Explorations of an Ecologist: Day Four At Río Bigal

November 5, 2023

Sunday began overcast, but unlike the previous day there did not seem to be the same threat of rain looming over everything. Therefore, yesterday's plan shifted to today. Natalia made me a packed lunch and I prepared for a day on my own on the long PNS trail. I was excited to explore a new part of the reserve, and by bringing a packed lunch it gave me the freedom to spend all day out in the forest.

Creek along the PNS trail - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

The PNS trail began with a moderately steep decline, eventually following one of the creeks for a ways. Bird song was relatively sparse but a nearby Gray-tailed Piha was singing sporadically. After several days of trying, I finally succeeded in recording its voice.

Pinwheel mushroom (Marasmius sp.) - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

As I sloshed along the muddy path, I stopped periodically to listen for, and play tapes of, the Red-winged Wood-Rail. This is surely one of the most difficult wood-rails as they are only found in pristine hill forest in the Amazon basin. But there are valid records from Río Bigal, and this slow-moving creek and riparian corridor seemed to provide the perfect habitat. I was not successful, though I would speculatively try playback a few more times throughout the course of the day.

Sore-mouth Bush (Palicourea tomentosa) - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

Despite the slow birding, there were still many things to look at. Even on a cool, overcast morning, various butterflies flit in the dark undergrowth, sticking to the shadows. Quite a few species seem to prefer these conditions, bucking the trend of what is typically expected of butterflies.

Amber Phantom (Haetera piera) - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

Pierella lena - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

On occasion, colourful mushrooms added a splash of colour to the undergrowth.

Tricholomopsis aurea - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

The forest was strangely silent and it was nearly 9 AM when I finally hit 30 species for the morning. Finally, a small mixed flock passed near my position. It contained several Amazonian Umbrellabirds peering at me suspiciously through a gap in the foliage, a Wing-barred Piprites and a nice selection of tanagers.

Colpolopha latipennis - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

The next creek crossing was even birdier. My ears picked up a familiar bird song, that of the South American Leaftosser which I had heard for the first time the previous morning. A snippet of playback sent an angry leaftosser hurtling in my direction. It spent the next five minutes skulking around and singing back at me, attempting to locate the vociferous intruder in its habitat.

South American Leaftosser - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

The use of playback is one of those hot topic issues that has caused more than a few rifts in the birding community. I am sure that there are some who are horrified that I would think to use playback in the example above. And I certainly agree that in certain situations it should be avoided, either because the target bird is an extremely sensitive, endangered species, or because the location is visited frequently by birders and repeated use of playback may be detrimental to the bird in question. I commonly see playback overused, either with a zealous photographer back home in Canada blasting tape at a woodpecker's nesting hole, or a guide meaning well in Latin America, by using playback constantly when trying to find target species for their clients.

I rarely use it back home in Canada, especially if I am birding a popular area. But I see no problem with a judicial use of playback in an area that sees very little birder impact, and I will use it regularly (but sparingly) when I am traveling in the tropics. The above leaftosser probably had never heard playback before in its life, and it likely never will ever again. Yes, it may have been stressed for a few minutes, but no more so than if it had heard a rival bird in its territory. Once I left, it likely went back to its regular scheduled programming within a matter of minutes. The overall impact to the bird is likely negligible in that scenario.

Cavendishia tarapotana - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

The day slowly warmed and the sun even came out for a bit. Little by little my eBird checklist grew. A pair of Musician Wrens sang their incredible song from a trailside thicket, some buzzing in the mid-levels revealed a couple of Gould's Jewelfronts, and a flash of wings up ahead turned into a perched White Hawk. An amazing bird and one that I don't get to see perched very often.

White Hawk - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

It was a perfect day - just me and the trail without any distractions from other people or the outside world.

Collared Trogon - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

Leptoscelis saepifera - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

The sun briefly appeared in the early afternoon and, predictably, the butterfly activity surged.

Unidentified butterfly - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

Mechanitis messenoides - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

With the appearance of the sun, the birds became more active than I had seen all day. My very first Duida Woodcreeper was traveling in a mixed flock, while the same flock also contained my first views of a Gray-tailed Piha. It was nice to finally put a face to the name (and voice)!

Gray-tailed Piha - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

The next flock was even better. It began with a great look at a LaFresnaye's Piculet, followed shortly by several spinetails and woodcreepers moving through the midlevels. Chipping from the canopy revealed a few Green-and-gold and Bay-headed Tanagers, along with some dacnises and other unidentified species. In reality, many of the birds go unidentified in a mixed flock since it is just impossible to see everything. Luckily, this was a slow-moving flock which gave me numerous chances at each individual.

Eastern Woodhaunter - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

I've read before that shrike-tanagers often lead the mixed species flocks. I don't know if that is necessarily true all the time, but once I found the Fulvous Shrike-Tanagers in this flock, I made sure to follow them in case the other species were thinking the same thing.

Male Fulvous Shrike-Tanager - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

Female Fulvous Shrike-Tanager - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

This ploy seemed to work as the action continued unabated. My tactic of using occasional playback of the species I still "needed" worked like a charm, as the White-throated Woodpecker call caused one to immediately respond. I heard it a few times but never saw it. At least I managed a few recordings.

Pitcairnia arcuata - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

This male Cerulean Warbler caused a jolt of excitement. Growing up in southern Ontario where the Cerulean Warbler is a rapidly declining and endangered species, any encounter with a Cerulean is something to cherish. Even here, where Ceruleans are regularly found wintering, it is a special occasion to me. I never managed good photos of it, instead prioritizing taking it all in through my binoculars.

Cerulean Warbler - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

Undoubtedly the strangest species found with the mixed flock was a Foothill Screech-Owl that was singing regularly the entire time. I had tried for this localized species each of the previous three evenings without success, so to find one singing in the early afternoon was a huge surprise. Unfortunately, I was unable to visually track it down.

Hyposcada illinisa - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

The sun slunk back behind the clouds, which had seemed to grow denser and darker as the afternoon wore on. The last hour of my walk was a lot quieter but I still picked up a few things here and there. At one stream crossing a Pale-tailed Barbthroat flew out of the shrubbery and hovered a few inches from my face, giving me the once-over. It repeated this a few more times. A little while later, a mixed flock of toucans, jays and oropendolas ravaged the fruits of a cecropia stand. Mixed in with the lot was a Yellow-throated Toucan, a somewhat scarce species in this area.

Antirrhea philoctetes - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

Despite the slow morning I had made the most of the day, and I was satisfied with how it had progressed. Even better, the ominous clouds gave way to a late afternoon rain moments after I had returned to the field station. The timing couldn't have been more fortuitous.

After dinner, Jeiber and Natalia joined me at the moth sheet. They seemed genuinely impressed with the diversity and took out their phones to document the more interesting species. Jeiber took this photo of Natalia and I.

Moth mania - Reserva Biológica del Río Bigal, Orellana, Ecuador

I will finish off this post, once again, with a curated selection of some of my favourite moths and other insects from the evening. Luckily, the rain was short-lived which allowed me to have a pretty successful evening.