Sparkling Violetear--with ears!

Our photography group undertook the promised hummingbird outing today, to Tandayapa Lodge, nearly two hours from Quito. It was a definite success; we saw perhaps a dozen different species in about eight hours (although Ecuador has altogether perhaps 130 species of hummingbirds).

This was the most striking shot I managed, of a male Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans), displaying its violet-colored ears (rarely so clearly seen).

I'll leave it at that--it's late and we leave early tomorrow to fly to the Galapagos Islands where we spend two weeks on a small boat--no internet (except perhaps one afternoon)--so I'll backblip when I return home, on 22nd July.