The Trekkie's Forum

Great stuff Sue !! - you can use the 16 hr flight to type up your visit report

cant wait to see more of your trip

Sounds amazing!...can't wait

Hi Trekkies,
In July I was given the opportunity of joining 5 other birders on an organized birding trip to Southern Peru.
3 of the group were South African birders & we were joined by a bird photographer from Taiwan & his wife.The 15 day trip covered Lima & the coast South of Lima, high altitude Andean Bogs (4500M),Cusco, Machu Picchu, Manu Bioshpere Reserve & the Amazon.

Day 1
As I had arrived in Lima a day earlier than the other tour members, I was taken out to the Lomas de Lachay Nature Reserve,120kms N of Lima for the morning.The Reserve features an unique mist fed ecosystem & covers an area of 5000 hectares.
It hosts a variety of Peruvian Endemics & I saw the following in a bird list of over 25 species.(all lifers). 


Flycatcher, Vermilion by soertli, on Flickr
What a bird to see as your 1st lifer!

Then a Burrowing Owl with 5 chicks.

Owl, Burrowing by soertli, on Flickr



Seedsnipe, Least by soertli, on Flickr

One of the endemic birds of the area is the Thick-billed Miner

Miner,Thickbilled by soertli, on Flickr

Sounds like an awesome trip SS. The photos are great!

Day 2
The group left Lima early (all others arriving the night before) & travelled about 60kms S of the city to a fishing village called Pucasana.
Our bird guide, Eduardo Ormaeche, knew exactly where to go for us to see some of the coastal birds at close range.
We had excellent views of swimmimg Humboldt Penguin (whose numbers are declining),Inca Tern, Peruvian Booby, Red-legged Cormorant & the endemic Surf Cinclodes.
A boat trip out into the harbour brought us close to Peruvian Pelican, Guanay Cormorant & a basking sea lion.


Cormorant,Red-legged by soertli, on Flickr

Tern, Inca by soertli, on Flickr

We then drove a further 20kms S of Pucasana to a wetland called "Puerto Viejo".
Highlights included Great Grebe, White-cheeked Pintail, Wren-like Rushbird & the aptly named Many-coloured Rush Tyrant (difficult to get a photo-google it to see its plumage).
We had lunch overlooking a lagoon together with Gray Gull, Blackish Oystercatcher, American Oystercatcher & Black Skimmer for company.
The birding ended with close up views of a Peruvian Thick-knee & American Kestrel.


Skimmer, Black by soertli, on Flickr


Thick-knee, Peruvian 1 by soertli, on Flickr

Our destination for the night was a charmimg guesthouse en route to the Santa Eulalia Road- which we were to bird the next day.

Day 3 - The Santa Eulalia Road
This famous birding road takes one up into the mountains above Lima.It is a narrow, dusty & precipitous road but many Peruvian endemics can be seen. All birding is done on the side of the road,whilst dodging the buses & cars that drive past in the opposite direction emitting clouds of dust in their wake.
The birding was done in two 4x4 vehicles.
A total of 24 new lifers were seen on the day including 5 endemics: Great Inca Finch, Rusty-bellied Brush Finch, Bronze-tailed Comet, Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail & Black-necked Woodpecker.


Inca-Finch - Great 1 by soertli, on Flickr


Tit-Spinetail, Rusty-crowned by soertli, on Flickr


Good sightings were had of Purple-collared Woodstar, Band-tailed Seedeater, Peruvian Pygmy Owl, Bare-faced Ground Dove, Mountain Parakeet & Golden-bellied Grosbeak to name a few.


Ground-Dove,Bare-faced 1 by soertli, on Flickr


Pygmy-Owl,Peruvian by soertli, on Flickr



Our first Hummingbird of the trip, a Peruvian Sheartail, I missed at first.(I thought I was looking at a big Bumble Bee!)
Needless to say photgraphing this frenetic "blob" was nearly impossible.
We were joined at lunchtime by a single Andean Condor that disappeared over the mountains before the camera could get lifted.
The long, hectic but very rewarding day ended with a 2 hr hair-raising drive up the Central highway to our overnight stay at Santa Mateo.
Altitude here was 3300M, all to prepare us for the next day's exciting birding to the central Andean bogs at 4500M to look for 2 VERY special birds.