Day 10--San Isidro via Papallacta Pass

MONDAY JANUARY 28, 2013
Quito to San Isidro via Papallacta Pass. Several birding stops at high elevation (14,000 feet)
Night: Cabanas San Isidro 



From the hotel we drove in Quito’s rush-hour traffic to the suburbs near Tumbaco. In this

suburban area, Edgar parked the bus near the end of a small suburban street and we got out to look for a Scrub Tanager (left). We had not gone far before we spotted this target bird on a wire near a telephone pole. Got it. Time to jump back on the bus and continue on. Our stop here had been 15-minutes, max. How did Willy and Rose Ann know to find a Scrub Tanager here? Turned out that Mitch Lysinger, a FG guide, lived in Tumbaco.

After driving on the main road for a time, we stopped at a side road to look for some hummingbirds and other things, but the wind was very high and not much was moving. We were about to move on when Sally spotted a condor flying high over the hills. Not a great look but we did see the characteristic shape of the wings as it flew out of view.

We then climbed up a narrow dirt road to Papallacta Pass. At the peak, it was extremely windy, raining, foggy, cloud enshrouded, and COLD. No birding was to happen here today. On the way up, we’d been looking (bootlessly as it turned out) for the Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe, but one could see little from the wet and fogged bus windows. We did see a male white-tailed deer in velvet though.

We next headed back to the main road and took the Cayambe-Coca access road. While we did not enter the Cayambe-Coca Park, we birded along a road near the entrance. It was a surprisingly busy dirt road. We were passed by quite a few cars and trucks, including a mobile veterinary truck. Here we, and the birds, found shelter from the wind on the lee side of rocks and rocky hills. We saw many good birds at this stop, including three tanagers: Black-chested Mountain Tanager, Masked Mountain Tanager, and Black-backed Bush Tanager. 



Masked Mountain Tanager; photo by Dubi Shapiro

Black-chested Mountain Tanager; this bird is usually seen in the bush, not like this, but this was a good photo showing coloration; photo by Dusan M Brinkhuizen

Black-backed Bush Tanager; photo by William Price

On the way out we stopped to see a pair of Powerful Woodpeckers, the male with a bright red crest and the female with black. This was my favorite sighting of the morning, I think.  

(L) Male Powerful Woodpecker and (R) Female Powerful Woodpecker; both photos by Kevin Heffernan

At about 1 PM, we arrived at Guango Lodge in the rain and were treated to a hot, sit-down lunch. There was a cozy fire burning in the lodge fireplace. Each of the tables was spread with a colorful woven tablecloth. I wanted to buy the one on my table—red with woven fish in it—but the only tablecloth left on the sale shelf was a satiny brown. The lodge owner told me that surely sister lodge San Isidro would have the cloth I wanted. I was hopeful. 

Guango dining room; my coveted cloth on the middle table

Guango has facilities for photographers, and there were several photographers staying at the lodge, including Glenn Bartley the famous bird and nature photographer and author of Birds in Ecuador: A Photographic Journey. These guys were all sporting huge telephoto lenses. Later in our Guango stay I got to look on one LCD display at several excellent photos of Torrent Ducks.

At the hummingbird feeders we saw some new species, including the Sword-billed Hummingbird. Its beak is so bizarrely long that it must hover some distance from the feeder in order to get its bill in the hole to the nectar. While we watched in awe, another hummingbird at the feeder attempted to perch on the swordbill’s bill!  

Sword-billed Hummingbird; photo by Roger Ahlman

We were all also thrilled by the gorgeous Velvet-purple Coronet at the feeder. It's unique plumage seems to “scintillate between every imaginable shade of black, blue, purple, and green, with the occasional shocking flash of pure white from its tail.” Bananaquits were also at these feeders, accessing them from a nearby tree. 

Velvet purple-Coronet



Bananaquit; photo Arthur Grosset

After lunch we walked a trail along the river near the edge of the humid montane forest below the lodge and saw some great birds: a Gray-breasted Mountain Toucan, White-capped Tanagers, and a Dusky Phia among them. In her post-trip report, Rose Ann recalled our encounter with the jay-like White-capped Tanagers and the Dusky Phia: “We loved that energetic group of enigmatic White-capped Tanagers—detected by their distant calling—that then flew right in and scolded us, bobbing up and down—a red-throated male and four purple-throated females; and we were astounded by our unbelievable looks at that rare Dusky Piha that sat for so long in an alder at the edge of the Guango meadow. This was one of our least expected encounters, as the Phia is generally a shy, forest-interior species that is seldom seen so well. But then that was an exceptional afternoon at Guango!”

Grey-breasted Mountain Toucan; left, jamie Monteith, right, Chris Kelly; I show both so that  the toucan's red vent and maroon leg feathers are more evident, eventhough the Kelly photo is a  bit blurry

White-capped Tanagers, male with red throat and female with purple throat; male, Alonzo Quevedo Gil; female, Pete Morris

Dusky Phia; photo by Willy  Perez

Edgar had a bit of a time backing his big bus up a muddy, steep piece of drive and out of the narrow Guango entrance gates. He eventually had to drive back in and make a many-point turn to exit forward. 

We got to Cabanas San Isidro in plenty of time to unpack and hang our soggy clothes, bird from our room balcony, take a cat nap, make a run to the common room for a pitcher of filtered water, and shower and dress for dinner, which was in a building on the other side of the compound. By the time Iris and I set out for dinner, it was dark, and we navigated the trail in the light rain with our flashlights. We missed a left so approached the dining room from a walkway that required scrambling down a ledge and onto the side porch.  

Iris's and my room at San Isidro. We were in Cabanas #2, a little duplex cabin. Margaret and Harvey were in Cabanas #1. The cabins were quite comfortable and located to be easily accessible to the common and viewing areas, as well as the dining room building.






View across the valley from our Cabanas#2 balcony



The common room and a tiny bit of the rooftop viewing platform

Sally Marrone's photo of  the observation deck, looking out over some of the cabanas

When we entered the dining room, we were greeted warmly by Alejandro, chief cook and S.I. manager. Over the course of our stay, we enjoyed Alejandro’s fusion of Ecuadorian and International foods, even enjoying spaghetti one night. Two other birding groups were at the lodge, one a German couple and their grown, mentally challenged son, and their driver (Willy’s brother!) and guide. The other group contained a birder whom Jim knew. The brothers and friends greeted each other enthusiastically. 

Left end  of the San Isidro dining room.

Alas, San Isidro did not have the tablecloth I wanted, though they did offer to clean and sell the cloths that were on their tables—none of which was the red fish one. However, they did have Glenn Bartley’s book, and I spent some time before dinner enjoying Glenn’s superb photos. Quite a few of the Internet photos I’ve used in this blog were taken by Glenn.    



San Isidro Owl; photo Willy  Perez

After dinner, while we were completing our bird lists, Edgar came dashing in to tell us that he’d spotted the “Black-banded” Owl Type, a.k.a San Isidro Owl, sitting in a tree near the driveway. We all rushed out and were able to get great looks at this bird that appears to be a new species. For years, ornithologists have been confused by the owls that perch near the lodge, and occasionally near the town of San Isidro. 

Ecuador has two species of similar owls: the Black-and-white Owl, and the Black-banded Owl. Black-and-white Owls have a range that is limited by elevation and slope. They simply don't exist on the eastern slope of the Andes, or at such high elevation. Black-banded Owls do exist on this eastern slope, but are never seen higher than 3,000’. Remember that San Isidro is at about 5,000’. 

Between the eastern and western slopes of the Andes is a dry, almost desert-like valley. For an owl to cross that valley, in habitat quite unsuitable to these tropical species, would be almost impossible. 

The San Isidro owls have characteristics of both owl species, but because at least six individuals have been seen in the area, it is unlikely that this is a simple case of cross-breeding. It is more likely that the San Isidro owls represent an entirely new montane species yet to be found elsewhere.