July 31-August 9, 2024 with Willy Perez & local guide
This summer tour to Sacha lodge was simply wonderful, and after meeting the group at the charming and very birdy San Jose de Puembo Hotel the first day in the afternoon for a briefing, we were very prepared to start our adventure the next day. We took the half-hour flight to Coca in the morning from Quito with stunning views of Cotopaxi and Cayambe volcano. We took different sources of transport (bus, canoe, etc) to get to Sacha Lodge in the Amazon basin for lunch. Fausto, the manager, gave us a nice introduction to the rainforest, we had an amazing lunch and after seeing our rooms, we geared up for our first birding outing.
We stayed at Sacha the whole week, so every day we had something different. I teamed up with our local guides (Oscar Tapuy and Donaldo) and they did a great job taking us around and unfolding some of the secrets of this magic place.
The canoe rides were perfect to explore the Pilchecocha lagoon and some of the creeks, where we found birds like Agami, Boat-billed and Black-crowned Night Herons. The Igapo forest (flooded by black water) had some unique species that we managed to see very well; Orange-crowned Manakin was one of the very special ones.
The walks that we did through the primary forest were excellent to see some of the secretive animals, such as Spix's Night Monkeys at their roosts and the smallest primate in the world, the Pygmy Marmosets were very impressive. Birds also were very active and several showed up nicely. Broad-billed Motmot, Crested Owl, Plain-throated Antwren, Plain Xenops and even Wire-tailed Manakin were around.
The visits that we did to the Parrot clay licks were incredible. The one along the Napo River had Mealy, Yellow-crowned, and Blue-headed Parrot and hundreds of Dusky-headed Parakeets. In the Yasuni National Park, we saw Scarlet Macaws and hundreds of Cobalt-winged Parakeets. Visiting the Sani community was also productive because three species of Macaws were eating wood from a dead tree.
Our visit to the river island in the very early morning was very active before the sun came out, and I am glad that we got there early. I have to say that the experience was really pleasant and birds behaved nicely. Black-and-White Antbird was seen well, followed by Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant, White-bellied Spinetail, Castelnau’s Antshrike and the elusive Gray-breasted Crake were spotted.
A couple of mornings, we came face to face with a lot of birds when we went to the canopy towers. Here, being at the same level as the canopy, we enjoyed the colors of some of the birds that are impossible to see from the ground. It was like children in a candy store, with Dacnis, Honeycreepers, Cotingas, Vultures, Toucans, Woodpeckers, Kites, Hawks, Vultures, Parrots, Woodcreepers, Potoos, etc, etc, etc! People enjoyed different birds, and here are some that were favorites: Lemon-throated Barbet, Cream-colored Woodpecker, Golden-collared Toucanet, Green-and-gold and Paradise tanagers, but the best one for me was a Gould’s Jewelfront male that showed so nicely at the Kapok tower.
The rainforest also has a lot of other animals and we did great with mammals. Several occasions during lunch time we had Giant Otters that came to feed in the lagoon, Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth and six species of monkeys.
The week went quickly but I have to say that it was a wonderful trip, full of amazing birds in a very comfortable lodge with delicious food and great hosts. I hope that all of you enjoyed the trip, and thank you for joining me to explore the Amazon Rainforest.
Other animals seen on the trip.
Mammals:
White-bellied Slender Opossum
Long-nosed Bat
White-lined Sac-winged Bat
Pygmy Marmoset
Black-mantle Tamarin
Common Squirrel Monkey
Spix's Night Monkey
Red Howler Monkey
White-fronted Capuchin
Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth
Black Agouti
Giant Otter
Reptiles:
Caiman Lizard
Yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtle
Spectacled Caiman
Common House Gecko
Whiptail Lizard
The very noisy Smoky Jungle Frog
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/279509
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/sac24bTRIPLIST.pdf
Hasta pronto, Willy