On Wednesday, Victor, Melany and I left Manta at 5AM and drive 3.5 hours to Salinas. With a helpful tip from a Red Aves Ecuador Facebook group member, we had arranged a tour of the Ecuasal Salt Lagoons with Ben Haase. Ben, originally from Holland, has lived in the area for several decades, and is an expert particularly on aquatic/sea birds. The salt lagoons are private property, so members of the public are generally not allowed to just wander through there looking for birds. Ben has been allowed access to study and monitor the birds there, and is able to take guests through, so if anyone reading this is hoping to visit, definitely contact him through the Museo de Ballenas in Salinas.
The four of us got to the salt lagoons at about 9AM. When I asked if we would see flamingos, one of the two species I most wanted to see in Ecuador, he said it was unlikely, because the salinity in the lagoons had decreased due to all of the rain recently, and the flamingos rely on the high salinity for their food source. Victor drove us along narrow roads around and between the salt ponds, and Ben pointed out all of the different species. The birds there are changing every month of the year, as they get a lot of migratory shorebirds from the north, and some from the south as well. I even saw a few species we get at home in South Australia!
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| Least Sandpiper, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Lesser Yellowlegs, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Lesser Yellowlegs, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
There is a patch of "forest" at the edge of lagoons, where hundreds of egrets and herons roost.
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| Great Egret, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Cattle Egret, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Snowy Egret, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Black-necked Stilt, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Black-necked Stilt, juvenile, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Ruddy Turnstone, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Ruddy Turnstone, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Grey-hooded Gull, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Willet, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| White-cheeked Pintails, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| White-cheeked Pintail, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Tri-colored Heron, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Dragonfly, species unknown, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
The most abundant species at the lagoons was Wilson's Phalarope. On the day we were there, Ben estimated there were 3,000 to 4,000 birds, but he said sometimes there have been as many as 60,000!
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| Wilson's Phalarope, female, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| A "small" group of Wilson's Phalaropes, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Black-bellied Plover (known as Grey Plover in Australia), Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Peruvian and Brown Pelicans, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Snowy Plover, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
Despite the recent rain, we saw a group of eight flamingos! They were about as far away from us as they could be, but once a couple poked their head out I still managed a photo that actually shows what type of bird they are!
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| Chilean Flamingos, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
One of the first birds we saw was the Lesser Yellowlegs. On the far side of the Lagoons we saw Greater Yellowlegs. The main differences between the two species are the size (Greater is a bit bigger) and the bill (Lesser has a shorter, straighter, all black bill, Greater has a longer, slightly upswept bill which is paler at the base).
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| Greater Yellowlegs, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Semipalmated Plover, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| White Ibis, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Peruvian Pelican, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Grey Gull (on the right) with Grey-hooded Gull (front left) and Black-necked Stilt (back) |
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| Hudsonian Godwits (front) with a mixed flock of Royal, Elegant, and Gull-billed Terns. |
These American Oystercatchers look very similar to the Pied Oystercatcher of Australia, but have a bright yellow iris!
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| American Oystercatchers, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
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| Willet, Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
As we were heading out, we went to the top of a huge mound of salt, and got an excellent view over the lagoons.
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| Ecuasal Salt Lagoons |
From there, we dropped Ben off and had a look at the whale skeleton and other marine specimens at Museo de Ballenas. After lunch in Salinas we went to La Chocolatera, the western-most point of Ecuador. To get there you have to pass through a military base, which used to be quite difficult until former President Correa declared it a national tourist treasure, and opened it up for tourist access.
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| La Chocolatera, Salinas |
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| La Chocolatera, Salinas |
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| La Chocolatera, Salinas |
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