I've always loved trying to photograph hummingbirds, as well as tropical birds in general, so had wanted to go to Ecuador for some time. Colombia and Peru may have the same hummers, but they don't have the lodges with the feeders to attract the birds. The downside is that the eco-lodges aren't cheap. For me, a part time programmer, the other problem was that very few have Internet. With only one month in Ecuador, I would be skipping the west coast, south and of course the Galapagos. I hadn't decided about the Amazon, a place I knew was the infinitely fascinating but difficult to photograph in.

I avoided San Jorge Lodge just outside of Quito and near the airport. It seemed too expensive, and the forest I was told was mostly non-native eucalyptus. But I am sure it is a nice stop if you don't like the city (like me) or don't mind paying $100/night. I stopped by the Botanical Gardens on the first day and saw about ten species including the Black-tailed Trainbearer, Southern Beardless Tyranulet, Black and Masked Flowerpiercer, Cinerous Conebill, Striated Heron, and a few regulars.

Although the most famous spots for birding in Ecuador are in the west, and include Mindo and Tandayapa, my first stop was to be WildSumaco Lodge in the Eastern Andean Foothills at an altitude of 1000 meters. The lodge is quite far from Quito, and rather close to El Coca, the jump-off point into the Amazon. I picked Wildsumaco because in the west I was hearing the hummingbirds were away until July/August, when the dry season started. And WildSUmaco had a June discount. I had planned to take a bus but in the last minute Jonas, a famous birding guide and owner, drove me, for a price. The good part was we stopped very briefly at Pallacta Pass, Guango Lodge, and San Isidro Lodge. Each of the three is a famous birding spot, and has it's own 'unique' hummingbirds. Each stop was one I had wanted to visit, and then wanted to revisit, but I was only in Ecuador for one month.

With two and half days at WildSumaco (and almost one lost to rain), all I could do was try to focus on getting good perched shots of all of the new hummingbirds. No time to walk the trails or try and setup the multi-flash hummingbird setups that are becoming so popular. Eighteen species were counted when I was there, of which I managed to get a reasonable shot of about fourteen.

Eleven years before I had visited Ecuador for eight days, and had spent four in the Amazon. We had taken a plane to El Coca and visited a lodge deep in the Amazon. My recollection of El Coca was that it was as poor as anything I could imagine. When I learned how close to the El Coca and Wildsumaco were, I decided to revisit. The oil money from the Amazon had completely changed El Coca, which was now a paved, vibrant city with modern hotels and high speed Internet. I walked to Oasis, the launching point for boats going down the Napo River, and got a good cash price from Yarina lodge, the closest to Coca. I was happy with my stay at Yarina lodge, and the owners or managers couldn't have been more friendly and helpful. The only thing missing was a canopy tower, but with just a few days to visit, a tower probably would not have been the best time investment. And Yarina unlike other lodges has boats going back and forth every day. I spent all my time on a canoe trying to get shots of birds like the Hoatzin and Black-capped Donacobius.

Next stop was San Isidro lodge, two buses away from Coca. San Isidro is probably half way up the east slope and has it's unique set of birds for that altitude. The most famous bird at San Isidro is the San Isidro owl. A few years ago an owl showed up which looked like a cross between the Black-and-white Owl from the west slope and the Black-banded Owl from the Amazon basin, but with some new characteristics. Amazingly, both a male and female appeared, and they had offspring. One has been DNA tested, but as yet no one knows the origin of these "Adam and Eve" owls. The owls stay near the lodge to eat the insects attracted to the lights, as do the Black-and-white Owls I saw later at Mindo.

I found someone with a ride back to Quito, and decided to skip a night the popular Guango Lodge. We did stop briefly, and I began to regret my decision with a mixed flock of interesting birds passed through. But with the rain I was only able to pick up reasonable shots of the Turquoise Jay.

On to the east, and the famous Mindo area. Only Sachatamia Lodge claimed to have Wifi, and they were among the least expensive, and the bus to Mindo could drop me off at the door, so the decision was easy. June and July are supposed to be the slowest in the area for hummingbirds apparently because of rainfall levels and some in-country migration. And this year the dry season still hadn't started by mid July, much to the frustration of local coffee growers. But I found sixteen species of hummers at Sachatamia, and only one visited infrequently. The Velvet-purple Coronet, perhaps the most iridescent hummingbird, was a dominant species at the feeders. Although I spent four days at Sachatamia, the afternoon rains never gave me the light I wanted to get the best possible hummingbird flight shots.

Although the town of Los Bancos and the Milpe Reserve are only fifteen minutes away from Mindo, there must be a line that only the birds can see that separates the lowland birds from the mountain birds. Of the sixteen species of hummers seen in Mindo, only five were present at Milpe, along with three new species. The Montaine Woodcreeper was replaced by the Spotted Woodcreeper. After a little research I learned there was a surprising 500 meter drop between the two locations. Milpe Reserve, run by the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation, is a start at preserving and reforesting an area hit hard by deforestation. And from what I saw and heard, they are succeeding; a four hectare piece of land across the street had just been bought, and more purchases were being planned. I spend quite a few days at Milpe and managed to get good shots of some difficult to photograph species including the Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner, Spotted Woodcreeper, Immaculate Antbird, Black-winged Saltator, and Ornate Flycatcher, as well as the local hummingbirds. But the high profile birds like the Choco Trogon, Choco Toucan, Choco Screech Owl, and others eluded me.