¿Dos Meses?

Originally our volunteer gig was to span three months. December through the end of February. Imagine our surprise when an Immigration officer stamped our passports with a departure date for early February!? How could this be? Our return airline tickets, we pointed out, were for the 1st of March. Her eventual response was, with the wave of her hand to move on, "don't worry about it". We weren't sure what she meant by that but we DID worry about it. Eventually we sorted out that our tour in Southern Ecuador earlier in the year had counted against our 90-day visa limit. Who would have thought? We certainly hadn't factored that in nor had the Tropical Birding staff. The Tropical Birding staff also told us not to worry. Extending a visa was a simple matter and would only cost us a few extra dollars per person to do so. However, one of the Tropical Birding guides shared a different experience. He had recently investigated extending a visa for his girl friend who would be in Ecuador for four months volunteering at another lodge. Instead of just a few dollars, Ecuador was now charging $240 per person to extend a visa. Yikes!
Upon further investigation we learned that changing our airline ticket for an earlier departure would cost about the same. The volunteer host who was to replace us would overlap our stay for the latter part of January and all of February. Clearly, three volunteer hosts would be overkill. In the end we opted for changing our tickets knowing we still had to deal with returning to the RV park a month earlier and dealing with getting a site. Love these ripple effects...

Carol in the kitchen with Ryan Merrill, the volunteer host we replaced

So how was our stay at Tandayapa? Would we do it again? December turned out to be a slow month (it typically was we learned) with just a handful of guests coming and going. There was to be a week lull with no guests so we took advantage of an invitation to be house guests of Iain and Christina, the lodge owners, in Quito for three days. A nice diversion which gave us the opportunity to play pure tourist, visit old town Quito and tour several old churches and museums. Oh, yeah. And there was pizza and McDonald's...!

José and his son Casey

Christmas and New Year were very quiet. One highlight was having José Llanos, our guide during two previous Tropical Birding Ecuador tours, spend Christmas at the lodge with a small tour group. José's wife and young son had also arranged to be at the lodge to help celebrate. The staff outdid themselves helping decorate the lodge with Christmas lights and a somewhat dog-eared fake Xmas tree. How odd to be listening to Christmas music with hundreds of hummingbirds buzzing around outside!

Rosa, Isabel, Richard, and Angel

Speaking of the lodge staff, they were delightful. It worked out that most of the time we shared our meals with them in the small kitchen. Not that we didn't enjoy dining with guests - it really was more of a practical solution since we frequently helped bus tables. Besides, it allowed us ample opportunity to work on our Spanish. We never realized how much body language played a role in speaking Spanish.

Pablo was also handy in the kitchen!

The lodge staff consisted of a lodge property manager, Pablo, two maintenance men, brothers Richard and Angel, and two housekeepers/cooks, Rosa and Isabel. Pablo, the only one fluent in English, was usually only on the property Tuesday through Friday. The rest of the time he was in Quito. Angel and Richard, principally responsible for building and trail maintenance, lived on the property. Richard in a house next to the Car Park with his wife and two small children. Angel stayed in the lodge.

Tom learned his way around the kitchen, too. Here brewing up another batch of hummingbird go-juice.

Rosa and Isabel lived with their respective families in the tiny hamlet of Tandayapa (population give or take fifteen). Everyone's work schedule revolved around the number of guests present and their needs. For example, if a tour group required breakfast before departing the lodge at 5:00 a.m., Isabel or Rosa would have to trek up from the village in the dark to make sure breakfast was ready for the group to make their 5:00 a.m. departure time. For groups requiring early departures several days in a row, a spare bed was in the rear of the lodge to avoid the treks from the village.
Isabel, the younger, and Rosa the elder, took turns covering the morning and afternoon shifts. Most mornings it was usually Rosa. She would leave around 2:00 p.m. when Isabel arrived to handle preparation for the evening meal. Dinner was typically at 7:00 p.m. but sometimes sooner or later depending upon a guide's requirements. Before anyone could leave for the evening, the kitchen needed to be cleaned and if there were box lunches required for the next day, they were to be prepped and ready the evening before. Suffice to say these folks were very hard workers! But they always seemed to have a smile on their face!

guests Jennifer and Peggy from so. CA w/José and their driver

As volunteer hosts we were not required to wait tables but we still often helped fill in the gaps when things got busy. Whenever we could (usually most every day) we helped bus tables and do dishes. Besides, remember, it gave us more opportunities to practice our Spanish! It also gave us more opportunities to interact with guests. And while we were not obligated to help with breakfast, when there was a large group early morning outing, we always pitched in, specially when guests had an early departure time for their last day at the lodge.

TB guide Gabriel Bucheli with guests Linda and Jimmie from TX

We also assisted with room scheduling, room assignments, answered guest questions about billing and payments for laundry, T-shirts, beer and wine purchases, and any additional transportation arrangements, etc.. For those guests without benefit of a guide we introduced them to the trail system and helped with bird I.D.'s around the lodge. And when guides arrived with tour groups we offered them any pertinent information on unusual recent bird sightings.

TB guide Sam Woods (rear center) with group

The mission of the lodge in both it's physical layout and operation was to make guests feel as though they were as welcome at Tandayapa as they would be visiting the home of an old friend. We did our best to help folks assimilate into the lodge's relaxing atmosphere - dead easy. Just point them to the hummingbird deck! And we acted as liaison's between guests and the non English speaking staff. Guests arrived from all over the U.S., Canada, Europe and beyond. Greeting and engaging guests in conversations wasn't all that different from what we had experiencing during our RV travels. It would be nearly impossible to relate all the wonderful stories and friendships we experienced - the guests were surely the highlight of our stay at Tandayapa.

a birding/photography group with nature photographer leader Glenn Bartley (lower right)

Perched at an elevation of 5750 feet in subtropical cloud forest, the climate for the most part was comfortable with an average mean temperature of 67 degree. Definitely cooler than we had anticipated. No wonder the staff in Quito smiled when we initially inquired about the need for a fan in our room. And while we were smack dab on the Equator, the elevation kept the temps down. No need for those shorts we had packed. And, it was also the start of the rainy season so there was no shortage of wet weather.

Steve from Ohio had an eye for finding the smallest of critters on the trails

The lodge's location relative to other nearby (within an hour and a half) birding opportunities at higher and lower elevations were enticing. But, lacking immediate personal transportation, difficult to get to. We did manage a few trips off the lodge property to Rio Silanche, Milpe Reserve, Pedro Vicente Maldenero, Mirrador Rio Blanco, and Mindo-Loma. This was in great part thanks to Tropical Birding guides Andrew Spencer, Sam Woods, and Gabriel Bucheli (and various tour group participants) for allowing us to tag along when there was room.

Luke, at age 17, was our replacement volunteer host. A very talented artist, the first piece he did at the lodge will grace the cover of Tropical Birding's 2012 catalog.

Still, birding around the lodge was nothing to sneeze at, with the possibility of over 300 bird species to be seen or heard. The Tandayapa Valley is home to the Choco Region which has more endemic species than anywhere else in the Americas. Tom kept a daily spread sheet of bird sightings. On average 64 species were seen daily and for the two months we were in Ecuador we tallied 318 species, often times with excellent and frequent views. This included several life birds we had missed during our 2008 tour.

Carol, guests and TB guide Andrew Spencer (far right) on Nono Road

The montage of hummingbird feeders located around the lodge were huge hits with the guests. Nesting species like Powerful Woodpeckers and Golden-headed Quetzals were dead easy. And near daily hummingbird incursions into the main lodge always made for exciting up-close-and-personal bird encounters.
After two months of near daily walks on the trails and road, and in spite of eating what we felt to be a lot, we managed to collectively lose 25-pounds. A diet of fresh vegetables, fruits, fish and poultry (very rarely any red meat) was effective. The homemade soups especially were a big hit. We were constantly amazed at how both Rosa and Isabel could whip up a variety of meals (and yummy deserts) at a moment's notice in such a small kitchen!

Nelson with some of the TB staff loading up supplies in Quito

All food supplies were delivered by truck. Nelson, a local who lived in Nanegalito (a twenty minute drive by car) was responsible for most supply deliveries. Some vegetables and fruits (mainly those used to stock bird feeders) came from Nanegalito. The bulk of shopping, however, was done in Quito by Tropical Birding staff at Quito stores. Once a shipment was ready, Nelson would drive to Quito and deliver supplies at the bottom of the lodge steps. All supplies were then schlepped up the steps by staff and yours truly. This included all drinking water used at the lodge. No doubt this factored into our weight loss program as well. Nelson made multiple trips to and from Quito on behalf of the lodge so his trips were also a convenient way to ferry folks when there was room. Nelson was the person who originally delivered us to Tandayapa and who then drove us back to Quito when it was time to depart.

You never quite knew what to expect when exploring the trails each day

By the end of two months we discovered we were ready to head home. The utter lack of any reliable Internet or phone service had been wearing. And besides, the Packers would be in the Super Bowl and we'd be able to watch the game in the U.S.! We have no regrets about our experience and would highly recommend volunteering at Tandayapa to anyone who has the time and inclination. Would we return to Tandayapa for another volunteer stint? Probably not with so many other volunteer opportunities in the world. Our experience, though, has certainly whet our appetite to seek out other locations. But, a visit to Tandayapa Lodge during a future return tour to northern Ecuador? It isn't out of the question!

Los Colibris

By far the biggest attraction at TBL were the hummingbirds. A montage of color and motion engulfed the feeders that adorned the upper deck located off the lodge's Great Room. One could expect to daily see sixteen species. And while the number of species seen daily was astonishing, so too were the number of individuals jockeying for a spot at any of the four feeders. Activity seemed to increase in tempo when it misted or lightly rained. At those times we stopped counting. Over two hundred and fifty might be present without knowing how many more were sitting in the surrounding foliage.

Green Thorntail

A large whiteboard mounted on the outside wall adjacent to the doors from the Great Room listed all hummingbird species seen at the lodge along with a short notation as to when a species had last been recorded. A total of thirty-one species to date. Some, like Green Thorntail, Gorgeted Sunangel, Hoary Puffleg, Green-tailed Trainbearer, Mountain Velvetbreast, Purple-crowned Fairy, and Collared Inca were rare visitors (none of these ever showed during our stay at the lodge - at least not that we could see). Others like Tawny-bellied Hermit, Green-fronted Lancebill, and Wedge-billed Hummingbird could be seen on the lodge property but did not frequent the feeders.

Western Emerald

Andean Emerald

Present in greater numbers were Western Emerald, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Andean Emerald, Purple-bibbed Whitetip, Fawn-breasted Brilliant, Buff-tailed Cornet, Booted Racket-tail, and Purple-throated Woodstar. Present daily but in far fewer numbers included Brown Violetear, Green Violetear, Sparkling Violetear, White-necked Jacobin, Empress Brilliant, Green-crowned Brilliant and Violet-tailed Sylph. Less regular (not seen daily but at least a few times during any given week) were Green-crowned Woodnymph, Speckled Hummingbird and Velvet Purple Coronet. More seasonally apparent and absent for weeks or months at a time were White-bellied Woodstar and Little Woodstar.

Purple-bibbed Whitetips

Purple-throated Woodstar (female)

Purple-throated Woodstar (female)

While the lodge was provided an abundant supply of hummingbirds to observe, further afield and throughout the Tandayapa Valley (depending on habitat zone dictated mainly by elevation) many more colibri were to be found within a few hours drive from the lodge: White-whiskered Hermit, Stripe-throated Hermit (formerly Little Hermit), Long-tailed (formerly Long-billed) Hermit, Purple-chested Hummingbird, White-tailed (Andean) Hillstar, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Black-tailed Trainbearer, Purple-backed Thornbill, Tyrian Metaltail, Long-billed Starthroat, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Tooth-billed Hummingbird, Black-throated Mango, Rainbow-bearded Thorntail, Sapphire-vented Puffleg, Golden-breasted Puffleg, Black-breasted Puffleg, Great Sapphirewing, Blue-chested Hummingbird, Violet-bellied Hummingbird, Blue-headed Sapphire, Giant Hummingbird, and Purple-collared Woodstar. The chances of any of these species showing up at TBL were slim to none.

Brown Violetear

Buff-tailed Coronet

White-necked Jacobin

On average, hummingbird feeders needed to be replenished three times daily. Tom learned how to make the sugar solution and fill feeders. How exciting to walk up to a feeder buzzing with hummingbirds and to have to nudge them off perches so that a feeder could be removed for filling. Hummingbirds also landed on refilled feeders before they were completely hung up! Several quizzical hummers - specially the Booted Racket-tails - would zoom in and hover inches from Tom's face then buzz off. As sweet as he was, when no sugar water was to be found, they quickly lost interest. Wearing a red article of clothing almost guaranteed a close encounter with a hungry hummer.

Fawn-breasted Brilliant

Sparkling Violetear

Rarely did a day pass without one or more hummingbirds making their way into the Great Room where they needed to be rescued. These interlopers were usually captured by hand. Guests reveled in being able to hold a hummingbird before releasing it outdoors.

Booted Racket-tails

Not long after we departed TBL a film crew from Birding Adventures TV arrived to film a couple of programs about the hummingbirds of Tandayapa. The segments recently aired on TV and can also be seen on YouTube. In some of the scenes: Rosa (the kitchen wave); Luke Sietz, the replacement volunteer after we left (Luke is seen standing between Iain and the film host James Currie). José Llanos, our friend and TB guide for our two previous tours of Ecuador joined in the action as well. Many of the scenes around the lodge and Tandayapa Valley were very, very familiar!
How relaxing for us to sit on the deck either by ourselves or sharing the company of guests, with a cuppa coffee, tea, or something stronger, observing all the color and motion the hummingbirds provided. A fair trade, we'd say. We fed them sugar water and they fed our souls!

Empress Brilliant

 

Empress Brilliant

Violet-tailed Sylph

Violet-tailed Sylph

Velvet Purple Coronet

Velvet Purple Coronet

Rufous-tailed Humminbird

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Green-crowned Woodnymph

Green-crowned Woodnymph

Brown Inca

Purple-chested Hummingbird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TBL Senderos

Tandayapa Bird Lodge (TBL) montane cloud forest property was spread out over approximately 64 hectares (160 acres) with roughly 6 kilometers (4 miles) of trails. We had visited TBL during our 2008 Northern Ecuador tour but, like many tour groups, most of our time was spent off property exploring nearby birding hot spots. Our time away combined with daily rainfalls conspired to not allow us any opportunity to explore TBL trails. That would soon be rectified.
While TBL had a cursory map of lodge trails it made available to guests, Ryan Merrill, the volunteer we replaced, drew us a more detailed sketch of the trail system. Ryan also spent time walking the trails with us, pointing out various highlights. TBL had bird checklists which covered the Tandayapa Valley region along with a recently updated annotated bird list. An illustrated bird guide (McMullen and Vásquez) that covered the 700 or so species of birds (along with Choco region endemics) typically found in northwest Ecuador was available for purchase. The latter significantly narrowed bird species options in the valley when compared to using the country-wide Ridgley field guide.

Trail heads

The TBL trail system consisted of five trails that for the most part emanated and terminated at the lodge. All trail heads began along a path that lead away from the upper observation deck through a flower garden. One's hiking ability and physical condition dictated which trail to take. Hikes might last a half hour or more than five hours depending on one's route and desire to dawdle. Most sections of trails were narrow and steep so walking quickly was not advisable. Besides, one never knew what birds might be lurking in the foliage so it was in one's best interest to dawdle.

Tanager Trail through the coffee plantation

Tanager Trail tunnel of vegetation - nice place to find a Whiskered Wren

The two shortest hikes involved the Tanager Trail and Hide Trail. The former sloped upward behind and above the lodge through a recently planted shade-grown coffee plantation. Like the lower observation deck, Tanager Trail offered a bird's eye view of canopy, especially nice when a feeding flock was present. Tropical Parulas, White-tailed and Rufous-tailed Tyrannulets, Golden Tanagers, Barred and One-colored Becards were just a few seen from Tanager Trail. The trail dead-ended at the boundary with a neighboring property. We checked the trail on a nearly daily basis. How nice it would have been to have a bench at the crest of the trail in the plantation to sit and wait for feeding flocks to appear.

early morning glimpse of mountains from Hide Trail

view from observation point just off the Hide Trail

Uniform Antshrike (female) catching an insect

The Hide Trail, the most level of all the trails, lead to the lodge's "hide" or blind, roughly a five minute walk away. The blind consisted of a small wooden building on stilts with a tine roof. Four steps lead up to a canvas covered doorway. Pull the canvas aside and step inside to discover a few chairs and wooden benches that faced a floor-to-ceiling screen wall that looked out over the lodge's compost pile. A light in front of the compost was left on 24/7 to attract insects, mainly moths, which in turn attracted insect eating birds. Regulars included Immaculate Antbirds, Uniform Antshrikes, Masked Trogons, Streak-headed Woodcreepers, Spotted Barbets, and Russet-crowned Warblers. Several of these species would cling to the screen to snatch insects, often within arm's length of anyone sitting quietly on a bench or chair. On occasion one might be treated to a Rufous-breasted Antthrush skulking in to grab a quick meal. Each morning and well before daybreak, either Richard or Angel trekked to the hide to scatter a small number of worms for the star of the show: Scaled Antpittas. As many as four were seen and/or heard.

Potoo Trail

from time to time we encountered trail upheavals

By far the longest, the Potoo Trail looped around and exited onto the Tandayapa Valley Road which then required a hike back up the lodge's steep driveway. The two remaining trails, Antpitta Trail and Nunbird, branched off Potoo. Antpitta Trail looped around and connected again with Potoo. Nunbird branched off but dead-ended on a high ridge. The most strenuous of all the trails Nunbird climbed steeply but unfortunately had become blocked by a mudslide. Further travel on Nunbird could be undertaken but not without great personal peril. We didn't feel the need to push ourselves beyond the section that had become unsafe.
Some of the goodies found along these trails included a Golden-winged Manakin lek and a Cock-of-the-Rock nest (the young had fledged just before we arrived at TBL). Time of day, weather conditions, and the appearance of feeding flocks dictated how many species we encountered daily. One entire day spent with Ryan traversing all the trails (some more than once) netted us 108 species. Highlights: Nariño Tapaculo (one practically landed on Tom's boot), both Golden-heaed and Crested Quetzal, Slaty Antwrens, Rufous-breasted Antthrush, Ornate Flycatcher, Beautiful Jays, and Cock-of-the-Rock.

section of Nunbird Trail

Tandayapa Valley Road, a favorite hike for us and one we took on a near daily basis. Much less strenuous than the trails, the road climbed gradually to the Upper Tandayapa Valley. Six kilometers up the road was another establish lodge, Bellavista. It was enough of an elevation change to put one in a different life zone - and of course new different bird species. In the tropics, as with states in the western U.S., short distances of elevation rather than long level distances played a key role in habitat change.
A kilometer beyond Bellavista was the intersection with Research Station Road, a good place to find the incredibly vocal Plain-tailed Wrens. One more kilometer further lead to an area well known for finding Occelated Tapaculos. Tapaculos are typically described a loud, plain looking mousey little birds typically heard far more often than seen. Occellated Tapaculos fit this general description with one exception. They are anything but plain looking.
Another even more sought after endemic species in this same general area was the Tanager Finch. Another highly vocal but hard to see bird, A handsome, large finch-like bird with a broad silver-gray coronal stripe and distinctive eye-stripe that reached to the nape. A ferruginous body, brighter on the breast with a gray belly and blackish tail, its range is severely restricted to northwest Ecuador and to a thin strip in Columbia thus making a highly sought after specialty bird of the valley.

Carol at the base of the lower part of the waterfall

hiking up Tandayapa Valley Road with guests Tony and Joanada

Our walks on the road didn't take us a far as Bellavista. We restricted our walk to a couple of kilometers to the base of a large waterfall where White-capped Dipper could be found. Along the walk we discovered a Tawny-bellied Hermit lek. Views from the road at the lower valley were spectacular and where we would often see flocks of Band-tailed Pigeons and Roadside and Barred Hawks soaring. When feeding flocks appeared we often had the advantage of looking down on birds rather than straining to look up into canopy. Entire mornings could be spent walking the road with great edge birding. White-winged, Blue-capped, Golden, Golden-naped, Beryl-spangled, Black-capped, Golden-hooded, Bay-headed, and Flame-rumped were some of the more regular seen tanager species.
A walk down the road took us into the tiny town of Tandayapa, the valley's namesake. An intersection in Tandayapa lead to Nono Road. A bridge over the river just up from the intersection was a good spot to look for White-capped Dipper or Torrent Ducks. Further up Nono Road was an ideal location to call out Lyre-tailed Nightjar. Think of a Common Nighhawk only with ridiculously elongated tail streamers 3-4 times the length of its body. Tom's close encounter with one of these nightjars occurred one early evening at sunset by playing the nightjar's call on his iPod. A male Lyre-tailed swooped off its perched so suddenly and so closely that the tail streamers actually brush against Tom's hand he was using to hold his iPod. He thought for a moment that the bird was actually going to land on his hand!

section of Nono Road near Lyre-tailed Nighjar roost

During our stay at TBL Tom maintained a daily checklist spreadsheet of birds seen or heard around the lodge buildings and during our hikes. While we didn't get out to all the trails on a daily basis due to weather or time, we observed and recorded several species that here-to-fore were thought to be less frequent. We also managed to collectively lose 25 pounds out walking! If you're looking for a great weight loss program and incredible birding, we highly recommend an extended stay at TBL!

White-throated Quail-Dove sorting through the compost