Avian Adventures in Peru - 1

Peter writes...
Last November I was fortunate enough to visit Peru at the invitation of PROMPERU, the country’s tourism authority.  The plan was that I might at some later date, as a result of that trip, take a group of birdwatchers to Peru for Avian Adventures.  Well, last month that plan came together and I led an Avian Adventures tour to the north of Peru and to the Andes and Machu Picchu.

The tour began with an early morning KLM flight from Birmingham to Amsterdam followed by a 12-hour flight to Lima.  It wasn’t nearly as bad as it sounds with comfortable seats, plenty of legroom and in-flight food and entertainment both of a good standard.  I managed to watch three movies!

We arrived at Jorge Chávez International Airport more or less on time at around 6:00 pm, passed quickly through immigration formalities and picked up our bags without fuss.  Unfortunately, traffic in Lima was dreadful and it then took about an hour to get to our hotel in Miraflores, which is described as “an exclusive residential and upscale shopping district south of downtown Lima”.  However, it had been a long day and by the time we had checked in there was no appetite for anything other than sleep!

To enable us to acclimatise and recover from the long flight we spent our first day in Peru birding in areas close to Lima.  Our local guide was Gunnar Engblom, owner of Kolibri Expeditions.  I had been birding with Gunnar on the last day of the November trip and had met him again recently at the Birdfair at Rutland Water.

We began by driving to a wetland area, Humedales Puerto Viejo.  This provided some easy birding to get us started – ducks, herons, cormorants, shorebirds and just a few passerines.  Highlights were the colourful Peruvian Meadowlark and Many-colored Rush Tyrant, a dozen or so Grassland Yellow Finches and numerous Black-necked Stilts and Wilson’s Phalaropes.

Many-colored Rush Tyrant

 Black-necked Stilts

Later we went to Lomas de Asia, a relatively new birding site that seems set to become a popular destination for visitors to Lima.  Lomas is the name given to fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert, a region that experiences little or no rainfall and is otherwise devoid of plant life.  Lomas de Asia is essentially a fog oasis.  We spent a couple of hours here during which we saw Burrowing Owls, a Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Vermilion Flycatchers and a number of species that weren’t seen again during the tour.  Several of these were attracted to a small reservoir and to various puddles around the parking area.  They included Band-tailed Sierra Finch, Raimondi’s Yellow Finch, Collared Warbling Finch and Chestnut-throated Seedeater.  Particularly notable were the Thick-billed Miners, a species that is endemic to Peru.  Several of them were very confiding and they were probably used to finding food around the picnic site where Gunnar and his driver, Renzo, prepared our second breakfast of the day!  While we waited for food we occupied ourselves trying to identify the various hummingbirds that came by.  Gunnar named them as Amazilia Hummingbird, Peruvian Sheartail and, appropriately, Oasis Hummingbird.  These were just the first three of more than 50 hummingbird species that we would see in the next two weeks.

 Band-tailed Sierra Finch

 Burrowing Owls

 Thick-billed Miner

 Vermilion Flycatcher

 Grassland Yellow Finch

Collared Warbling Finch

From Lomas de Asia we drove back north to Pucusana, a small fishing town where we saw hundreds of small boats anchored in the shelter of the harbour.  They were a colourful sight but thankfully, Gunnar recognised them as a sign that we probably shouldn’t go ahead with the boat trip he had planned – conditions out at sea were a bit rough!  In reality this was no big deal although it did mean that we would have to be content with seeing Humboldt Penguins from a distance, which after only a short while we did.  From the cliff top we also watched Inca Terns, Red-legged Cormorants, Peruvian Pelicans and Peruvian Boobies.  Along the sandy shore were Ruddy Turnstones, Belcher’s & Grey-headed Gulls and Blackish Oystercatcher.  Inca Terns were also hanging around the fish market, even perched on the market stalls in the manner of gulls rather than terns.  They really are unusual birds with their dashing curly white moustaches.  They are placed in the monotypic genus Larosterna, a name that seems to imply a combination of gull and tern.

 Belcher's Gull

 Blackish Oystercatcher

 Inca Tern

Peruvian Pelican

All in all it was an excellent start to our tour; during the day we visited several other sites and recorded about 70 bird species.

More to follow…

South-east Arizona

An Avian Adventures tour in Arizona has become a regular feature of late April and early May and this year has been no exception.  Each year the itinerary tends to be similar, concentrating on the south-east corner of the state and the Santa Catalina, Chiricahua, Huachuca and Santa Rita mountain ranges.  There have been quite a number of blogs about previous tours, e.g. here, here, here and here.

Not for the first time, an important target species this year was Olive Warbler (Peucedramus taeniatus).  Although superficially this species seems like a typical New World wood warbler, evidence from anatomical and DNA studies has placed it into a family of its own, the Peucedramidae.

From time to time we have clients whose aim it is to see at least one representative of each of the world’s 200-odd bird families.  As Olive Warbler is the only member of the Peucedramidae, it therefore has particular significance.

It isn’t what you would describe as a difficult species to see but they do tend to forage high among clumps of pine needles and they never seem to be particularly vocal.  Finding the first one is always something of a relief!  Maybe one day I will manage to photograph one…

Here are some of the birds I did manage to photograph, although photography is never the main aim of these tours and that applies especially to the tour leader – me!

Vermilion Flycatcher – mostly found near water but a fairly common bird.  We saw them along the San Pedro River, at Whitewater Draw, at Patagonia Lake and Sweetwater Wetlands.

Elegant Trogon – another ‘must see’ species in Arizona.  Like so many species it’s not too difficult to find if it calls but can otherwise be elusive.

Northern Tufted Flycatcher – the first record in the USA was in 1991 and only a handful have been seen since then.  This bird was in Carr Canyon in the Huachucas.

Acorn Woodpecker – a very common bird and easy to see but always popular.

Eastern Meadowlark – this is the lilianae subspecies, earmarked as a potential future split, Lilian’s Meadowlark. 

Great Horned Owl – we saw seven owl species during the tour.  This one was at Whitewater Draw but a pair of Great Horned Owls also had young in a tree right next to Portal Peak Lodge.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird – the former home of Wally & Marion Paton in Patagonia, now taken over by Tucson Audubon, has long been the best place for this species.  We also saw one in the nearby state park.

Rufous-capped Warbler – a very scarce resident in SE Arizona but regularly seen in Florida Canyon.

Northern Beardless Tyrannulet – the curious name refers to the species’ lack of the rictal bristles that are a feature of most other tyrannulets.  This bird lacks almost any features!

White-throated Sparrow – a scarce wintering bird in Arizona, this was the only one we saw.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker – a bird of the desert and other arid areas where it nests in cavities in trees and cacti.

Cooper's Hawk - this accipiter is a surprisingly common bird around Tucson.

More Avian Adventures!

With June left holding the fort in the Algarve, Peter has again been off again leading a tour for Avian Adventures, this time in his favourite Arizona.  It was his 22nd visit to the Grand Canyon state and his 14th spring tour there.

This year's tour was confined to the south-east of the state with just one brief excursion north of Tucson to find Burrowing Owl.  The itinerary included stays in Portal, Sierra Vista, Green Valley and Tucson, giving access to more excellent birding sites than could possibly be covered in the time available.

Here are some photographs of a few of the birds seen and places visited during two weeks of sunshine:

Scenic Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahuas

Burrowing Owl - in decline and becoming harder to find around Tucson

Willow Tank - an oasis in the desert, near Portal

Whitewater Draw - not much water at this time of year but still worth a visit

Patagonia Lake - a large man-made lake, good for ducks, grebes, shorebirds and more

Lower Sabino Canyon - saguaros, chollas, mesquite, palo verde and more

Amado Sewage Pond - often attracts something unusual, this time a Greater Scaup

Portal Main St. - always good for an early morning or evening walk

Black-throated Sparrow - an attractive common resident of desert scrub

Lark Sparrow - one of the most numerous birds we saw

Cactus Wren - the official state bird of Arizona

Greater Roadrunner - always popular and seemed particularly numerous this year

Scott's Oriole - one of three oriole species seen

(Mexican) Spotted Owl - well worth the climb up Miller Canyon 

Lucifer Hummingbird - eight species of hummingbirds were seen

Vermilion Flycatcher - presumably a first-year male

Arizona

After our few days birding in California we moved just a short distance east and spent more than two weeks in Arizona.

Arizona is the sixth largest of the United States behind Alaska, Texas, California, Montana and New Mexico and covers an area of 295,254 square kilometres. That makes it substantially bigger than the UK but with a population of only 6½ million people! In terms of the number of bird species recorded, it ranks third, behind only California and Texas, two states that have the obvious advantage of a coast line providing lots of seabirds and shorebirds.

We restricted ourselves to the southern portion of the state where we visited many of the well known birding sites that are familiar to us from multiple previous visits (this was Peter’s 19th time in Arizona). Some of this was part of an Avian Adventures tour but we spent a week on our own after the tour which included a few days spent with friends in Tucson when we even had some time off from birding.

Without doubt, Tucson is one of our favourite cities, not least because of its location close to such good birding areas. Sweetwater Wetlands, a wastewater treatment facility on the edge of the city is just the sort of place you would like to have on your doorstep. The nearby Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is another must-visit attraction and then there are the Santa Catalina Mountains, notably Mt Lemmon. The city itself has several small parks that regularly turn up interesting birds and within easy reach there are countless other places to find birds.

Ruddy Duck - common on most lakes and not causing any problems!

Yellow-rumped Warbler - birds of the Audubon's variety were common.

There was plenty of snow left on Mt Lemmon.

In winter, the Sulphur Springs Valley, located between the towns of Willcox and Douglas is a great place to be birding. It’s a huge area and we made a couple of trips down there. It’s famous for its raptors and Sandhill Cranes. More than 16,000 Sandhill Cranes were counted while we were there – quite a spectacle!

Thousands of Sandhill Cranes

Red-tailed Hawk in its natural habitat, a power pole.

The San Rafael Valley is another area that is probably best in winter. The attractions here are again birds of prey but also sparrows, lots of sparrows and longspurs. It’s an area of extensive grassland with limited access but where a surprising number and variety of birds can be seen from the narrow road. We looked hard for Baird’s Sparrows but without success on this occasion. As it was, Chestnut-collared Longspur was probably our highlight here.

Horned Lark - a regular species in grassland areas.

The San Rafael grasslands are best approached from the small town of Patagonia where Patons’ Birders Haven is always on the itinerary. Wally and Marion Paton unfortunately passed away some time ago but for the past couple of years the feeders in their yard have been maintained by Michael Marsden and have continued to attract birds all year round.

Another must-visit site in this area is Patagonia Lake State Park. Always trying to avoid the crowds that result from its recreational uses, particularly at weekends, we always expect to see a few species that we don’t find elsewhere. In the past we have seen a wintering Elegant Trogon here and we were fortunate this time to find what may well be the same bird somehow making a living along the Sonoita Creek that feeds the lake from its eastern end. This was probably the bird of the trip for the Avian Adventures group.

The swellegant, Elegant Trogon.

We also spent a couple of nights in the Chiricahua Mountains in the extreme south-east of the state, even crossing briefly into New Mexico. Everyone we’ve ever taken to Arizona has loved the ‘towns’ of Portal and Paradise and nearby Cave Creek Canyon and although they're not at their best in winter we couldn’t resist going for a rare chance to be there on our own.

White-breasted Nuthatch - this one at the George Walker House in Paradise.

Out to the west of Gila Bend we had a good look at part of the 68,000-acre Paloma Ranch where we found a remarkable number of Burrowing Owls as well as plenty of Mountain Bluebirds, Western Meadowlarks, American Pipits, Horned Larks and a variety of sparrows. These and flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and doves at the cattle feedlots were a ready food supply for the Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks, Ferruginous Hawk and Merlin that we saw but it was less clear what an Osprey was doing there.

Burrowing Owl - always a favourite.

We also took a look at Madera Canyon and Florida Canyon (now a regular site for Rufous-capped Warblers); we had a walk along the San Pedro River and puzzled over empidonax flycatchers; we took a drive out to the famous ‘Thrasher Spot’ near Buckeye where we managed to see Sage and Bendire’s Thrashers as well as the main feature, Le Conte’s Thrasher; in the Community Park at Anthem (north of Phoenix and the furthest north we went), we were successful in finding the long-staying Rufous-backed Robin, one of several of this species present in Arizona this winter. Unfortunately, on a Saturday afternoon when the park was, to say the least, rather crowded with people, we failed to locate a Rusty Blackbird that has also been a long-stayer there.

Sage Sparrow - a sideshow when looking for Le Conte's Thrasher and much easier to photograph.

Rufous-backed Robin - braving the crowds at Anthem.

The Santa Cruz Flats, west of I-10 was where we went to find what we regard as one of the must-see species of a winter trip to Arizona – Mountain Plover. We managed to find a few and, in fact went back for a second look on our last morning before heading for the airport. We do like our plovers and sandpipers! Crested Caracaras were also notable birds in an area where, as in several places we went, the cultivation of cotton seems to have taken over, probably to the detriment of wintering bird populations.

Not snow, but cotton.

Eastern (Lilian's) Meadowlark

Vermilion Flycatcher - this one out on the Santa Cruz Flats.

All in all it was a great trip – great birding, beautiful weather and good company! What’s not to like about Arizona?