I took the big plunge and joined a Glenn Bartley's Photography Workshop in Ecuador on January 6-21, 2014. 

This was a birding trip for photographers, as opposed to the birding trips for birders I and Nancy have made many times in the past. On other birding trips, I was the guy at the end of the line with the camera, barely tolerated ; on this trip I was a guy with a big camera in the middle of the pack of guys with big cameras all trying to do the same thing. It was great, although I probably appreciate what birders are trying to do even more now.

In Ecuador, we stayed in four lodges, each in a very different environment - from the high western slope of the Andes to the Amazon Basin. Lodges we stayed at:

      Tandayapa Bird Lodge on the western slope of the Andes; lodge at 6,000 ft. elevation

     Guango Lodge on the eastern slope of the Andes; lodge at 8,860 ft.

     San Isidro Lodge farther down the eastern slope; lodge at 6,800 ft.

     Sani Lodge deep in the Amazon Basin

We also had excursions to Reserva Yanacocha, Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge, the Antisana Ecological Reserve,  Jardin del Colibri Lodge, Milpe Bird Sanctuary, and Papallacta (radio antennas, Reserva Ecolsgica Cayambe-Coca).

Ecuador is a beautiful and amazing country. Over 1620 bird species on the mainland of Ecuador. This makes Ecuador the fourth country in the world in numbers of bird species following only Colombia, Brazil and Peru. The Ridgely & Greenfield Birds of Ecuador Field Guide list 131 species of hummingbirds! The roads of Ecuador were fine, the food was good, and the people were wonderful.