Galápagos and mainland Ecuador

It has been a busy autumn of travel for me, and I have just returned from another trip to warmer climes. In early November I led a tour for Quest Nature Tours to the Galápagos Islands off the west coast of Ecuador, a destination that I have wanted to visit for as long as I could remember. Maybe it was due to nature documentaries and books featuring Giant Tortoises and Marine Iguanas when I was a herp-obsessed youth. In recent years I have taken an interest in evolution and island biogeography, so to visit one of the best places in the world to explore these concepts was a dream come true. The trip was exceptional by all accounts and I am eagerly looking forward to going through my thousands of photos. Here are a few early edits so far.

Galápagos Land Iguana - Isla Baltra, Galápagos

Galápagos Sea Lion - Isla Santa Fe, Galápagos

Sally Lightfoot Crab - Isla Santa Cruz, Galápagos

Marine Iguana - Isla Santa Cruz, Galápagos

Common Cactus Finch - Isla Santa Cruz, Galápagos

Galápagos Pintails and Western Santa Cruz Giant Tortoise - Isla Santa Cruz, Galápagos

Lava Heron - Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos

Santa Fe Prickly Pear - Isla Santa Fe, Galápagos

Waved Albatross - Isla Española, Galápagos

Santa Fe Lava Lizard - Isla Santa Fe, Galápagos

Following the conclusion of our time in Galápagos, I rented a car in Quito and spent five days on my own exploring the western slope of the Andes to the northwest of the city. I have explored the Chocó biogeographical region before in both the Darién of eastern Panama, as well as in parts of western Colombia, which limited the number of potential new species that I would see. However, the Chocó is an amazingly biodiverse part of the world and I thoroughly enjoyed my time here; whether it was by searching out the remaining Chocó endemic birds I "needed", mothing in the evenings, or exploring the forest at night.

Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan - near Bellavista Lodge, Pichincha Province, Ecuador

Equatorial Anole - Tandaya Bird Lodge, Pichincha Province, Ecuador

Tiger Moth sp. - Tandaya Bird Lodge, Pichincha Province, Ecuador

Easily the biggest highlight for me was finding a Banded Ground-Cuckoo with a big ant swarm at Reserva Amagusa, located in the Mashpi area. This scarce Chocó endemic is very secretive and extremely difficult to find, and it was a first record for Reserva Amagusa. After initially spotting the bird, it took a further hour of observation before I was able to obtain record shots (otherwise no one would have believed me!).

Banded Ground-Cuckoo - Reserva Amagusa, Pichincha Province, Ecuador

As usual, I will be making a series of posts documenting these travels at some point in the future. Hopefully sooner rather than later!