Harpy Eagles and antpittas in Ecuador
Looking for a South American birding trip for the upcoming winter, a quick scan of the Internet in late October 2006 revealed that a pair of Harpy Eagles was known to be nesting near Gareno Lodge, Ecuador, while various species of antpitta were apparently showing uncharacteristically well at Paz de Aves, also in Ecuador. We quickly contacted Jane Lyons of Mindo Birding and organised an Ecuador trip, beginning at Gareno and ending at Paz de Aves.

We flew out to Ecuador on Monday 13th November 2006 (luckily seeing the Devon Long-billed Murrelet the day before!). Jane had arranged for a car to pick us up from Quito and take us on the seven-hour journey to Gareno Lodge, about 50 miles East of Tena.

We arrived in the late afternoon and enjoyed a good meal before turning in early. But we wasted no time. Breakfast next morning was at 5.00am, when it was still dark and, at dawn, a lodge guide led the hike to the Harpy Eagle’s nest. Our first stop was at a roosting Rufous Potoo, and then it was an arduous twohour trek, splashing through streams, scaling slippery slopes and sliding down the other side, and through dense thickets all the way. We were encumbered by binoculars, telescopes, tripods and camera gear, so we were shattered and soaked from head to foot by the time we reached the target area. Once finally there, we were only to find that the bird had flown! The Harpy ‘chick' was now a fully grown juvenile and was exploring his world. There followed a nervous 45 minutes whilst the our guide, Rodolpho, searched for the bird. Fortunately, it had flown only about 100 yards and we were soon macheteing our way to where we could view its perch and enjoying wonderful views of this, the world’s most charismatic and powerful raptor. We actually saw it fly back to its nest, but we saw no sign of the adults. All too soon, it was time to return to the lodge, but we did encounter Pavonine Quetzal and the superb Gould’s Jewelfront on the way back.

There was no electricity at the lodge so, after peeling off our saturated clothes, we were delighted to find that the showers were hot. We lay in our hammocks, watching the sun set, reliving a memorable day, when a Cream-coloured Woodpecker landed in the bush next to us. Does life get any better? We stayed at Gareno for four nights, enjoying excellent hospitality and seeing plenty of other good birds, including Fiery Topaz, Spangled and Plum-throated Cotingas and eight species of antbirds (including White-plumed and Bi-coloured) at an ant-swarm. We were then picked up and taken back to Quito.