21 Nov Lagartera

We left Guayaquil shortly after 07:00 and headed south on the busy E25 road.  We were driving through very flat low lying land, much of which was being farmed with a variety of crops including Bananas, Sugar Cane, Rice, etc.  There were many wet and marshy areas which held good numbers of Herons, Egrets, Ibis, Snail Kites and a variety of passerines. We stopped briefly at several places to tick off interesting species but our main stop in this are was at Lagartera which was accessed via a rough track.  We spent some time in this area and watched many hundreds of Snail Kites and excellent numbers of Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Storks, Savanna Hawks, Comb Duck, Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling Ducks, as well as many other species.  A also had good views of several species that preferred this lowland habitat and we were therefore unlikely to see them elsewhere.  These included Peruvian Pygmy Owl, Peruvian Meadowlark, Horned Screamer and Pacific Parrotlet.  

Horned Screamer - We saw this species on the first and last of our trip.  
The species is fairly widespread over the northern half of South America.

Pacific Hornero - This species was seen on five days of our trip. 
It range extends from the SW tip of Colombia to NW Peru.

Peruvian Meadowlark - This was the only sighting of this species.
A few can be found in SW Colombia through to NW Bolivia
but the main concentration is in Ecuador and Peru.  

Savannah Hawk - Fairly common in the lowland areas.  
This species has a wide distribution from the southern part of
Central America to northern Argentina.

Peruvian Pygmy Owl - We saw the species on three days in the first week of our trip. 
The species is found in western Ecuador, Peru and as far south as Northern Chile.  

Snail Kite - While this species is distributed in Central America and
the northern part of South America, it is very local and Ecuador
appears to have one of the highest concentrations. 

Snail Kite - With Snail!  

Pearl Kite - A fairly widespread species in the southern half of Central America
and the northern half of South America

White-tailed Kite - Our only sighting
Present over large areas of North and South America

Greater Yellowlegs -  It breeds in central Canada and southern Alaska and winters in
southern North America, Central America, the West Indies and South America.

Solitary Sandpiper - Breeding and wintering range similar to Greater Yellowlegs

Masked Water Tyrant -  Only seen in this marshy area on the first day.
This species has a split range with a small population mainly in eastern
Ecuador and a much bigger population mainly in Brazil 

Anhinga - This species was quite common in these wetland areas.
A very widespread species that is found along much of eastern USA
all the way down to Northern Argentina.

Black-necked Stilts and Cocoi Heron - Just a few of the Stilts seen.

White Ibis - Seen on the first and last day of our trip.
Found across many areas of the USA down to the south of Ecuador,
so we were at the southerly point of their range.

Limpkin - Another marsh loving species seen only on the first and last days of our trip.
This species has a wide range from the Eastern USA down to Argentina.

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After leaving the wetland areas we travelled to the Reserva Ecológica Arenillas but arrived rather late and had a limited time there.  We did however manage to see several species including Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Amazilia Hummingbird , One-coloured Becard and Streak-headed Woodcreeper. One interesting mammal seen was a Sechuran Fox.  As we left it was getting dark and a Pale-browed Tinamou started calling.

Streak-headed Woodcreeper - Seen on three days
The species is found from Southern Mexico down to N Peru and across to Guyana

Sechuran Fox - This fox inhabits a narrow region west of the Andes Mountains
running along the coastline of Peru and southern Ecuador.

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We travelled to the town of Pinas and eventually found the Hostería Portal Del Cielo high in the hills overlooking the town.  We stayed here for two nights.

The gardens of the Hosteria Del Cielo with a bit of light cloud passing through.

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