Northern Peru Naturetrek Tour Report 6 - 24 October 2010 Callicole cynosora by Alan Hall Spectacled Bear by Alan Hall Pigmy Marmoset by Tom Radford Dusky-headed Parakeet by Tom Radford Report compiled by Alejandro Solano-Ugalde Images courtesy of Alan Hall and Tom Radford Naturetrek Cheriton Mill Cheriton Alresford Hampshire SO24 0NG England T: +44 (0)1962 733051 F: +44 (0)1962 736426 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report Northern Peru Tour Leader: Alejandro Solano-Ugalde Participants: John Flood Allan Hall Anita Hall Margaret Weir Steve Vaughan Tom Radford Day 1 Thursday 7th October Most of the participants had afternoon arrivals, and with no delays and bags secured we headed towards our comfortable Lima overnight hotel. Earlier one of the participants had birded along the Malecón and managed nice views of Peruvian Booby, Peruvian Pelican, and a gaudy group of Inca Terns, together with nice common garden birds of the capital such as Eared Dove, West Peruvian Dove, and a sooty morph of Vermillion Flycatcher. In the evening we all met over a nice selection of pastries and other Argentinean-style dishes and we discussed the promising itinerary we had ahead of us. Day 2 Friday 8th October This morning we had our transfer to begin the first part of the journey, and we were very enthusiastic about the beginning of the Amazonian experience. We had a nice flight over the mighty Andes and once in Iquitos we met with Muyuna Lodge staff, and were taken across this once rubber capital of the country. At the offices we were informed that rain hadn't been as pronounced as it should and for that reason we had to be transported to the port of Nanay where we boarded our vessel and accessed the mighty Amazon. For the next 3 hrs we had a delightful trip, birding from the boat, and saw some of the typical Amazonian river edge species, including Cocoi Heron, Great and Snowy Egret, Yellow-headed and Black Caracara, Osprey, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Tern. Once in the Yanayacu Creek we walked around the very shallow mouth, and our birding produced a nice set of psittacids: Cobalt-winged, Dusky-headed and White-eyed Parakeets, and scope views of the scarce Tui Parakeet, as well as Yellow-crowned and Mealy Parrot. As we headed towards the lodge we found Blue and Ruddy Ground Doves, Smooth-billed Ani, Fork-tailed Palm Swift, Rufescent Tiger Heron, four species of Kingfishers, Bluish-fronted Jacamar, Scarlet-crowned Barbet, and Chestnut-eared Aracari, among others. Days 3-5 Saturday 9th - Monday 11th October Over the course of the next few days at Muyuna we managed to explore the different habitats that are easy to access during this time of the year (given that the water level is low access to those is therefore easier), including the way into varzea (seasonally flooded rainforest), oxbow lakes, river islands, terra firme, swamps, etc. Luckily we had very pleasant weather and saw a good array of typical as well as some of the more special Amazonian birds including White-throated Toucan, Black-fronted Nunbird, Plain-breasted Piculet, Yellow-throated and Cream- coloured Woodpecker, Red-bellied and Blue-and-yellow Macaws, many colourful tanagers (the favourite of all being Paradise), many Black-collared and Slate-coloured Hawks, Amazonian White tailed Trogon, Lemon-throated Barbet, Blue cheek and White eared Jacamars, and many of the new world flycatchers. © Naturetrek March 11 1 Northern Peru Tour Report Pale-legged Hornero and the gaudy and fast Red and White Spinetail showed well, and we also saw Long-billed and Cinnamon-throated Woodcreepers, Amazonian and Barred Antshrikes, Amazonian Streak and White-flanked Antwrens. And amongst the difficult antbirds we managed to see the special Black tailed Antbird (best views ever!), Warbling, Plumbeous, White shouldered and Band tailed, and even an elusive Black-spotted Bare-eye allowed good views. The Cotingas didn’t disappoint us either and we were very pleased with Bare-necked Fruit Crow (an odd feathered creature), Plum-throated Cotinga, Purple-throated Fruit Crow and the one we were all hoping for - Amazonian Umbrellabird - a male that flew across a swampy area with lots of flowering Amazonian Giant Water Lilies. The astonishing male Wire tailed Manakin had us all excited, and the trio of fighting Amazonian Royal Flycatchers produced a similar feeling. Varzea Schiffornis and the always cryptic Rufous-browed Peppershrike allowed close up views. The night birds were not vocally active but despite this we managed Great and Common Potoos, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl and Pauraque. All in all, we had a very productive first part of the trip. After our return to Iquitos we got checked-in at our hotel and took a nice walk along the “malecón” for our last minutes of the afternoon, observing and learning from the livelihoods of the locals. Day 6 Tuesday 12th October Today we had the usual early start and pick-up by local guide and driver, and a great full day to explore one of the most fascinating and enigmatic of Amazonian habitats; the “white sand forest” of Allpahuayo Mishana reserve. A good start came with big flocks of Maroon-tailed and White-winged Parakeets as we were finishing our breakfast. Once on the trails we first found a fast and elusive group of birds that we worked patiently and as the frenzy stopped, we had Mouse-coloured Antshrike, Plain brown Woodcreeper, Northern Chestnut-tailed Antbird, Pearly Antshrike, Ancient Antwren, Yellow-browed Antbird, and the most elusive one; the Allpahuayo Antbird. Diversity is always greatly welcome, but the poor soils at this site make bird densities particularly low, and as a result it is quality and not quantity that was our target! Tody our specials included; King Vulture, Bat Falcon, Amazonian Swift, Brown-banded and Swallow-wing Puffbirds, Black-bellied Cuckoo, Pompadour Cotinga, Broad- billed Motmot, Yellow-billed Nunbird, Amazonian Violaceous Trogon, Orange-crested and White-crowned Manakin, Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin, the discrete Paradise Jacamar, Opal-crowned, Magpie and Paradise Tanagers, Blue Dacnis and both Short-billed and Purple Honeycreepers. Just as the day got hot and bird activity quieted down, we had time to refresh in the hotel and soon after we were transferred to Iquitos Airport for our short domestic flight to Tarapoto, our next destination. Day 7 Wednesday 13th October Today we changed habitats; first we visited Juan Guerra (where we found road works! and consequently decided to bird two side tracks), and in the mid morning we went to quebrada Upaquiua. These sites are conveniently located, and here one is met with a very different type of Amazonian forest, a rather distinctive sort of dry habitat that is under the influence of the Huallaga drainage. With little effort we found the Huallaga race of Western Slaty Antshrike (Huallaga Antshrike), and Bluish-fronted Jacamar behaved obligingly as predicted here, together with a well worked pair of White-browed Antbirds. 2 © Naturetrek March 11 Northern Peru Tour Report Further on we found a nice soaring Hook-billed Kite, and attracted a nice set of birds including a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl together with mobbing Mouse-coloured and Yellow-crowned Tyrannulets, Stripe-chested Antwren, Buff-breasted Wren, Pearly-vented Tody Tyrant, Yellow-breasted Flycatcher, Tropical Gnatcatcher, and a White- winged Becard. Along the river we could spot White-banded Swallows, Grayish Saltator, Inca and Violaceous Jays, Red-capped Cardinal, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Rufous Casiornis, Mishana Tyrannulet and Speckled Chachalaca. Further ahead and along the quebrada we had good looks at Rufous-winged Antwren, Sulphur-bellied Tyrant-Manakin, Scaled Pigeon, Small-billed Elaenia, Blue-headed Parrot and Bright-rumped Attila. It was time to get back to the lodge but first we stopped for a Rufous-fronted Thornbird (which builds a colossal nest for its size) and a nice group of sunning Comb Ducks on the banks of the Huallaga itself. After a nice lunch we had our check-out and promptly headed for Cerro La Escalera protected forest. As the afternoon showed bright and sunny and with only a few birds moving about, we decided to stopped at a lower location, and what a wise choice this was, just as we got out of the vehicle we noticed a fruiting melastome tree that had a very bright and smart set of birds including; Silver-beaked, Masked, Bay-headed, Yellow-backed, Fulvous- headed, White-lined, Grey-headed and an obliging pair of the extremely localized Dotted Tanagers. At the same tree also came Blue-crowned Manakin, Black-faced Dacnis, Gilded Barbet, Purple-throated Euphonia and Green Honeycreeper! The skies had nice flocks of White-tipped, Chestnut and White collared Swifts and at the higher grounds we found the habitual Cliff Flycatcher and a Golden-tailed Sapphire. After having reached the top we found a hummingbird that simply put wouldn't fit anything that we could expect at this site, we observed it in two feeding bouts and as of now remains a mystery, perhaps a new taxon or a species not previously recorded for Perú?. As the sun went down we went to our next lodge, at Puerto Mirador in Moyobamba where we enjoyed a nice meal and a good night of sleep. Day 8 Thursday 14th October We started another good day with pre-breakfast birding around the grounds. While still dark we could hear Tropical Screech Owl. Here we had to look hard to find a Pale-breasted Thrush (local in Peru, much commoner in south- eastern South America), Turquoise and Huallaga Tanager (also known as Black-bellied), and some others as Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Blue-winged Parrotlets, Streaked Flycatcher, Squirrel Cuckoo, and Yellow-browed Sparrow, were happily moving about.