Ecuador – Arrival & Yanacocha

On Thursday 10th March, I set off to Heathrow in the early hours bound for Quito (via Amsterdam). The flight was very long but I touched down in Quito in the mid-afternoon, cleared customs very easily, grabbed my standard hire car from Europcar and set off on my first non-work foreign birding trip in over two years! 

As it was still light, I drove halfway up the mountain heading east to see what I could find in the fading light. In honesty, it was underwhelming but was saved by a high-flying flock of Andean Gulls, a species I wasn't to see throughout the remaining ten days in country. 

After dinner and stocking up on water and food items, I found my hotel close to the airport and called it a day, very much looking forward to my holiday!

Friday 11th March

I woke up early and thought I may as well start making my way up to Yanacocha, which raises up to the west of the city. I was nervous about the drive as I was unsure whether my car would be up to dealing with the mountain/hilly roads, but thankfully it did a blinding job and managed well. There was the odd occasion on this first morning I had to get out and test the ground, but all was well. Driving around Quito was fine and up to the site worked out very well and I helpfully arrived just as it started to get light.

As the gate was shut (opens at 7am), I walked the road and found a few Andean Guans, Yellow-breasted Brush-finches, Great Sapphirewings, Tyrian Metaltail and the ludicrous Sword-billed Hummingbird! 

Once the gate had opened, a guard explained the site was in fact closed. I said "fine" or to similar effect, but waited until he had continued before I invited myself in (there was no way I was not visiting). Walking along the access road to the main parking area I heard another guard approaching on his bike, so I quickly hid in a bush, waited until he had passed, and continued on walking. Once at the parking area, another gate was shut, so I waited for a bit watching some stunning Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanagers, Shining Sunbeams, and best of all, a Tawny Antpitta! However, I needed to get through the gate. Some more guards came along and waited by the gate whilst I hid behind the sign... I hid for ten minutes(!) before they were let through, but then the guard shut the gate once they had. I therefore gave up this time wasting and climbed the gate and dashed down to the first corner... PHEW, I was in! 

I'm glad I made the effort as it was an excellent site. A single track on a steep, forested mountain side, birds came thick and fast with by far the highlight being an Ocellated Tapaculo, which emerged from below me as I 'psshhd' away. This mega attractive bird was the only one I saw and is never guaranteed on a visit to Ecuador. Also, Aplomado Falcons had a nest, two species of pufflegs were great (sadly no Black-breasted) and a Blackish Tapaculo showed briefly. A decent landslide (the reason for the site's closure) stopped my progress, but I was relatively happy with the birds and the views. 

I then sat at the headquarters and entertained myself with watching hummingbirds and whatever else came in. Buff-winged Starfrontlets, Tyrian Metaltails, Sword-billed Hummingbirds and sublime Sapphire-vented Pufflegs were first rate. A Crimson-mantled Woodpecker was also stunning... a great start to my time in Ecuador! 

I left Yanacocha late morning and made the slow progress towards Bella Vista via a relatively dangerous mountain road, where constant landslides had only recently happened. All this and the birds from Bella Vista will be in the next post.

Highlights from Yanacocha

Andean Guan - 3
Tyrian Metaltail - 5
Shining Sunbeam - ca. 20
Sapphire-vented Puffleg - 3
Golden-breasted Puffleg - 2
Buff-winged Starfrontlet - 15
Sword-billed Hummingbird - 3
Great Sapphirewing - 2
Crimson-mantled Woodpecker - 1
Carunculated Caracara - 2
Aplomado Falcon - 3
Tawny Antpitta - 1
Ocellated Tapaculo - 1
Blackish Tapaculo - 1
Glossy Flowerpiercer - 2
Hooded Mountain Tanager - 2
Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager - 2

Great Sapphirewing

Tawny Antpitta

Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager

Ocellated Tapaculo

Hooded Mountain Tanager

Buff-winged Starfrontlet

Crimson-mantled Woodpecker

Shining Sunbeam

Even in silhouette, an easy ID - a Sword-billed Hummingbird

Sword-billed Hummingbird

Tyrian Metaltail

Stunning views from Yanacocha

The landslide

Rye Harbour & Pett Level – 5th March 2022

A very early start on Saturday saw me heading down to Rye in the hope of setting eyes upon the drake Green-winged Teal which was found last Tuesday by David Campbell. 

When only 20-minutes away, positive news filtered through, but once on site, it took over three hours to find! Some of this time was spent watching the superb Iceland Gull mind you, and with light rain and a freezing northerly wind, young Mike Booker was the saving grace as he braved the elements and re-found the teal by the discovery centre, while the rest of us were tucked in the hide. A quick dash there and job done... one of the most overdue county ticks.

Afterwards, I went to Pett Level and scanned the geese, finding 22 White-fronted Geese and offshore a Red-throated Diver and several Common Scoter were also present. I was too cold to endure anymore so I went to Dad's. 

On Sunday, I ran the Eastbourne Half Marathon and came 14th in a time of 1hr 25mins, but I failed to hear the Hume's Warbler when running down Staveley Walk!

drk Green-winged Teal...
not present on Sunday so a bit of luck there!

Iceland Gull at Rye Harbour

Jamaica: 7th – 15th February

I was very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to lead a Naturetrek group to Jamaica during the second week of February. Thankfully, the group were great with varied interests in many aspects of natural history and good fun to be with. What also helped was the birding, which was fairly easy, especially at our accommodation within the 1600-acre sites of Green Castle, situated on the NE coastline. 

All 28 endemics which are currently recognised as such were seen, and in total, 108 species of bird, 20 species of butterfly and three species of dragonfly were found. For me, I saw 47 lifers which far surpassed my expectations from this Greater Antillean island. 

On two of the seven days, we had excursions into either the Blue Mountains or John Crow mountains for the higher altitudinal endemics, with all proving relatively easy to find. 

Besides the Caribbean species, it was great to come across a wealth of North American wood-warblers: Ovenbirds, Northern Parulas, American Redstarts, and Black-and-white, Myrtle, Yellow (Mangrove), Cape May, Blackburnian (one), Prarie and Yellow-throated Warblers were all seen well.

It truly was a great week away and refreshing to once again be on a foreign birding trip and I would thoroughly recommend Jamaica for a safe and bird-filled destination!

Jamaican Tody

Red-billed Streamertail

Black-billed Streamertail - only at high altitudes

Vervain Hummingbird - the 2nd smallest bird in the world!

Jamaican Spindalis

Jamaican Lizard Cuckoo

Yellow-billed Parrot

Northern Potoo

Jamaican Woodpecker

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher

Sad Flycatcher

Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo

White-eyed Thrush

Ring-tailed Pigeon

Jamaican Pewee

Least Grebe

White-collared Swift

Jamaican Becard

Jamaican Owl

Brown Pelican

Magnificent Frigatebird

Jamaican Crow

Long-tailed Skipper

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Ceraunus Blue

Gulf Fritillary

Jamaican Satyr

Julia Heliconian

Tropical Chequered Skipper

Great Pondhawk

Blue Mountains

The reservoir at Green Castle

Spanish Tower

From Jamaica to Hill Road, Eastbourne

It was somewhat typical, that into my second day on Jamaica, I was greeted with the news of a major county rarity. The bird in question was of course the American Robin in Eastbourne, a county first no less, but there was little I could do but hope the bird would stay on site for my return. Scrolling the daily twitter feed which showed myriad photos of the bird in question certainly didn't calm my nerves.

This morning, on Gatwick's taxi-way, I found out the bird was still present, which initiated a few fist pumps (the Jamaicans alongside looked perplexed to say the least!) and the start of a mad dash down to Eastbourne before the rain arrived.

I was surprised to be the only one on site, but I soon found the American Robin on the grass section to the west of the houses, but its right leg appeared badly injured and the bird looked rather weak, but hopefully it'll be OK. Walking around in shorts and flip flops no doubt raised a few eyebrows from the already bemused local residents.

Anyway, Jamaica was excellent and photos will be on here in due course.

Another weekend of birding – 22/23 January 2022

On Saturday, I treated Dad to a day out over in the east, as well as crossing the border into Kent. It was an excellent day, with virtually every target readily accessible straight away. 

We first visited Pett Level which was very cold, but eventually, after re-positioning to the roadside pools, a distant group of geese thankfully held 15 White-fronted Geese, but more importantly, the Pink-footed Goose, a species which I still consider as a rarity in the county. 24 Ruff was also a great count and were helpfully all lined up on the roadside pool before heading back into the fields. Three Marsh Harriers were also present.

Scotney was next and although the pit was as usual quiet, a distant flock of White-fronted Geese below the turbines held at least 30 birds. A Great White Egret was also present.

Dungeness was excellent and we wasted no time in heading to the ARC pit where I was delighted to find the redhead Smew – my first in the UK for years! A few drake Goldeneye also present. Along the entrance track, Dad soon found the two Glossy Ibis and two Great White Egrets were here too. And lastly, four Cattle Egrets were in the paddocks. There hadn't been much seen on the reserve and with the prospect of wild swans a short distance away, we opted for them. 

Just west of Lydd, again Dad spotted (no idea how I missed them) a 'herd' of 36 Bewick's Swans, and further NW across Walland Marsh, another group of swans held 9 Bewick's and three Whooper Swans.

To avoid twitching all day, we parked at Oyster Creek, Rye and walked a 2-hour circuit taking in Long Pit and Castle Water. Long Pit only had a few Goldeneye and Castle Water the long-staying Black-necked Grebe, so not entirely inspiring, but it's an area I enjoy visiting which usually has more present. 

The Shore Lark eluded us at Norman's Bay but the Hooded Crow thankfully remained loyal to end a decent day out.

Glossy Ibis at Dungeness

Cattle Egret at Dungeness

Bewick's Swans at Walland Marsh

Black-necked Grebe at Rye

Smew at Dungeness