We leave London Heathrow in the morning, usually on KLM (via Amsterdam) or Iberia (via Madrid) to Ecuador’s principal port and coastal city of Guayaquil. We will arrive in the evening and transfer to our hotel where we will spend the night. Guayaquil sits on the banks of the Guayas River, and is a vibrant commercial hub.

After an early breakfast we leave behind the bustling city of Guayaquil and begin our first full day in Ecuador, with a drive of just over an hour to the ecological reserve of Manglares Churute. This 50,000 hectares reserve was created in 1979 in recognition of the importance of the habitat and wildlife living within it. Mangroves are vital to the health of our planet due to the immense amounts of carbon they are able to store, and because they provide essential support for a wealth of different creatures, including an array of juvenile fish.

Manglares-Churute contains an interesting mix of lagoons, mangroves, and semi-humid forest; we won’t see anything else like this on the remainder of the tour. We will spend our time here looking for the threatened “Pacific” Royal-Flycatcher along with a number of other scarce species including Jet Antbird, Common (Mangrove) Black-Hawk and Orange crowned Euphonia. We’ll also have our first chance at finding some of the more common Tumbesian endemics such as Superciliated Wren and Ecuadorian Trogon. Meanwhile impressive Horned Screamers can be found in nearby rice paddies.

Later in the day we undertake a 120-mile drive south to Buenaventura Reserve, making the odd opportunistic stop for leg stretches, waders and water birds (depending on the water levels). We will aim to arrive at Buenaventura (for a 3-night stay) with enough daylight to begin our birding at the lodge’s extremely active hummingbird feeders which attract Emerald-bellied Woodnymph, Violet-belled Hummingbird and a range of other species. A bird table laden with tropical fruits attracts birds like Rufous-headed Chachalaca and Pale-mandibled Aracari, while a short but steep trail down into a ravine leads us to a Long-wattled Umbrellabird display site, although we may well leave this to another day!

Buenaventura Reserve was created specially to protect the largest known population of the endemic El Oro Parakeet and we stand a reasonable chance of finding a small flock during our two full days here. There are plenty of other birds as well, and activity along the main track through the reserve can often mean that our progress along it is extremely slow! We will search these beautiful mist-enshrouded forests for a mouth-watering array of species such as Pacific Tuftedcheek, Ochraceous Attila, Song Wren, Esmeraldas Antbird, Club-winged Manakin, Rufous-throated Tanager, Gray-breasted Flycatcher, and Brown billed Scythebill among hordes of more common birds such as Bay-headed, Blue-necked and other Tanagers, Bay Wren, Choco Toucan, Spotted Woodcreeper, Ornate Flycatcher, Ecuadorian Thrush and Scarlet-rumped Cacique. Much of the birding will be on a moderately inclined dirt track through the forest, as we look for the key mixed-species feeding flocks, but we’ll also take short walks on muddy and sometimes steep trails. It will be an action packed two days here!

After three nights at Buenaventura, we will drive 160 miles in an easterly direction to Copalinga, making a number of stops on route along the old Loja-Zamora Road. We’ll expect to see a number of commoner birds during the journey such as Cliff Flycatcher, Green Jay and Paradise Tanager, although surprises always turn up. In the afternoon we will arrive at Cabañas Ecológicas Copalinga, a lodge found on the northern edge of the Podocarpus National Park (a Biosphere Reserve recognized by UNESCO) and settle in for a 3-night stay. Established in 1999, the lodge is situated on a beautiful reserve of 150 hectares. The grounds of the lodge itself are great for hummingbirds, with species such as Wire-crested Thorntail, Violet-headed Hummingbird, Violet-fronted Brilliant, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, and Spangled Coquette being regularly attracted to the feeders and flowering plants. Once we’ve sorted through the hummers we can stroll along a trail to a small hide where Gray Tinamou can be seen while, at night, Band-bellied Owl often calls near the lodge.

On one of our days out from Copalinga we’ll bird an excellent trail just a short drive away, looking for many sought-after or localized species such as Coppery-chested Jacamar, Ecuadorian Piedtail, White-breasted Parakeet, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Foothill Elaenia, Olive Finch, Black-billed Treehunter, Blue-rumped Manakin, and Equatorial Graytail. Other more common birds we may see are Paradise and Green-and-gold Tanager, Andean Motmot, Green Hermit, Red-headed Barbet, Lafresnaye’s Piculet, and Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant. In mid-afternoon, we will return to the lodge, where we can either have some relaxed birding around the lodge, or take a short drive to other nearby sites.

On another day we can try some slightly highly elevation forest patches which are good for Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Ecuadorian Tyrannulet, Lined Antshrike, and Olivaceous Greenlet. Farther along this road, we’ll target some scarce species of higher elevations including Vermilion and Blue-browed Tanagers, Chestnut-tipped Toucanet, among others.

After three nights at Copalinga, we move on to Tapichalaca Reserve, 100 winding miles to the south. After a three-hour car journey with the possibility of birding en route again, we will arrive at the montane forests where the Jocotoco Antpitta thrives, settling in to our cozy lodge for 2 nights.

While the Jocotoco Antpitta is our main target here, we should see plenty of other good birds along the trails, such as Chestnut-caped and Slate-crowned Antpittas, Chusquea and Ocellated Tapaculos, Golden-plumed Parakeet, Barred Fruiteater, Black-capped Hemispingus, Orange-banded Flycatcher, White-throated Quail-Dove, and various mountain-tanagers. Sometimes the reserve rangers know of a day roost for Long-tailed Potoo. The walk up to the Jocotoco feeding area is a narrow forest trail that has some short steep sections, and is often slippery and muddy. Although the walk is not long, we will take our time getting up there as there are many birding possibilities en-route. However, we will time our arrival at the antpitta feeding area so that we get there for their regular feeding time of 8:00am. We’ll return to the lodge for lunch, and there will be time to the varied hummingbirds visiting the feeders, including Amethyst-throated and Flame-throated Sunangels, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Collared Inca, and Long-tailed Sylph. In the afternoon, we may bird along the road below the lodge towards the town of Valladolid where occasionally Chestnut-crested Cotinga can be seen, or else spend more time around the lodge.

On our last full day, we will drive the 80 miles or so north to the dry valley of Catamayo, where we will be searching for endemic birds like Tumbes Sparrow and Elegant Crescentchest, Drab Seedeater, Parrot-billed Seedeater, Chestnut-throated Seedeater, Band-tailed Seedeater, Tumbes Sparrow, and Peruvian Meadowlark, Fasciated Wren We will spend our last southern night in this valley and may be able to hear the call of the Peruvian Pygmy-Owl.

We will arrive back in the UK in the afternoon.