Day 7 - To Guango

Day7 Quito to Guango

A more leisurely start to the day saw us being picked up at 6.30 and heading out of quito towards Antisano. We stopped at a site to look for condor and within a few minutes we were watching an adult and a juvenile on a rock on the other side of the valley. Eventually the adult flew off and we looked around for other birds.
On the wires above our head a Tainbearer flaunted its tail, a Shining Sunbeam was flitting round a bush and Variable Hawk sailed over the hills.

On and up through the entrance barrier and our first stop was to watch a Roadside Hawk on a fencepost near a river bridge with a female ecudorian hillstar. We also saw Broad-winged and
Stout-billed Cincloides, Plumbeous Sierra-finch, as well as Many-striped Canestero.

As we carried on uphill we stopped at a ‘forest’ of ***  We walked through the bushes and were about to give up when a male Ecuadorian Hillstar popped up on the top of a bush giving very short but close views. There were a few flowers growing among the grasses between the bushes.

Further up we drove across the grassy paramo where we found many Carrunculated Caracara, Black-faced Ibis and another condor flying away towards the Antisana Volcano. There was a flock of Andean gulls, the only gulls we saw. Onto Lake Micah where we walked along the lake side with Silvery Grebe, Andean Ruddy Duck and coot. On the shore we found Andean Lapwing, and sandpiper.

We returned the way we had come, stopping at a picnic site near the condor rocks and had a picnic lunch watching the Condors gliding round the rock face.

We then went on to Pappallacta Pass, driving up to the radio masts through the fog. On the way up we saw a white-tailed deer grazing At the top we got out and walked slowly and carefully up through the mist. Edwin, the driver found an Andean Fox curled up and we spent some time watching it until it got up and walked away. While we were there 2 seedsnipe flew around the summit, calling and Edwin and Jorge watched until they settled, we then clinmbed further up to the masts themselves where we found the seedsnipe on the grass. We stood on the summit watching them and as the mist cleared the birds were in the sun and the view was spectacular.

Eventually we made our way down to Guango Lodge.