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Download 2014 Brochure (.pdf) - Ornitholidays

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E C U A D O R<br />

Ecuador<br />

Tumbesian & Andean Specialties<br />

Saturday 04 October – Sunday 19 October <strong>2014</strong><br />

Leaders: Trevor Ellery and local guides<br />

<strong>2014</strong> Cost £4,499 single room supplement £150<br />

Guayaquil<br />

Cuenca<br />

ECUADOR<br />

Buenaventura<br />

ith a diverse combination of habitats and a mouth-watering list of specialties it is no<br />

Vilcabamba<br />

Jorupe<br />

W surprise that the southern Ecuador circuit has become very popular in recent years. This<br />

Copalinga<br />

tour will take in everything from lowland marshes to high elevation paramos while offering the chance to<br />

Tapichalaca Reserve<br />

see some of the rarest birds in the world. Species we will target will include the recently re-discovered<br />

Pale-headed Brush-Finch, the incredibly rare El Oro Parakeet and the iconic Jocotoco Antpitta. We will also<br />

concentrate on the tumbesian endemics, those species only found in the dry tumbes forests that cover southern Ecuador and northern Peru.<br />

The tour begins in the humid marshes that surround the city of Guayaquil, where we look for the ungainly Horned Screamer, before quickly moving<br />

on to the cloud forests of the Buenaventura Reserve. The verdant hillsides here represent one of the most southerly outposts of the great Choco<br />

bioregion that covers much of western Colombia and Ecuador. They offer a unique opportunity to see Choco specialties such Long-wattled<br />

Umbrellabird and Club-winged Manakin, alongside Tumbesian specialities such as Rufous-headed Chachalaca. We then strike south into the dry<br />

forests that so characterise the tumbes region where we spend several days. Following this we head up into the cool temperate highlands of Cerro<br />

Toledo and the Tapichalca reserve where we can search out a small suite of rare and exciting species including Jocotoco Antpitta, Neblina Metaltail<br />

and Masked Mountain-Tanager. The last few days see us drop down to the edge of the Amazon for some foothill birding around the very pleasant<br />

Copalinga Lodge, before once again ascending to the wild and windswept paramos of El Cajas National Park. We also find time to squeeze in a visit<br />

to the small Yungillas reserve situated in an arid inter-Andean valley and finish the tour with a final visit to a dry scrub reserve right on the edge of<br />

Guayaquil where we can hope to enjoy our final few hours, once again enjoying some of the Tumbesian specialties.<br />

ITINERARY<br />

Day 1<br />

We depart from London and fly to Guayaquil<br />

where we arrive later the same day. On arrival we<br />

meet up with Trevor and then transfer to our hotel<br />

where we have dinner and stay overnight.<br />

Days 2 & 3<br />

We spend the morning birding at the Manglares<br />

Churute Reserve on the outskirts of Guayaquil.<br />

We should enjoy good views of Horned<br />

Screamer and a selection of wetland birds, while<br />

the nearby scrub may hold Pacific Royal<br />

Flycatcher, Jet Antbird and Orange-crowned<br />

White-tailed Jay<br />

Euphonia. We will also look out for our first<br />

Tumbesian specialities such as Pacific Pygmy<br />

Owl and Pacific Hornero. We will leave the site<br />

mid-morning and undertake a fairly long drive<br />

south to the Buenaventura Reserve. In the early<br />

evening we arrive our lodge at Buenaventura<br />

where we spend two nights. We will spend one<br />

full day exploring the trails at Buenaventura. Our<br />

main target will be the critically endangered El<br />

Oro Parakeet but we will also look for Longwattled<br />

Umbrellabird, Esmeraldas Antbird and<br />

Club-winged Manakin. We will also take some<br />

time out to enjoy the spectacular hummingbird<br />

feeders which can hold 50 or more individual<br />

hummingbirds at any one time, including such<br />

species as Violet-bellied Hummingbird, Green<br />

Thorntail and Green-crowned Woodnymph.<br />

Days 4 to 6<br />

We spend a final morning at Buenaventura<br />

before making a fairly long drive south to Jorupe<br />

where we stay for three nights at Jorupe Lodge.<br />

We can break the journey up by stopping in the<br />

El Empalme area where we hope to find such<br />

species as Baird’s Flycatcher, Tumbes<br />

Hummingbird and White-headed Brush-Finch.<br />

The next day we bird the trails and feeding<br />

stations around Jorupe Lodge. Targets include<br />

Henna-hooded and Rufous-necked Foliagegleaners,<br />

Blackish-headed Spinetail,<br />

Pale-browed Tinamou (visiting the feeders!),<br />

Watkin’s Antpitta, Slaty Becard and White-edged<br />

Oriole. On our last full day we visit the higher<br />

elevation Sozoranaga and Utana areas where we<br />

can look for Chapman’s Antshrike, Black-cowled<br />

Saltator, Puira Hemispingus, Bay-crowned<br />

Brush-Finch, Jelski’s Chat-Tyrant and Blackcrested<br />

Tit-Tyrant. We also hope to enjoy<br />

Rainbow Starfrontlet and Purple-throated<br />

Sunangel at the hummingbird feeders.<br />

Day 7<br />

We spend a final morning in the Utana Reserve<br />

looking for Grey-headed Antbird and any<br />

species we did not see on the previous day. We<br />

then drive to Vilcabamba where we overnight.<br />

On route we can stop in the Catayamo Valley<br />

where we will look for such specialties as Drab and<br />

Parrot-billed Seedeaters and Tumbes Sparrow.<br />

Days 8 & 9<br />

We spend the morning birding at Cerro Toledo<br />

near Vilcabamba where we hope to see such<br />

high Andean specialties as the endemic Neblina<br />

Metaltail and the scarce Masked Mountain-<br />

Tanager. We will also look out for Grey-breasted<br />

Mountain-Toucan, Red-hooded Tanager and<br />

Mouse-coloured Thistletail In the afternoon we<br />

drive to the Tapichalaca Reserve where we stay<br />

for two nights. The next day we visit the famous<br />

Jocotoco Antpitta worm feeding station where<br />

we hope to enjoy close up views of this<br />

spectacular species. We spend the rest of the<br />

40<br />

For a previous tour report or further information please call: 01794 519445

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