For my trip to Ecuador I was one of six people in a birding photography guided tour. Because it was a birding photography tour the main focus was finding and photography cool and rare birds. However, since I love photographing all types of animals, I did my best to take photographs of mammals, insects, and anything else I could find that I thought was interesting. I tried to take the best photograph I could of that subject. In this instance, these Llama were very far away and walking away from my direction so getting their faces in a shot was challenging. This was the best photograph I could get of them and this was the only time I was fortunate to see Llama while visiting Ecuador.

Some photographs I share are definitely not award winning and I’m well aware of that. But my Field Notes section is sometimes used to just document some of my travels and they will include photographs that are more documentary style.

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You may not know what an Antipitta is but here is an example one. This is a very special example though because the Giant Antpitta is the largest of all Antpitta species. They are also very elusive and rarely seen. Well, generally rarely seen. Our local guide Andy knows where this Antipitta is located and his family even named it Maria. That’s not to say that it is seen all the time but knowing the area where it lives is definitely an advantage.

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This Strong Billed Woodcreeper was using its namesake to dig out bugs in this tree and I captured the perfect moment where it threw one of them up right before swallowing it.

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Flowerpiercers are a real fun bird to watch. As the name suggests and what is represented in my photograph, Flowerpiercers use their unique beaks to tear open flowers and enjoy the sweet pollen inside.

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This animal is called a Tayra as you can see from the title. I’ve been fortunate to have seen Tayra a few times in Costa Rica but it was another pleasant surprise to see one in Ecuador as well. This one showed up while my birding photography group was at some bird feeder stations, photographing birds or course. My guess is that the Tayra frequents this location to pick up scraps. It hung around for about ten minutes or so. Unfortunately I was really close to it which may seem fun but with my long camera lens it was hard to capture a lot of shots, especially because I didn’t want to scare it away by moving around as everyone else was watching it too. I’ll post more photos of this Tayra in the coming days.

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Another shot of a Sword Billed Hummingbird found at Zuro Loma Reserve in Ecuador.  This was one of my favorite properties to visit and I highly recommend you do as well if you also want to discover the nature that Ecuador has to offer.

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Agouti are small-ish rodents that I have come across previously while visiting Costa Rica but the ones here in Ecuador are a little larger. This is the first time I tried to take really nice photos of them. Isn’t it cute?

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One of the craziest Hummingbirds I have ever encountered.

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When visiting family back in December one of my aunts told me that she likes photos of Hummingbirds and flowers. I took that as a challenge to impress her with photographs that feature Hummingbirds and flowers knowing that I could take some during my Ecuador trip.   I hope others enjoy these photographs as well.

The secondary Hummingbird on the bottom is a Tyrian Metaltail for those interested.

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