So here I am, back at Tiputini Biodiversity Station for another 2-month field season. My husband and I flew out on Christmas day and spent a few days exploring the west slope. We stayed in Pululahua Hostal in the Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve, basically inside the crater of an extinct volcano. We spent a few day exploring the reserve on our own, and then I hired the guide who runs the hostal (Renato) to take me to a few places that would be hard to reach by public transport, namely Yanacocha Reserve and a place called 23 de Junio. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos, I stored my gear for field work at the hostal in Quito and forgot to remove the battery chargers... maybe I'll post some of Tom's photos.
My field season is off to a rough start, Tom picked up some intestinal bug the day before we arrived to Tiputini, accompanied by severe cramps and high fever. Then after a few days I came down with it, and boy is it awful! At some points we had to sit in the shower stall covered in wet towels to try to get our temperatures down, which sometimes reached or surpassed 40 degC. But we went to the clinic (about a 2-hour trip from here) and got some medication, and although we are both very drained and still can't eat much we are getting better.
So, since I'm not out working today, I'll work on a report of our travels before arriving to Tiputini.
26 and 27 Dec - Pululahua
Renato had arranged for someone to pick us up from Quito on the morning of the 26th to take us to Pululahua. It's not far outside of the city, but of course the drive through the city itself took quite a while. We arrived around 12:30 and had the rest of the day and the next to ourselves to explore the area.
There were a few hummingbird feeders outside, visited mainly by Black-tailed Trainbearers and Sparkling Violetears. We hiked a nearby trail, which turned out to be full of stunning Golden-rumped Euphonias, with many Azara's Spinetails skulking in the brush. The calls of Chestnut-crowned Antpittas rang from the crater walls all day. I not infrequently heard Undulated Antpittas, but try as I might I couldn't approach one or call it out. There were Stripe-headed and White-wined Brush-Finches, and a foraging flock containing Rufous-chested Tanager, Cinereous Conebill, and Tufted Tit-Tyrant. A Russet-crowned Warbler occasionally sang its haunting melody.
On our second day at the hostal Tom and I went for a long hike, which was mostly quiet birdwise although we did find a few good ones. We got quite good looks at a male Blackish Tapaculo, and later flushed a Band-winged Nightjar from its daytime roost in the grass. Familiar American Kestrels hunted in the agricultural fields.