CICRA (Los Amigos) PERU (7 Oct.)

This trip to Peru, generously organised by Jeff Woodman of the Amazon Conservation Association (http://www.amazonconservation.org/), in order to check out their properties and potential for developing these for bird tourism, really turned out to be fantastic. From a selfish level, I got a bunch of lifers, and got to see some very cool places, which I have no doubt will emerge to the fore on the birding map, by virtue of their quality bird lists and birding experiences. Going to their CICRA research station will live very long in my memory indeed. This site is located along the Rio Madre de Dios in the Manu region of Peru, between the well-known Manu Wildlife Center and the port of Puerto Maldonado. The site is perched on the top of an escarpment, meaning I had wonderful views from my cabin of this snaking river below, and the always enriching sight of lush Amazon jungle stretching to the horizon on the other side of the river. Standing in this area around dawn or dusk was good for getting the daily surge of parrots and macaws heading to and from roost, which regularly involved Red-bellied, Blue-and-yellow, and Scarlet Macaws. It has also been named Los Amigos, as it flanked by a river of the same name on its eastern flank. But, on to the jungle birding...

Although CICRA has been well-studied for birds - with Joe Tobias and others spending a good time surveying the area some years before, it is still relatively little known, and almost never visited by birders. So again, Rich Hoyer were bursting with excitement and anticipation at what the jungle might hold. We began by checking out an area of thick bamboo, as we were on the lookout for more of those special bamboo that seem to abound in this region. Entering into the forest, we immediately ran into a troop of monkeys, and quickly racked up three species: Dusky Titi Monkey, Black-capped Squirrel Monkey, and Brown Capuchin. Then, on reaching the bamboo, it did not take long to locate our first major target there, the rich rusty Peruvian Recurvebill, complete with its odd appendage (i.e. bill). The same bamboo stand also produced a pair of Rufous-headed Woodpeckers, which surely must rank as one of the all time great woodpeckers on the planet. However, arguably the best sighting of the day was not avian, when Rich Hoyer exclaimed he had a dog in his sights, which turned out to be the rare Short-eared Dog. (Sadly, I was simply too stunned to grab a photo, even though I had a clear opportunity to). 

After that thrilling morning the afternoon had a lot to live up to; and it did. Walking down a trail towards the Madre de Dios River we bumped into a quietly feeding flock of parakeets that held a few Tui Parakeets hiding out among the more common Cobalt-winged Parakeets. Manakins performed well on the day too, with another Fiery-capped Manakin seen, though this time refraining from twirling around a stem as it had so memorably done for us at Villa Carmen, earlier on this trip. On top of that the scarlet, black and yellow form of a male Band-tailed Manakin gave me my first real countable views of this lifebird. However, neither of these were why we had specifically chosen to walk down to near the river and focus our efforts on rank, dense, riverside vegetation. On finally reaching the spot where we'd hoped to connect with this other specialty we heard the distinctive piping notes of our quarry, and I immediately set about a plan to "go in", with the bird seemingly just out of reach, just off trail. I walked in played the call back and was stunned at how soon the Rufous-fronted Antthrush strolled in to check out its phantom intruder. The most conspicuous feature of the bird, a glowing orange forehead, was striking and gave the bird a look as if it was wearing a Petzl head torch within the dingy forest understorey. Mission accomplished, we returned to base, where my much longed-for shower had to be temporarily abandoned when an Ocellated Poorwill decided to call from so close it sounded as if it was right on my veranda. It was not, but it did tease me with the thought of landing there when I gave it a quick burst of its own song, but veered away at the last second, and was soon off into the night. With that, I returned to my shower!

More from Peru to come in a few days, when I return from another Amazon adventure, this time at La Selva Lodge in Ecuador, where I MUST spend the next few days! 

Rare Hawk...PERU (4 Oct.)

For our second and final day at  the Amazon Conservation Association http://www.amazonconservation.org property of Villa Carmen http://www.acca.org.pe/espanol/investigacion/Villa_Carmen/generalidades.html, just off the Manu Road (near the town of Pilcopata), we ventured up onto some of the bamboo-choked ridges dotting the property. Outlying ridges at the base of the Andes like this can be special, potentially holding some very rare species (Shrike-like Cotinga anyone?). Unfortunately, our birding did no pay off in this hoped for way, but we still had a "pucker" day, with a stunning, rare highlight right at the death, a short time before dusk. Before we had got out of the clearing that morning - the site of the new lodge development - we were admiring my first lifer of the day, a marvelously confiding Slender-billed Xenops. As we got closer to the forest edge a party of three Blue-crowned Trogons provided a splash of vivid colors. Our morning was spent sweating and trudging our way up to a ridge, some 700m higher than the surrounding flatlands.  As usual, a Cinereous Tinamou managed to toy with me on the way up, sounding oh so close, but never giving me even the slightest of glimpses. On the way up we came across a pair of vocal Golden-bellied Warblers, and on the crest of the ridge were rewarded with a brace of smashing antbirds: a striking Spot-backed Antbird preceding a pair of Hairy-crested Antbirds. The latter are known as "obligate ant followers", being rarely seen away from the army ant swarms they follow (to prey on the insects that flee in their wake), although strangely we could not find an ant anywhere around them, so presumably they were just moving through. It is hard to avoid passing through large spiky, almost aggressive, stands of Guadua bamboo at Villa Carmen, that frequently attach to your clothes, and leave their marks behind on your field gear. And such stands held Dusky-cheeked Foliage-gleaner (perhaps better referred to by its other name, Bamboo Foliage-gleaner), as well as Flammulated Bamboo-tyrant and Johannes's Tody-tyrant, as well as a striking male Scarlet-hooded Barbet. 

Near the end of the day we returned to site of yesterday's Amazonian Antpitta, an old dirt road flanked with rich forest, and walked into a Razor-billed Currassow prowling the road, which was later also graced by a Gray-necked Wood-Rail which gave me a fright when I thought it might just be a tinamou at that distance! We scanned the skies above the Rio Pinipini for macaws (we were both hoping for a lifer Blue-headed), and then returned to the lodge, exhausted, at another long, though imminently rewarding, day in the field. We were just about beat, but managed to stumble onto the best bird of our two days at Villa Carmen on the return journey, just moments before dusk began to fall, when we bumped into a Gray-bellied Hawk sitting brazenly in the open, and calling regularly (we both got recordings of this). Thanks to Rich Hoyer for firing off some shots of this exceedingly rare raptor...

More from Manu to come, as we headed deeper into the lowlands...

VILLA CARMEN (Peru, 3 Oct.)

Well this day in Peru was a an absolute cracker. Rich Hoyer and I were fired up and excited; we were to be birding an area very few people had birded. Ever. Just one birding group had been in a few weeks before with Jeff Woodman on a Birdathon to raise money for the NGO that runs the property: Amazon Conservation Association, ACA, (http://www.amazonconservation.org/index.html). And they had recorded quite the list, which whetted our appetite. The night before Rich and I dined at the property and poured over the trail map with volunteer Nicole, and Daniel Huaman from ACCA, the Peruvian arm of ACA, trying to come up with the best strategy for one of only two days to dig in and find out what this potentially dramatic site, just off the Manu Road, had to offer. We left the nearby town of Pilcopata early,  had breakfast on site, then hit the trails in earnest, focusing on the ones with abundant stands of spiny Guadua bamboo, for these could hold some very special birds indeed. The bamboo specialties came thick and fast: a jet-black male Goeldi's Antbird appeared and stared at us with its blood red eye; a White-lined Antbird lurked in the bamboo showing off its punky crest; a Black-backed Tody-Flycatcher gave its farting call regularly from the dense understorey, though showed momentarily; a pair of Manu Antbirds casually circled me in another stand of guadua; the calls of Bamboo Antshrikes regularly rang out from the taller bamboo patches, and, best of all, a striking male White-cheeked Tody-tyrant sang conspicuously from the canopy. And that was just the bamboo birds. I was having a hard time keeping up with all the lifebirds coming my way, but that was OK, I was in seventh heaven. Another choice moment occurred when a male Fiery-capped Manakin, every bit as stunning as the name suggests, spun around a low bamboo stem, in order to attract an unseen female. Even is she was not impressed, we were; VERY! On the way back to lunch I tried taping in a tinamou, usually regarded as an exercise in futility, but this time a Black-capped Tinamou, perhaps having never heard a recording of its call ever before came aggressively striding in! Over lunch we recovered from an exhausting, though exhilarating, morning, and pondered how high our day list must be heading with the tally looking mighty impressive thus far. The afternoon was predictably slower, although to some extent I was relieved to have a break from the onslaught and take in new birds, one-by-one, at a more gentile pace! Still the afternoon yielded some avian goodies, not least my first ever Rufous-capped Nunlet, one I had my eye on from the field guide before landing in Peru for this trip. It did not disappoint. Better still though, a low hooting call came drifting to us from the near understorey, and there was no mistaking the soft calls of an Amazonian Antpitta. I readied myself for a long run in with the species; after all, antpittas never come easy. However, on this day things were different. First the "soft" tinamou, and now an available antpitta watched puffing out its throat sac as it hooted back to me.

And I have barely had time to mention others like Chestnut-capped Puffbird, multiple Bluish-fronted Jacamars, a Great Jacamar near the dining area, Scarlet-hooded Barbet, Fine-barred Piculet, and Johannes's Tody-tyrant, and an electric blue male Plum-throated Cotinga lighting up a tree! I am exhausted merely trying to recall this day. I had heard many tales of the joys of birding the Manu area, now I got to see, hear, and feel the joys of this firsthand, and it was a very heady mix indeed. By the end of the day, Rich, who, as ever, was keeping meticulous notes of the day right as it unfolded, noted we had recorded just under 150 species, birding on foot, at a fairly slow pace. Not bad at all. This was quite probably one of the most enthralling days birding I have experienced in my life; tens of new birds for my world list, with many fine lookers among them, and a new antpitta and tinamou in the same day, both of which showed well. This was a rare day indeed, although perhaps not so much around here!? Sorry for the lack of a bird photo, but I guess I was just too busy, well, birding!

More from Peru very soon, including a shock find at Villa Carmen...

More from Manu (Peru 2 Oct.)

 

The Manu Road in Peru has been a long time haunt of birders and animal lovers and it is not to hard to understand why, even from my short experience of it on this day. The road was covered with clouds of butterflies, producing a myriad of colors. A rustling in the canopy led us to a pair of handsome Grey Woolly Monkeys, seeming out of place to me here at nearly 2000m elevation. The views of steep slopes blanketed in lush forest stretching as far as the eye can see was refreshing and all too rare in this broken world we live in, and of course there was the birds themselves. Here is one of the more cryptic ones, a female Lyre-tailed Nightjar, found by Rich Hoyer (see http://birdernaturalist.blogspot.com/) who had seen it loafing on the same roof a year or more earlier; now that's a stake-out!

More from Peru soon...

The Manu Road...(PERU 2 Oct.)

Today was to be a momentous day, as I got to bird the famous Manu Road for almost the whole day. It is famous at it cuts through a range of elevations, and therefore bird species, and almost all of it is covered in lush forest; from cloudforest in the upper regions to lowland Amazon jungle down at the bottom end. We begun our day in the cloudforest, and notably at Wayqecha, a biological station of an NGO, the Amazon Conservation Association (http://www.amazonconservation.org/contact/index.html), who were hosting us for the trip. Many birders already know of the station, stay there and frequently bird the road closeby. However, we decided to explore their Zorro Trail, which for me was enticing as this is the haunt of one of Wayqecha´s star residents. It is actually locally common around the station, but devilishly difficult to see, so I was expecting a run in within it at some during the morning. Not far from the station some butch flycatchers perched on top of the high Andean elfin forest proved to be the day's first lifebird, the inauspicious Rufous-bellied Bush-Tyrant. Lifebirds became more notable and exciting when a flock of cerulean blue White-collared Jays turned up momentarily distracting from my Red-and-white Antpitta quest, as while the jays screamed above, the antpitta mocked me from the dense shrubbery below. The mockery became almost painful when I tried to tape one onto the trail, and with a 50-50 chance it might come in on either side I opted to look up the trail, only for the dastardly antpitta to hop onto the trail behind me, giving me only the image of a ruddy blur when I turned to try to see it at Daniel's announcement. I would have to wait until the trail's end when I once more met up with Rich Hoyer who revealed he had heard another individual close by, and with a nice opening in the vegetation, we might just try "going in" for it. This worked a treat; after playing its call, hearing nothing for what seemed like an age, the antpitta appeared silently and stealthily  and even lingered to pluck worms from the soil! With that we hit the road and birded our way down to the tiny Amazon foothill town of Pillcopata. Birds came thick and fast all the way down as we moved steadily through rich forests - Yellow-crested Tanager was a standout in an area that also held a fair dose of the shocking Paradise Tanager too. A few flycatchers were new for me including the Inca Flycatcher, which just had to be seen by virtue of its cool name, if not for its appearance, Bolivian Flycatcher was also a lifer there too. However, several larger species made the headlines too, spotted by Daniel's sharp eyes...first a handsome Blue-banded Toucanet, following close on the heels of a glittering green Golden-headed Quetzal, and then two cotingas in the afternoon  were of course well worth seeing: lekking male Andean Cock-of-the-rocks, and the punk-haired Amazonian Umbrellabird. In between all this top draw action we even managed to see a roosting Lyre-tailed Nightjar hanging out on a lodge roof, and bumped into a pair of Woolly Monkeys beside the road.

Much more from deepest, darkest Peru to come...

Beardless Mountaineer...(PERU 1 Oct.)

...Our (myself, Rich Hoyer from WINGS and Daniel Hamuan of ACCA http://www.acca.org.pe/) main target for our short stop around Huacarpay Lakes, near Cusco, to break up our journey over onto the east slope of the Andes, and down the infamous Manu Road, was an endemic and stunning hummer  - Bearded Mountaineer. We were entertained by some classic high Andean birds utilizing the lake itself, such as Andean Gulls, Andean Lapwing, and Speckled Teal. On the fringes of the marsh Plumbeous Rails stomped around brazenly proving that here in the heart of their range they are distinctly easier than further north in Ecuador (where I live), and a concerted effort is required to see this handsome rail. We scoured the tobacco plants, decorated with handsome yellow blooms, as these are the very flowers said to be favored by the sought-after Bearded Mountaineer. Then, finally, when we on the point of leaving a buzzing sound among the tobacco led us to the mountaineer. Though sadly it seemed to lack a bear and I guess therefore was a female. Pushing on towards the Manu Road we went through dry inter Andean valleys which produced a further two endemics, and handsome ones at that: Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, and the remarkably attractive Creamy-crested Spinetail, which must be one of the most pretty of this group anywhere. Well worth seeing, though unfortunately its furtive behavior meant I failed to get the picture I wished to share with you. We ended the day at the Wayqecha Biological Station (run by ACCA, the Peruvian arm of ACA http://www.amazonconservation.org/), in the cloudforest of the east slope, slipping in a Rufous Antpitta (here with a shockingly different voice to the form I am used to in Ecuador justifying its upcoming split), Violet-throated Starfrontlet, and Golden-collared Tanager before dusk fell and the air chilled suddenly.it had been a varied and interesting day, sprinkled with Peru endemics, and yet we had only just begun.

More from Peru, and the Manu Road, to come very soon...

Andean Giants (PERU, 1 Oct.)

I arrived in Lima, Peru the day before and was quickly connecting with a flight to the southern city of Cusco. In the evening we dropped in at Barry Walker's famous Cross Keys pub, with no sign of Barry anywhere save for the odd abandoned scope in various corners of this very British pub.

I was in Peru as a guest of ACCA, a Peruvian arm of ACA (Amazon Conservation Association http://www.amazonconservation.org/), who have various biological stations in the region. Myself and WINGS guide Rich Hoyer were invited to see three of these and comment and advise on how these may be developed for bird tourism. This gave me my first views of Peru, even though I had been living "next door" in Ecuador for the past seven years or so. Our first ACCA property was to be Wayqecha station, (http://www.acca.org.pe/espanol/investigacion/wayqecha/area_wayqecha.html) positioned in high altitude cloudforest on the Manu Road. However, we had a long drive before we would get there, and many birds to see en-route. We decided to make a stop at Huacarpay Lakes, en route in the hope of an endemic, and gorgeous Peruvian endemic, the Bearded Mountaineer. While searching the tobacco bushes for these Andean beauties, we were distracted time and again by an abundance of Giant Hummingbirds present in the area at the time. This hummingbird always shocks me. Being used to seeing hummingbirds in my Andean home in Ecuador, I am used to them being flitting, dashing beauties, darting excitedly from bush to bush in a blur of high speed wings. However, the Giant Hummingbird is a very different animal indeed. The World's largest hummingbird it weighs in at around 24 grams or 8.5 ounces, around twice the weight of an American Goldfinch, and eight times the weight of the familiar Ruby-throated Hummingbird of North America. In length it is also notable too, at almost 9 inches or 23 centimeters being larger than an Eastern Bluebird or a Red-winged Blackbird, and almost three times the size of North America's Ruby-throated Hummer. Thus when this bird flies there is not the familiar blur of wings, and a motion that is hard for human eyes to keep track of. Rather the wings flap deeply and deliberately in clear strokes clearly discernible to our eyes and brains. Indeed this starling-sized hummingbird often does not strike as such at all, with its labored movements and unimaginable size when compared to most others in this diminutive family. We enjoyed watching this particular individual as compensation for the missing mountaineer, while a Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, another oddity that bucks the trend and reputation of all flycatchers being dowdy creatures, vied for our attentions at the lake edge behind...

More from the land of the Incas on the way...