A Reflections of the Natural World Blog Post Series by Jim Gain
Ecuador Birding – Where Every Feather Tells a Story
From October 26, 2025 through November 8, 2025 I joined 5 other adventurers and an outstanding photographer and birding guide (Liron Gertsman) with Eagle-Eye Tours to Ecuador. This blog series highlights the animals (mostly birds), people and locations we encountered over the 14 full days in this beautiful land.
DAY 3 – Early Morning
- My Ecuador Species Count up to and including our exploration of El Retiro jumps up to: 110 (75 lifers)
- Primary eBird Public Hotspots: Sani Lodge
The accommodations at Sani Lodge were nothing short of extraordinary—comfortable, thoughtfully designed, and seamlessly woven into the surrounding rainforest. Before dawn had even begun to lighten the sky, we gathered for an early breakfast and then pushed away from the landing platform, our canoes gliding silently across the still blackwaters of the Challuacocha Lagoon. The forest around us rose in dense, towering walls of vegetation dominated by evergreen, flood‑adapted trees like Eschweilera and Macrolobium, their roots gripping the waterlogged soil, while palms such as Astrocaryum and Mauritia arched overhead like cathedral pillars.
As we paddled toward the Mama Lucy, a larger powered river boat waiting to take us deeper into the Amazon, a LESSER KISKADEE burst into view along the water’s edge. Its bright lemon‑yellow belly glowed against the dark tangle of branches, while its crisp black‑and‑white facial mask gave it a sharp, alert expression. It flitted low over the reeds with quick, buoyant wingbeats, calling out in short, energetic notes that matched its lively presence. Not far away, the GREAT KISKADEES made their size and confidence known—larger, bolder, and louder than their smaller cousins, their voices carrying easily across the lagoon as if to remind us who truly ruled the riverside perches.
At the far end of the lagoon, we transferred from the canoes back onto the speedy Mama Lucy and began heading upstream along the broad Napo River, with several birding stops planned along the way. Our first destination was the small Sani community of El Retiro. Just as we approached the landing, movement on a sandbar caught our attention. A pair of YELLOW-HEADED CARACARAS stood alert at the water’s edge, their pale golden heads and streaked bodies giving them a sharp, inquisitive look as they scanned the shoreline for prey. Nearby, a stately COCOI HERON waited in elegant stillness, its tall, slate‑gray form and striking black crown reflected perfectly in the shallow water. It was a serene Amazonian tableau—predators and waders sharing the morning calm as we eased toward the dock.
The “community” of El Retiro turned out to be little more than a pair of modest houses tucked along a narrow footpath—the same path local children used each day to reach their school. Yet despite its simplicity, the area felt distinct from the river’s edge. Because it sat on slightly higher ground, the vegetation shifted noticeably: palms rose in scattered clusters, and the understory held a different mix of shrubs and vines than the floodplain below.
As we explored, a LINEATED WOODPECKER hammered loudly on a trunk, its bold red crest and zebra‑striped face giving it a fierce, almost prehistoric presence. Overhead, flocks of RED-BELLIED MACAWS swept past in tight formation, their green bodies and chestnut bellies flashing as they cut across the sky with sharp, purposeful wingbeats. High in the emerald hush of the canopy, a pair of ORANGE-WINGED AMAZONS flashed into view, their jade-green bodies ignited by sudden bursts of tangerine as they flew, revealing colors meant only for motion. They perched briefly together, exchanging soft, intimate calls before lifting off in perfect synchrony, their voices and wingbeats echoing through the rainforest.
After some determined searching, we finally located a GREATER ANI, its glossy blue‑black plumage and long, keel‑shaped bill making it look both elegant and slightly mischievous as it posed obligingly for us.
We climbed back aboard the Mama Lucy and continued upstream, crossing the river toward Yasuní National Park.
NEXT UP: EB#20 “Yasuni’s Colorful Chaos at the Parrot Licks“
Additional Photographs and Video
Previous Ecuador Birding Blog Posts:
- EB74 – When Color Rules the Canopy: Encounters with Rufous Motmot
A long‑awaited encounter in the dim understory finally delivered the Rufous Motmot in perfect light, letting me capture the photographs that had eluded me for years and turning a quiet morning at Tandayapa into one of the trip’s most satisfying moments This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB73 – Colors in the Canopy: Meeting the Toucan Barbet at Tandayapa
A single, resonant call drew us from the moth‑light quiet into the vivid presence of the Toucan Barbet, a cloudforest icon whose bold colors and commanding voice anchored the entire morning in unforgettable brilliance. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB72 – Drawn to the Flame: Photographing New Birds at Tandayapa’s Moth Light
At dawn beneath the moth lights at Tandayapa Lodge, we shifted from the previous night’s flash‑photography lessons into a challenging but magical low‑light session that revealed a Three‑striped Warbler and a quartet of Funariidae woodcreepers and treehunters. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB71 – Freezing Wings in Mid‑Air: An Afternoon Flash Photography Class
Our late afternoon at Tandayapa Lodge transformed into a masterclass in high‑speed flash photography, where we learned to freeze hummingbirds in mid‑air and reveal details the human eye could never catch on its own. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB70 – Behind the Scenes: My Photo Processing Process — From Download to Gallery Display
This behind‑the‑scenes look walks through my complete post‑processing workflow—from organized hard‑drive folders and Lightroom edits to eBird documentation and SmugMug gallery uploads—showing how each image travels from field capture to final presentation. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB69 – Illuminating the Iridescence: Hummingbirds of Tandayapa Lodge Through Forest Light
A late‑afternoon return to Tandayapa Lodge offered the perfect chance to capture hummingbirds in their natural light—iridescence glowing, wings blurring, and the cloud‑forest atmosphere turning every moment into a fleeting spark of color. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature.
>>Ecuador Birding Blog Home Page Link https://reflectionsofthenaturalworld.com/ecuador-birding/
*This Ecuador Birding blog post was shaped and polished with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot, helping bring clarity and a consistent flow to my field notes and dictated memories.
**Unless otherwise indicated in the image caption, all photographs (>99%) are mine.
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