Peru Fam Trip - 1

Peter writes:

My recent visit to Peru came about as a result of an invitation from PROMPERU, the country’s tourism authority, for Avian Adventures to send a representative on a short familiarisation trip.  The object was for me to gain some further experience of Peru with particular reference to the birdwatching but also the accommodation, transport, guiding and infrastructure relevant to us offering a tour there.

I was part of a group of eight (three of us from the UK, two each from Italy and the USA and one from Canada) and we were accompanied throughout by at least four local Peruvians.  Without exception, they were a great bunch and a pleasure to travel with.

Apart from hotels in Lima at the start and end of the trip, accommodation was in hotels and lodges operated by Inkaterra, a company at the forefront of ecotourism and sustainable development in Peru.  More than 800 bird species and 100 mammal species have been recorded in the grounds and surroundings of Inkaterra’s seven properties and we got to stay at four of them.

After a night in Lima on arrival we were back at the airport next morning for a flight to Puerto Maldonado, known as ‘the gateway to the southern Amazon jungle’.  When we arrived there just after midday the temperature was a steamy 32ºC. 

From the airport it was just a short way to the Rio Madre de Dios, a river that flows into neighbouring Bolivia and is part of the vast Amazon River watershed.  Here we boarded a boat that took us to the Inkaterra Guides Field Station.  Birds seen from the boat included many Plumbeous Kites, Cocoi Heron, Wood Stork, Snowy Egret, Pied Lapwing, Black Skimmer, Red-throated Caracara and four species of vultures – a very satisfactory start.  In the afternoon we were birding in nearby forest as we walked to a canopy tower and a slightly scary walkway between the trees, 100 feet above the forest floor.  Amongst the birds seen were Russet-backed Oropendola, Buff-throated Woodcreeper, Black-fronted Nunbird, Curl-crested Aracari and several tanager species; mammals included a Night Monkey and a Mouse Opossum.

On the Rio Madre de Dios

Snowy Egret

Wood Stork

Inkaterra Guides Field Station

Mouse Opossum

Next day we took to the river again but only after dragging ourselves away from the amazing number and variety of birds seen around the lodge.  We were at the edge of the Tambapota National Reserve, a vast area of Amazonian rainforest with tanagers, motmots, barbets, parrots, macaws and parakeets, woodcreepers, flycatchers and lots more, all vying for attention and often presenting an identification challenge – in other words great birding!

The boat took us downstream to an oxbow lake, Lago Valencia.  Again it was birds all the way with Amazon Kingfisher, Grey-lined Hawk, Black Caracara, Jabiru, Collared Plovers, Hoatzins and a Ladder-tailed Nightjar among the many highlights.  We walked a forest trail and got up close to enormous Brazil nut trees.  As well as birds there were butterflies to enjoy (and identify later!) and an occasional lizard or monkey.

Grey-lined Hawk

Ladder-tailed Nightjar

Glittering Sapphire

Iphiclus Sister

Giant Ameiva

Blue Morpho

Black Caracara

The following day saw us board the boat again and head off along the river.  However, we didn’t go very far before taking off on foot along a muddy trail that led us to another oxbow lake, Lago Sandoval.  The walk produced Collared Trogon, Plumbeous Antbird, Plain-winged Antwren, Dull-capped Attila and much more.  At the lake we climbed aboard two smaller boats and went looking for Giant Otters.  Around the edge of the lake were Hoatzins, Rufescent Tiger-Herons, Limpkins, Grey-necked Wood-Rail, Striated Herons, Anhingas, Neotropic Cormorants and Sunbitterns.  Long-nosed Bats were found roosting on a tree trunk.  There was a thunderstorm while we were out on the lake and when we returned to the muddy trail it was even muddier!

The trail to Lago Sandoval

 Giant River Otter

 Birding on Lago Sandoval

 Limpkin

 Anhinga

 Long-nosed Bats

 Hoatzin

Grey-necked Wood-Rail

After two nights at the Field Station, we now went to spend a night at the Inkaterra Hacienda Concepción.  We arrived late afternoon when the light was starting to fade but still managed to find a few birds around the grounds as well as Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys and a Brown Agouti.  There was much better birding during the pre-breakfast session the next morning, starting at 5.00 a.m.  Species seen included Yellow-tufted & Red-stained Woodpeckers, White-throated Jacamars, White-browed & Chestnut-tailed Antbirds, Amazonian Motmot, Great Antshrike and Speckled Chachalaca but none of these gained our attention more than a Rainbow Boa, a strikingly-patterned snake that allowed close approach and, in fact, might easily have been stepped on.

 Hacienda Concepción

Rainbow Boa

More of my Peru Fam Trip to follow...

Just back from Florida

We really enjoy the Algarve at this time of year.  It’s much less crowded with people than it is during the summer months but it’s still full of birds.  Also, the weather is generally rather better than we can expect in the UK with temperatures forecast to be as high as 18°C in the next few days.

Having said that, we do also very much like birding in other parts of the world that have a warm climate and we never turn down an opportunity for some winter birding in the USA.  In November, December and January of the last few years we have led tours for Avian Adventures in California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Florida, often over Christmas and the New Year.  Just like the Algarve these southern states attract countless wintering birds from the north and there’s always a chance of finding something unusual.

This year’s tour in Florida from which we have just returned was most successful and full of interest.  Not only did we record a good selection of birds but there were also butterflies, mammals, reptiles and amphibians to keep us occupied.

 Green Heron

 Osprey

 Reddish Egret

 Loggerhead Shrike

Limpkin

Compared to Arizona, California and New Mexico, Florida isn’t particularly attractive scenically, it’s rather flat and much of it is only a few feet above sea level.  It is the eighth most densely populated of the US states and much of it has been built on.  For all that there is surprising habitat diversity and it still has plenty of wildlife.  The birds include a splendid variety of wetland species, several subtropical specialities some of which occur nowhere else in the USA and many exotics that have either escaped from captivity or been deliberately introduced.  There is just one endemic species, the Florida Scrub-Jay, first officially recognised as a separate species only about 20 years ago and now for many birders one of the main reasons for visiting Florida.

Florida Scrub-Jay (John Cutting)

  White-crowned Pigeon

Apart from the Florida Scrub-Jay, the most notable birds seen during our tour were Snail Kite, White-crowned Pigeon and Limpkin, none of which can be found elsewhere in the USA, Burrowing Owl of the subspecies floridana, which is much darker in appearance than the birds we see in Arizona, the white morph of Great Blue Heron (“Great White Heron“), Vermilion Flycatcher, Worm-eating Warbler and Summer Tanager that are all somewhat scarce in Florida during the winter and Henslow’s Sparrow, a species that neither of us had seen previously.  We also saw two House Finches in the Everglades National Park, a common enough species in the northern part of the state but almost unheard of so far south and the cause of some excitement among the locals.

  Great Blue Heron - white morph

Burrowing Owl

Amongst the mammals the main attraction is West Indian Manatee, which we saw in several different locations.  Nine-banded Armadillo was also popular although most frequently seen as road-kill.  Snakes included the attractive but venomous Pygmy Rattlesnake.  With our emphasis very much on the birds, we paid attention mainly to the larger butterflies such as the potentially confusing Gulf Fritillary, Monarch, Viceroy, Queen and Soldier.  Needless to say, we saw countless Alligators.

 Nine-banded Armadillo

Gulf Fritillary

We were also fortunate to be able to watch the launch from Kennedy Space Centre of the Orion EFT-1.  We joined a small crowd of people at Kennedy Point Park at first light on a rather dull morning to see the rocket lift off and very soon disappear into the clouds.

Lift-off from Kennedy Space Centre

We can thoroughly recommend Florida for a winter birding break.  If it appeals to you, let us know - we are planning another tour there for Avian Adventures in January 2016!