Emerald Toucanet

The days are getting ever-so-slightly longer and the angle of the sunlight is inspiring spring longings (my Black-Capped Chickadee burst into song a couple frozen mornings ago as I was filling the bird bath with clean water). But green is still a couple months away. And I still have many more memories of Ecuador to share.

Andean Motmot

After traveling over the continental divide we finally arrived at Cabanas San Isidro and spent the rest of our time there. Surrounded by birds on the grounds, we had several trails to explore on the property and beyond, as San Isidro is situated between two national parks.

Green Jays were predictably around the dining hall making raucous comments.

The Black-eared Hemispingus above was seen only once. Just barely.

We likely would never have seen the White-bellied Antbird above if we had not visited a location where insects have been collected for its consumption. This is becoming a more common practice as more people travel to see these birds. Every bird loves a free meal.

Frequently seen birds above: Montane Woodcreeper, Russet-backed Oropendola and Mountain Wren, were still challenging to capture.

Identifying flycatchers is always challenging, but I love the variety and the personalities of each individual. On the left is a Pale-edged Flycatcher, and the bird on the right is a Marble-faced Bristle-tyrant, which is a lot of name for a small bird.

Invariably there were Rufous-Collared Sparrows everywhere, which made them nearly ignorable, except for the fact that their marvelous Towhee-like song which I have recorded and inserted right under the pictures made me think that if House Sparrows had an equally beautiful vocalization maybe we would tolerate their numbers better. Rufous-Collared Sparrows are not an invasive species in Ecuador but their numbers are reminiscent of House Sparrows in my neighborhood. Come to think of it, even when we were in the cities, I don’t think we had one House Sparrow the entire trip.

Masked Trogon

It was wonderful to see this Masked Trogon well, although I did not want to startle him by trying to move to a better angle so his image wouldn’t be bisected by the wire he was sitting on.

Crested Quetzal female

It was even harder to get a Crested Quetzal, let alone one that would turn around all the way and face me. Still, she sat there long enough, I really can’t complain.

Blue-Gray Tanager

Not a lot of tanagers from this day, but I was able to capture this Blue-Gray.

The Bluish Flowerpiercer above was another species we added to this group. I’m sure there are times it looks bluer in better light.

The Cinnamon Flycatcher above was looking for insects outside my back porch. My cabin was amazing. A few photos below.

Sparkling Violetear

There were plenty of hummers around the dining hall where several feeders hung from the veranda. I will likely have more feeder pictures to post but for the time being I cannot resist sharing this Sparkling Violetear in a moment of repose.

Emerald Toucanet

I will be back again with more from Ecuador. It’s hard to go back to my normal life even after sitting here composing a blog post about this place.