Tambo Condor, Reserva Antisanilla y Antisana: Andean Condors in the Ecua-wild

Captain's Log, notes from the past/day 231-ish: Despite all the Condor Conservation talk that I've been involved in this past year, I had never seen an Andean Condor in the wild until Vladimir Ushiña of the Environmental Ministry took me to explore the Jocotoco Reserve Antisanilla and National Ecological Reserve Antisana. During a stay in Quito, I hopped on a bus to the city of Pintag to meet up with Vladimir, and by the end of the day I'd learned a handful of new Andean plant species, seen nine life-list bird species...and spent quite a bit of time helping Vladimir watch a pair of Andean Condors and their offspring, a young male named Iskay. It was important for me to see the site to jumpstart dreams about installing nest cams; we're thinking it would be an excellent idea to have a live stream of the Condors nesting, similar to the Pittsburgh Hays Bald Eagle Nest Cam.  

Andean. Condors. 

      I spent a bunch of time last summer watching and learning about the National Aviary's oldest Andean Condor, a female named Lianni, but despite wandering around Peru and Ecuador for some months, I had never seen a condor in the wild. The Jocotoco Foundation has eleven preserves and many more conservation involvements in Ecuador, and are the potentially the greatest force in Ecuadorian Avian conservation at this point in time. Antisanilla is a 2300 hectare preserve where over thirty Andean Condors have been observed to rest or nest, located at the base of the Antisana volcano and bordering the Antisana Ecological Reserve. Vladimir has a restaurant and cabins under the name of Tambo Condor, translated roughly to 'Condor Rest,' and works with both Dr.Hernan Vargas of the Peregrine Fund and Francisco Sornoza, the director of Jocotoco, to monitor the condors that he can see from the view his restaurant offers. He and a few others, all members of the National Condor Conservation Group in Ecuador, are constantly monitoring and trying to tag the Andean Condors that are in Antisanilla: it's an excellent location for both research and cushy birdwatching in a beautiful spot.

...It was awesome. Here's a little walk-through of my explorations that day. 

Pintag, right below Reserva Antisanilla. 

Driving up to the volcano, WE SAW THE CONDORS. Super lucky, considering it was a bit past nine in the morning. Generally the Condors get up, spend a bit of time at the roost, and fly off. 

The view from the edge of the Tambo Condor property. 

CONDORS. With my terrible camera. You can see them, though! Not going to admit how incredibly moved I was to see them flying over their nest and roost. You can ask Vladimir about it. 

Walkway up to the restaurant. 

Nice scope, Vladimir. We watched the parents and Iskay for a bit, and then headed towards a path on the lower edge of the property. 

One of the cabins Vladimir has available for rent. You can stay in one of these and wake up to three glass walls for maximal Andean beauty exposure; Condors taking off over a reservoir, and the green valley falling away towards Pintag to the east. 

The inside of the restaurant. 

Photos taken of previous nesting pairs and bird illustrations by Juan Manuel Carrion, the director of the Guyallabamba Zoo in Quito. 

Since the advent of Tambo Condor, two pairs have been viewed nesting in Antisanilla. These are some of the first pictures from 2012. They named the more recently fledged chick from last year's nesting pair 'Hernancito,' after Dr.Vargas. Hehe. 

The inside of the cabins! Nice, huh?

THESE flowers are particularly delightful because of the bird who has adapted to feed from them: the Sword-billed hummingbird. We got to see one at Tambo Condor--not at the flowers, but at the feeder. Hehe. 

Lower view of the property, with two of the hillside cabins visible. 

Locally known as 'chochos.'

Vladimir has also constructed a viewpoint and trail on the property. 

From here, you can look down into the valley where there's a natural lake. We saw Whistling ducks, Silvery grebes, Andean Coots, and much more. Lovely. 

Learning about local and edible berries....I've forgotten the name since that day. oops.

They tasted kind of like nutty lemons, though. Different!

Some photos of the Condor parents showing off at the nest site, taken through Vladimir's scope. 

See the white marks? There be Condor roosts. 

Vladimir loves every minute of his job monitoring the condors. He says that on a typical week, he'll take two or three days to follow their progress with Iskay, track them as far as they can as they head off to forage, and record what hours they leave and come back. If he could, he admits, he'd live here at Tambo Condor all the time. He loves Andean life. I had to confess I would probably stay here, too. 

The most important part of Reserva Antisanilla: the many kilometers of cliffside habitat below the volcano: perfect for nesting and roosting. 

Andean Condor female flying above Antisanilla. 

Vladimir had a photo book about the Ecuadorian Andes. This is an aerial photo of the volcano Antisana, with fairly recent lava flows four to eight kilometers wide winding down the mountain and into the lake that is below Antisanilla. The land in the photo now all belongs to Jocotoco, and makes up the reserve. 

Visit Tambo Condor from Pintag, Ecuador--just an hour outside Quito--if you ever get the chance!! Vladimir's relatives have a trout hatchery, and he's an excellent cook: so if you want the flavor of the Andes and the majesty of their birds, you've got to check it out. 

After we'd spent some time tramping around Antisanilla and talking about Condors, it came to light that I'd never seen a Black-faced Ibis. Vladimir wouldn't stand for that, considering we were so close to one of the only places in South America where they can be seen regularly, and we got in his truck to visit Reserva Antisana: where the volcano is.

The PARAMO. So open, so rainy, so windy...so much desolate beauty. We saw a bunch of  Andean Lapwings and Black-faced Ibises, Paramo Pitpits and Tawny antpittas up here. 

So much open field. 

Black-faced ibises!

Vladimir, manning the scope when the rain calmed down a bit. 

This is a nationally protected area. Vladimir often works with the members of the Environmental Ministry that regularly man and manage this park. 

Birds of Antisana and the Andes!

Those ibises....

Sword-billed hummingbird in the lower right corner. 

This reservoir is extremely important to Quito. Called La Mica, over half of the city's water is pumped from here. 

It's a great place to find Andean water birds. Silvery grebes in pairs, Yellow pintails, Andean Coots...

Gorgeous. We even had the sun peek out at us for ten minutes or so. 

Another excellent adventure. Really, if you want to see Condors in Ecuador, Antisanilla is your best bet. Hopefully our dream of putting a nest cam on a condor site can be realized here: with Vladimir's constant presence and the frequency of Condor visits to the ledge below Tambo Condor, it's definitely possible.

BONUS: Kristen Tobin, the current Aviary-Amaru intern, just published a post in HER awesome blog about a recent trip she and Ernesto, the owner of Amaru, took to a site in the southern Andean range of Ecuador to set up a camera trap for wandering Condors. Amusing anecdotes about learning Spanish, too!

http://amaruenriquecimiento.blogspot.com/2014/06/condors.html

Cheers, all.
-NB