Category Archives: North Branch Nature Center

Local Rambles

I’ve set up a round-trip bird walk, about 3.2 miles long, that goes up the trail along the North Branch of the Winooski, hooking up with the paths around the North Branch Nature Center. It’s a good way to get a little exercise and see a variety of birds and critters.Two days ago, I saw my first Belted Kingfisher of the year.

Two days ago, I saw my first Belted Kingfisher of the year.

Then, at NBNC, American Tree Swallows with checking out this bluebird nesting box.

Yesterday, I took a little detour up into the woods and saw these guys:

This Hermit Thrush was singing away – such a wonderful spring sound.

Several Brown Creepers were singing and feeding.

Returning home, I met an acquaintance who asked about my birding and told me that a Yellowlegs had been foraging all morning out behind the house. Sure enough – a new yard bird.

I’m calling this a Greater Yellowlegs but could be convinced otherwise. It left just at dusk.

 

Looking For Love

Vermont, while well into Spring calendar-wise, is still gloves and boots season for birding. On a recent four-mile walk in light drizzle, not only were there some new arrivals (Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-bellied, Sapsucker, Broad-winged Hawk) but many seemed to be pairing up.

This female Cardinal was listening to the nearby male sing.

I saw six pairs of Northern Cardinals.

Mallards and Eastern Phoebes were pair up as were these two Canada Geese.

Further up into the woods of Hubbard Park, I heard, and then saw, this Winter Wren. His unmistakeable song rang through the conifers and hopefully, brought a little love into his life.

We have a few more cold drizzly days but the forecast looks good. I’m ready and it looks like the birds are ready. Bring it on.

Returning Home

The trip downriver to Sani Lodge was boring. Most of us slept part of the way.

The trip back was much different: the river was raging with waves and floating logs coming at us continually. At one point, we heard a loud report as the boat hit a log hard, and the pilot stopped. Crew were scrambling back and forth between the bow and stern, talking mainly in Kichwa. No one but us seemed concerned as we floated back downriver and the crew pumped hydraulic fluid into the steering system and fiddled with the engines. We got moving again but it was several hours of stopping to fix things, maneuvering to miss logs (which I think were debris dumped by the oil companies clearing land), and worrying about the flight to Quito we needed to catch. A three hour trip turned into four hours plus, with no rest stops, but we got to Coca, were shuttled to the airport, and soon were on a jet heading to Quito. Once there, we were reunited with our driver, Roger, who had driven our bus the first 8 days, and were dropped at a wonderful hotel not far from the airport. Hotel San José Aeropuerto has wonderful grounds and so, being birders with a last chance to bird, we wandered the grounds with great results.

Several llamas were grazing in the large courtyard

This Golden Grosbeak was a new bird for the trip.

As was this Vermillion Flycatcher

We were close to the airport for tomorrow’s flights home.

This Crimson-mantled Woodpecker was a life bird for all of us. Photo courtesy of Peg Ackerman

The last evening, we gathered for a wonderful dinner and and said our goodbyes since most had very early departures the next day. 

The trip, in retrospect was great. Most of us got 300 to 400 life birds, saw some amazing sights, made new friends, and had fun along the way. North Branch Nature Center and particularly Chip did a marvelous job designing, organizing, and carrying out the trip. Gracias Amigos

Sani Lodge – Observation Tower

As I mentioned in the last post, I am a pilot who is afraid of heights. No fire tower climbing for me, thank you, and I have to watch out for any hikes that have drop-offs, and I usually drive in the center lane of big suspension bridges. So in reading about the trip, I was concerned about the tower at Sani. It’s “only” 100 feet tall, next to a big Kapok tree, nothing to it. Not!

We left by boat for a 30 minute paddle.

It was interesting traveling

Followed by a relatively short walk to the tower.

The first glimpse of the tower did not inspire confidence.

Nor did the second one

I was about the last to climb and it was challenging. The higher I got, the more of a death grip I had on the railing. But I made it, crossed the final catwalk to the platform and once there, was able to relax a bit and enjoy the scenery and the birds.

No hanging over the rails to see birds down low

In the far distance, we and heard Howler Monkeys

These Many-banded Aracaris were typical of the many birds we saw from the tower.

This Gilded Barbet was another lovely find.

We saw and or heard over 90 species in the five hours we were out — including a rare Harpy Eagle (spotted by our guide, Olger Licury.) It was a great outing.

Isidro -2

This was not a “roughing it” trip — no sleeping on mats or eating rice and beans.  We birded pretty intensely at times but always returned to great meals and nice beds. Even the box lunches were pretty amazing. Isidro was particularly special.

The light-filled bedrooms were surrounded by jungle and birds.

The artwork and decor was striking.

There is a wide variety of birds around and hummers everywhere.

On one of our outings, we stopped at a nearby village to bird and relax.

On a Sunday afternoon, kids and adults play futbol on the playground.

The local elementary school

Rest for the weary

I generally do not take pictures of food but the meals we returned to deserved some documentation for their artistry and taste.

An appetizer on the last evening

The entree

That evening, after a unproductive owl prowl, we rested for a long travel day by bus, boat, and canoe to the Amazon Rainforest and four exciting days with a whole array of birds and other wildlife.

 

Cabanas San Isidro

After some last minute hummingbird feeder checks, we boarded the bus for another scenic but windy trek featuring trailer trucks and buses and blind curves and “watch for birds, not the road ahead.” Off to the south the massive peak of Antisana – elevation 18,714′ showed itself.

Shortly, a “stop the bus” called came as one of our best spotters, Liz, saw two Torrent Ducks cavorting in the rushing water. We saw dippers, sandpipers, and other birds as we lined up along the highway with scopes and binoculars in action.

Cabanas San Isidro is a sister lodge to Guango and has a wonderful array of cabins and trails in a very birdy setting.

On our first bird walk the next day, we came across this Quetzal who posed for us in the fog. It was a great way to start the day.

The lodge had some nice resting places.

From where you could see one of the “it’s everywhere” birds, the Chestnut-collared Sparrow.

 

Guango Lodge

Located next to a busy highway and disturbed by recent pipeline work, Guango Lodge was not our favorite stay, although the food and accommodations were fine. We opted out of the bus trips and spent several nice walks on the trails.

The lodge had a wonderful river running past it.

 

 

And nice views

While watching the antics of Inca Jays, we also noticed some lovely flowers.

This private suspension bridge was a little to high for my comfort level but not Sally’s

Returning, we enjoyed some of the hummers flitting about the lodge feeders.

Crossing the Andes

We left the lush western slope of the Andes, heading toward Quito. As we descended into arid conditions caused by the mountains and warmed up for the first time in days as we took a short walk, spotting among other things, a Giant Hummingbird.

Further down the highway, we pulled off into a small community where the original monument marking the Equator stands. There is a larger one in Quito, aimed at tourists, but this apparently is the real deal.

Sally took some photos of the little community.

Crossing through Quito, we started a major climb up the eastern slope of the Andes, pausing for lunch where we met these school kids returning home.

Turning off the major highway, we explored the paramo, the higher terrain above the tree line where we encountered several new species, including Andean Hillstar hummingbird and this uncommon Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant. (Love that name)

We were climbing up to Papallacta Pass to try to find the Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe.

The pass is over 13,000 feet and was pretty raw and foreboding.

The view southeastward

It was an effort to get out of the bus and trek behind our guide but we all took our time and soon, just as we were thinking of heading back, a shout up ahead announced a sighting. We saw two seedsnipes — this shot pushed the limits of the SX-60 point and shoot.

A Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe at about 13,500′ msl

We did it and were soon back on the warm bus and backtracking down the windy dirt road to continue our journey to Guango Lodge. It was great to get down to an altitude where the air had some meat to it.

We arrived at the new lodge to find a new group of humingbirds – no rest for the weary.

Photos by Sally

On our second day at Tandayapa, Sally decided to spend a day birding at the lodge and took some great photos with her IPhone.

Four hummers at the feeder

Sally watched this Toucanet snatch and devour a hummingbird — “That’s nature.”

When we returned to the lodge, everybody had a chanc to hand-fed hummingbirds – quite an amazing experience.

Tandayapa Lodge -1

We arrived at Tandayapa Lodge, a lovely site located within the verdant cloudforest on the western slope of the Andes. In spite of a long day of birding already, we spotted the wonderful balcony with many feeders and dozens of hummingbirds. We were slow to check into our rooms with all the action underway.

Many of us had not seen Pufflegs before.

Throughout our stay, hummers came for hand-feeding. These found Sally’s Iphone and finger  intriguing. Photo credit: Kate Thompson

As would be our habit, we were up for breakfast and on the bus before light. It was cool and foggy but just after we got to our hiking spot and had started to walk, our guide heard and then spotted the bird of the day, a Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan.

The yellow rectangular plate on the upper bill helps differentiate this toucan from most others.

Plate-billed Mountain-Toucans inhabit a restricted range and are listed as near threatened. They are threatened both by deforestation and subsequent habitat loss, and by illegal capture for the pet trade.

After birding a couple of hours, we boarded the bus and were descending this winding dirt road when the guide yelled “stop”, we bailed out to seeing him holding an earthworm.

This worm was docile on a chilly morning, just trying to cross the road.

That’s my size 15 boot for comparison. We left him in the bushes unharmed.

We no sooner had loaded back up and driven a kilometer when the bus stopped and off we trooped to see a big, bad tarantula crossing the road. We watched her – she was almost the size of my hand.

 

A purple tarantula

One of the things we did on this foggy day, since the birds were relatively quiet, is to delight in the flowers we encountered. I’ll share them with you in the next post. Adios, amigos.