This was our last serious birding day of the trip. The impressive Hosteria Dos Chorreras was much quieter than when we arrived the day before and there was a strong Christmas atmosphere around the hotel. We didn't need to leave the hotel to see Andean Teal and Andean Gull as they were a constant presence on the pools near our hotel rooms. Great Thrushes were also feeding close to the hotel.
 |
| Dave P viewing the pools from the walkway outside of our bedrooms. |
 |
| Andean Teal - Not the most colourful duck! Found in the Andes from Venezuela through Colombia, Ecuador with a small population in NW Peru. |
 |
| Andean Gull - An interesting comparison to Gulls from the UK! Found in the Andes from just into Colombia right down to the middle of Chile/Argentina. |
 |
| Great Thrush - An Andean species found from Venezuela to Bolivia. |
The hotel was situated at an altitude of 3435 metres, so it is a good place to explore the higher altitudes in the Parque Nacional Cajas. Our first target birds were hummers in the form of Violet-throated Metaltail, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Blue-mantled Thornbill, and Tyrian Metaltail, all of which we managed to see. Other birds seen included Red-backed Hawk, Tawny Antpitta, Red-crested Cotinga, Buff-breasted Mountain-tanager, Grass Wren and Stout-billed Cinclodes.
 |
| Violet-fronted Metaltail - A high-elevation hummingbird endemic to the Andes of southern Ecuador. |
 |
| Grass Wren - This species has a rather unusual distribution with the main area being in the very south of South America and even including the Falkland Islands. It also extends up the Andes and into Central America as far as Mexico. |
 |
| Shining Sunbeam - A rather nice photo of this fairly common Hummer. |
 |
| Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanager - Another Andean species that is found from Venezuela to Peru. |
 |
| Plumbeous Sierra-Finch - An Andean species found from Venezuela down to Tierra Del Fuego in the very south! |
 |
| Tawny Antpitta - The centre of the population is in Ecuador but also quite extensive in Colombia, plus a very small population in Peru. |
 |
| Stout-billed Cinclodes - Initially identified as a Chestnut-winged but the photo showed it to be a Stout-billed. The main population is in Ecuador but with significant numbers in Colombia. |
 |
| Chestnut-winged Cinclodes - This species has a similar distribution to Stout-billed but with a very small population in Venezuela. |
 |
| White-throated Tyrannulet - Found in montane forest from 2,800–3,500 metres from Venezuela to mid Argentina. |
A visit to a Illincoha lake on the return journey produced good views of Tit-like Dacnis. We then headed back to the hotel for lunch.
 |
| Illincoha lake |
 |
| Tit-like Dacnis - This could perhaps be better named as perhaps the "Stunning Blue Dacnis". It is a high elevation bird only found in Ecuador and Peru. |
________________________________________________________________
In the afternoon we walked up a track from the hotel into a nearby wooded area.
 |
| White-banded Tyrannulet - Occurs in the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia, from around 2,300 to 3,300 metres. |
 |
| Spectacled Redstart - A fairly common species that occurs in the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia, from around 2,300 to 3,300 metres. |
No comments:
Post a Comment