A great couple of days hiking in the mountains around Otavalo. On the Tuesday we did Cuicocha, and on Wednesday Fuya Fuya, both of which are extinct volcanos. The habitat is
paramo, which is high Andean grassland. The birds were relatively thin, but what was visible was very good. Best bird by far were the 2
Andean Condors at Fuya Fuya. Other raptors their included several
Variable Hawks and 2
Carunculated Caracara. There was also a
White-tailed Kite seen from the bus on the way back to the Hacienda. This appears to be quite rare here, though numbers are said to be increasing. No doubt about the ID, though I saw it from a bus so no chance of a photo.
Cuicocha had a crater lake (with
Andean Coots), and more scrubby vegetation, so more birds. Best there was a brief glimpse of a
Rufous-naped Brush-Finch.
It's far away and it's probably out-of-focus because I was shaking when I took the shot, but it's an
Andean Condor! One of a pair soaring off into the clouds on our way up Fuya Fuya.
There were several of these
Variable Hawks on the mountain.
Andean Coot on the lake at Cuicocha.
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