Texas to Tandayapa

Finally, after weeks of planning, our travel day had arrived. Our last minute panic about discovering that Visa was issuing new Debit Cards had been resolved. The cards arrived the afternoon before by FedEx overnight. Temporary changes to banking, shipments of new flashlights and boots - all had been taken care of.

Our travel day started off well despite a 35-degree wake-up at BPV. Most of our packing had been done. Now it was simply a question of packing up the house and moving it. Doesn't everyone have to store their house before leaving on vacation?

Our good neighbor Harvey Pagel helped Tom move our RV into the BPV storage area where we left both our RV and truck (with the truck still attached to the RV). After a handful of folks stopped by to bid us bon voyage, Harvey and his lovely bride Gayle drove us to breakfast and then on to the McAllen Airport.

Overlooking Quito - the green strip is where the Quito airport is located.

Our on-time flight to Houston was smooth sailing. Plane food being what it is these days, or rather, what it isn't, we grabbed something to take with us during our flight to Quito. Six hours later our plane touched down at Quito's Marical Sucre International Airport, only 1/2 hour later than the scheduled arrival time. Two free movies helped ease the pain of cramped seats somewhat but only just. Traveling in Cattle Class is just the way it is these days.

Imagine our surprise when Ecuador immigration stamped our passports with a February 9 departure date. Huh? Turned out that all countries have a visa limit. Nothing new except that because of our earlier visit to Ecuador in February 2010 (our southern bird tour of Ecuador) the time spent in-country counted against our 90-day visa. We had planned on a three month stay and Ecuador effectively cut it to two months. Aside from the fact that our site back at BPV was already rented out for three months and we had nowhere else to park, our return plane tickets were for March 1.

After trying to explain our predicament and asking what we should do about it, the immigration official suddenly said, "Don't worry about it" and waved us through. It didn't leave us entirely satisfied that there wouldn't be a problem. Countries tend to get a bit sticky about people who over extend their visas. Heavy fines, jail, deportation...little things like that. We would have to look into resolving this at some point.

Immigration aside we breezed through customs and with all our luggage in hand, secured a taxi and headed for our hotel, the Fuente de Piedra. Traffic in Quito can be horrifically congested, although well past 11 p.m. the streets were pretty devoid of traffic. It also gave us time to again be in in awe (or fear) of Ecuador's traffic laws. Our taxi driver slowed but did not stop for several red lights yet did stop for others. There was also a festival in progress. Several double-decker buses roamed the streets. The upper decks were filled with live bands and the lower decks jammed with revelers. A few street corners were populated with "hard working women" which we later discovered (not first hand, thank you) to be "hard working men". Fascinating.

We arrived at our hotel around midnight only to discover 1) there was no room reserved for us and 2) the hotel was under renovation. That would explain the plywood walls and plastic sheeting and overall dim lighting. After a series of perplexing phone conversations (in broken Spanish), we discovered that we were at the wrong hotel. Silly us. We were supposed to be at the hotel Fuenta de Piedra 2, a sister hotel located seven blocks away. Never mind that the address given us was for Fuenta de Peidra 1. Back into another taxi we soon found ourselves at hotel FdP#2. Ah. But there was still no reservation. Regardless, we booked a room and would sort everything out in the morning. A quick email (as quick as the slow connection would allow) to the Tropical Birding office to let them know we had arrived and where we were, then off to bed. Travel days always seem to wind up being so long. Made longer still by the roving party buses as they continued to circle the hotel...

About 8:00ish in the a.m. we had some much needed coffee and a light breakfast at the hotel and sorted out a few things. First, there had been a reservation after all. Not under Tropical Birding or our names but under "Tandayapa Lodge". Who knew? The internet connection was a bit faster so we sent "we've landed" emails to family and friends and contacted the Tropical Birding office via the hotel's phone. Outside the hotel, as we waited for a taxi, we found Rufous-collared Sparrows and Great Thrushes to kick off our three-month Ecuador bird list.

T.B. guides Sam Woods, Andrew Spencer and Nick Athanas. A rare scene of serious demeanor working on the next T.B. tour catalog while Iain is out of the room...

A fifteen-minute taxi ride brought us to the Tropical Birding office nerve center, cleverly hidden on the third floor of what appeared to be a residential building, at about 9:30. Over the course of several weeks preceding our arrival we had emailed or spoken by phone with the office staff so we felt right at home meeting everyone. Nick Athanas, one of the TB guides was on hand and later, the irascible Sam Woods arrived, another member of TB's star-studded stable of field guides. Ian Campbell and his wife Christina, owners of the lodge, also were on hand. We have to say that the office gang at TB, while they have a lot of fun, also work very hard.

We immediately set about assimilating. Maria took our Blackberry (unlocked and international model) to begin the process of getting an Ecuador SIM card. Carol and Nick locked heads to schedule a suitable itinerary and set a date for our 2012 TB bird tour of Peru. At one point Carol had the staff chuckling after she had asked about where we might buy an electric fan. "None would be needed" and indeed that turned out to be the case.

Early afternoon, we left with staffer Adriana to pick up a few essential supplies at a local supermercado. Toothpaste, a few snacks, some wine and rum. True essentials. By the way, taxi is by far the least expensive way to travel in Quito. For the three of us, it was only $1 each way.

We had expected that Pablo, the lodge's property manager, would be transporting us to the lodge. However, he would not be at the lodge until the following Tuesday. Instead, another driver, Nelson, would be taking us in his truck. Nelson, it turned out, lived near Tandayapa in the town of Nanegalito, a small town we would become quite familiar with during our stay. We were a bit mystified about who might be explaining to us in more detail about our responsibilities at the lodge. However, the present volunteer would be at the lodge for the next week and would show us the ropes.

Loaded up into Nelson's truck we departed for Tandayapa Bird Lodge. On our way we stopped at a large shopping mall where Carol picked up a sweatshirt (having been convinced a fan was just the opposite of what she needed) and some sandwiches to go. Part of the the hour and a half drive looked familiar as it covered some of the route taken during our 2008 tour. However, this was the 'express' route, and differed substantially from the six hour route in 2008 that had included a stop at the Yanacoha Reserve and birding along the Nono road.

This is where the old lodge entrance, the 77-step winding walk.

The new entrance from the top of the new driveway addition.
Looks daunting? Much, much easier than before!

One immediate difference we noted upon our arrival from our 2008 visit was not having to use the ghastly seventy-seven step climb as the only way to and from the lodge. A new road had been cut into the hill a few months earlier which brought us much closer to the lodge's main entrance. Some steps remained but the improvement was welcome. We were enthusiastically greeted by Isabel and Angel, two of the lodge's regular staff. Ryan wasn't at the lodge but was expected to return by early evening. He was out with a TB guide and the guide's client.

Lacking any staff to have a significant conversation in English we set about settling into our room then adjourning to the hummingbird veranda to begin keying out hummingbird species. Within an hour or so we had comfortably ID'd at least fourteen of the seventeen species one could expect to regularly see.

view from the 'hummingbird feeder' deck, a view we saw daily.

The hummingbird deck was by far the most popular place to hang at the lodge.

A few hours later Ryan, the TB guide and the client returned. Imagine our delight to discover that the guide was none other than Jose Llanos, the Tropical Birding guide we had for each of our previous two tours in Ecuador. In addition to Jose, the driver, Niko, was also present. Niko had been our driver on both tours - talk about old home week!

Ryan was from the Seattle area and had been at TBL for about a month. Over the course of the next week he was instrumental in helping us settle in and learn about the lodge's day-to-day operations as well as the lay of the land - literally. Ryan also generously shared with Tom his collection of digital bird calls which came in very handy during our stay.

Gabs and a 'rescued' Buff-tailed Hummingbird...but his real love is bugs!

Iain and Amy as she hammed it up for the camera

The next day, Iain and his two children, son Gabriel ("Gabs") and daughter Amy, arrived for a visit. Iain filled us in with more lodge history and discussed some of our volunteer expectations before they returned to Quito the next morning. While everything was still quite new, we were beginning to feel as though we were getting a handle on things, and more excited about what the next three months might bring. Now - if we could only sort out the mystery of consistently having hot water for our showers...

Quingentésimo ABA Anual Ave 2010

Birder: a person who engages in bird-watching; bird-watcher

Lister: one that lists or catalogs

Our family and friends know we're birders. Much of our travel has been predicated on birding. The ugly fact is, we're also listers.

Sometime during the four months after leaving Wisconsin in June, it dawned on us that we were racking up annual bird sightings at a pretty good clip. Perhaps we might wind up seeing as many as 500 species in the ABA count area by year's end. ABA? Count area?

ABA: The American Birding Association, a North American non-profit organization which provides leadership, guidance and a code of birding ethics for birders. The organization does much, much more but for the purposes of this blog entry we'll stick to the part about the ABA's checklist of bird species and the ABA official count area.

The ABA checklist includes birds native to North America, regular migrants, and casual and accidentally occurring birds that have strayed into the ABA count area. The count area is defined as the 49 continental United States, Canada, the French island of St. Pierre et Miquelon, and adjacent waters to a distance of 200 miles from land or half the distance to a neighboring country, whichever is less. Excluded by these boundaries are Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Greenland.

Determining a boundary can get a bit nit-picky at times. For example, if you were to stand on the U.S. and Mexico border on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River, and you saw a bird on the Mexico side, you couldn't count it as being in the ABA area. But if that same bird flew over halfway across the river toward the U.S. side or further, then bingo - it would be countable

Without going into too much detail, suffice to say the ABA has stringent guidelines, rules and procedures about what constitutes a countable bird. At present the ABA checklist stands at 957 species. So, seeing 500 ABA species in any given year - more than half the species possible - is kind of a big deal to birders like us.

Mind you, there are people way crazier than we are when it comes to chasing an annual ABA tally. Down right competitive. Some folks pursue a "big year", an attempt to see as many bird species as possible in the entire ABA count area. We believe the current record stands at 721 species. We've heard that this year a birder has been trying to beat the current record and has so far seen 714 species...and has spent over $40,000 dollars thus far (including three separate trips to Alaska). By comparison our meager quest for 500 may seem rather underwhelming.

However, consider that our attempt had to be completed in 11 months given that we are to leave the U.S. in December. In fact since we had already spent three weeks in Ecuador in February and another week in Cozumel (both non-ABA count areas) our time to accomplish our goal had been whittled to just 10 months. Also consider that we never went any further east than Ohio or Louisiana; we missed the entire east coast including bird-rich Florida. Of the 49 continental United States we only birded in 17: TX, LA, MS, TN, IL, WI, OH, MN, ND, MT, ID, WA, OR, CA, AZ, NM, and CO. We didn't do any pelagic trips to find ocean-going birds. In fact we didn't start the year with a goal of 500 in mind. It wasn't until we were nearing Texas and hit 490 that we felt we had any shot at all. It should be noted that while Tom had 490, Carol was at 488 having missed two birds that Tom had seen earlier. A Common Poorwill in CA and a Barn Owl in TX.

Spotted Owl

Bird #490 was a Spotted Owl found in Guadalupe Mountains NP followed quickly by Scott's Oriole and Gray Vireo. Wood Stork and Common Black-Hawk were #493 and #494. The count remained stagnant at 494 as we pulled into our winter site at Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort in mid-October. New birds were getting to be as scarce as hen's teeth. How come?

Well, we were running out of new birds to find. By now we had seen 49 of the possible 53 species of warblers (2 of the remaining 5 were Mexican accidentals). Of the woodpeckers we had 21 of a possible 23. We had 16 of 17 hummingbirds. We missed the Berylline's, a species we usually see when in AZ but picked up the accidental Plain-capped Starthroat. Go figure. We'd found 31 of 35 possible Tyrant flycatchers - 2 of the missing 4 were also Mexican accidentals. See where this is leading? Of 31 countable hawks, kites and eagles we had missed only 4. 3 of the missing were commonly found in areas we had not been to nor would we visit this year. Oh, and don't overlook the fact that we would miss the bulk of northern finches and owls because of our being loath to be any place that was subjected to snow, ice and freezing cold. We didn't even have an American Tree Sparrow for goodness sake (although we did have 33 of the 40 possible sparrows). Yes, there were still plenty of other birds to see - just in parts of the country we wouldn't be visiting this year.

kettle of Wood Storks

What was going to have to happen was an influx of some of the accidental and vagrant Mexican species if we were to flesh out our list. But attempts to find difficult species like White-collared Seedeater, Red-billed Pigeon and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl failed. It didn't help that several popular and reliable birding sites were closed due to earlier severe flooding. Even our next door state park was mostly closed due to damaging high water levels.

We followed TexBirds, the Texas state online bird reporting system and chatted up local birders for tips on available species. We got instructions on where to find a series of rural roads and wetlands which netted Aplomado Falcon, #495, and Purple Gallinule, #496. After a birding dry spell a Ruddy Ground-Dove appeared at Estero Llano Grande State Park. #497 was added.

Another Mexican accidental, a female Crimson-collared Grosbeak popped up at the Valley Nature Center. We spent a couple of hours scouring the grounds along with a dozen or so other birders and were just about ready to give up when we found it feeding high in an Acatia tree and alerted the other birders. #498.

wintering Mountain Plover

Then another dry spell. We attended part of the Rio Grande Birding Festival, mainly to catch up with the lads from Tropical Birding and our friend Erika Wilson from Sierra Vista who was also in attendance. Erika was the birder who so valiantly tried to find us a Spotted Owl in AZ. During the festival we learned the location of wintering Mountain Plovers, a bird we typically found in CO where they breed. Our first attempt failed. But during a second attempt the following week while on our way to South Padre Island, we found one feeding along a dusty, gravel Texas farm road. #499.

Around the same time a Rufous-backed Robin had been seen at the North America Butterfly Association property. We could see the new building and headquarters outside our RV back window from our site in Bentsen Palm Village, we were that close. Alas, after only one sighting the bird failed to appear again. However reports on TexBird had another Rufous-backed Robin being seen at Laguna Astascosa NWR. We were again headed to South Padre Island to meet a friend and Laguna was on the way - sort of. It was morning when we stopped (reports had it being seen only in the afternoons) and we didn't see it. Apparently the bird had never gotten the memo: "the early bird gets the worm".

Reports persisted on TexBird that the robin was still being seen but only in the afternoon, roughly between 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. We decided to make one more try.

On the Thursday evening before we drove the hour and a half drive to Laguna, a cold front had moved through. The overnight low had been 39. On Friday morning a stiff wind kept temperatures lower than normal. In fact a not very often heard phrase in south Texas was uttered: "wind chill". As we drove over we wondered if the weather would be a serious setback. Perhaps the robin had moved on?

At 2:30 we arrived and stood/sat/huddled with a small group of die-hards to await the robin. On the two previous days the robin had been fairly punctual; appearing about 3:00ish and again between 5:30 and 5:45. We sincerely hoped that it would be sooner rather than later but were totally committed to stay until we saw the bird. Hey, we're from Wisconsin. We know cold.
At 3:12 the cry went up, "There it is!". At the far edge of a man-made stream next to the visitor center the robin appeared, took a brief drink then retreated back into the dense shrubbery. Long enought for a positive ID. So on November 26 with just four days left to get to 500 it happened. #500.

High fives all around! Carol, who was at 497 - and now 498 - was most gracious in her enthusiastic response and support that one of us had made it to 500. Not that 498 is anything to sneeze at. It's still over half of the ABA possibles. Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

On our drive back we reflected on some of the "easy" birds that, for various reasons, had escaped us during the year. Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Beryllline's Hummingbird, Connecticut Warbler, Western Screech-Owl, Black-capped Vireo, and a Barn Owl for Carol. There were many more. And the year's biggest rarity?  Easily the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron. Not only a first-ever record for ABA, we were also in the group of five that counted the tiger-heron on a January 5 Christmas Bird Count that made more ABA history - the first-ever record for this species in any ABA CBC.

Ho-hum birds? A tie between House Sparrow and European Starling. The longest sought species? A previously heard-only Swainson's Warbler back in 1999. Our rule for adding a life bird is that we have to see it, not just hear it. Once a bird is a life bird though, just hearing for the purpose of adding an annual bird is fine. The most unexpected bird to show up, aside from the tiger-heron: a tie between Plain-capped Starthroat and Spotted Owl. Of the 500 species found, 17 were ABA life birds and of these, 12 were life bird ticks. Our previous 12-month annual species tally? 437.

Even with our nomadic lifestyle we are not likely to repeat hitting 500 any time soon. Not without investing in a fair amount of zig-zag traveling. Not that we prefer traveling in a straight line. We rarely do. It's just that to get high numbers one has to move quickly to be in the right spot at the right time. And it's a big count area. Maybe we'll concentrate instead on boosting our overall ABA life list. 700 is a doable goal as we both have well over 600 species (Carol more than Tom). This would mean getting out on some boats and taking pelagic trips.

Had we taken our quest more seriously earlier on who knows how many species we might have ended up with. But you'll hear no complaints from us. Birds are only part of the experience of full-timing and while birding will remain high on our list, we'd be foolish not to appreciate all the other benefits our travels have brought us. Unparalleled scenery, sampling foods of different locales, meeting and making new friends and our continuing sense of discovery.

A little perspective on our 10-month 500 ABA bird species quest. The combined number of bird species seen during two trips to Ecuador that totaled a little over a month: 739. Too bad Ecuador isn't in the ABA count area!

Speaking of Ecuador, we're departing December 1 for a three month volunteer host gig at Tandayapa Lodge in northern Ecuador. We'll return March 3 but after a little over a week's time we will depart again, this time for Costa Rica to shepherd a small group of birding friends. During our time out of the country we will have little if any reliable Internet access. So, our blog is taking a four month hiatus. Hopefully the next entry will occur sometime in April 2011. Until then, Good birding!

Texas 3-Step

Carol at the original Judge Roy Bean Jersey Lilly Saloon

and Courtroom (circa 1880's - the saloon, not Carol)

Having taken into account a November 1 arrival at Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort and the remaining driving distance of 700 miles we discussed possible routes. We had talked about Big Bend National Park and would have time to stop, but the logistics of getting there and out seemed daunting. Besides, the one bird we could hope to see, the Colima Warbler, more than likely had already migrated south. Last year we had spent a Week at Davis Mountain State Park and about another week at Falcon Dam State Park. Both would again fit nicely in the time frame for us to arrive at BPV by our reservation start date.
However, we had by now been on the road for four straight months including a "quick" drive up to Colorado and a flight to and from WI. Now, faced with a three month stay in Ecuador for which we also needed to prepare, another possibility arose. We could call BPV to see if our site would be available two weeks earlier. And wouldn't it be nice to sit for a while? "Sit for a while" had to be tempered with the fact that we rarely stand still even when parked.

Fort Davis parade ground

It came as no surprise that the managers at BPV were more than pleased to advance our arrival date by a few weeks. The park was still pretty empty at this time of year. Besides, our friend and neighbor Marty had been parked at BPV while her husband was in northern Illinois working for FEMA. Marty was starved for company.

Fort Davis enlisted men's barracks

Carol cooling her heels on the restored fort commander's veranda

Our decision to arrive early wouldn't alter our route; simply shorten the our stays at Davis Mountain and Falcon State Parks. Texas is a big state. Anyone who hasn't driven in Texas cannot appreciate just how long it takes to cover what appears to be short distances on the state map. We plotted that we could cover the remaining distance to Mission in three stops.

overlooking part of Davis Mountain State Park

Our drive from Guadalupe Mtns. SP to Davis Mountain SP was a tad over 140 miles and included a driving break at the Jersey Lilly Saloon, part of the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center in Langtry, TX. Our three nights spent in the park were relaxed. We stuck close to home and hiked local trails along with a visit to nearby Fort Davis National Historic Site. Davis Mountain was our absolutely, positively last chance for Montezuma Quail. Fortunately for the quail - but unfortunately for us - a wetter than normal season had produced plentiful natural food and cover so quail were not obliged to visit park feeding stations. The check-box on our annual ABA checklist remained unchecked. Drat.

site at Falcon State Park

The distance to Falcon SP necessitated that we stay overnight at the Holiday Trav-L-Park in Del Rio, 230 miles away. We used a pull-through site and didn't bother to unhook our trailer. Located near the massive Armistad National Recreation Area, this was our first opportunity to see first-hand the high levels of water along the Rio Grande watershed. A double-whammy of weather events. First, the remnants of Hurricane Alex in June followed by Tropical Depression Hermine in September, had caused record flooding.
Our drive the next morning to Falcon State Park took longer (270 miles). We once more left our trailer attached for the night. Water levels in the resovior were also much higher than the previous year. We also picked up the fact that the park was relatively devoid of campers  compared to last year. A recent tragic and mysterious murder of an American citizen on the Mexican side of the reservoir, probably a victim of increased border violence between warring Mexican drug cartels, may have been partly to blame. Friends had wondered why we even bothered to stay in the park given the recent violence. Actually, with a high number of Border Patrol agents present, we couldn't have been in a safer spot! Besides, the park's butterfly gardens were in beautiful shape. We also managed to pick up another bird species we thought too late in the season to see - Wood Stork.

kettle of Wood Stork soaring over Falcon SP

On Friday October 15, after a stop for breakfast in Roma, and covering the remaining 60 miles, we pulled into to our BPV site. Great to be back and reconnect with familiar faces. Marty was thrilled and immediately set about a welcome back party complete with corn tortillas and margaritas. While most of our friends and neighbors would not arrive for another three weeks or more, it felt good to put down stakes for a while and know we wouldn't have to move the RV again until we stored it December 1 when we departed for Ecuador. The Valley looked green and lush, specially when compared to how it looked when we left in March after most of the vegetation had been knocked down by three killing frosts. Carol's bougainvillea plants, left in the care of the office staff, looked healthy and ready to bloom.

2-barred Flasher at Falcon SP butterfly gardens

With our annual ABA bird lists now tantalizingly close to 500 we hoped we might catch a break and find enough Mexican specialty birds to hit our goal of 500. We could only hope and keep a weather eye on the Texas birding list.