papagayos

A few weeks ago I got a message from my buddy Rudy Gelis. He had heard of a population of military macaws near Tena. Now military macaws (papagayo in spanish and guacamayo in quechwa) are the rarest macaws in Ecuador and here was a flock that was supposedly large and near a relatively big town, Tena. So we went to investigate. I took the bus to Quito, spent the night at Rudy's apartment and we left in the morning. We did the 4 hour drive to Tena with no drama. From there we drove another hour or so, much on a rock road. The gravel roads in this area are 'paved' with river rocks so are super rough. Then we parked and started hiking up a community trail into Quechwa territory. The hike was about 10km and went alongside a river. We got lost many times but kept the river in earshot. Eventually we found the place and found the macaws. More than 40 of them! We are keeping the coordinates kind of secret because poachers could find them and steal the eggs and chicks for the black market. Yes, there is a market for these things. An amazing adventure.

This is the Antisana volcano we passed on the drive.

Looking downstream from the site.

Near our camp. Swimming in the river was amazing and refreshing after a long sweaty hike!

I eventually spotted the first macaws. This was taken through my spotting scope at 60x! Yes, they were far away.

Rudy setting up camp. He forgot the tent poles in the truck so we rigged up the tent and hoped it wouldn't rain. Luckily it didn't!

Here are the macaws, again through the scope but at 20x. They use this cliff face for a clay lick and for roosting at night. They might use it for a nesting too, not sure about that yet.

In the morning they flew overhead, quite spectacular.

And here are a pair perched in a tree. This was as close as they got.

Found this fed-de-lance on the hike out. a little baby but still deadly!

and this is a VERY rare legless lizard. A super cool beast I had never seen before.

Another pic of the river.