt no standards in terms of diversity if not strictly for the fact you can be on the coast, then at 14k ft elevation, and then in the amazon all before the end of the day, heck you could throw some desert birding in too on the south western side of the andes ;-). But for those not ready to tackle the ventures in Ecuador, or the risks associated with Columbia, I still highly suggest a stay for a week in Panama, just staying in the canal zone near Gamboa, gives you access to some of the best birding in the world (Pipeline Rd, Plnatation Rd, Ammo Dump Ponds). Not saying it's better than Ecuador, but for someone new to tropical birding, its some of the easiest, but still rewarding, birding I've ever done!
Can't disagree. We chose Panama because we looked at going to Costa Rica and then compared that to Panama and it was a no-brainer. Higher diversity, lower prices, less tourists = Panama.

We stayed at the Canopy Tower over in the Gamboa area for three nights. The birding (and guides and food) at the Canopy Tower were first class and among the best guided nature experiences I've ever had. Two thumbs way up! Sitting up in the rainforest canopy every morning while they brought up coffee/tea was simply awesome. It seemed expensive from the outside, but when you got there it was first class all the way (minus the air conditioning, that is!). Really for an all-inclusive birding/herping trip, it was pretty reasonable considering the quality of the service.

After going up into the cloud forests for a few days, we came back down to Gamboa and on a whim decided to go look at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. Before coming to Panama, we had looked at their posted prices ( :shock: ) and decided not to stay there, but since it was mostly empty we walked in and asked what kind of deal they could give us. We got a huge, first class room with an awesome balcony overlooking the river for $100 a night and they threw in a free boat tour of the canal and the "monkey islands". Best deal ever. It never hurts to ask!
I'm not sure they appreciated us coming in covered in mud and sweat every day after being on the Pipeline road or Plantation Road, but they were very gracious if they were bothered at all.
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