Hi Tweeters,

Those of you who have been to Ecuador know that it is not a
large country-only about the size of Colorado. Nonetheless, it features a
huge amount of biodiversity in both plants and animals. There are about
1620 species of birds that live mostly in Ecuador, or come and go in
migration. The country is on the Pacific Ocean, but not far inland the
Andes mountains cut through the country and some of the 29 volcanoes (not
including the Galapagos) reach altitudes of over 20,000 feet. From the
Andes, the land slopes down to the Amazon basin, only a few hundred feet
above sea level.

All of these geographical and biological details make for
interesting birding. Bill and I completed a trip to the Andean part of
Ecuador last week, staying in two mid-level lodges, San Isidro and
Wildsumaco. Many of the birds we saw there could be seen up and down the
Andes, north into Colombia or south into Peru. The weather was dramatic,
featuring clouds and mist or ferocious thunder storms and wind.
Nonetheless, in between storms, we got in hours of birding every day. Our
guide kept insisting that the birding was worse when the weather was nice.
We didn't have enough really sunny weather to find out. Taking pictures in
a rain forest is challenging. The lighting is often dark and the birds are
generally shy. We persevered though and took enough pictures for an album
on Flickr. If you are interesting in having a look at our photographic
haul, please click on the link here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421 at N07/albums/72157678600428294



Happy birding, Charlotte Byers, Seattle