Here is a starter of what the Peru trip was like.
I left Jo'burg at 10h30 in the morning, and after a 2 hour stop in Sao Paulo, arrived in Lima at 21h00, same day, thanks to the time difference of 7 hours. Lucho picked me up and we headed to an overnight stop at a small "guesthouse" -which was basically a Wendyhouse in a garden, containing a bed, and a bricked on bathroom. We chatted about the day to follow, Lucho over some chicken, me over a much needed beer. (THEY SERVE THEM IN 650ml BOTTLES GUYS!!!!! - well, in the more rural areas anyway!) The plan was to head up the St. Eulalia valley, and look for the specials there, such as Great Inca Finch, an endemic to Peru, Canyon Canastero, Andean Condor, Torrent Duck, White capped Dipper, amongst others. We would overnight somewhere in the valley (we ended up camping next to the road.), and then carry on birding for about 3 hours in the morning, before heading back into Lima to pick up Oz and Shachar at the airport.
This a quick taster of some of the birds we saw, in the order seen, by no means complete, and leaving a lot more to come in the final report:
Andean Condor (St. Eulalia Valley)
American Kestrel (Outskirts of Lima)
We quickly collected the Israelites and headed straight off South, to Pucusana, Lucho taking us the scenic and quicker drive along the beachfront, so that we could get silly birds, like Neotropic Cormorant, Grey Gull, Peruvian Pelican, and our first Inca Terns.
Surf Cinclodes (Pucusana)
Red-legged Cormorant (Pucusana)
That night we flew North to Chiclayo, a bustling noisy town, where we slept at a reasonable hotel, where all the staff I'm sure are relatives of Fawlty Towers' Manuel. We headed out early to Bosque de Pomac, to look for West Peruvian Screech Owl amongst others. We found one en-route, and then another on an early morning walk. We found endemics and special birds for the area aplenty, before heading off East to Jaen, where we would spend the night.
Scarlet-backed Woodpecker (Bosque de Pomac)
After another morning walk and several lifers in the bag, we set off for Pomacochas, just before there we would stop at the Huembo hummingbird centre, main target the Marvelous Spatuletail. The place is an area of conserved forest, where some feeders are placed in the trees to promote awareness of the Hummingbirds that the are holds, providing people with good views, and leaving the birds relatively undisturbed. We added several of the 25 Hummingbird species we were to see on this trip at the centre, including the Spatuletail, which is absolutely Marvelous!
Green Violet-ear (Huembo)
White-bellied Woodstar (Huembo)
Little Woodstar (female) (Huembo) 6.5cm in length, 1.2cm of this is bill
Bronzy Inca (Huembo)
We then went to Pomacochas, where the budget hotel we planned to stay was completely booked out by some miners who were working nearby. We therefore had to stay at the "expensive" hotel (Under R400 with dinner, in a hotel that wouldn't be out of place in Sandton!) Another group of Manuel's cousins, and then off to the birding mecca, in the Abra Patricia pass, where the Owlet lives. The accomodation is a classy lodge situated in a large area of natural forest, bought by E.C.O.A.N to preserve it and the wildlife it holds. It was labelled as expensive, but with accomodation, dinner and breakfast, R650 per night was reasonable in my view. We heard the Owlet on one occasion, it rained every evening an morning, which did not help the Owling. We were to see several wonderful bird species, including 26 species of colourful Tanagers, the endangered and localised Royal Sunangel, Booted Racket-tail, 2 species of Jays, and many, many more. There were also some Hummingbird feeders, where some different Hummingbird species were also seen. We only missed out on one species that occurs in the area, although it is rare. (For now I forget it's name other than it is a White-tip!) We also saw the amazing Swordbill Hummingbird on two occasions, although due to the way it feeds (vertically!), the feeders are not quite its cup of tea.
Emerald-bellied Puffleg (ECOAN lodge)
Long-tailed Sylph (ECOAN lodge)
Black-throated Tody-Tyrant (ECOAN lodge) - what names these birds have!
Flame-faced Tanager (ECOAN lodge)
Envious Green Jay (ECOAN lodge)
This one is from El Paraiso, which is another whole topic, touched on by my snippet from the Israeli trip report. We were to see other vagrants South African birds such as Royal Tern and Kentish Plover (Their race is known as Snowy Plover.) The Willet has not visited our shores (YET!) and if it did, the wing markings are very distinctive.
Willet (El Paraiso)
Don't hold your breath too much for more, it's going to take a while!!
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1Comment
at Wednesday, 05 August 2009 15:04
What amazing birds, I'm especially fond of the Red-legged Cormorant!
I was unaware that the Swordbill Hummingbird fed vertically! In a way it seems to make sense if you think about their bill size...
Looking forward to the next instalment!
2Comment
at Wednesday, 05 August 2009 16:25
mganificent birds, beautiful shots of them, can't wait to read more :-)))
and LOL@Manuel's relatives!
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