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PERU: Manu and Machu Picchu Aug-Sept Tropical Birding Trip Report PERU: Manu and Machu Picchu Aug-Sept. 2015 A Tropical Birding SET DEPARTURE tour PERU: MANU and MACHU PICCHU th th 29 August – 16 September 2015 Tour Leader: Jose Illanes Andean Cock-of-the-rock near Cock-of-the-rock Lodge! Species highlighted in RED are the ones illustrated with photos in this report. INTRODUCTION Not everyone is fortunate enough to visit Peru; a marvelous country that boasts a huge country bird list, which is second only to Colombia. Unlike our usual set departure, we started out with a daylong extension to Lomas de Lachay first, before starting out on the usual itinerary for the main tour. On this extra day we managed to 1 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Page Tropical Birding Trip Report PERU: Manu and Machu Picchu Aug-Sept. 2015 find many extra birds like Peruvian Thick-knee, Least Seedsnipe, Peruvian Sheartail, Raimondi’s Yellow- Finch and the localized Cactus Canastero. The first site of the main tour was Huacarpay Lake, near the beautiful Andean city of Cusco (accessed after a short flight from Lima). This gave us a few endemic species like Bearded Mountaineer and Rusty-fronted Canastero; along with other less local species like Many-colored Rush-tyrant, Plumbeous Rail, Puna Teal, Andean Negrito and Puna Ibis. The following day we birded along the road towards Manu where we picked up birds like Peruvian Sierra-Finch, Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, Spot-winged Pigeon, and a beautiful Peruvian endemic in the form of Creamy-crested Spinetail. We also saw Yungas Pygmy-Owl, Black-faced Ibis, Hooded and Scarlet-bellied Mountain- Tanagers, Red-crested Cotinga and the gorgeous Grass-green Tanager. Around Wayqecha we found interesting birds like White-collared Jay, Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Black-throated Tody-Tyrant, and on the way down from there to famous Cock-of-the-rock Lodge we got Golden-headed Quetzal, Inca Flycatcher, Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Chestnut-tipped Toucanet and a daytime Andean Potoo. 2 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Page Tropical Birding Trip Report PERU: Manu and Machu Picchu Aug-Sept. 2015 The San Pedro area held Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Dusky-green Oropendola, White-eared Solitaire, Paradise, Golden-eared and Orange-eared Tanagers and great looks at an Andean Motmot. The lower part of the Manu road provided us with Bluish-fronted Jacamar, Yellow-throated Tanager, Red-billed Scythebill, Striped-chested Antwren, and further down still, Broad-billed Motmot, Blue-crowned and Black-tailed Trogons and a daytime Great Potoo. Amazonia Lodge itself brought us the rare Razor-billed Curassow, Blue-headed Macaw, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Bamboo Antshrike, Scarlet-hooded Barbet, White-lined and Goeldi’s Antbirds, Fine-barred Piculet and the enigmatic Rufous-crested Coquette. Manu wildlife Center was very productive, with Pale-winged Trumpeter, Round-tailed and Band-tailed Manakins, and great views of Horned Screamer, Orinoco Goose, Red-and-green Macaw, Pavonine Quetzal and Starred Wood-Quail, among many others. At the close of our time in the Manu area, near Puerto Maldonado, we saw the rare and local White-throated Jacamar, in addition to Barred Antshrike and Rusty-fronted Tody-flycatcher. 3 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Page Tropical Birding Trip Report PERU: Manu and Machu Picchu Aug-Sept. 2015 Towards the end of the tour, we visited somewhere very different indeed, the high Andean site of Abra Malaga. At the high pass in this area we found Andean Goose, Tawny Tit-Spinetail, Rufous-webbed Bush- Tyrant, the rare and local Ash-breasted Tit-tyrant and got great views of the wonderful White-tufted Sunbeam. Giant Hummingbird, Inca Wren and Green-and-white Hummingbird were also seen in this area. As well as enjoying the unmissable ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, we also birded at nearby at Aguas Calientes, where we saw Andean Guan, Versicolored Barbet, Ocellated Piculet, Black-streaked Puffbird and Masked Fruiteater. Finally, we closed the tour with some coastal birding at Pucusana and Pantano de Villa for some final easy additions, like Coastal Miner, Surf Cinclodes, Inca Tern, Red-legged Cormorant, Peruvian Booby, and Humboldt Penguin, which rounded out an excellent, and varied tour of some of the very best birding sites in all of Peru. Day 1: Lomas de Lachay An eary start was needed as we needed to drive from Peru’s capital Lima, to the coastal site of Lomas de Lachay, a 90-minute drive away. One of the first birds we saw was one of the site’s specialties, Coastal Miner, as well as a displaying Least Seedsnipe, with a supporting cast that included Peruvian Meadowlark, 4 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Page Tropical Birding Trip Report PERU: Manu and Machu Picchu Aug-Sept. 2015 Yellowish Pipit, Vermilion Flycatcher, Masked Yellowthroat, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle and Burrowing Owl all along the entrance road. A busy morning in the area also saw us rack up a key bird in the form of Raimondi´s Yellow-finch, as well as Mountain Parakeet, Oasis Hummingbird, Cinereous Conebill, Bare-faced and Croaking Ground-Doves, and get nice looks at Peruvian Sheartail coming to some flowering shrubs. After lunch we birded the other side of the park and saw many of our target target species like, Grayish Miner, Band-tailed Sierra- Finch and a nesting Cactus Canastero, another specialty of the reserve. Then, just before leaving the area, we saw a beautiful pair of Peruvian Thick-knees, a great bird to end the day with. Day 2: Lima to Cusco; Huacarpay Lake After a short morning flight from Lima to Cusco, we went straight to Huacarpay Lake not far from the Incan city of Cusco where we spent the night. This isolated high Andean lake holds a great selection of birds, both on the lake itself and around the edges; therefore we spent much of the remainder of the day there, taking a packed lunch in the field to allow for this.On the lake we encountered Puna and Yellow-billed Teals, Andean Gull, Andean Lapwing, Puna Ibis, Cinnamon Teal, Slate-colored (Andean) Coot, and got nice looks at White- tufted Grebe and Plumbeous Rail, while in the reeds around the edges we found Wren-like Rush-Bird, and the always-popular Many-colored Rush-Tyrant. After lunch our birding was focused in the scrubby habitat that borders this large lake, where we found the endemic Rusty-fronted Canastero, Mourning Sierra-Finch, Band-tailed Seedeater, Andean Negrito, Chiguanco Thrush, Blue-and-yellow Tanager, Variable Hawk and Mountain Caracara. Later, we took a drive out to Guambotillo, a small sector of scrub a 5-minute drive from the lake where we found our main target, Bearded Mountaineer, along with Giant Hummingbird, Black-throated Flowerpiercer, Black-backed Grosbeak and Golden-billed Saltator. At the end of a very productive day we retired to the wonderful city of Cusco for the night. 5 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-0514 [email protected] Page Tropical Birding Trip Report PERU: Manu and Machu Picchu Aug-Sept. 2015 Day 3: Cusco to Wayqecha (Upper Manu Road) On this day we needed to leave especially early to avoid road closures while they worked on a section of the road we needed to pass through to get to the birding areas. This worked out well, and we avoided any trouble by doing this, even if it did mean an unusually early start to do so! We spent the day making our way along the upper reaches of the Manu Road, towards our destination, Wayqecha. This involved frequent stops along this incredibly birdy road, which in spite of being a road, actually has precious little traffic and makes for a classic and easy birding destination. We managed to find Peruvian Sierra-finch, Shining Sunbeam, Golden-billed Saltator, Hooded Siskin, and, crucially, the endemic Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, a bird for which we only had this one narrow stakeout to rely on! This same road also brought us Puna, Spot-billed, Cinereous and Rufous- napped Ground-Tyrants, and Puna and Black-faced Ibises standing alongside the road. A few minutes beyond Paucartambo, along another section of this road further down, we also managed to find the impressive Creamy-crested Spinetail and less local species like, Torrent Tyrannulet and Torrent Duck foraging along the river. The same stretch of forest also provided us with Tufted Tit-Tyrant, White-winged Black-Tyrant and beautiful views of Streaked-throated Bush-Tyrant. As lunch drew near we entered the highest point of Manu National Park at Acjanacu, where we could look over towards the mighty Amazon Basin, which was to come for us later. We ate lunch along the way, having brought a packed lunch from Cusco, and in the afternoon birded some dry temperate forest as we neared our final destination, Wayqecha. In this habitat we found Brown-backed and Rufous-breasted Chat- tyrants, and bumped into a mixed feeding flock with White-browed and Blue-backed Conebills, Three- banded Hemispingus, Plushcap, Rust-and-yellow Tanagers, and Scarlet-bellied and Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanagers. Not far from ths great flock action we found Sierran Elaenia, Moustached, Masked and Black-throated Flowerpiercers, Hooded Mountain Tanager, Beryl-spangled Tanager, Rufous- capped Thornbill, Red-crested Cotinga and also had quality looks at Yungas Pygmy-Owl. Late in the afternoon, we rolled into our lodging for the night, the recently upgraded Wayqecha Biological Station. Day 4: Wayqecha and the Upper Manu Road After an early breakfast we birded the lodge property after dawn, and then continued towards our next destination, Cock-of-the-rock Lodge, further down the road, birding as we went.
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