Early departure from your hotel. On the drive east, your guide outlines the plan for the day, the main targets and the strong altitude gradient you will cover.

We reach the high pass area (around 3,900–4,100 m) shortly after sunrise, when light and bird activity are best. From here we bird roadside pullouts, tracks and nearby slopes, always at a very slow pace due to altitude.

Main targets and possible species include:
• Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe (main high-Andean target; we scan rocky slopes, frosty patches and super-páramo vegetation).
• Stout-billed Cinclodes, Many-striped Canastero, Andean Tit-Spinetail.
• Plain-capped / Paramo Ground-Tyrant, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant.
• Paramo Tapaculo (often heard more than seen).

Around small lagoons and wetlands we may find:
• Andean Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, Andean Duck.
• Andean Coot, Andean Gull.
• With luck, Noble Snipe in marshy edges.

Raptors and larger birds overhead can include Variable Hawk, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle and Carunculated Caracara.

We keep a flexible routine: scanning slopes with the scope, short walks along the road, and strategic stops to warm up and rest. Your guide will also interpret the glacial landscape and explain how super-páramo works as part of the Andean ecosystem.

Important: Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe is always a special bird and cannot be guaranteed. The tour is designed to maximize your chances, but success depends on weather, visibility and luck.

Late-morning descent on the eastern slope of the Andes. As you lose altitude, the landscape changes from open páramo to forested slopes and cloud forest.

At Guango Lodge (around 2,600–2,700 m) we spend several hours between feeders, river and short trails.

Hummingbird feeders – close views of:
• Sword-billed Hummingbird (star of the show).
• Tourmaline Sunangel, Collared Inca, Buff-winged Starfrontlet.
• Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Mountain Velvetbreast.
• Long-tailed Sylph, Tyrian Metaltail.
• Tiny “bee” hummingbirds like White-bellied Woodstar.

River birding:
• Torrent Duck – often in pairs or family groups on fast-flowing water.
• White-capped Dipper – feeding on rocks and in the current.

Mixed flocks & forest birds around trails and forest edges may include:
• Turquoise Jay, Grass-green Tanager, Hooded, Lacrimose and Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanagers.
• Blue-and-black Tanager, Capped Conebill, Mountain Cacique.
• Pearled Treerunner, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Tyrannine Woodcreeper.
• Cinnamon Flycatcher, Black-capped Tyrannulet and others.

Lunch is usually taken at Guango Lodge (set menu or simple home-style meals), typically with hummingbird feeders in view.

Final time at feeders, river or a short trail, depending on what is missing from the list and the group’s energy.

Afternoon return to Quito. Your guide will go over the day’s checklist, highlight key sightings and review the species seen along the altitudinal gradient, from super-páramo down to cloud forest.