After living in the central interandean valley for four years, Aimee and I finally moved back up to Quito a few weeks ago, leaving behind my burgeoning backyard bird list in Cumbaya. Interestingly enough, there still is a fair amount of bird activity in the small garden of my apartment building, and I've seen four different species of hummingbirds, including the Giant Hummingbird, which sometimes perches on a television antenna on a neighboring building. Great Thrushes can also be heard calling before dawn each morning, and the Sparkling Violetears chirp loudly all day long marking their territory. Unfortunately, even the resident birds struggle with the mostly concrete and glass environment in our new neighborhood, and birds crash into our windows occasionally, although mostly Eared Doves. Just the other day I noticed this Black-Tailed Trainbearer dead on our balcony, its neck only a few hours broken. Who knows what boreal migrant species suffer a similar fate throughout the city?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
End of Days
After living in the central interandean valley for four years, Aimee and I finally moved back up to Quito a few weeks ago, leaving behind my burgeoning backyard bird list in Cumbaya. Interestingly enough, there still is a fair amount of bird activity in the small garden of my apartment building, and I've seen four different species of hummingbirds, including the Giant Hummingbird, which sometimes perches on a television antenna on a neighboring building. Great Thrushes can also be heard calling before dawn each morning, and the Sparkling Violetears chirp loudly all day long marking their territory. Unfortunately, even the resident birds struggle with the mostly concrete and glass environment in our new neighborhood, and birds crash into our windows occasionally, although mostly Eared Doves. Just the other day I noticed this Black-Tailed Trainbearer dead on our balcony, its neck only a few hours broken. Who knows what boreal migrant species suffer a similar fate throughout the city?