TOUCAN BIRDING TOURS North Peru 14 – 27 June 2008. Colin Bushell.
My thirteenth visit to Northern Peru was certainly a very memorable one: huge bird flocks in the cloud forests despite dire weather at Abra Patricia; superb close-up views of most of the birds on the “wish-list”; a few “first timers” like Little Woodstar and thankfully some faithful “old timers” like the Grey-bellied Comet. Chaparri became a very acceptable alternative to Olmos and El Limon and it was certainly nice to spend a more relaxing time in the dry forests here this year. It was a real pleasure to spend a fortnight birding with a great team too – my sincere thanks to Colin Horne, Dennis O’Connor and Peter McCalmont who were enthusiastic travelling companions throughout the whole trip, come rain or shine!
The tour started in fine fashion in the dry forests of Bosque Pomac with Peruvian Plantcutters, Rufous Flycatchers, Sulphur-throated Finches and Necklaced Spinetails the pick of the bunch before moving to Chaparri. The White-winged Guans are of course the stars here but we had plenty of time to look for Tumbes Tyrant, Tumbes Sparrow, Short-tailed Woodstar and the superb Elegant Crescentchest.
Leaving the coast behind we headed for one of the lowest passes in the Peruvian Andes at Abra de Porculla. After a slow start we began finding our targets including the rare Piura Chat-Tyrant. In fact I’ve never seen one so close – of course that doesn’t mean the photos I took are any good! Bay-crowned Brush-Finch, Chapman’s Antshrike, Rufous-necked Foliage-Gleaner (near a nest) and Peruvian Sheartails filled our morning adequately, although we had to wait until the eleventh hour for our Line-cheeked Spinetails.
Destination Jaen and Little Inca-Finch was the order of the afternoon with the added bonus of Spot-throated Hummingbird and he distinctive shumbae race of Collared Antshrike all bagged before retiring for the night. Maranon Crescentchest started the next day well at Tamborapa followed by the Maranon Spinetail, “Chinchipe” Spinetail (see species list) and Northern Slaty-Antshrike before making the long journey into the Andes and Pomacochas.
Spatuletail at the feeders was an unexpected bonus the following day but it was good to have seen males and females “up the hill” feeding on its favourite Brachiota flowers above Pomacochas. What a great way to start the day. Little Woodstar above Pedro Ruiz was a new “Toucan Birding Tours Bird” but still overshadowed by its elaborate friend with the big spoons swirling around behind him!
Abra Patricia was undeniably the wettest site on the tour this year but it still turned up the goods. Despite early morning rain we saw most of the wanted birds even if the weather put pay to some of our antpitta efforts that were so time consuming. Nevertheless Yellow-scarfed Tanager, the first of five Sword-billed Hummers, Royal Sunangel, Scaled Fruiteater, Johnson’s Tody-Tyrant and Chestnut-crested Cotingas kept spirits high in sometimes atrocious conditions.
We began the “home stretch” by leaving Pomacochas early and birding the Utcubamba Valley en route to Leimebamba. Unfortunately the Koepcke’s Screech-Owls were AWOL at their traditional roost but compensation in the form of Maranon Thrush, Buff-bellied Tanagers and Black-necked Woodpecker was sufficient. Our afternoon’s birding near Leimebamba finally fulfilled its promise late on with Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Golden-headed Quetzal, White-collared Jay and Mountain Caciques by the track and a majestic Andean Condor over the sunlit crags. Dawn the next day saw us waiting for Russet-mantled Softtails to stir in the rain and as we made our way into the mighty Maranon Canyon we found Coppery Metaltails and White-chinned Thistletails before descending to Balsas. Both Grey-winged and Buff-bridled Inca-Finches were found side-by-side on this afternoon even if two more rare endemics - Chestnut-backed Thornbird and Yellow-faced Parrotlet – had to wait for the next day.
Our journey from Celendin to Cajamarca was punctuated with frequent stops for White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant, Striated Earthcreeper, Rufous-webbed Bush-Tyrant, Black Metaltail and a host of birds on the Paramo like White-browed Ground-Tyrants and a flock of 50+ Puna Ibis. We managed to get to the Chonta Valley in time to get the Grey-bellied Comet before dinner too, saving precious time for the next day.
Our last day in the field had been altered due to an Aero Condor flight cancellation but the birds were on our side. Great Spinetails were ever so easy at San Marcos and we had time to appreciate these rare birds alongside Buff-bridled Inca-Finches before setting off to Cajamarca where we saw Unicolored Tapaculos not far from the city.
The long journey to Chiclayo to catch our rearranged flight to Lima the next morning was less than a highlight to say the least. Seeing a Coastal Miner in the lane of a toll on the Pan American was a bit surreal but for House Sparrow to be the last bird of the tour is pure injustice!
Acknowledgements.
Sincere thanks to Xavier Munoz and Mercedes Rivadaneira of Neblina Forest for arranging our tour and Anahi Plenge of Ultimate Voyages for ground support in Peru. Rob Williams was very helpful and made some suggestions to improve the itinerary, particularly in the Chaparri area. Thanks Rob.
Ali Takayama was our driver throughout the tour and was assisted by Tomas Salazar (our guide at Chaparri). Tomas shared his knowledge of Bosque Pomac and Chaparri readily and escorted us on the rest of the tour. He was a pleasure to be with.
Finally I’d like to thanks David Guevaras, the manager of the ECOAN Lodge at Abra Patricia, whose hospitality was very much appreciated one very wet morning at the pass! Roberto (our guide at Abra Patricia) showed us around and we are very grateful to him for sharing his expertise.
ITINERARY
14 June: Group assembles in Lima. Overnight in Miraflores.
15 June: Early flight to Chiclayo. Short journey to Bosque Pomac. Lunch in Chiclayo. Afternoon transfer to Chaparri via Tinajones.
16 June: Birding Chaparri.
17 June: Birding Chaparri early before trip into foothills on road to Tomache. Afternoon visit to Puerto Eten. Overnight Chiclayo.
18 June: Chiclayo – Abra de Porculla (2140m). Afternoon transfer to Jaen with birding in Chamaya Valley prior to arrival.
19 June: Morning at Tamborapa. Afternoon transfer to Pomacochas. Quick look at Lago Pomacochas.
20 June: Pomacochas and Pedro Ruiz area for hummingbirds. Afternoon near Abra Patricia.
21 June: Full day Abra Patricia (2100m) and Garcia Ridge (1750m). Rain most of morning.
22 June: Morning at Afluente (1500m) and Aguas Verdes (1100m). Late afternoon KM 392 (1600m approx.) on Abra Patricia road with owling near Garcia.
23 June: Utcubamba Valley from Pomacochas to Leimebamba. Afternoon in cloud forests near Leimebamba (2300m).
24 June: Abra Barro Negro (2300 – 3500m) – Balsas. Camping near Balsas (900m).
25 June: Balsas – Celendin stopping at Hacienda El Limon (1700 – 1900m).
26 June: Celendin – Cajamarca stopping at Cruz Conga (3100m) first thing, various Paramo sites (3600m) and Encanada (3100m) en route. Afternoon at Rio Chonta (2900m) for Grey-bellied Comet. Overnight Cajamarca.
27 June: San Marcos (2600m) for Great Spinetails returning to Cajamarca and Abra de Gavilan before driving through the afternoon to Chiclayo.
28 June: Fly Chiclayo – Lima. Homebound flights or onto Cusco.
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