This gallery contains 67 photographs taken during a 3-week birding tour of Ecuador I took with my father in January, 2011. It was an amazing trip with 421 different species of birds observed, including an astounding 56 species of hummingbird. In a trip full of memorable events, I will mention five of the best. The Booted Racket-tails at Las Gralarias -- phenomenal little birds. The song of the Magical Wren -- unbelievable. The Rufous-bellied Seedsnipes materializing out of the worst fog and rain imaginable. The Black-faced Ibis flocks at San Isidro. The Black-streaked Puffbird sitting just ten feet away from us on the edge of a trail at Wild Sumaco.

The trip was organized by Jane Lyons of Mindo Birding Tours and I wish to express my appreciation to her for putting together a fantastic itinerary. I also want to give my thanks to our principal guides, Dusan Brinkhuizen and Gabriel Bucheli, who generously shared their expertise with us. They helped us locate many fabulous birds, including Gray-winged Trumpeter and Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe. I would like to thank three other persons who guided us for shorter periods of time -- Pablo Suarez, Toumas Seimola and Jonas Nilsson. Among other things, they helped us find Highland Tinamou, Beautiful Jay and Ferruginous Pygmy Owl. Finally, I would like to acknowledge our hosts at the four lodges where we spent most of our time -- Las Gralarias, Guango Lodge, San Isidro and Wild Sumaco. The accommodations, food and company were superlative.