Birding Lake Llaviucu, Ecuador

Lake Llaviucu lies at the lowest edge of Cajas National Park––at a mere 10,000 feet!––and is ringed by a lovely, well-maintained trail, perfect for easy hiking. The trail traverses marshy grassland, mature montane cloud forest, and some secondary forest––and is the abode of spectacular mountain tanagers. Tapaculos and spinetails scold from the thickets. You can easily spend a leisurely morning exploring, although many hikers take only an hour or so to make the loop.

When we enter the park, the guard gives us a beautifully-illustrated handout of Cajas's most common birds. If only all the parks offered this! Most of the species we see are included, and it makes sorting through Ecuador's 1600+ species of birds considerably easier for do-it-yourselfers, who enjoy figuring out their own birds. The illustrations by Eduardo Jaime Arias really do give a good grasp of the various expected species. Cajas ranks as an Important Bird Area of international status.

The upper, marshy region of Lake Llaviucu in Cajas National Park 

(Photos by Narca)

A short distance from the upper parking area, the road leads to the lake itself: a gem of blue, serene, filling the valley. The ruins of an old brewery are along the near shore, and here the road intersects the trail that loops around the lake.

Red Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia sanguinea)

Stunning Red Angel Trumpet flowers proclaim the possibility of seeing a Sword-billed Hummingbird, a bird whose bill is longer than all the rest of its body!

We don't––this time––but do see Rainbow Starfrontlets, Tyrian Metaltails, Mountain Velvetbreasts, and lots of Sparkling Violet-ears. Hummingbirds of every size, color, and bill shape are one of Ecuador's premier glories.

Female Rainbow Starfrontlet

A little female Tyrian Metaltail (sorry not to be showing you the two males!)

We linger on the raised boardwalk, watching the hummers and flowerpiercers as they work the blooms around us, and listening to invisible Ecuadorian Rails at the lake's margin. Yellow-billed Pintails, Andean Teal, and Andean (Ruddy) Ducks join the Andean Coots in the open water. An Andean Gull nests at the lake's edge. These names seem to have a theme....

Deeper in the forest, we encounter a very fun foraging flock, featuring Turquoise Jays, Streaked Tuftedcheeks (rummaging in the bromeliads), Spectacled Whitestarts, Russet-crowned Warblers, Rufous-chested Tanagers, and––here's a name for you!––Superciliaried Hemispingus. (If, like us, you're wondering just what is a half-a-spingus, apparently the word comes from the Greek spingos, meaning finch. An eye-browed half-finch, perhaps?)

Turquoise Jays are a rich and unearthly shade of blue.

Rufous-collared Sparrow, a quintessential Andean bird, is common. This sparrow is closely related to our White- and Golden-crowned Sparrows. Some years ago, a study showed that Rufous-collared Sparrows retain the ability to respond to changing periods of daylight, like their migratory northern kin, even though much of their range lies within the tropics, where they aren't much exposed to that cue, and don't stage big migrations. Their genus evolved in the temperate north.

A handsome, confiding Rufous-collared Sparrow

The Great Thrush is another relative of a familiar species, our American Robin. It is likewise common, and indeed it is very great, being half again as big as our robins.

Female Great Thrush; the male sports a jaunty yellow eye-ring

In addition to birds, Brazilian Cottontails live along the lake margins. This rabbit has an enormous range, extending from eastern Mexico into northern Argentina, and through most of Brazil.

Brazilian Cottontail

After thoroughly savoring the alpine surrounds, we head farther south in the afternoon. This trip will eventually take us to the very border of Peru––to Podocarpus National Park, to the remote Cordillera del Condor, and to three of the fabled Jocotoco Reserves. I hope you enjoy the ride!

Finding Lake Llaviucu:
Beginning at the major roundabout in Cuenca where Avenida de las Americas meets the Gran Colombia (= Avenida Ordoñes Lazo beyond the traffic circle, to the west), go west out of Cuenca toward Cajas National Park and Guayaquil. After almost 13 km, you'll see an obscure (but signed) road on the left, plunging downhill from the highway. That's it! The road is narrow and cobbled, traversing two covered bridges over a stream, and passing dairy farms, before reaching the border of the national park after about a mile (1.6 km). Entry to Ecuador's national parks is now free, although you'll need to register at the gate, and hours of entry at the lake are limited from about 8 AM to 4 PM.

For reaching the higher elevations of Cajas National Park, just stay on the main highway to Guayaquil. This road is open 24 hours a day.

Ecuador, again!

It's hard to stay away from a country as intriguing and diverse as Ecuador––and the birding is fabulous! Since I was last there, Quito has built a fine new international airport, quite a distance from the city. (The old airport was basically in town.)

Here's a logistical tip for you: while a good new highway system leads to the new airport, nearby accommodations are scarce. We found one place which was perfectly located for our purposes: the Hostería (or Rancho) San Carlos Tababela. Rooms were basic but comfortable; cost was reasonable; breakfast was included; and it's only about 10 or 15 minutes from the new airport, and just off the highway system. The Hostería makes a good launching pad for exploring, whether you're headed north or south.

I highly recommend traveling with the Map app that comes on an iPad! It makes navigation easy, even along the most labyrinthine city routes.

This time we head south! A very long day of challenging driving lands us in old Cuenca at nightfall. Cuenca's ancient center is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was originally a Cañari city, conquered by the Incas, who followed their habit of replacing the architecture of the vanquished people, but respecting and absorbing their culture. The Cañaris' achievements in agriculture and astronomy were especially impressive. The new Incan city came to rival in grandeur that of their capital, Cuzco. After the Spanish conquered the Incas, the inhabitants of early "Cuenca" destroyed their city so that it wouldn't fall into Spanish hands, and for years the Spanish searched in vain for the legendary El Dorado, probably this very city––the predecessor of today's Cuenca.

A summer's day in Cajas National Park (Photos by Narca)

A major draw for us is nearby Cajas National Park––a rugged mountain park, sculpted by glaciers into spectacular peaks and valleys. It's often misty, as air from the Pacific Ocean hits the Andes and rises, cools, and spills clouds over the ridges. These clouds feed more than 200 lakes in the park, and give rise to major rivers, three of which flow to the Amazon, while one flows west to the Pacific Ocean. Indeed, Cajas is a RAMSAR wetland of international importance.

A plant of the páramo

The lower elevations of the park are wreathed in cloud forest and perennial montane forest. Rising to treeline, you'll find groves of beautiful, shaggy-barked Polylepis trees (my favorite tree of the high Andes!). The highest habitat is páramo, the southern equivalent of our tundra. Cajas boasts 19 species of endemic plants––plants found nowhere else in the world. Wildlife in the park is also wonderfully diverse, with regional endemics like the Violet-throated Metaltail (a hummingbird) and the Cajas Water Mouse.

An ancient Polylepis grove is a twisting webwork of gnarly trunks. 

Below, a single tree.

We spend a day at the highest elevations (up to 14,000 feet) and a second morning roaming the margins of Lake Llaviucu at the lowest edge of the park––and love it so much that we return to Cajas for two more days at the end of the trip!

Now, at the height of summer, flowers brighten the land; many of them draw hummingbirds.

A couple of Cajas's many flowers!

Among the hummingbirds that specialize in Ecuador's high-elevation habitats is the Blue-mantled Thornbill, a hummer that often flops about on the ground, nectaring at prostrate flowers. It appears very dark, only showing its glittering throat patch and glossy blue back when one's viewpoint is exactly right.

Blue-mantled Thornbills appear very dark from most angles. 

(This one was photographed farther north, at Papallacta Pass.)

Other high-elevation specialists are the Bar-winged Cinclodes and Tawny Antpitta. Unlike most antpittas, which tend to be very shy, the Tawny forages openly and calls frequently, making it one of the easiest to see! Both species (like every other bird pictured here!) belong to bird families that only occur in the New World.

An adult Bar-winged Cinclodes (above) is working hard today to feed its hungry fledgling (below).

A Tawny Antpitta, standing tall

Lovely Tit-like Dacnis feed at the lake's margin, a male above and a female below.

Among my favorites are the high-elevation flycatchers.

The subtle plumage of a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant echoes the colors of Cajas.

It has been too long since the last time I saw a Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant!

And what would the Andes be, without its camel?

Tomorrow, the lower elevation cloud forest of Cajas National Park!