3-Day Bird Photography Tour in Eastern Ecuador with Antisana

• Departure at 5:45 am. We will visit the open grasslands surrounding the enormous Antisana Volcano. This is often voted the favourite site of the tour by many, thanks to the wonderful surroundings where we will be shooting. The towering peak of Antisana Volcano itself is impressive, with a large snow-covered top and dramatic rocky sides. The páramo (grassland) is interspersed with rocky outcrops and scenic high Andean lakes dotted with high-altitude waterfowl. Indeed, the scenery itself may be our biggest photo asset. Aside from these breathtaking Andean scenes, the upper páramo is carpeted with Carunculated Caracaras, a striking pied raptor that occurs here in impressive numbers. Black-faced Ibis patrol these high plains, as do Andean Lapwings and large flocks of Andean Gulls. Antisana Volcano is also home to the impressive Andean Condor.
• After Antisana, we will have lunch at Tambo Condor, where some high-altitude hummingbirds will join us. From the páramo, we will drive to Quijos Valley and stay at San Isidro Andean Reserve and Lodge, home of some of the finest cuisine in the country and the famous Mystery Owl. After dinner, we will try to get some good shots of this unique bird.

Meals included: lunch and dinner.

• After an early breakfast, we will drive to Paikawe Lagoon, a pristine small lake privately owned together with 13 hectares of primary Amazonian forest in Napo Province. The Aguinda family has recently received recognition for their conservation efforts from the local authorities, who have provided the site with an official sign and labelled it as Misahualli Wildlife Center.
• Hoatzins, colourful tanagers, kingfishers, and monkeys will be captured by our lenses during a one-hour canoe trip.
• After this pure Amazon adventure, we will continue to Cabañas Cascada Rio Hollín, whose garden attracts hummingbirds including Many-spotted Hummingbird, Golden-tailed Sapphire, White-tailed Hillstar, Black-throated Brilliant, Gould's Jewelfront, Wire-crested Thorntail, and others. Lunch will be served at this location.
• Then, we will return to San Isidro Lodge to enjoy our dinner and spend our last night.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• We begin our journey at 6 am at the bug traps, photographing tanagers, caciques, jays, hummingbirds, and flycatchers.
• At 7:30 am, we will visit a White-bellied Antpitta feeder station. Have a delicious breakfast, and then drive to La Brisa to add more hummingbirds to our gallery until about noon.
• Drive to Guango Lodge, which has a varied set of feeders that attract dozens of hummingbirds, including such extravagant species as the "cartoonesque" Sword-billed Hummingbird, the dapper black-and-white Collared Inca, aggressive Chestnut-breasted Coronet, tiny White-bellied Woodstar, and sublime Tourmaline Sunangel. The hummer feeders are also a target for other local birds, most notably the indigo-blue Masked Flowerpiercer, which will make a tempting subject for our cameras. The temperate forest that overhangs this comfortable Andean lodge also attracts passing flocks of birds, some of which can be remarkably confiding and photogenic, including the cerulean-blue Turquoise Jay. We will enjoy lunch here at Guango.
• Drive to Quito, where we will arrive at about 5 pm.

Meals included: breakfast and lunch.