A Reflections of the Pure World Weblog Submit Collection by Jim Achieve
Ecuador Birding – The place Each Feather Tells a Story
From October 26, 2025 by way of November 8, 2025 I joined 5 different adventurers and an excellent photographer and birding information (Liron Gertsman) with Eagle-Eye Excursions to Ecuador. This weblog sequence highlights the animals (principally birds), folks and areas we encountered over the 14 full days on this stunning land.
DAY 4 – Afternoon
- My Ecuador Species Rely together with the go to to El Retiro and San Roque jumps as much as: 185 (130 lifers)
- Major eBird Public Hotspots: Random
Due to the river’s extraordinary peak, we have been unable to hen the acquainted grounds we had explored earlier within the journey. As a substitute, we turned downstream, heading towards the San Roque neighborhood, able to see what the rising waters may reveal subsequent. As we cruised downstream, the river revealed a panorama reshaped by the current rains. Clumps of timber, branches, and tangled vegetation drifted in unfastened flotillas or lay grounded on shallow sandbars—every one a short lived micro‑habitat, a miniature raft of rainforest life. BLACK SKIMMERS swept previous us in a decent flock, their lengthy, knife‑like decrease mandibles slicing the water’s floor with easy grace. Their black‑and‑white plumage flashed sharply in opposition to the muddy river, and their unusual, asymmetrical payments—so weird and so completely tailored—jogged my memory why I by no means tire of seeing them.
We slipped into quieter backwater channels the place the forest pressed shut. At one level we stepped off the Mama Lucy for a brief stroll alongside a Sani pathway. A ROADSIDE HAWK—broad‑shouldered and fierce‑eyed—watched us from a low perch, its barred chest puffed barely as if assessing our intentions. Overhead, RED-BELLIED MACAWS wheeled in noisy, chattering teams, their emerald our bodies and brick‑pink bellies glowing in opposition to the grey sky.
Farther alongside, an ORIOLE BLACKBIRD flashed its shiny black plumage and vibrant orange shoulders from a distant treetop, whereas a YELLOW-TUFTED WOODPECKER clung to a trunk, its golden crown blazing like a tiny torch within the dim gentle. Orange‑winged Amazons handed overhead in raucous squadrons, their inexperienced our bodies and vibrant wing patches flashing as they squawked their approach throughout the cover. An uncommon SWALLOW-WINGED PUFFBIRD, with its glossy charcoal plumage and swallow‑like silhouette, rounded out our guidelines earlier than we climbed again aboard.
As we pushed off, Carlos identified a pair of HORNED SCREAMERS—large, prehistoric‑trying birds with spiky crowns and thick, scaly legs. Their deep, resonant calls drifted throughout the water as they stood sentinel‑like on a flooded financial institution. ORANGE-WINGED AMAZONS handed overhead in raucous squadrons, their inexperienced our bodies and vibrant wing patches flashing as they squawked their approach throughout the cover.
As we traveled down the broad, sediment‑laden sweep of the Napo River, the morning gentle stored shifting between silver and gold, catching on the waves kicked up by the Mama Lucy. It was alongside a kind of lengthy, open stretches that we noticed it — a LARGE-BILLED TERN perched on a solar‑bleached snag jutting from a sandbar. At first it appeared like a part of the driftwood itself, however then it lifted its head, that outsized yellow invoice glowing in opposition to the muted tones of the river. We slowed the boat, drifting simply sufficient to shut the gap with out startling it. For a second, the tern held its floor, tall and chic, the breeze ruffling its feathers because it scanned the water. However as we eased a bit of nearer, it made its choice. With a sudden raise of wings, it launched into the air and skimmed upstream, flying low and quick alongside the channel till it vanished into the intense haze. It was a quick encounter, however a kind of good river moments — a hen formed by the stressed water, providing us only a glimpse earlier than returning to its broad, ever‑shifting world.
We continued downstream, stopping typically to examine the birds that had claimed the floating vegetation islands. Noticed Sandpipers, now of their clear winter plumage, bobbed their tails as they foraged alongside the sides. Collared and Pied Plovers patrolled the mats of particles, their crisp patterns and fast, darting actions giving them an air of perpetual alertness.
NEXT UP: EB#31 “Surprising Sentinel: Burrowing Owl on a Floating Forest Island“
Extra Pictures
Earlier Ecuador Birding Weblog Posts:
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EB30 – Napo River Wings: Skimmers, Screamers and Different Surprises
by Jim Achieve
In October 2025, Jim Achieve joined a birding tour in Ecuador, exploring its wealthy biodiversity and beautiful landscapes over 14 days. The weblog sequence chronicles his experiences with birds and nature.
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EB29 – Navigating the Flooded River on Our Manner Again to El Retiro
by Jim Achieve
In October 2025, Jim Achieve joined a birding tour in Ecuador, exploring its wealthy biodiversity and beautiful landscapes over 14 days. The weblog sequence chronicles his experiences with birds and nature.
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EB28b – An Afternoon of Smooth Rainforest Harmonies Across the Lodge – Half 2
by Jim Achieve
In October 2025, Jim Achieve joined a birding tour in Ecuador, exploring its wealthy biodiversity and beautiful landscapes over 14 days. The weblog sequence chronicles his experiences with birds and nature.
-
EB28a – An Afternoon of Smooth Rainforest Harmonies Across the Lodge
by Jim Achieve
In October 2025, Jim Achieve joined a birding tour in Ecuador, exploring its wealthy biodiversity and beautiful landscapes over 14 days. The weblog sequence chronicles his experiences with birds and nature.
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EB27 – Class in Ambush: The Double‑toothed Kite of the Amazon
by Jim Achieve
In October 2025, Jim Achieve joined a birding tour in Ecuador, exploring its wealthy biodiversity and beautiful landscapes over 14 days. The weblog sequence chronicles his experiences with birds and nature.
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EB26 – Climbing into the Clouds on the Sani Cover Tower
by Jim Achieve
In October 2025, Jim Achieve joined a birding tour in Ecuador, exploring its wealthy biodiversity and beautiful landscapes over 14 days. The weblog sequence chronicles his experiences with birds and nature.
*This Ecuador Birding weblog put up was formed and polished with the help of Microsoft Copilot, serving to carry readability and a constant move to my area notes and dictated recollections.
**Until in any other case indicated within the picture caption, all pictures (>99%) are mine.