North Peru, July-August 2013 Leader: Fabrice Schmitt Birding The North of Peru is one of the best birding experience in South America!! Dry forest, arid scrubs, cloud and ridge forests, lowland evergreen tropical forest, puna grassland, desertic canyon slopes, etc... the whole trip is a succesion of different and amazing habitats! Visiting so diverse and different ecosystems, it is not surprising that some of the species found here are some of the most sought after for any keen birder: Long-whiskered Owlet, Marvelous Spatuletail, Pale-billed Antpitta, Tumbes Tyrant, Rufous Flycatcher, Peruvian Plantcutter, White- winged Guan, Yellow-scarfed Tanager, Bar-winged Wood-wren, and so many more!! The aim of this longer trip was to photograph some of the best birds found in that part of Peru. The itinerary had been designed to have the best chance to photograph the main targets of the trip: Peruvian endemics, Tapaculos and Antpittas, particular Furnaridae, and some species like Spotted Rail, Inca-finches, Pale-billed Antpitta, rare hummingbirds, etc… Manu Expeditions Quality Wildlife & Birding Tours www.Birding-In-Peru.com [email protected] We also spend several mornings and evening looking for nightbirds, and we finished the trip with a total of 28 nightbird species contacted during the trip!! A very successful trip, with a final list close to 550 species contacted. The Marañon canyon near Balsas (picture Fabrice Schmitt) Manu Expeditions Quality Wildlife & Birding Tours www.Birding-In-Peru.com [email protected] DAY BY DAY ACTIVITIES August 28th: International flight to Lima and Chiclayo. Night in Chiclayo August 29th: Chaparri reserve Early drive to Chongoyape, entrance of the the private Chaparri reserve, owned by the local community of Santa Catalina de Chongoyape. The critically endangered White-winged Guan has been reintroduced, and some tame birds of the first generations are still seen around the lodge. Before to visit the reserve, webirded the Tinajones dam, where we found a small group of Peruvian Thick-knee, a Short-tailed Field-tyrant, 2 Spot-billed Ground-tyrant (first sighting for the reserve and surroundings), and 2 Comb Ducks a rare species here! Another surprise was to find a Blue- footed Booby, almost 100 km from the sea!! Closer to the dam, we also found a few Spotted Rails, including one seen very well in the open, feeding on a mudflat with Purple and Common Gallinules. Around the lodge, we found many excellent birds such as the stunning Elegant Crescenchest, Pacific Parrotlet, Superciliared Wren, Tumbes Hummingbird, and Collared Antshrike. At dusk, tenth of Lesser Nighthawk were seen flying high above the agricultural fields near the reserve. Night in Chaparri. August 30th: Chaparri reserve, Batan Grande, Olmos. Before breakfast we watched the “hummingbirds bathe”, with more than 15 hummingbirds of different species (Tumbes, Amazilia Hummingbird, Purple-collared and Short-tailed Woodstar) coming to the stream to take a bath! In the morning we also watched flocks of hundreds of Sulphur-throated Finch coming to drink to one of the last springs in that semi-desertic area. Other nice birds found there included Cinereous Finch, Short-tailed Woodstar, Rufous Flycatcher, Peruvian Pygmy-owl, and Tumbes Sparrow. We then drove back to Chiclayo, and to Batan Grande to visit the Bosque Pomac reserve. Our main target there was the endemic Peruvian Plantcutter and rapidely found a pair singing in the dry shrubs. Other species found here and not seen at Chaparri were Tumbes Swallow and Tumbes Tyrant. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving towards Olmos. Night in Olmos. August 31st: Porculla pass and Jaen surroundings Leaving our hotel at 5 am, we arrived to our birding place at 6 am, where we rapidly found all of our main targets: Black-cowled Saltator, Chapman's Antshrike, Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, Rufous- necked and Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner, Line-cheeked Spinetail, and Bay-crowned Brush-finch. We also enjoyed the wonderful landscape! We also got two nice surprises here: a female Blue Seedeater (lifer for Fabrice!) and a group of Tumbes Swifts!! After this successful birding, we drove to Jaen (a little bit more than 3 hours driving) and arrived there for a late lunch. We spent the end of the afternoon in the afternoon of Jaen, were we enjoyed good views of the wonderful Marañon Crescentchest. At dusk, we found several Scrub Nightjars, and a Peruvian Screech-owl came to the tape as a pair of Barn Owl.Night in Jaen. September 1st: Jaen surroundings. Early drive to bird the Tamborapa track, were we easily found Marañon Spinetail and a few other local specialties like Marañon Slaty Antshrike, Black-capped Sparrow, Buff-bellied Tanager, Yellow- Manu Expeditions Quality Wildlife & Birding Tours www.Birding-In-Peru.com [email protected] cheeked Becard, Necklaced Spinetails, etc.. We also had wonderful views on the splendid Marañon Crescenchest, one of the many beautiful birds seen on that trip. After a break during the middle of the very hot day, we birded the surroundings of Jaen, taking pictures of the local subspecies of Collared Antshrike, Marañon Gnatcatcher, Spot-throated Hummingbird, and more. September 2nd: Jaen, and drive to Owlet Lodge. Some pre-breakfast birding with great views on Little Inca-Finch, Marañon Gnatcatcher, Tawny- crowned Pygmy-tyrants. After breakfast, we drove to the Owlet lodge at Abra Patricia. On the way, we stopped at the Huembo feeders where we had great views on a male of Marvelous Spatuletail, but also Chestnut- breasted Coronet, a few Little Woodstar with White-bellied and Purple-collared Woodstar, White- bellied Hummingbird, and Bronzy Inca.. Night at the ECOAN Owlet Lodge. September 3-6th: Owlet Lodge and surroundings. We spent 4 full days exploring the trails around the lodge. One of the highlights of our staying here was definitely our wonderful view of a Long-whiskered Owlet!!!! We had a long view on a bird singing in the open, only a few meters from us!!!! Unforgettable!!! Another wonderful species found on the owlet trail, was a pair of White-faced Nunbird! A most wanted bird and regularly seen here. The Antpittas have been more difficult and not very responsive during our visit… we had great views on the Chestnut Antpitta coming now to the worm feeder, but short views on Ochre-fronted and Rusty-tinged Antpitta. Many species of hummingbirds were visiting the feeders: White-bellied Hummingbird, Fawn- breasted Brilliant, Long-tailed Sylph, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, White-bellied Woodstar, Coppery- bellied Emerald, etc… and we also had great views on the Royal Sunangel on the trail 10 minutes drive down from the lodge. Other specialties found here are Lulu’s Tody-tyrant, Bar-winged Wood-wren, Green-and-black Fruiteater, Rufous-vented Tapaculo, White-throated and Cinnamon Screech-owl, etc… We also regularly found large mixed species flocks including Silver-backed, Beryl-spangled and Yellow-scarfed Tanager, Peruvian Tyrannuet, Blue-naped and Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia, Montane Woodcreeper and Streaked Tuftedcheeck. Nights at the ECOAN Owlet Lodge. September 7th: Affluente, Rioja rice fields and Waqanki feeders We birded a couple of hours at Affluente, a very birdy place with lots of nice species like Olivaceous Greenlet, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Fiery-throated Fruiteater, Lined Antshrike, wonderful views on Golden-collared Honeycreeper, Ecuadorian Tyrannulet, and more! On the way to Moyobamba, we stopped at some rice fields near Rioja where we had lunch. Spotted Rail were calling everywhere and saw a few of them. We also heard some Rufous-sided and Paint- billed Crake, but these ones stayed deep inside the vegetation… Arriving at Waqanki at mid-afternoon, we had time to enjoy the wonderful hummingbird feeders, attracting a huge quantity of hummingbirds buzzing around: White-necked Jacobin, Grey-breasted Sabrewing, Golden-tailed Sapphire, Black-throated Hermit, Rufous-crested Coquette, and many more!!! The garden is worth exploring too, as we found the recently described Mishana Tyrannulets and Varzea Thrush! We finished our day with some owling, pre and post dinner, and contacted no less than 10 nightbird species in a couple of hours: Band-bellied, Stygian, Tropical Screech, Ferruginous Pygmy, Black- banded, Spectacled and Barn Owl, Pauraque, Ocellated Poorwill and Rufous Nightjar!!! Manu Expeditions Quality Wildlife & Birding Tours www.Birding-In-Peru.com [email protected] Night in Waqanki near Moyobamba. September 8th: Mishquiyaku trail, drive to Tarapoto A steep and long walk to reach the ridge above Moyobamba, along a very birdy trail where we found so many good birds!! Spot-winged and Spot-backed Antbird, Peruvian Warbling-antbird, Huallaga Tanager, Chestnut- throated and Dusky Spinetail, Red-billed and Sooty-headed Tyrannulet, Foothill Antwren, Strong- billed Woodcreeper, etc… At the top of the ridge, we also found a pair of the rare and local Ash- throated Antwren, one of our main target of the morning!! On the way to Tarapoto, we stopped at an Oilbird colony to add a species to our already long nightbird species. Night in Tarapoto. September 9th: Quebrada Upaquihau and Huallaga river Again an early start to bird the Quebrada Upaquihau, one hour drive from Tarapoto. We rapidly located the Huallaga Slaty-antshrike, an undescribed (sub)species of Plain-crowned Spinetail, the tiny White-bellied Pygmy-tyrant, the nervous Sulphur-bellied Tyrant-manakin, and the splendid (even if common) Bluish-fronted Jacamar. We also had a (too) short view on a Rufous-capped Nunlet, Chestnut-throated Spinetail, and a very close sight of Flammulated Bamboo-tyrant. We also found a group of the endangered and very local San Martin Titi-Monkey. On the way back, we stopped and scanned the islands on the Huallaga river, and found more than 20 Sand-colored Nighthawk, 2 Large-billed Tern and a Black Skimmer. Night in Tarapoto.