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Ecuador 2025

Heading Into The Clouds - Tropical Montane Forest

Above the entrancing Tandayapa Valley, thousands of acres of cloud forest harbor a dizzying array of birds, orchids, trees, and mammals. We were fortunate to spend a few days exploring the hilly forest of the El Pahuma Orchid Reserve and the Bellavista Birding Lodge.

Every morning, these attractive little creatures -- Russet-crowned Warblers -- singe a charming, jaunty, musical song

Masked Trogons are some of the forest's most eye-catching residents

Here a Masked Trogon male defies his bird-book description as a frugivore, and instead chomps on a delicious moth

A rare sighting, this White-faced Nunbird perched next to a pair of bromeliads

Among the more attractive woodpeckers you'll ever see, a male Crimson-mantled Woodpecker took a break from foraging amidst the moss to pose elegantly for his portrait

The cloud forest is particularly famed for its tanagers, which travel in brightly-colored, mixed-species flocks; more often than not, those flocks are led by Blue-winged Mountain-Tanagers

A very fittingly-named Flame-faced Tanager

Stunning and swift Pearled Treerunners normally clamber on limbs and trunks in search of insect prey, but this one took a few moments to explore the ground

Squirrel Cuckoos get their name from a habit of scampering through the branches like a squirrel, and because they sport impressively long tails

Turquoise Jays travel through the cloud forest in loud packs of three or six, like masked bandits hunting anything they can lay their bills on

Montane Woodcreepers are attractively patterned with speckles that camouflage them nicely in the dim, mossy forest

Near a fruit feeder that Bellavista maintains for birds, a surprising visitor: a male Tayra (tropical member of the weasel family) strolled out of the underbrush to see what the birds might have dropped

I mostly took photos of animals this year, but was entranced by these Turk's Cap flowers (Callianthe picta, aka Albutilon picta); it's not native to Ecuador, but regularly planted as an attractive ornamental, and despite being a stranger in these parts it attracts a lot of hummingbirds

After departing the cloud forest, we headed down the western slope of the Andes until we reached the Pacific Ocean, where the tropical dry forest (aka seasonal rainforest) would be our home for the next few days.

Lalo Loor Reserve - Tropical Dry Forest

These coastal forests are extremely important, as they capture water from the air and help keep local streams running. For years, the Ceiba Foundation has been working with local communities, governments, and landowners to protect this highly threatened ecosystem. Here, on the Ernesto Campos Farm, the Camarones River continued to flow all year long, thanks to forest conservation efforts upstream.

In the Lalo Loor Reserve, ground creatures are starting to emerge after the long dry season, including this Iridescent Whorltail Iguana (Stenocercus iridescens)

While walking alone I stumbled on to a swarm of army ants (Eciton burchellii) hunting across the forest floor, and while following the raid I spotted an old friend! During my dissertation research in Costa Rica, I spent a lot of time observing birds hunting with ant swarms -- to assess whether small forest fragments can be good homes for both (they can!) -- and one of the most common regulars were Bicolored Antbirds. So it was a joy to see one here in Ecuador, again following the ants.

Another ant follower, fairly rare in this forest, and not present in Costa Rica, is the extravagantly marked Black-striped Woodcreeper

The most famous and fun residents in the Lalo Loor Reserve, however, are the Mantled Howler Monkeys (now considered a threatened subspecies, Aequatorialis). In the stream valley of the reserve, trees have already flushed delicious leaves, which this female clambers about in search of a meal

On the other side of the stream, in a Brosimum tree (close relative of a fig), this enterprising male uses his prehensile tail to dangle down to a particularly tasty cluster of leaves

Having expertly snagged a mouthful, he proceeded to consume his lunch, all while still suspended upside-down!

We visited a butterfly garden that my friend Geomaira has started as a tourism project, and spent a few wonderful moments with amazing creatures like this Ithomiine butterfly

To keep the plants happy and the air humid, the garden is treated to regular showers from an overhead sprinkler system. Here a Red Rim Butterfly (Biblis sp.) still sports a few glittering drops of water.

Before departing, we visited the Campos farm where my friend Bas enjoyed some pulp from a cacao pod (the seeds of which are the source of chocolate)

Andean Páramo - Tropical Alpine above Treeline

To start the year in Ecuador, I ventured with my students up into the high Andes for a couple day trips. There we were treated to a gorgeous, and rare, clear evening view of the glaciers on Antisana volcano.

We were very lucky to see two Spectacled Bears, albeit at great distance, a super lucky sighting! One was even sporting a radio tracking collar

While the other was strolling, seemingly uninterested in Bear Number One, just a few hundred yards away

and occasionally shaking its head as it chewed on delicious bromeliad plants (the ones that look like pineapple tops)

A little higher up, we entered Cayambe-Coca Ecological reserve, and spied this Variable Hawk perched on a cushion plant

This reserve provides a lot of water to Quito, as small mountain ponds drain into big rivers leading to the city

The plant life is spectacular, with lumpy, green cushion plants here and there pierced by fireworks of color, like these Gentian flowers (Gentiana sedifolia)

The next day, a bit further south in the Antisana Ecological Reserve, it was a fabulous day of bird watching. In the high, Andean plains, scavengers like the boldly-marked Carunculated Caracara, stroll over the spongy in search of a meal.

When photographed, they sometimes fix the observer with a defiant and baleful stare.

If pushed, Caracaras will take flight, and wing across the páramo away from the paparazzi.

At this elevation, obscure plants thrive, hugging the ground to stay warm and protected from mountain winds. Here, a small cluster of Lycopodium overlook the high mountains.

Flowers abound in the paramo, sometimes tiny whorls of color like this Gentian (probably Gentianella hirculus)

And sometimes a sunny-looking daisy relative (Hypochaeris sp.), which today provided a temporary resting place for a bumblebee weary from flying in thin air over the high plains.

Before we bid farewell to the mountains, a farewell from the gloriously decorated Sparkling Violetear hummingbird.

next: Ecuador 2024

© 2025 Joe Meisel