We enjoyed a leisurely morning, taking full advantage of the delicious breakfast prepared by our AirBnB hosts Nikki and Jorge. We highly recommend Casa Elysium in Ancón - comfortable rooms, a great property, friendly hosts and an excellent breakfast! Originally our plan had been to return to the scrub around Atahualpa. However, given the "situation" from the previous afternoon, and the fact that we had cleaned up on all of our target species there, we changed course.
We decided that a little bit of sea-watching was in order and drove up the coast to the end of a peninsula that jutted out into the Pacific. Named "La Chocolatera", the areas around the naval base have been opened to the public. The sea-watching here is some of the best in Ecuador and we were ready to give it a shot - even though we did not have our spotting scopes with us.
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| Franklin's Gull - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
To no great surprise another birder was already in place, tucked up against the lighthouse for shelter from the breeze. We enjoyed his company and over the course of several hours watched the Franklin's Gull migration go past. Some of the highlights during our vigil included a Pomarine Jaeger, several Arctic Terns and Pink-footed Shearwaters, and even a couple of Humpback Whales. There were also a few shorebirds on the rocks to keep us entertained including some Wandering Tattlers, a Whimbrel and a Semipalmated Plover.
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| Franklin's Gull - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
Numerous lizards scampered underfoot whenever we walked along the rocky paths. The vast majority were Pacific Knobbed Iguanas (
Microlophus occipitalis) but there was one Peru Pacific Iguana (
M. peruvianus) as well.
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| Pacific Knobbed Iguana (Microlophus occipitalis) - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Pacific Knobbed Iguana (Microlophus occipitalis) - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Pacific Knobbed Iguana (Microlophus occipitalis) - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Peru Pacific Iguana (Microlophus peruvianus) - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
A Variable Hawk was keeping a close eye on the proceedings. It was quite tolerable of our approach, allowing me to crack off some photos that I was very happy with.
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| Variable Hawk - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Variable Hawk - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Variable Hawk - La Chocolatera, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
We made one more stop before continuing up the coast. "La Lobería" is a rocky point favoured by South American Sea Lions only five minutes from the sea-watching spot. We spent half an hour with them, soaking in the sights (and the smells).
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| South American Sea Lions - La Lobería, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| South American Sea Lions - La Lobería, Salinas, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
The other main item on our agenda was to visit a set of man-made salt ponds further up the coast at Pacoa. Along the way we found a nice seaside restaurant in San Pablo. But before we could even order our food, David and I got just a little distracted by the nice flock of gulls and terns loafing at the water's edge! The Gray-hooded Gulls were the main attraction (in my opinion), as it is a species I had never had the chance to study before.
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| Gray-hooded Gull - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Gray-hooded Gull - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Gray-hooded and Franklin's Gulls - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Gray-hooded Gulls - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
Some nice comparisons were provided between the Royal and Elegant Terns.
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| Royal and Elegant Terns - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Elegant Terns - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
Wait, this is not a Larid! It is not everyday I get a chance to photograph a Rock Pigeon with a "natural" background.
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| Rock Pigeon - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Common Terns and Gray-hooded Gull - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Sandwich Terns - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Franklin's and Gray-hooded Gulls - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Kelp Gull - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Laughing Gull - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Gray-hooded and Franklin's Gulls - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
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| Magnificent Frigatebirds - San Pablo, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
With that welcome Larid diversion we were a little bit late finishing up lunch. But soon we were driving to our next location - the Pacoa salt ponds.
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| Roseate Spoonbill - Pacoa salt ponds, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
We birded for a couple of hours during the heat of the afternoon. While we struck out with Peruvian Thick-knees, many other birds filled our binocular views. We tallied sixteen species of shorebirds, a big flock of Chilean Flamingos, three Peruvian Meadowlarks and three Burrowing Owls. A pretty good haul.
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| Peruvian Meadowlarks - Pacoa salt ponds, Santa Elena, Ecuador |
And with that, we were off to Ayampe. The landscape slowly changed from arid to humid and before long we were surrounded by lush vegetation. Many new species of birds (and moths, and snakes!) awaited - that will be the subject of the next two posts.
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