Deepest, darkest Peru (8-9 Oct.)

For these days Rich Hoyer and I went even deeper into CICRA reserve (see for http://www.amazonconservation.org/index.html more details of CICRA), and visited the outlying CM2 station. The station has become a little run down, due to lack of use, though a trail still exists just behind it, and the trip along the Rio Los Amigos to reach there was a mixture of birding fun, and torture due to the means to get there: we had to use a small canoe with a very loud motor, meaning our five hour journey was an assault on the ear drums.

However, the journey was not without highlights, macaws being almost ever presents, with healthy numbers of Blue-and-yellow Macaws gracing the skies above, and a stop at a small lick produced many Rose-fronted Parakeets, Dusky-billed Parrotlet, Rock Parakeet, and even a Blue-headed Macaw flopping lazily over the scene below. We also bumped into some herds of Capybara lazing by the river on the way up, along with many, many Pied Lapwings, and wild Muscovy Ducks. Around the station, where we had but one night, we managed to find the rare Long-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, a much sought after bird in these parts, enjoy seconds of Peruvian Recurvebill, and Rufous-headed Woodpecker, and found a Mottled Owl at night, when Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, and Great and Long-tailed Potoos could be heard too, and a Kinkajou was observed noisily moving through the treetops too. Primates there seemed tolerant of us, perhaps betraying the fact that almost no hunting has ever occurred in this area of pristine lowland rainforest. We managed to get up close and personal to Brown Capuchins, Black-capped Squirrel Monkeys, Saddleback and Emperor Tamarins, and Peruvian Spider Monkeys during our very brief sourjourn there, and also heard Night Monkeys during the hours of darkness too.

The FIVE star sighting of the trip though was on the return journey back to CICRA, when Daniel spotted a large raptor about an hour downriver. He was right it was a large raptor, a very large raptor indeed, the king of Amazonian jungle no less, the rare Harpy Eagle....

More from Peru to come on my return from the Ecuadorian Amazon, including news of an impromptu Big Day at CICRA that showcased the massive potential of this very little birded site...