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 – Afternoon
- My Ecuador Species Count up to and including the Sani Isla Community jumps up to: 125 (85 lifers)
- Primary eBird Public Hotspots: Random Spots
On our cruise back from the Sani Isla community, we made several stops along the river, picking up a handful of new species as the afternoon light softened over the Napo. At scattered sandbars and pale river beaches, we found more PIED PLOVERS, their clean white underparts and soft gray backs giving them a delicate, almost porcelain look as they darted along the shoreline. Nearby, COLLARED PLOVERS patrolled the sand with their crisp black breastbands and warm cinnamon tones, moving with quick, purposeful steps. A lone SPOTTED SANDPIPER bobbed its tail in the shallows, its speckled flanks and teetering gait unmistakable even from a distance.
The herons added their own elegance to the scene. A towering GREAT EGRET stood in luminous white, its long neck curved like a question of light against the riverbank. A CAPPED HERON glowed with creamy plumage and a powder‑blue face, looking almost ethereal as it hunted quietly along the water’s edge. And a STRIATED HERON, smaller and more compact, perched low over the water, its slate‑green feathers blending beautifully with the tangled roots and shadows.
After transferring back into the canoes, we slipped once more into the blackwater channels, the forest closing in around us like a living cathedral. WHITE-WINGED SWALLOWS skimmed low over the surface, their dark bodies flashing bright white patches each time their wings caught the fading light. A CREAM-COLORED WOODPECKER appeared briefly on a mossy trunk, its pale buff plumage and bold black markings giving it a striking, almost sculptural presence against the deep greens of the forest.
As we continued silently, the forest canopy above us suddenly came alive with movement. A lively troupe of ECUADORIAN SQUIRREL MONKEYS scampered through the branches, their small, expressive faces and quick, darting leaps giving them an almost playful curiosity as they peered down at us. Mixed among them were BROWN-HEADED CAPUCHINS, far bolder and more acrobatic, swinging effortlessly from vine to vine and pausing only long enough to inspect fruits or investigate one another’s antics. Their combined energy turned the treetops into a bustling aerial stage.
From deeper in the forest came the deep, resonant roars of Red Howler Monkeys, their voices rolling across the canopy like distant thunder. Though they remained hidden from view, their calls added a wild, primeval soundtrack to our slow glide through the shaded waterway.
NEXT UP: EB#24 “Drenched but Undeterred: Exploring Sani Lodge After the Rain“
Additional Photographs and Video
Previous Ecuador Birding blog posts will be linked below.
- EB52 – High Hopes in High Places: A Visit to the Andes Páramo
The climb from Guango Lodge into the fog‑shrouded páramo unfolded as a dramatic journey through wind, altitude, and high‑Andean specialists—culminating in rare encounters, fleeting moments of luck, and a gradual descent back into the familiar embrace of the cloudforest. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador in October 2025 - EB51 – Back to the Feeders: New Colors in the Gardens of Guango Lodge
The lower gardens at Guango Lodge offered a gentle, intimate finale to the morning, where warblers, tanagers, thrushes, and a trio of hummingbirds created a quiet tapestry of color and motion. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador. - EB50 – Called From the Mist: Gray‑breasted Mountain‑Toucan at Guango
A steep climb above Guango Lodge led to an unforgettable encounter with Gray‑breasted Mountain‑Toucans and Pale‑naped Brushfinches. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador. - EB49 – Turquoise Jay: The Andean Jewel of Ecuador
At Guango Lodge, the Turquoise Jay’s explosive burst of color and the challenge of photographing its shifting blues transformed a rich morning of cloudforest birding into a defining moment that propelled us up the trail in search of the next Andean treasure. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador. - EB48 – Moth Lights and Mountain Birds: A New Chapter Begins at Guango Lodge
Arriving at Guango Lodge felt like entering a cooler, quieter Andean world where dawn birds and the forest’s layered rhythms created a timeless, living welcome woven from mist, movement, and the murmur of the Río Papallacta. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador. - EB47 – Ascending Into Mist and Mountain Air at Río Quijos EcoLodge
Climbing from El Quetzal toward Río Quijos, the day unfolded as a seamless blend of roadside surprises, river‑edge targets, and cloudforest color, each stop adding new species and renewed momentum as the journey pressed on toward Guango Lodge. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador.
>>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.
Reflections of the Natural World 
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