Digression: Butterflies in the Cordillera del Cóndor

Before we leave this remote corner of southeastern Ecuador, I want to show you a few of the butterflies that appear during intervals between rain. If anyone can help with identifying the ones I don't know (or correcting the ones I think I know), please speak up!

Enjoy!

The metalmarks of the New World tropics have evolved a wide array of dazzling species.

 Meneria Metalmark (Amarynthis meneria) 

(Photos by Narca)

 Metalmark species

The nymphalids are likewise well-represented. Let's start with a few of the more familiar ones.

Clymena Eighty-eight (Diaethria clymena)

One of the sisters, an Adelpha species

The very familiar Malachite (Siproeta stelenes)

Here's an unknown––and possibly unknowable––nymphalid. The falcate wingtips are like those of the daggerwings. Look at the ruby eyes!

One of my favorites, a big Orion Cecropian (Historis odius)

The Orion's host plant is Cecropia.

 I'm not sure of this one, but it looks like a species of Mimic-Queen

A large satyr of the deep forest, Pierella lamia

This purplewing is probably a species of Eunica (above and below)

A few skippers were about; this may be a duskywing in the genus Ebrietas

 This one I won't even guess at, though it strikes me as a moth! Help, anyone?

Let's end with a jewel! We had seen this metalmark several years ago in Brownsburg, Suriname, where Noel christened it "Tinkerbell".

The Castilia Metalmark (Caria castalia)

And to continue the invertebrate theme, here's an impressive spider gate on the road out of Yankuam!

Saga of the Orange-throated Tanager

After our boat trip, we're eager to head to the forest, even though it's already late afternoon. Maycu Reserve is only about 3 km up the road from Cabañas Yankuam. And it has a spectacular resident –– the Orange-throated Tanager. I wasn't able to photograph the tanager, but you can see it here.

Cordillera del Cóndor from Maycu Reserve (Photos by Narca)

The tanager was unknown to science until a collecting expedition from Louisiana State University found the bird in northeastern Peru in 1963. Then for nearly 30 years, it was known from only a few small localities in that corner of Peru, and over time the local Awajún, or Aguaruna, tribespeople became hostile towards outsiders, because of unethical exploitation of their land by international mining companies. Seeing this rare and stunning tanager became difficult indeed. Then in 1990, the bird was discovered in neighboring Ecuador in the Cordillera del Cóndor –– right here!

Sign designating Maycu Reserve

Maycu Reserve was established in Ecuador to protect the habitat of this very special tanager. (The reserve also protects the watershed and many other species.)

The driver for a birding group has told us exactly where to park and walk. We find a pullout at the top of the hill and walk down the road for about a mile. It is growing dark when I see the tanager briefly, and not far away, although the clouds rolling through the forest obscure the view. Even through the mist, its orange throat glows.

Viewing conditions at dusk in the forest!

We spend the next day and a half birding the thick forest along this short stretch of road, and only see the Orange-throated Tanager after we've given up, and are ready to continue to our next destination. Then a British birding group locates the bird, and calls us back for a superb scope view of this truly beautiful species. Thank you, thank you!

During these two days of scrutinizing a short stretch of quiet road, many other species wow us. Flocks include exquisite Paradise, Turquoise, Blue-necked, Green-and-gold, Yellow-bellied, Swallow-, and Masked tanagers. Ecuador's tanagers are as stunning as its hummingbirds!

A male Swallow-Tanager

A few migrant refugees from the northern winter are also here –– Canada Warblers and an Eastern Wood-Pewee.

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Vultures have found something small but apparently yummy by the roadside, giving us a great side-by-side comparison of Greater Yellow-headed and Turkey vultures.

The heads of a Turkey Vulture and its Greater Yellow-headed cousin

Greater Yellow-headed Vulture

One of the big woodpeckers, a Crimson-crested, is very distant but no less fetching.

A female Crimson-crested Woodpecker, through the fog

Flycatchers, like these below, hawk insects.

Ornate Flycatcher, fairly common

Gray-capped Flycatcher

A Squirrel Cuckoo is nibbling at a vine entwined around a tree.

A big Squirrel Cuckoo, often skulking but not today!

We must have been right above the nesting burrow of a pair of Purplish Jacamars, for a female is at eye level on a low perch when we walk down the road, and an hour later a male occupies the same perch.

A female Purplish Jacamar shows a cinnamon throat-crescent...

...while the male Purplish Jacamar sports a white necklace

Finally, after the tanager excitement, we head on for Loja, then Vilcabamba, which is our launching pad for exploring the western side of Podocarpus National Park and the flagship Jocotoco reserve, Tapichalaca –– home to another rare and fabled species.

On the drive out, lots of these orchids and a few introduced ginger plants line the road.  The ginger is introduced from Southeast Asia, but does not seem to be the scourge here that it is in Hawaii.

A flowering ginger

This lovely Cattleya orchid is common in southeastern Ecuador.

A heavy downpour has begun, and the drive out becomes rather exciting!

Flood conditions along the road

By the way, Ecuador has been pursuing a major program for improving its highways, so most of the main roads are now in very good shape, away from the construction areas.

A Boat Trip on the Río Nangaritza

We drive for several hours, navigating small villages and heading into ever more remote reaches of Ecuador, until eventually we arrive at Cabañas Yankuam, 3 km from the village of Orquídeas and very close to the Peruvian border. At long last! We have arrived in the Cordillera del Cóndor!

Cordillera del Cóndor, from Maycu Reserve (Photos by Narca)

Isolated from the eastern slope of the Andes, the Cordillera rises to about 9500 feet. We have descended into humid, lower montane habitat, with Amazonian affinities, yet the range's isolation has resulted in a biota unique in Ecuador. This cordillera (or mountain range) is another region of phenomenal biodiversity: in fact, it may have the richest flora of any area of its size in all of South America. The Cordillera del Cóndor is also one of 107 Important Bird Areas in Ecuador, and expeditions sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation have explored the range, looking for birds. At least one species is known only from here and adjacent Peru––the Orange-throated Tanager.

For a while, the location of this border was in dispute, and armed conflict between Ecuador and Peru stalled biological investigations. A peace treaty was signed in 1998, which established the border's location, and the region is now calm, although there's still a military presence. Interestingly, for the first time anywhere, conservation groups played an important role in resolving an international conflict. The treaty includes provisions for conservation of the region. The US also played a role in establishing peace, with the involvement of President Clinton, and the use of US satellite mapping.

After further thought and refinement, the Condor-Kutuku conservation corridor peace park was established in 2004. The Cordillera del Cóndor has thus become a model for establishing peace parks in unstable border regions.

Our base is Cabañas Yankuam, a simple ecolodge with very good food and a very kind staff.

Doorstep of Cabañas Yankuam, an ecolodge

After arriving, we relax, keeping an eye on the garden behind the lodge, where Glittering-throated Emeralds seem to be the resident hummingbird.

Glittering-throated Emerald

Our first day, we tag along on a boat trip down the Río Nangaritza to the Shuar village of Shaime, saving the tanager and our immersion in the forest of nearby Maycu Reserve till a bit later.

Boat trip on the Río Nangaritza, with local guide Diego

The waterway winds between sheer, forested cliffs, replete with waterfalls, and under a new bridge that amazes us all.

Bridge over the Nangaritza, adorned with a fantastical sculpture

Sculpture of a Shuar shaman riding a toucan

Our destination is the Shuar village of Shaime, where most of the folks head off on a vigorous uphill hike through deep, slippery mud to the Maze of Illusions. While the rock formations sound interesting, several of us elect to bird in the lower part of the trail instead. Warbling Antbirds, living up to their name, are a treat. The invertebrates catch our eye as well.

A glittering true bug near Shaime

Check out this Megalopyge moth caterpillar!

Flannel moth, or puss moth, caterpillars look benign, even cuddly, but beware! Their venomous spines are so potent that a species in the US is on the list of the Ten Most Dangerous Bugs (with "bugs" used loosely, since Deer Tick and Black Widow also made the list!). This 4-inch-long Ecuadorian beast is much larger than its US relative. It metamorphoses into a very hairy moth, but I haven't located a photo of the Ecuadorian adult.

After time on terra firme and lunch, we continue floating the river. Swallows are near-constant companions, especially Southern Rough-wings, Blue-and-blacks, and White-banded Swallows. I also see one which is not in the Ecuador book, but which is very familiar from boat trips I've done in Brazil: a single, graceful Black-collared Swallow, flying with a few of its White-banded cousins. Unfortunately, I'm not able to photograph it, and records committees like proof of vagrants like this one! So if you are going to the Río Nangaritza, ¡ojo! –– eyes open! You may be able to document a new bird species for Ecuador.

White-banded Swallow

Blue-and-black Swallow, very like our Tree Swallow, 

but notice the black undertail

Soon we disembark for a short walk along the bank, where a small oxbow lake has attracted a colony of Hoatzins. What fun! We weren't expecting to see this resident of the Amazon basin.

An impressive Hoatzin, seemingly impressed with us as well

Hoatzins are remarkable birds, the size of a pheasant. Their young possess two claws on each wing, which they use in clambering onto branches and out of water. Their diet is primarily leaves and fruit, and they are foregut fermenters –– unique among birds! Microbes living in their crops break down (ferment) the leaves. A similar strategy is used by ruminants like cows, while we humans are hindgut fermenters.

Just where this species fits into the overall scheme of bird taxonomy remains a mystery, and study of their DNA hasn't resolved the enigma. Right now, geneticists have set out to do a complete sequencing of the Hoatzin's DNA, a feat that has only been accomplished for nine other birds. Perhaps that will help resolve the mystery of the Hoatzin's origins and affinities.

Podocarpus National Park

I had long wanted to visit immense Podocarpus National Park, renowned as a park of megadiversity, even within a megadiverse country. It is truly a jewel of Ecuador's park system.

Cloud forest at Podocarpus National Park

(Photos by Narca)

Just how great is this diversity? Imagine a single hectare that contains 90 species of trees. Imagine a region of 3,000 to 4,000 species of plants, of which 20% are endemic. Imagine a single park with 560 species of birds and 68 species of mammals. Imagine a park with more than 1200 species of geometrid moths (the most known for any locale in the world; all of North America has something over 1400 geometrids).

A day-flying geometrid moth at Podocarpus 

(Entomologists: please correct me if the ID is wrong!)

And why such diversity? Podocarpus National Park lies at the juncture of several major ecological zones, much as we find at home in southeast Arizona. But in Ecuador those zones are the Northern Andes, the Southern Andes, the Amazon basin, and the Tumbesian Pacific region. Habitats here include the (subtropical) lower montane rainforest; cloud forest; elfin forest; and páramo.

Major international conservation groups (The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International) have aided in Podocarpus's establishment, study, and development. It's an ongoing work, as these groups join forces with Fundación Arcoiris and the Jocotoco Foundation of Ecuador to design and establish wildlife corridors that incorporate Podocarpus National Park. The flagship species for the corridor work is the Spectacled Bear, but protection of the bears' habitat will also benefit myriad other species, and safeguard the watersheds for human use.

Bombuscaro River within Podocarpus National Park

We first approach Podocarpus at its eastern entrance near Zamora, in what is called the Bombuscaro Sector, named for its major river. Copalinga Lodge serves as a wonderful base for exploring this side of the park. (Entry to the park is now free, as it is at all of Ecuador's national parks.)

After waiting out a morning of rain, our first afternoon venture along the entrance trail is a humdinger––we see so much that we don't get very far! Andean Cocks-of-the-rock are chasing each other about.

A stunning male Andean Cock-of-the-rock

Later, the same site holds Amazonian Umbrellabirds and Inca Jays! (I'm reminded that years ago, when I glimpsed the dark shape of my first umbrellabird at San Rafael Falls in Ecuador, it struck me as the weirdest woodpecker I'd ever seen!)

A female Amazonian Umbrellabird

Inca Jays are closely related to the more familiar Green Jay.

Looks like this one isn't dry yet, after the rain!

Over the course of three days, we venture into the park several times, between (and during!) rainstorms. A few beautiful tropical butterflies brighten the path, and one damselfly.

This damselfly is for you, Doug!

Turquoise Emperor (Doxocopa laurentia)

Tree ferns are a prominent presence in the park, and the region is also celebrated for its orchids.

Tree fern at Podocarpus National Park

Rain interrupted our study of the orchid nursery!

An exquisite mushroom, in the genus Phallus.

A cauliferous plant

Plants that bloom along their woody stems and trunks are termed "cauliferous". They are often pollinated and dispersed by bats, climbing mammals, and birds. (Sometimes damaged plants do the same thing, as we witnessed at Cave Creek Ranch after an intense freeze: a redbud tree there flowered the following spring from its trunk and major branches, instead of its more normal flowering at the tips of branches! Now after several years, that individual redbud is behaving more normally.)

The 3-km road between Copalinga and Podocarpus National Park also is fun to bird.

Roadside Hawk, in its preferred habitat––along a road!

Russet-backed Oropendola is the only oropendola in the area.

Subtropical Cacique

Both the big oropendola and the cacique are related to our orioles and blackbirds.

Along the Bombuscaro River right at the parking area for the park entrance, a shy Fasciated Tiger-Heron is foraging one evening, and leap-frogging from boulder to boulder. Some of its jumps, seemingly unaided by wings, are prodigious!

Fasciated Tiger-Heron

After hiking in the park, we find that the verbena and feeders back at Copalinga Lodge are always buzzing with hummingbirds. Here we enjoy Violet-headed Hummingbirds, two Wire-crested Thorntails, Little Woodstars (and one White-bellied Woodstar), Sparkling Violet-ears, and many Violet-fronted Brilliants.

Violet-headed Hummingbird at Copalinga

Our next destination is Cabañas Yankuam in the remote Cordillera del Condor. They hadn't responded to emails, and Gary Rosenberg had advised me that they are very hard to reach, even for locals. But Catherine at Copalinga kindly calls them for us, and arranges accommodations before we make the long drive in.