I Hate Paramo and Other Birding Stories

Suriname- Winding Things up in Paramaribo November 16, 2011

2011-12-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

The last day of a birding trip is always hard, especially when it is someplace as special as Suriname. On most trips I am ready to go home, even with a bit of reluctance. I really didn't want to leave Suriname. We got up and I was ecstatic to find my toe almost completely normal. I have no idea what I had done to it the day before, but it was only a bit swollen and I could walk just fine. We ate breakfast at the hotel, the typical bread and egg sandwich and instant coffee. Did I mention before you can only get instant coffee in Suriname? That was the one thing I didn't like.

Sean came by and picked us up and headed back to Peperpot Park, across the river. We had really liked this place when we visited at the beginning of the trip and were looking forward to returning. We went to the entrance on the other side of the park. Peperpot wasn't open, so we birded the road, which runs parallel to the Suriname River. We were seeing some of the more common birds, when I saw a gray raptor sitting on top of a tree. It was a Slender-billed Kite, a life bird for me and one we had dipped on at the beginning of the trip. It was a very sharp looking bird and the bill really was slender!

We arrived at the park just as it was opening. A Striped Cuckoo demanded some attention near the gate. We found a pair of Black-throated Antbirds within a few dozen yards of walking in. Martin was particularly delighted with the Little Hermits we saw buzzing around. I looked up and spotted a Black-spotted Barbet high in a tree above me. A Blood-colored Woodpecker gave us much longer looks than the bird we saw on the first day. My photos were still really horrible. One of my favorite birds of Peperpot was a bright little Pygmy Kingfisher. I had seen one in Brazil, but it was only the tail end as it flew away. This one perched and even allowed a few photos. We were really happy to get looks at Painted Tody-Flycatcher. We were ticking like bastards, as Martin likes to say.

Sean found out a Great Potoo was being seen at the other end of the park, where we had birded before. One had been regularly seen in a tree on that end for a long time, but that particular tree had fallen in a storm. The potoo had returned and found a new roost. We hopped in the van, parked and walked in. It is amazing how such a large bird can be almost invisible. Potoos sit upright during the day with their bills pointing up. Their plumage is the color of dead bark. It is very easy to walk right past one, blowing it off as a snag. Sean and Martin found it and we got incredible looks. I wish we could have heard it call, as it has a crazy voice. Next time you run into Martin, ask him to do his imitation of it.

The next part of our day involved an owl chase. Sean knew possible roosting places for Striped and Crested Owls. He wasn't positive, but he had a good feeling. Well, Sean didn't know that we have the worst owl karma in the world. More than once we have gone for a "sure thing", only to find that the bird was sitting on a fence post in broad day light, the day before, but no where to be seen today. This adventure ended the same way, but we did have a good time looking. We sucked it up and headed for the coast.

Martin really wanted Long-winged Harrier very badly. We had searched on our first day, with no luck. We slowly cruised the road past grassy fields that looked perfect for a harrier. We found a Laughing Falcon near the road, a bird that could show up in Texas some day. There were plenty of Snail Kites. Unfortunately the owls must have called the harrier, because he was a no show. We did find a Little Cuckoo in a woodpile, who flew to a nearby fence to look us over. We stopped by an over-grown flooded ditch, where Sean had heard there was an Azure Gallinule. Guess what? No luck there either.

We returned to the shorebird site we had gone to on the first day. It was a quieter, but we did see a few herons, egrets and shorebirds. The ocean is only a short distance down the road from this spot. We went down and scanned the mudflats. A Magnificent Frigate Bird swooped above us. A Black-bellied Plover picked its away across the mud. The most interesting thing to me were the lung fish, wiggling from puddle to puddle. It was a bit late in the afternoon at this point, so we decided to slowly work our way back to Paramaribo.

We didn't go far, stopping at some woods along the road. We were really lucky to get very close looks at Spotted Tody-Flycatcher. I was able to get some of my best photos of the trip. Then an Arrowhead Piculet popped out. We had seen one at the Botanical Gardens on the first day, but this one was a lot closer. He was joined by a female. This is the one endemic species from Suriname. I love woodpeckers; how can anyone resist a really tiny one?

We made a last stop at the Azure Gallinule spot. The vegetation in the ditch was so thick, I wondered how on earth we would ever see it, if it really was in there. Then Martin spotted an almost white head poking up from the weeds. It was the gallinule! We watched it wind through the plants, giving us pretty good looks. Then we saw two more. These gallinules were really beautiful, very pale with a soft blue shading across the breast and a light brown back. The sun was setting and the light was fading. I said that I wasn't going to look at any more birds, as I wanted this to be the last bird I saw in Suriname. We got in the car and pulled onto the road. Then Sean and Martin saw a large bird flying over the field, a Limpkin. I hadn't seen one in Suriname, so I had to weigh whether I wanted a larger list. I looked.

We went out to dinner with Sean and his delightful wife, Jini. It was a great ending to our trip. The food, Chinese, was really good. Their company was even better. It was a nice ending to the trip. Sean did take us back to the airport VERY early the next morning. Our trip back to Texas took a full 24 hours from the time we left the hotel in Paramaribo until we landed in Houston.

This trip was an amazing experience. Suriname is nothing like any country I have ever been in. The people are wonderful. I am amazed at how so many different groups of people get along so well. I might have mentioned before that the synagogue in Paramaribo is next to the main mosque. Hindus and Muslims lived in peace together, even during the troubles in India in the middle of the 20th century. Sean Dilrosun was a great guide. I would highly recommend him. Don't pass up the chance to visit Suriname. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thanks for sharing our trip with us!

Photos from this day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628304397877/

The bird list for the day:

1 Cinereous Tinamou- Heard
2 Magnificent Frigatebird
3 Great Egret
4 Snowy Egret
5 Little Blue Heron
6 Tricolored Heron
7 Cattle Egret
8 Striated Heron
9 Wood Stork
10 Black Vulture
11 Turkey Vulture
12 Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
13 Osprey
14 Gray-headed Kite
15 Snail Kite
16 Slender-billed Kite
17 Black-collared Hawk
18 Roadside Hawk
19 Yellow-headed Caracara
20 Laughing Falcon
21 Peregrine Falcon
22 Purple Gallinule
23 Azure Gallinule
24 Limpkin
25 Black-bellied Plover
26 Wattled Jacana
27 Spotted Sandpiper
28 Solitary Sandpiper
29 Greater Yellowlegs
30 Lesser Yellowlegs
31 Least Sandpiper
32 Common Ground-Dove
33 Ruddy Ground-Dove
34 Brown-throated Parakeet
35 Green-rumped Parrotlet
36 Orange-winged Parrot
37 Little Cuckoo
38 Striped Cuckoo
39 Greater Ani
40 Smooth-billed Ani
41 Great Potoo
42 Rufous-breasted Hermit
43 Little Hermit
44 Gray-breasted Sabrewing
45 Black-throated Mango
46 Crimson Topaz
47 Glittering-throated Emerald
48 Green Kingfisher
49 American Pygmy Kingfisher
50 Black-spotted Barbet
51 Arrowhead Piculet
52 Blood-colored Woodpecker
53 Yellow-chinned Spinetail
54 Straight-billed Woodcreeper
55 Black-crested Antshrike
56 Pygmy Antwren
57 Black-throated Antbird
58 Mouse-colored Tyrannulet
59 Northern Scrub-Flycatcher
60 Pale-tipped Tyrannulet
61 Spotted Tody-Flycatcher
62 Painted Tody-Flycatcher
63 Gray-crowned Flycatcher
64 Pied Water-Tyrant
65 Cinnamon Attila
66 Swainson's Flycatcher
67 Short-crested Flycatcher
68 Great Kiskadee
69 Boat-billed Flycatcher
70 Rusty-margined Flycatcher
71 Piratic Flycatcher
72 Tropical Kingbird
73 Cinereous Becard
74 Ashy-headed Greenlet
75 Gray-breasted Martin
76 Barn Swallow
77 Buff-breasted Wren
78 House Wren
79 Tropical Gnatcatcher
80 Pale-breasted Thrush
81 Spectacled Thrush
82 Tropical Mockingbird
83 Yellow Warbler
84 Bananaquit
85 Silver-beaked Tanager
86 Blue-gray Tanager
87 Palm Tanager
88 Turquoise Tanager
89 Grayish Saltator
90 Blue-black Grassquit
91 Wing-barred Seedeater
92 Blue-black Grosbeak
93 Red-breasted Blackbird
94 Yellow-hooded Blackbird
95 Yellow Oriole
96 Crested Oropendola

Suriname-I hate the sound of cracking bones, November 15, 2011

2011-12-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

I was having a little trouble sleeping during our stay at Brownsberg. Some of it might have been all of the insect bites I got, because I stupidly did not use insect repellent. Some of it might have been the sounds in the night, which included a Vermiculated Screech Owl. For whatever reason, I was really tired when I woke up this morning. I told Martin that I wanted to have a little lie in and would join Sean and him at breakfast. Deep in the back of my mind I knew this was a bad idea, but I really did want a bit more sleep.

I immediately fell into a pretty deep sleep. I was awakened by Sean, who was shouting, "SHERIDAN! CAPUCHINBIRD!" He and Martin had found a pair at the far end of the compound. Martin knew just how badly I wanted this bird, so he told Sean to come back and get me, while he played bits of the call back to them to keep them around. I jumped out of bed and started putting my clothes on. My little toe on my left foot got caught in the hem of my pants and I heard a loud CRACK. The pain that shot up my foot went clear to my scalp. I said to myself "Oh, shucks. I think I broke my toe!" Actually, that is not quite what I said. I didn't care if it was broken or not. I put on my socks and forced it into my sneaker. I limped up to the van, climbed in and told Sean, "I think I might have broke my toe." I actually was laughing when I said it.

We got to the clearing and I hobbled up to Martin. His eyes were huge. He said one of the Capuchinbirds almost took his hat off it flew so close. I was a nervous wreck thinking they may have gone. Then I heard it, the craziest bird call of all, as far as I was concerned. It is impossible to describe, so here is a link to a Youtube video of them displaying- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxrQqqTa0hM
I think I would have been happy even if all I did was hear them, but then they flew in. One perched up on a bare branch and I got absolutely the worst photo of a bird I have ever taken! I was ecstatic, despite the on-going pain.

I was still in shock, when Sean told me they had found a very cool moth, that I really wanted to see, one with skulls on its wings. I thought this was the bug mentioned in Silence of the Lambs. It may have been the one that Thomas Harris was thinking of, but the movie poster shows an old world moth. Anyway, we walked over the showers and I was able to photograph the moth. The scientific name is Citheronia hamifera, commonly known as the Royal Moth. There were a number of other great looking moths on the wall and a small mantis that looked like it was made of tarnished silver.

I hobbled back out to the clearing and Martin had something really special in the scope, a male Tufted Coquette. I had only seen females and juveniles. This guy was more than fantastic! Here is a link to Martin's digiscoped photo- http://www.martinreid.com/Misc%20website/SUR11TuftedCoquette.html
This guy was amazing! The gorget feathers were beyond fantastic!

I was finding it a bit easier to walk, though I still was in some pain. I wasn't limping quite as badly. We returned to the cabin and I checked for the Fer-de-lance and was a bit surprised to not find him in the stump. Now I was a bit worried! If he was in the stump I wasn't going to step on him. Now that wasn't the case! Who knows where he went?

A Ferruginous-backed Antbird started calling from the woods. This is a bird that is supposed to be easy at Brownsberg. We had heard it several times, but were never able to get on it. We worked our way down into the woods and Sean played his tape. The bird finally came in and we got incredible looks. I even got a few poor photos. This was my second favorite bird at Brownsberg. I have always like antbirds. This trip made me love them.

This was our last day at Brownsberg. We packed the van at 11:00 AM, check out time. We did do a bit more birding and had one last lunch at Rocky's restaurant. I noticed some butterflies fluttering around and took a few photographs. I really did not want to leave. I felt like I could have stayed for months at Brownsberg, cold showers and all. We got in the van and started the drive down the rocky entrance road. My toe was not hurting that much I began to suspect it was not actually broken. One the way down we ran into some Bearded Saki Monkeys, species number 6!

We arrived back near the airport in the mid afternoon. We were going to work for some of the birds we missed at the beginning of our trip. Sean took us to another spot to look for Black Manakin and Saffron-crested Tyrant Manakin. It was threatening rain again. We walked into the scrub and finally did find Black Manakin. The Safron-crested remained elusive, though we did hear it. It did sprinkle a bit, but not badly. Sean took us to a spot where Red-bellied Macaws roosted. We saw dozens and dozens of birds flying in. Even though we had seen them before on both this trip and in Brazil, it was still impressive. We added our final member of the toucan family for the trip, Black-necked Aracari at the same spot.

We drove back into Paramaribo and checked into the same hotel that we had stayed at earlier. Sean asked if we would like to have dinner with him at a good Chinese restaurant and we agreed. He gave us a time when he would swing by and pick us up. The hot shower at the hotel was pure bliss after the cold showers at Brownsberg! Sean came by and we went over to his house, where we got our lists in order. We went to the restaurant, which was really good and his wife met us there. It was a really nice evening. Sean and his wife are both great company, a lot of fun to be with. We made arrangements for Sean to pick us up in the morning for a last day of birding and returned to the hotel, where I was tempted to take another shower. At this point, my toe was a little swollen, but I had no pain to speak of. I am not sure what I actually did to it, but I wasn't complaining.

Pictures for the day- http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628246125757/

1 Red-legged Tinamou- Heard

2 Turkey Vulture

3 Swallow-tailed Kite

4 Ornate Hawk-Eagle

5 Yellow-headed Caracara

6 Laughing Falcon

7 Russet-crowned Crake - Heard

8 Gray-winged Trumpeter

9 Scaled Pigeon

10 Gray-fronted Dove

11 White-eyed Parakeet

12 Red-bellied Macaw

13 Golden-winged Parakeet - Heard

14 Dusky Parrot - Heard

15 Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift

16 Long-tailed Hermit

17 Gray-breasted Sabrewing

18 Tufted Coquette

19 White-chinned Sapphire

20 Green-backed Trogon - Heard

21 Swallow-winged Puffbird

22 Black-necked Aracari

23 White-throated Toucan

24 Waved Woodpecker

25 Lineated Woodpecker

26 Red-necked Woodpecker

27 Mouse-colored Antshrike

28 Cinereous Antshrike - Heard

29 Pygmy Antwren - Heard

30 Ferruginous-backed Antbird

31 Scale-backed Antbird

32 Thrush-like Antpitta - Heard

33 Plain-crested Elaenia

34 White-headed Marsh-Tyrant

35 Great Kiskadee

36 Purple-throated Fruitcrow

37 Capuchinbird

38 Screaming Piha - Heard

39 Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin - Heard

40 Black Manakin

41 Golden-headed Manakin

42 Wing-barred Piprites - Heard

43 Buff-cheeked Greenlet - Heard

44 Gray-breasted Martin

45 Coraya Wren - Heard

46 Pale-breasted Thrush

47 White-necked Thrush

48 Bananaquit

49 Palm Tanager

50 Bay-headed Tanager

51 Burnished-buff Tanager

52 Purple Honeycreeper

53 Red-legged Honeycreeper

54 Slate-colored Grosbeak

55 Pectoral Sparrow

56 Green Oropendola - Heard

57 Finsch's Euphonia

58 Vermiculated Screech-Owl

Suriname-One of the Best Songs Ever, November 14, 2011

2011-11-30T18:08:00.000-08:00

Our goal for the day was to work very hard at finding some of the more difficult target birds, including the Guianan Red Cotinga, Red-and-black Grosbeak, Blue-backed Tanager and Capuchinbird for me. The birding at Brownsberg is physically pretty easy, at least where we were. The trails are relatively flat. The only mud we can across was on the road, and was easily walked around. (Of course during the rainy season it might be another story.) There was one trail, though, where a tree had fallen and hadn't been cleared yet. The forest is fairly open there and we could walk around, but it involved stepping up over some branches and rotting logs. I was having a little difficulty with my knees and hips for some reason, so I wasn't crazy about that trail, but it was where our targets were most often seen, so at least once a day, up and over I went.

The birds were just not active and responsive. Our friend, Willie Sekula, was in Peru at the same time and he said they had a similar experience. As we walked we finally heard something that grabbed me. It was a sweet but discordant song, absolutely heart breaking in a way. A very well named Musician Wren was singing. These birds can be very difficult to see. They hide deep in the underbrush, rarely showing themselves. Sean played the song back and we were amazingly fortunate. A pair jumped up in the open, allowing us to get some decent photos. It was high fives all around! In case you are curious about this lovely song, here is a link to a Youtube video featuring a Musician Wren singing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6ITnjSws5I. The bird we heard actually put the bird on Youtube to shame.

Probably the biggest surprise of the morning was a Rufous-and-Green Kingfisher right in the middle of the woods. The only nearby water were the puddles on the road. It was totally incongruous. We then heard a mixed flock nearby. A Cinereous Antshrike called; they are many times the flock leader. We waited as the birds came nearer. Martin spotted a Hepatic Tanager. This form is sometimes called Blood-red Tanager, a name I much prefer. Then a bird right next to it caught his eye, a gorgeous Blue-backed Tanager! This was one of our main goal birds, a really tough bird to get. Unfortunately, he was too high in the tree tops to get photos. We got another life bird, a Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper. We only heard a number of birds in the flock, but it was still fabulous to get this kind of action.

We went back to the spot where we had heard White-fronted Manakins the day before. This time we were a lot luckier. A male came in very close. My photos are not fabulous, but they do show the heart shaped spot on the front. I also captured the beautiful blue rump patch. Martin commented that we were now cooking with gas. Then he had to explain exactly what that meant to Sean. A troop of Golden-handed Tamarins ran through the trees above us. It was a really wonderful morning!

When we returned to the cabin, I checked the stump for the Fer-de-lance. Sure enough, there he was. Other people staying at the lodge came by to take his picture. I was still really stoked about seeing him. After lunch we birded around the compound for a while. We watched a mother Tufted Coquette come in and feed two juveniles sitting in a bare tree. A small mixed flock flew in, with mostly honey creepers and dacnis. We did find a Guianan Tyrannulet in with them.

I went back to the cabin for a snack and stood on the porch for a while. The Long-tailed Hermits were still feeding in the flowers below. Some movement caught my eye. A Guianan Warbling- Antbird was popping in and out right next to the porch. Even though we had seen this bird before, I loved watching it. Antbirds could become my favorites.

Before dinner we drove down the main road again. A Pectoral Sparrow was calling. It wasn't a life bird, but they are really cool looking, so I tried very hard to see it. While I was looking for it, Martin found a puddle where antbirds were coming in to drink. There was probably an ant swarm nearby, as he and Sean heard a White-plumed Antbird, which is an ant swarm follower. We saw a few birds flying back and forth, and then they were gone. Driving back we flushed a hawk. It was sitting on the ground, probably eating something. It flew up and landed in a tree a bit up the road. Originally, Martin thought it was a Black-faced Hawk. Sean said it was a Black-and-white Hawk Eagle. We got it in the scope and Sean was right. Daylight was fading, so we headed back for our last dinner at Brownsberg.

Photos from the day-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628204732271/

Bird list for the day-

1 Great Tinamou -Heard
2 Black Vulture
3 Turkey Vulture
4 Greater Yellow-headed Vulture
5 King Vulture
6 Swallow-tailed Kite
7 Plumbeous Kite
8 Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle
9 Lined Forest-Falcon -Heard
10 Gray-winged Trumpeter
11 Ruddy Pigeon -Heard
12 Gray-fronted Dove
13 Blue-headed Parrot -Heard
14 Dusky Parrot -Heard
15 Squirrel Cuckoo
16 Long-tailed Hermit
17 Gray-breasted Sabrewing
18 Tufted Coquette
19 Fork-tailed Woodnymph
20 Black-eared Fairy
21 Green-and-rufous Kingfisher
22 White-throated Toucan
23 Channel-billed Toucan -Heard
24 Ringed Woodpecker -Heard
25 Lineated Woodpecker -Heard
26 Wedge-billed Woodcreeper
27 Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper
28 Buff-throated Woodcreeper
29 Fasciated Antshrike
30 Mouse-colored Antshrike
31 Amazonian Antshrike
32 Cinereous Antshrike
33 Pygmy Antwren -Heard
34 Long-winged Antwren
35 Gray Antwren
36 Todd's Antwren -Heard
37 Gray Antbird
38 Guianan Warbling-Antbird
39 Spot-backed Antbird
40 Spotted Antpitta -Heard
41 Thrush-like Antpitta -Heard
42 Guianan Tyrannulet
43 White-fronted Manakin
44 Wing-barred Piprites -Heard
45 Thrush-like Schiffornis -Heard
46 Buff-cheeked Greenlet -Heard
47 Gray-breasted Martin
48 Coraya Wren- Heard
49 White-breasted Wood-Wren -Heard
50 Musician Wren
51 White-necked Thrush
52 Blue-backed Tanager
53 Bay-headed Tanager
54 Blue Dacnis
55 Purple Honeycreeper
56 Red-legged Honeycreeper
57 Pectoral Sparrow
58 Hepatic Tanager
59 Green Oropendola -Heard

Suriname-Monkeys! Ants! A SNAKE! November 13, 2011

2011-11-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

The Red Howlers, frogs and White-necked Thrush woke me again. I could only smile, as sleepy as I was. The previous mornings it had been a bit foggy when we got up. This morning was glorious; the view of the sun rising over the lake from the porch was spectacular. We walked up the main road to a clearing with a dead tree where birds seemed to stop often as they fly from area to area.

A poison-dart frog was singing loudly. Sean located it and we watched this tiny frog inflate his throat, making his loud call. A gorgeous morpho butterfly actually landed, allowing me to take some really nice photos. Unfortunately, it was only the underside of the wing, but I was more than happy to get that. It is always a bit frustrating to see these huge iridescent blue butterflies come bounding down the trail without ever putting down. A flock of Painted Parakeets landed in the trees on the edge of the clearing, giving us the first life bird of the day.

We returned to eat breakfast and check out the "hummingbird tree", but I didn't see the Tufted Coquettes. After we ate our eggs, we drove back to the spots where we had "fished" for the Red Guianan Cotinga, the antshrikes and the Capuchin Bird. Again, there was no response. We did happen on a small flock and finally saw Buff-cheeked Greenlet, a small vireo, that says its name. We heard some other birds, like Cinereous Mourner, Ferruginous-backed, Black-headed and Dusky Antbirds. It was a bit frustrating. We tried very hard for White-fronted Manakins, which we heard, but never saw.

I love butterflies, as you can tell if you have looked at my photos. Martin and I are always on the lookout for good bugs. We found a great one on this day. A gorgeous turquoise blue/green hairstreak perched on a leaf above our heads. I have never seen color like this on a bug. It was a bit distant, but we both managed to get a few reasonable shots. When we returned, Martin did some research. He contacted a couple of experts asking about it. It turns out it is a Evanus sponsa. It does not even have an English name. There are only a few photos of museum specimens known. We possibly took the first photos of a living one ever!

We added another monkey to our growing list, Golden-handed Tamarin. We had now seen four of the eight species of monkeys found in Suriname. Along with a Coati and a Tayra, a large weasel, we were accumulating a nice mammal list. Red-rumped Agoutis were also common. I always hope for a cat of some sort, but I never really expect to see one.

After lunch Martin and Sean went to the main overlook, while I returned to the cabin to get something to drink. I was always thirsty and craved cold Diet Coke. The cabin was set in a cut away of a steep hill. You could easily jump from the yard across to the roof, if you wanted. There were stone steps leading down to the porch. The three walls that were not up against the cut were surrounded by dense vegetation and trees. I almost always saw Long-tailed Hermits feeding in the flowers below the porch railing.

I climbed the steps back up to the yard and just as my head cleared the top I saw a group of three Black Currasows, large birds about the size of turkeys, with crazy, curled crests, on the trail in front of the cabin. I got off a few quick shot with my camera as they ran into the forest. Currasows can be quite shy, so I was very happy to get even lousy photos of them. I walked up to the overlook and told a Dutch couple, Roland and Daisy, who were there birding with a wonderful guide named Serrano and they hustled down to see if they could see them, too. (They did!)

Birding the overlook is a great way to spend the afternoon. There are benches to sit on, some shaded by a fruiting tree that gets all kinds of honey-creepers and woodpeckers. Below is thick forest, running far down the hill to the lake. The view of the tree tops allows you to see any birds perching up, or flocks moving through. Hawks, swifts and martins use the thermals, so there is always something to look at. I was a little disappointed that I had missed a White Hawk, but it soon returned to a nearby tree to perch. Roland, Daisy and Serrano returned from their Currasow hunt and joined us. A large bird called and then flew by, an Ornate Hawk Eagle! http://www.martinreid.com/Misc%20website/SUR11OrnateHEagle.html (Martin's photo) It was great to see a King Vulture overhead.

I was sitting looking down at the trees below us, when I saw some movement. I scanned carefully and realized it was a family group of monkeys. I called them out, and Serrano said "What color?" When I replied gray he became very excited. They were Weeper Capuchins, which are the rarest monkeys found in Suriname. Everybody got looks at them as they worked their way through the trees. I got a really awful photo of one of their backs. We now had five of the eight species!

A bit later in the afternoon Sean decided that we had been lazy enough. We chose to walk to another overlook past our cabin. We had started out for this one the day before, but got distracted by some tanagers and honey-creepers. This walk was a bit more up and down than anything else we had done, though not rough at all. I am rather slow, due to my fear of breaking another ankle. I was lagging about 50 feet behind Martin and Sean, walking up a hill. I was watching where I was stepping, as it was rocky and there were some exposed tree roots.

I noticed a rather wide column of ants moving along the trail. I got to the top of the hill and told Sean. They didn't look like the army ants we had seen in Brazil, but I still thought it was worth mentioning. Sean scrambled down the hill and was thrilled to discover that they were army ants! An ant swarm is the holy grail of tropical birding. All kind of birds follow these swarms. They are called "ant birds", but they do not actually eat the ants; they eat the things scrambling to get away from the ants. Unfortunately, this was not a large swarm, only a satellite column, but it still held promise.

Sean played a tape for Rufous-throated Antbird and one answered. It flew up the hill to where we were watching the ants and put on a bit of a show. I didn't get any photos, but Martin got this one: http://www.martinreid.com/Misc%20website/SUR11RufousthrAntbird.html. As you can see, its a bit crazy looking! Then Sean tried for White-plumed Antbird, another ant swarm specialist. Sean and Martin heard it call, but unfortunately, it was a bit shyer and never came out in the open.

We moved on to the overlook, where we saw more Golden-handed Tamarins. Swallow-tailed and Plumbeous Kites were circling. We found a Short-billed Honeycreeper in with the Purple and Red-leggeds. A Spangled Cotinga was sitting high in a tree across from us. The view was the best one yet. All I could see was forest stretching out to the horizon. Suriname is covered with more rain forest, than any other country, about 80%. It was getting a bit late and I didn't relish climbing down the rocky slope in the dark, so I told Martin and Sean I was going to head back.

Earlier in the day, Serrano and Roland told us about an encounter they had with a creature I had been aching to see in the tropics, a Fer-de-lance. This is one of the most venomous snakes in the world. I love reptiles; I wanted to be a herpetologist when I was a kid. I am always excited to get to see a new one, especially a poisonous one. I guess it is the adrenaline thrill. Anyway, I was keeping my eyes on the path coming down the same hill where I found the ants. I saw some movement, and there was a small brown and yellow snake wrapped up in a ball. I stopped and took a couple of photos. I had no idea what it was, but I was happy to see it. As I was approaching the cabin I ran into Serrano and Roland and told them about the ants. I also told them again how jealous I was of their snake.

Martin and Sean came back and I showed Sean the photos of my snake. It was some kind of whip snake, a non-venomous one. We got ready and went up to dinner. Serrano and Roland came in and told me that when they passed me, they found another Fer-di-lance right off of the path where I had just walked. Auughh! I missed seeing one again! I did feel just a little uneasy knowing I was so close and might have stepped on it if I wasn't looking where I was going. I am not afraid of snakes, but I do respect them.

After dinner we decided to do a little after dark "hunting", with Serrano driving the van and Sean spot lighting. It is possible to see some amazing animals on the road, including Jaguars. Snakes are also sometimes seen crossing the road. Sean had once found an Emerald Tree Boa. We cruised around, but the only animals we saw were bats. We stopped at a clearing and looked at the stars, which were amazingly bright. Sean knows the constellations well. We decided to call it a day and head back.

Sean parked the van in front of the cabin, in the normal spot. We all got out and he was shining the spotlight so we could see. Then he called out, "Here is your Fer-de-lance!" There was a hollow stump between where we parked and the cabin. The snake was in the stump! I had stood next to that stump over and over again during our stay. I asked Sean if he thought it had been in there the whole time, and he said possibly. I think I was more excited about seeing the Fer-de-lance than anything I else we had seen that day.

Photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628145633753/

Bird list for the day-
1 Great Tinamou-Heard
2 Black Curassow
3 Black Vulture
4 Greater Yellow-headed Vulture
5 King Vulture
6 Swallow-tailed Kite
7 Double-toothed Kite
8 Plumbeous Kite
9 White Hawk
10 Ornate Hawk-Eagle
11 Lined Forest-Falcon-Heard
12 Gray-winged Trumpeter
13 Ruddy Pigeon
14 Gray-fronted Dove
15 Painted Parakeet
16 Golden-winged Parakeet-Heard
17 Squirrel Cuckoo
18 Amazonian Pygmy-Owl-Heard
19 Chapman's Swift
20 Band-rumped Swift
21 Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift
22 Long-tailed Hermit
23 White-necked Jacobin
24 White-chinned Sapphire
25 Black-eared Fairy
26 Green-backed Trogon-Heard
27 Green Aracari
28 Guianan Toucanet
29 Golden-collared Woodpecker
30 Golden-olive Woodpecker
31 Wedge-billed Woodcreeper
32 Buff-throated Woodcreeper
33 Mouse-colored Antshrike-Heard
34 Dusky Antbird-Heard
35 Black-headed Antbird-Heard
36 Ferruginous-backed Antbird-Heard
37 Rufous-throated Antbird
38 Thrush-like Antpitta-Heard
39 McConnell's Flycatcher
40 Spangled Cotinga
41 White-throated Manakin
42 White-fronted Manakin-Heard
43 Golden-headed Manakin
44 Cinereous Mourner-Heard
45 Lemon-chested Greenlet
46 Buff-cheeked Greenlet
47 Gray-breasted Martin
48 White-breasted Wood-Wren-Heard
49 White-necked Thrush
50 Bananaquit
51 Palm Tanager
52 Black-faced Dacnis
53 Blue Dacnis
54 Green Honeycreeper
55 Purple Honeycreeper
56 Red-legged Honeycreeper
57 Pectoral Sparrow-Heard
58 Hepatic Tanager
59 Green Oropendola-Heard
60 Short-billed Honeycreeper

Suriname-Its a Frog, November 12, 2011

2011-11-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

Waking up at Brownsberg involves some amazing sounds. My alarm clock was the daily chorus of the Red Howlers. If someone was out in the forest and didn't know how these monkeys sound, they would probably be terrified. The grumbling roar a group makes can be felt almost as much as heard.

Then I would notice the frogs. There always was some kind of frog sounding off. It seemed like every time I heard a call and asked Sean what it was, he would reply, "A frog." I had no idea just how many sounds frogs can make. The first bird I usually heard was the squeaky sound of a White-necked Thrush. The early morning view of Lake Brokopondo with the sun rising over it, was memorable.

Breakfast wasn't until 8:30 AM, so we dressed and hit the trails near the compound. There were large puddles on the road, which were full of some of those frogs I mentioned. I could see a frog head sticking up out of the water. Then Martin pointed out that it was actually two frog heads, doing what frogs do in breeding season. We looked around and it looked like a frog orgy. There were coupled frogs all over the road and the puddle. There should be a lot of tadpoles in Brownsberg. We then came across several Three-striped Poison Dart Frogs, including one with two tadpoles on its back. These frogs carry their tadpoles, instead of the young living in water.

We passed a group of stylishly dressed teenagers on the path. Sean explained that they were the winners of a TV competition, similar to our American Idol show. It was done with all high school students. A tour of Brownsberg was one of their prizes. These kids didn't look dressed for jungle hiking, some with jackets and wool scarves on, but they did look very hip. They appeared to be having a good time, skirting the deep puddles, laughing and talking. They turned left and we went right.

A small thicket held several birds. We found both Dusky and Black-headed Antbirds working deep in the brush. A Coraya Wren started singing. We had heard this bird in the past, but had never seen it. I played a clip of its call on my iPod and it popped out. It flew across the road right in front of me. Sean commented that he liked seeing me smile like that. We also got decent looks at both antbirds.

We moved further down the road, and Sean heard a Lined Forest Falcon calling close the road. We stopped and scanned, but the bird was buried deep in the foliage. He played a tape and the bird responded, but it didn't move. The teenagers came walking by talking and laughing. The bird became quiet and we decided to move on. We stopped a bit further down the road to listen for another bird. Martin and I happened to glance behind us; the forest falcon flew up the road towards us, angling off
into the trees just behind us.

Sean heard some different monkeys, White-faced Saki Monkeys. Of the eight species of monkeys in Suriname, this is one of the harder species to see. They came into view in the trees above us. These monkeys have the craziest tails I have ever seen on a monkey; they are huge! They almost look like a skunk tail, without a stripe. Sean said that Amerindians use the tails as dusters, after they eat the monkeys. I was really getting into the monkeys! We also heard Spider Monkeys, but never saw them. (By the way, I said we had Spider Monkeys on our first day in Suriname. They were actually Squirrel Monkeys! Sorry about that).

We returned for breakfast and enjoyed watching the Gray-winged Trumpeters eating the scraps that Rocky threw out for them in a small patch of woods next to the restaurant. Red-rumped Agoutis wandered among them. There was a flowering tree next to the restaurant, which we staked out for a little while. Martin spotted a Tufted Coquette. Coquettes, a type of tiny hummingbird, were one of my nemesis birds. There are a number of different kinds, some with crazy feather patterns in their gorgets and crowns. I have been in range of several different species, but have never seen one. I couldn't find the one Martin was looking at and then it flew. We worked a bit longer and finally, I had victory! A female came in and fed; not as flashy as the male, but I still felt a sense of relief.

Martin had a few targets that he wanted very badly, Guianan Red Cotinga, Red-and-black Grosbeak, Black-throated Antshrike and Band-tailed Antshrike. My most wanted bird was Capuchin Bird, a cotinga with one of the craziest calls ever. Sean had several locations where we had a good chance for these targets. The grosbeak was less predictable, but we were going to try. Of course these were not our only targets, but we did plan on putting some effort into them. We got into the van and drove to the first stop. Sean played his tape of the Capuchin Bird. There was a long time lek in the woods, close enough for them to hear the tape. Nothing, not a sniff. We moved down a bit and tried the antshrike tapes, same result. We walked a trail, only to find a tree fallen across it. We wiggled through the woods around it, and went on, hoping for the Guianan Red Cotinga. Again we batted zero. We did come across a small flock and added a few birds. We had plenty of time to try again, so we moved on.

We returned to our cabin, checking for the Tufted Coquette again. We heard a Ferruginous-backed Antbird calling in the woods next to where Sean parked the van. He tried a tape, but it didn't seem to care at all. We went up for lunch and met several people who were also staying there. They were all Dutch, but spoke English. Rocky's wife had put out some appliquéd wrap skirts that some of the Maroon women had made. They were really lovely and I planned on buying at least one. We were a bit distracted by the birds, so I put it off.

There is a beautiful overlook in the main area of the compound. There is a fruiting tree just behind the benches, where you can sit and leisurely watch for flocks in the tree tops below you. This tree attracts a lot of birds, including a Waved Woodpecker. I am a huge fan of woodpeckers, so I was very excited when one flew in. I was even more excited when I actually got recognizable photos. This area was also great for watching raptors soaring. That day, Swallow-tailed Kites gracefully flew above and below us.

I returned to the cabin, where several Red Howlers were in a tall tree near the van. As I looked up at them I spotted a Green Aracari, a member of the Toucan family. Martin and Sean returned and we took the trail towards another lookout. We didn't go very far, when we discovered a fruiting tree. A Guianan Toucanet was chomping down. A mixed flock of dacnis, tanagers and honey creepers worked the tree. We decided that this tree was worth staying at for a while. It was getting a bit late, so we decided to go to the overlook another day, and headed back. After dinner I found a different gecko in the house, though the first one was still in the bathroom. The frogs were still calling.

Photos from the day-http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628145651137/

1 Great Tinamou- Heard
2 Variegated Tinamou- Heard
3 Marail Guan
4 Marbled Wood-Quail- Heard
5 Swallow-tailed Kite
6 Lined Forest-Falcon
7 Gray-winged Trumpeter
8 Ruddy Pigeon
9 Gray-fronted Dove
10 Blue-headed Parrot
11 Dusky Parrot
12 Squirrel Cuckoo
13 Chapman's Swift
14 Long-tailed Hermit
15 Tufted Coquette
16 Fork-tailed Woodnymph
17 White-chinned Sapphire
18 Black-tailed Trogon- Heard
19 Green-backed Trogon- Heard
20 Green Aracari
21 Guianan Toucanet
22 Golden-olive Woodpecker
23 Waved Woodpecker
24 Wedge-billed Woodcreeper
25 Fasciated Antshrike- Heard
26 Mouse-colored Antshrike- Heard
27 Pygmy Antwren- Heard
28 Todd's Antwren-Heard
29 Dusky Antbird
30 Black-headed Antbird
31 Ferruginous-backed Antbird- Heard
32 Thrush-like Antpitta-Heard
33 Yellow-throated Flycatcher- Heard
34 Screaming Piha-Heard
35 Black-tailed Tityra
36 Buff-cheeked Greenlet- Heard
37 Gray-breasted Martin
38 Coraya Wren
39 White-breasted Wood-Wren- Heard
40 White-necked Thrush
41 Fulvous-crested Tanager
42 Bay-headed Tanager
43 Blue Dacnis
44 Green Honeycreeper
45 Purple Honeycreeper
46 Red-legged Honeycreeper
47 Slate-colored Grosbeak
48 Pectoral Sparrow
49 Hepatic Tanager
50 Finsch's Euphonia

Suriname-Welcome to Brownsberg November 11, 2011

2011-11-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

I woke up a bit earlier than expected on this day. The lights, which had gone out the night before, suddenly came back on, along with the air conditioning at about 3:00 AM. I turned the lights off and enjoyed the air until about 5:30 AM, when we arose to start out for the day. I kind of wished we had more time at Colakreek, as we didn't get to bird much at all, but we had a ways to go and quite a bit more to see.

We left the park in semi-darkness. Our first stop was on the road back to the main highway. A group of Variable Chachalacas were roosting right off of the shoulder. We pulled up just as they were starting their dawn chorus. This was a new chachalaca for us, which was great, but they are just as noisy as the ones in Texas. As soon as we got a good look, we left to look for quieter birds.

We made another stop right outside the airport, looking for Rufous-crowned Elaenia and the local subspecies of White-fringed Antwren. We walked into a brushy area and began our search. Martin and I both spotted a large bird flying over, a Pinnated Bittern, which was not at all expected there. The antwrens were very responsive to Sean's tape and jumped right now. It took a bit longer to find the Elaenia, but we were successful. Then we heard a Rufous-crowned Crake calling nearby. We worked very hard to see it, but the grass was very thick. Finally Martin saw it run across the trail next to him. I never did see the little so and so, but I was still happy. A few birds were feeding in the trees, and we added Red-shouldered Tanager to our list.

We then left and returned to Berlyn to look for the Glossy-backed Becard. I know I already mentioned it, but I really liked this spot! We didn't even get to the bridge when we started spotting birds. A McConnell's Flycatcher played hide and seek with us. Toucans called in the background. The Point-tailed Palmcreeper put on another show. It was tough, but we tore ourselves away and crossed over the bridge. We walked into the cemetery and I had to wonder if we would have a repeat of the day before.

We started scanning tree tops, and then we heard a call. There was the Glossy-backed Becard as high up as he could get, singing. My neck started aching from looking straight up. We were thrilled when the female joined him. I tried to get some photos, but the distance was too far to get anything recognizable. I still kept them, though, putting them in my bad pictures of great birds folder! I was able to get some photos of their nest, though they are not fabulous, either. As we walked out we watched a Guianan Warbling-Antbird hopping around in the foliage near the bridge. Our smiles were ear to ear.

After leaving Berlyn, we visited a spot that Sean had for Black Manakin and Saffron-crested Tyrant Manakin. I am a big fan of manakins. They are little birds, but their leking behavior is fascinating. If you have not seen it, check out this video of one species that "moonwalks" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDYpW3zyXqQ. Disregard the silly woman. We pulled onto a sand road, which Sean had said was just a wide path not long ago. Unfortunately, huge dump trucks were now using it, hauling out sand. This did not help our quest. We didn't have a sniff of the Black Manakin and only heard the Saffron-crested Tyrant Manakin calling. We would have an opportunity to try again, after we finished at Brownsberg, so we climbed back in the van and got on our way.

The drive to Brownsberg Nature Pake was not that far, but the drive up from the main road is a tough one. There is no way you could do it without four wheel drive. It took us at least an hour and a half to reach the top. I felt a little bit bruised by the time we got there, though it was not the worst road I have traveled. We stopped along the way and had Swallow-tailed Kites soaring overhead. They were joined by some Plumbeous Kites. The view of the forest along the road just got better and better. The park is at an altitude of 500 meters, not that high, but high enough to be a bit cooler and provide some amazing views.

We pulled into the compound where we were staying. It is made up of several cabins, some open shelters for hammocks, a few educational buildings and Rocky's restaurant. We parked the van and got out. Sean pointed out a flock of large birds wandering along the forest edge, Gray-winged Trumpeters! We had heard that they were fairly easy to get here, as Rocky was putting out food scraps in a wooded area, but this was ridiculous. They were no more afraid of us than chickens would be! When we had seen Dark-winged Trumpeters in Brazil we had to practically become invisible to even get a glance at them. These birds are absolutely beautiful, with a green and purple iridescence across the chest.

After checking in, we went to our cabin, which was awesome; not because of it being luxurious, which it was not by a long shot, but because of the view of Lake Brokopondo from the porch, and the surrounding trees and vegetation. It was worth the cold water showers. We unloaded our stuff and went back to Rocky's for lunch. Our first meal was really good, a barbecued chicken with cole slaw and rice. Sean said he could just live on rice, but I was a bigger fan of the chicken. We finished up and went to start our first afternoon of birding.

We went back to the cabin to get our gear. Sean pointed up to a tree right next to the back porch and said "Welcome to Brownsberg!" A troop of Red Howler Monkeys were sitting there giving us the once over. I must have taken 100 photos of them. I have never seen monkeys so well. The chief male was very impressive looking. Several of the youngsters were clambering around, hanging by the tails, and basically showing off. I was ecstatic!

We could hear White-throated Thrush singing everywhere. I asked Sean what a whooping call was, which sounded similar to mot-mot, but very loud. He said "A frog." This became of a theme of this stay. Probably 75 percent of the times I asked what a call was, he would reply "Another frog." The calls varied to tiny chirps to almost pig like squeals. Brownsberg is definitely frog heaven. He told us we would see the frogs that whooped when we went to dinner. I wondered if they might be on our plate!

We did a bit of walking, picking up a few species here and there. Sean showed us some Poison Dart Frogs, which I always like to see. Then the sky became very threatening, so we headed back. As I arrived at the stairs down to our cabin, a big clap of thunder sounded. Just as it ended I heard one of my all time favorite bird calls, a Screaming Piha. I was really hoping to hear them at Brownsberg, but they didn't seem as vocal as the ones in Peru. It started pouring, so we went inside.

There were some issues with water at the compound. We were told to be very careful and not waste any. My hair was feeling really grungy and I was aching to wash it. The rain was so heavy that it was like a torrent coming down off of the roof. I went inside, got my shampoo and proceeded to wash it in the run off. It felt so good! I also rinsed out a couple of shirts and some pants. I wasn't a Girl Scout for nothing.

Unfortunately we didn't get to do much more birding because of the rain. We went up to dinner, which was a great soup, and sure enough we did see the frogs. The storm had knocked out the power earlier, but it came back on. The cabin was not air conditioned. It also didn't have a key. Someone had taken off with it some time before. No one seemed at all concerned about this, except us. Sean assured us that theft had never been a problem. He was right, we never had any trouble at all the four days were were there. When we came back to the cabin, we were greeted by one last creature, a large gecko, who was making our bathroom his home. He had an injury on his back leg, which did heal while we were there, and he was missing a couple of toes. I was happy to share the room with him. The sleeping arrangements were a bit spartan, but I was tired enough to not care. The open window let so many wonderful night sounds in. I was in love with this place.

Pictures from this day-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628095705417/

1 Great Tinamou -heard
2 Cinereous Tinamou -heard
3 Red-legged Tinamou -heard
4 Variable Chachalaca -heard
5 Pinnated Bittern
6 Cattle Egret
7 Black Vulture
8 Turkey Vulture
9 King Vulture
10 Swallow-tailed Kite
11 Plumbeous Kite
12 Roadside Hawk
13 Red-throated Caracara
14 Yellow-headed Caracara
15 Laughing Falcon
16 Bat Falcon
17 Russet-crowned Crake
18 Gray-winged Trumpeter
19 Solitary Sandpiper
20 Pale-vented Pigeon
21 Common Ground-Dove
22 Ruddy Ground-Dove
23 White-eyed Parakeet
24 Brown-throated Parakeet
25 Red-bellied Macaw
26 Orange-winged Parrot
27 Squirrel Cuckoo
28 Greater Ani
29 Smooth-billed Ani
30 Chapman's Swift
31 Short-tailed Swift
32 Fork-tailed Palm-Swift
33 Long-tailed Hermit
34 Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
35 Green-tailed Goldenthroat
36 Black-tailed Trogon
37 Green-backed Trogon
38 Ringed Kingfisher
39 Swallow-winged Puffbird
40 White-throated Toucan -heard
41 Channel-billed Toucan
42 Golden-collared Woodpecker
43 Point-tailed Palmcreeper
44 Buff-throated Woodcreeper
45 Barred Antshrike -heard
46 Northern Slaty-Antshrike
47 Pygmy Antwren -heard
48 White-fringed Antwren
49 Guianan Warbling-Antbird
50 Plain-crested Elaenia
51 Rufous-crowned Elaenia
52 McConnell's Flycatcher
53 Yellow-throated Flycatcher
54 Tropical Kingbird
55 Purple-throated Fruitcrow -heard
56 Screaming Piha -heard
57 Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin -heard
58 White-crowned Manakin
59 Golden-headed Manakin
60 Black-tailed Tityra
61 Glossy-backed Becard
62 Red-eyed Vireo
63 Gray-breasted Martin
64 White-winged Swallow
65 Pale-breasted Thrush
66 White-necked Thrush -heard
67 Tropical Mockingbird
68 Bananaquit
69 Black-faced Tanager
70 Red-shouldered Tanager
71 Silver-beaked Tanager
72 Blue-gray Tanager
73 Palm Tanager
74 Black-faced Dacnis
75 Green Honeycreeper
76 Purple Honeycreeper
77 Red-legged Honeycreeper
78 Slate-colored Grosbeak
79 Wing-barred Seedeater
80 Blue-black Grosbeak
81 Yellow-rumped Cacique
82 Crested Oropendola
83 Violaceous Euphonia

Suriname-Back to the Airport November 10, 2011

2011-11-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

Sean picked us up at about 7:00 AM and we headed back the airport. No, this was not going to be our shortest trip ever; there is actually very good birding around the airport. Just south of Paramaribo is a belt of savanna with some gallery forest. The soil is white sand over red clay. We had birded a similar type of habitat in Brazil at Rio Azul. There are a number of birds adapted to this area that we were hoping to find. Unfortunately, traffic was heavy in the city, so we didn't get as early a start as we had hoped, but we were still confident.

There is a road that circles the outside of the runways of the airport. This can be a good spot to look for Giant Snipe, one of Martin's target birds. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good place on that day. We did see a Roadside Hawk, and Swallow-winged Puffbirds were common, perching in the trees along the road. A White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, a very sharp looking black and white bird, was sitting on the fence by the runway. A few White-winged Swallows were on the power lines. We walked in some tall grasses, looking for the snipe, but all we ended up with were chiggers. I was a bit amused that Sean got a little excited about an Eastern Meadowlark. Actually it is nice to see a common bird through someone else's eyes sometimes.

It was getting late in the morning, so we wandered over to the area where the restaurant we were going to eat lunch at is. We stopped at a creek with a small trail into the woods. Before we saw any birds we came across a rather odd scene. There were several baskets on the ground and pieces of colorful cloth. Streamers were hanging from some of the trees. The most peculiar thing was that some of the trees with wrapped with more of the cloths. Sean explained this was a site where an Obeah ritual had been done. Obeah is a religion similar to voodoo that is practiced by some in Suriname.

We heard a bird calling and then saw a Mouse-colored Antshrike fall across the creek. I was particularly thrilled when a Cream-colored Woodpecker flew in. I had seen this bird in Brazil, very briefly flying away through the woods and the day before I had gotten good looks at Peperpot. The best part of this bird was it perched in the open and I got some photos. The pictures aren't great, but it is always fun to photograph a bird you love.

It was lunch time, so we drove to the restaurant Sean had chosen, called Cotjie's Corner. It's a tiny place with a couple of tables on an open porch. Sean had called earlier to arrange our meal. The food was so good! The owner's wife, who was the cook, was so friendly. It was very pleasant. The yard had some habitat and we saw Silver-beaked, Palm and Blue-gray Tanagers working the trees. Brown-throated Parakeets came into the tree tops. I was very happy being there.

After we finished we drove to a nearby Amerindian village. We got out of the van and started looking for birds. I heard someone calling to us and saw a man standing in the doorway of one of the small houses. He seemed a bit upset. Sean was talking back to him in Sranan Tongo, the patois spoken all over Suriname, a mixture of Dutch, English, Portuguese and West African languages. Sean related the conversation and said the man was the head of the village and was not happy with us being there. I had my camera with a large lens and I think he was worried we were there to take photos of the village. I understood his concerns. They deserve their privacy and they should not feel like they are on exhibit. I never photograph people without their permission, particularly in the tropics.

We got back in the van and started to drive out. We turned the corner and stopped by a small pond. Sean heard a Sulphury Flycatcher. We started scanning and found it fairly quickly. I looked up and saw the head of the village walking towards us in a very determined manner. I thought "This is going to be trouble." We weren't in the village proper, but I guess we were still too close. He spoke to Sean and then Martin joined the conversation. He told the chief that he understood and that we were happy to leave the area. The chief said we should have asked before we came in and Martin agreed. Finally he said it was fine. The village welcomed us and we could stay. I did feel badly that we had intruded.

The next stop was one of my favorite places of the entire trip. The village of Berlyn sits on a black water creek. A wooden foot bridge crosses the creek, leading to the cemetery, which sits in an open area of a lovely woods. This cemetery is probably the best place in Suriname for Glossy-backed Becard. We started across the bridge, but were immediately distracted by the birds. A Point-tailed Palm Creeper flew in, a bird we had only seen poorly in Peru. A Long-tailed Woodcreeper was beating a caterpillar to death on the trunk of a tree. We were ecstatic to see a Black Nunbird perched up nicely. I picked out a very small manakin, sitting in the foliage. I pointed it out to Martin and he confirmed it was one of my most wanted birds, Tiny Tyrant Manakin. It wasn't exactly a "looker", but what a fabulous name! I had not really expected to see it, as it normally involved a rather difficult hike.When we were driving out, I saw a Squirrel Monkey sitting out in the open. I got a few photos, but they were taken through the car window, so they aren't great.http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628080143227/

We tore ourselves away and walked though the woods to the cemetery. Sean played the call of the becard, but there was no response. This bird sits up very high, so we scanned the tree tops. Sean pointed out a nest in the tree he saw the becards in most often. Unfortunately, our birding Karma seemed to have run out. Sean said we would return in the morning, so maybe we would have better luck. We did have a White-winged Becard, but that was a poor second.

The afternoon thunder clouds started to roll in. Sean said we should go ahead and go to the place we were spending the night, Colakreek, a park with cabins. This is a very popular spot for family weekends. It is called Colakreek because the water is the color of cola, almost black. Even though the color of the water is very dark, it is very clean. Tannins from the trees and red clay cause the water to appear almost black. There can be some very good birds here. We pulled into the headquarters to check in and the sky opened up and it started to "chuck it down", as Martin would say.

The cabin was great. It had sliding doors that opened to reveal a kitchen, a bathroom and two bedrooms. The bedrooms were air conditioned, which made us very happy, as it was rather hot. We carried our stuff in, using a large umbrella to keep dry. Martin and I settled in, arranging our stuff in the small bedroom. I closed the windows and turned on the air conditioning. Within a few seconds the power went out and the cabin went dark. I said a few choice words and said we needed to look for the breaker box, figuring I blew a circuit breaker. We walked out of the room just as Sean came out of his. He said he was talking to his wife in Paramaribo and she said the power went out there at the same time. Wow, I had really done some damage! I asked Sean if power outages were common, and he said that they weren't, but there had been some recently.

The rain had slowed to a drizzle, so I kicked off my shoes and went out to walk on the sand roads. It felt so nice to be barefoot. Sean and Martin joined me and we started looking for birds. It was close to sunset, so there wasn't much to see. Sean took us to a spot along the creek, where we watched Red-bellied Macaws come in to roost. We walked back to the cabin, opened the windows, and settled down for the night. It wasn't unbearably hot; the breeze was actually quite nice. During the night the lights came back on, waking me up. The air also came on, and the power didn't kick off again, so I guess I didn't cause the black out.

Here are my photos for the day-

1 Cattle Egret
2 Striated Heron
3 Black Vulture
4 Turkey Vulture
5 Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
6 Greater Yellow-headed Vulture
7 Swallow-tailed Kite
8 Snail Kite
9 Roadside Hawk
10 White-tailed Hawk
11 Ruddy Pigeon
12 Common Ground-Dove
13 White-tipped Dove
14 White-eyed Parakeet
15 Brown-throated Parakeet
16 Red-bellied Macaw
17 Golden-winged Parakeet
18 Squirrel Cuckoo
19 Greater Ani
20 Smooth-billed Ani
21 Common Pauraque
22 Band-rumped Swift
23 Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift
24 Fork-tailed Palm-Swift
25 Green-tailed Goldenthroat
26 Guianan Trogon
27 Ringed Kingfisher
28 Amazon Kingfisher
29 Pied Puffbird
30 Black Nunbird
31 Swallow-winged Puffbird
32 White-throated Toucan
33 Golden-collared Woodpecker
34 Cream-colored Woodpecker
35 Point-tailed Palmcreeper
36 Long-tailed Woodcreeper
37 Black-crested Antshrike
38 Mouse-colored Antshrike
39 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
40 Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet
41 Forest Elaenia
42 Plain-crested Elaenia
43 Helmeted Pygmy-Tyrant
44 White-headed Marsh-Tyrant
45 Great Kiskadee
46 Boat-billed Flycatcher
47 Rusty-margined Flycatcher
48 Yellow-throated Flycatcher
49 Piratic Flycatcher
50 Variegated Flycatcher
51 Sulphury Flycatcher
52 Tropical Kingbird
53 Tiny Tyrant-Manakin
54 White-winged Becard
55 Ashy-headed Greenlet
56 Gray-breasted Martin
57 White-winged Swallow
58 Pale-breasted Thrush
59 Spectacled Thrush
60 Tropical Mockingbird
61 Bananaquit
62 Silver-beaked Tanager
63 Blue-gray Tanager
64 Palm Tanager
65 Wing-barred Seedeater
66 Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch
67 Eastern Meadowlark
68 Giant Cowbird
69 Yellow Oriole
70 Red-rumped Cacique
71 Yellow-rumped Cacique
72 Crested Oropendola

Suriname-Even the City has Amazing Birds! November 9, 2011

2011-11-20T14:19:00.000-08:00

Morning came a lot quicker than I wanted. In fact, it didn't seem like we had a night. Our flight had arrived after midnight. It took about 45 minutes to get to our hotel, the De Luifel. By the time we showered, (this hotel has amazing showers, by the way.) it was probably close to 2:00 AM. Sean Dilrosun, our guide, suggested we not start too early. We decided on leaving the hotel at 7:30 AM, after we had breakfast.

Luckily, the anticipation generated enough adrenaline that we didn't feel too tired. Our first stop was the Paramaribo Botanical Gardens. When I hear the words botanical gardens I imagine a manicured place with planted flower beds, open trees and carefully tended lawns. Get this vision out of your mind; this garden is nothing like that. Sean explained that the government used this area to see what plants might grow well in Suriname. It is a wild tangle of large trees and under-story. Some of the plantings are exotics, but the birds didn't seem to care one bit.

We parked the car and walked over to one of the more open areas. A large flowering tree sat off to one side. Within a couple of minutes I spotted one of our main targets for Suriname, the only true endemic, Arrowhead Piculet. Piculets are tiny woodpeckers. They can be difficult to find, but this one was no problem at all. Sean played the call and the bird flew right in. I was able to get poor, but recognizable photos. Those of you who know me, know I have an aversion to the word "cute", but I have to admit this bird did fit that word well.

We turned our attention back to the flowering tree. Our other targets at this location included several hummingbirds. Green-throated Mangos are found there, but Black-throated Mangos are also there and are much more common. We picked through the birds, looking for a green throat. Martin saw one, but I still had not. (Maybe payback for the Crimson Topaz incident?) Finally he and Sean got me on one, so I was happy. We wandered through the gardens and I found a Green-tailed Jacamar, a life bird for both of us. I had seen Cinnamon Attila before, but I had never noticed, until Sean pointed it out, that their call sounds suspiciously like they were saying something very rude. I have to say, I will probably never forget that call!

We finished up at the gardens and went searching for our next target, Rufous Crab-Hawk. We drove to a location on the Suriname River where Sean said we had a good chance to see one. Boy, was he right! We pulled up and walked out on a dock. Sean let loose a piercing whistle, imitating the hawk's call. Almost immediately the hawk soared over head and landed in a nearby palm. We got great looks. Then a different bird, a Black-collared Hawk, flew overhead, giving me another life bird. A Pied Water-Tyrant was hopping on eye level right next to the car when we got in. They are a really sharp bird, as black and white birds often are.

As we drove away, Martin and I said "Crested Caracara!", a bird we know very well from Texas. Sean said, "No, you mean Yellow-headed." We said, "No, we mean Crested!" He stopped the car and sure enough, they were Crested. He had never seen this species in that area before. The closest sighting he had had was quite a distance, near the border. He said his wife would be very happy if they stuck around, as they are her favorite bird.

We drove through downtown Paramaribo, which is a very interesting place. As we drove along the waterfront, Sean pointed out a ship wreck in the river, the remains of a German ship from World War II. The architecture of the city reflects it's Dutch roots. The largest wooden church in the world is there. Also, a large mosque is next to the city's Synagogue. There are huge Hindu shrines throughout the city and countryside.

The people of Suriname appear to get along better than any place I have ever been. The population has a surprising mix of ethnicities. Before we left Martin had said it would be a little different in Suriname from other tropical countries we had visited. He is about as fair skinned as you can get. He thought he would blend in well in Suriname, with all the people of Dutch descent. Wrong! The largest ethnic group in the country is made up of what they call Hindustanis, that is people of Indian descent. There are also a large number of Indonesians. In the interior there are Amerindians and people referred to as Maroons, the descendants of escaped African slaves. The only light skinned people we saw were tourists from the Netherlands.

We crossed over the very broad Suriname river to visit Peperpot Nature Park. First we stopped at a small Indonesian restaurant for lunch, which was really good. Sean knows good food and the places to find it!. We then drove to Peperpot, which was one of my favorite spots. The butterflies were fabulous. We got great looks at Black-crested Antshrike, which I had seen before, but was delighted to see again. Martin thought he had a Black-throated Blue Warbler, but Sean said they didn't get them in Suriname. Then he saw it again and realized it was a Hooded Tanager, which is marked very similarly to a Black-throated Blue. We found one of our main targets, Blood-colored Woodpecker, which Martin was able to photograph, but I wasn't so lucky. Silver-beaked, Palm and Blue-and-gray Tanager seemed to be in every tree. The Cinnamon Atillas taunted us with their "F.U." calls. A Violaceous Euphonia flew in just as we were getting ready to leave.

We packed up and headed back across river. Sean knew a location for Crimson-hooded Manakin, a bird we had dipped on at the botanic gardens. We walked into a wooded area next to a slow flowing creek. Sean pointed up and said "Spider Monkeys!" I looked up and could see their silhouettes crossing the canopy above us. He told us there are 8 species of monkeys in Suriname. I was really hoping to add at least a couple to my mammal list. Right after the monkeys we heard the manakin. I got great looks and a poor picture, which will go into my "bad photos of great birds" folder.

We climbed back into the van and headed out towards the ocean. Martin badly wanted to see Long-winged Harrier, and this is where they can be found. Unfortunately, the sky looked rather threatening. We had some rain showers, which occurred almost every afternoon. There was no sign of the harrier, but we found a nice spot on the road to the shore where some shorebirds were feeding. The biggest surprise was a White-rumped Sandpiper, which should have been long gone. A couple of Yellow-hooded Blackbirds were flitting around. We drove down the road to the sea, which was a muddy brown. Sean explained that the mud flow from the Amazon river kept the water less than pristine. There are no good beaches in Suriname, unfortunately.

There was a large open shed next to the parking area, where there were three piles of burning charcoal about 6 feet long with a sheet of corrugated metal covering it. Sean explained they were cremating bodies. It was a bit unnerving. The water was right up to the wall in front of the road. He said that the water is quite shallow, and when the tide is out, there are huge mud flats. We didn't see a single tern or gull go by. We checked out the shorebirds again, and the rain started up again.

Sean knows a great roosting place for egrets and Snail Kites in a private housing development. We finished the day there, watching Snail Kites pour in from every direction. It was really impressive! Unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard, so we headed back to the hotel for dinner and another great shower! Seriously, that shower was the best part of the hotel!

Photos from the day-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628069784057/

Bird List-
1 Pinnated Bittern- heard
2 Great Egret
3 Snowy Egret
4 Little Blue Heron
5 Tricolored Heron
6 Cattle Egret
7 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
8 Black Vulture
9 Turkey Vulture
10 Greater Yellow-headed Vulture
11 Snail Kite
12 Black-collared Hawk
13 Rufous Crab Hawk
14 Roadside Hawk
15 Zone-tailed Hawk
16 Crested Caracara
17 Laughing Falcon
18 Bat Falcon
19 Semipalmated Plover
20 Wattled Jacana
21 Spotted Sandpiper
22 Solitary Sandpiper
23 Greater Yellowlegs
24 Semipalmated Sandpiper
25 Western Sandpiper
26 Least Sandpiper
27 White-rumped Sandpiper
28 Ruddy Ground-Dove
29 White-tipped Dove
30 Brown-throated Parakeet
31 Golden-winged Parakeet
32 Orange-winged Parrot
33 Striped Cuckoo
34 Greater Ani
35 Smooth-billed Ani
36 Short-tailed Swift
37 Fork-tailed Palm-Swift
38 Green-throated Mango
39 Black-throated Mango
40 Glittering-throated Emerald
41 Green-backed Trogon
42 Ringed Kingfisher
43 Green Kingfisher
44 Green-tailed Jacamar
45 Arrowhead Piculet
46 Blood-colored Woodpecker
47 Cream-colored Woodpecker
48 Pale-breasted Spinetail
49 Plain-crowned Spinetail
50 Yellow-chinned Spinetail- heard
51 Straight-billed Woodcreeper
52 Black-crested Antshrike
53 Blackish Antbird
54 Pied Water-Tyrant
55 Cinnamon Attila
56 Dusky-capped Flycatcher
57 Lesser Kiskadee
58 Great Kiskadee
59 Boat-billed Flycatcher
60 Rusty-margined Flycatcher
61 Piratic Flycatcher
62 Tropical Kingbird
63 Gray Kingbird
64 Crimson-hooded Manakin
65 Ashy-headed Greenlet
66 Gray-breasted Martin
67 Buff-breasted Wren
68 Tropical Gnatcatcher
69 Pale-breasted Thrush
70 Spectacled Thrush -heard
71 Tropical Mockingbird
72 Yellow Warbler
73 Bananaquit
74 Hooded Tanager
75 White-lined Tanager
76 Silver-beaked Tanager
77 Blue-gray Tanager
78 Palm Tanager
79 Blue-black Grassquit
80 Wing-barred Seedeater
81 Red-breasted Blackbird
82 Carib Grackle
83 Yellow-hooded Blackbird
84 Shiny Cowbird
85 Yellow Oriole
86 Yellow-rumped Cacique
87 Crested Oropendola
88 Violaceous Euphonia

Suriname- Intro and the Layover in Curacao, November 8, 2011

2011-11-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Every time I told someone we are going to Suriname the reply was the same, "Suriname? Where is that?" Some people asked if it was in Africa, some asked if it was in Asia. Because of that, I thought I should begin this blog with a quick Geography lesson. Suriname is located in NE South America, between Guyana (remember Jim Jones?) and French Guyane. It is bordered by Brazil on the south. When I was a child I remember it being referred to as Dutch Guyana. It is a small county, just larger than the state of Georgia in the USA. There are about 500.000 people, most living in and around the capital of Paramaribo. It is not well known as a birding destination, yet, but it should be. About 80% of the country is covered by rain forest. I will include more facts in my upcoming blogs.

Getting to Suriname was a bit of a challenge. I had won some free tickets at work on American Airlines to anywhere in the lower 48 states, Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. We debated for quite some time about where to go. Finally, we decided to fly to Curacao and they go on to Paramaribo, as we could get some very inexpensive tickets from that point. Because of connection times, we had to spend a night and day in Curacao. Darn the luck!

We arrived in Curacao after sunset and headed for our hotel. The pizza in the hotel bar was decent. The cold shower before bed was not. (What the hell, Clarion?) We got up early, scarfed down some breakfast, and hit the island for a day of birding. The area around the hotel was quite lovely, with a lot of palms and flowers. The beach across the road was beautiful. The first bird we saw in the parking lot of the hotel was a Troupial. It was quickly joined by a Yellow Oriole trying to get into the trash cans.

Curacao is a bit limited as far as birds go. There are no endemic species, but there were a couple of birds we wanted to look for. Both Martin and I had never seen Ruby Topaz Hummingbird. Supposedly, it was very easy to see in the area where our hotel was, particularly on the grounds of the Marriott hotel and casino, next door. We headed over there and started our search. Almost immediately, we found a Blue-tailed Emerald Hummingbird, which is considered a bit rarer than the Topaz. We were feeling pretty confident, but as we walked the grounds, our confidence took a bit of a dive. We decided to head northwest up the island to Christofell National Park.

Curacao is not a huge place and roads are great. We did a detour to a viewing spot for American Flamingos, which were standing right where they were supposed to be. We added a few shorebirds, egrets and herons to our day list. We were a bit surprised at how hilly the island is. The vegetation was mostly scrub and tall cactus. It looks like the air would be very dry. It wasn't. The humidity was rather oppressive.

We arrived at the park headquarters and asked about the best place to look for the Ruby Topaz. One of the park rangers was very helpful. He pointed out a tree that they hummingbirds particularly like, but he said they were not always easy to see. He suggested a trail to two small ponds, where we might also have a shot. We decided to try the trail first and headed out.

We ran into another Blue-tailed Emerald almost immediately, along with a stunning Yellow Warbler. The warbler is a different sub-species than we get in Texas, sometimes called Golden Warbler. The streaking on the breast is heavier and it has a red cap on the top of the head. It is quite striking. A bit further down the trail we spotted a large hummingbird with a rusty tail. We couldn't see the front of it and it flew off very quickly. We struggled to figure out what it was. It looked all dark, probably due to the light, so we ruled out Ruby Topaz and thought it was one of the Amazilias, which is not supposed to be found on Curacao.

The ponds were quite small, but very birdy. A number of "our" warblers were around, including Northern Parula, Prothonatary Warblers and Northern Waterthrushes. Unfortunately, our target did not show. We headed back to the headquarters, got a couple of cold cokes and sandwiches and started watching the tree that the ranger pointed out. A hummingbird zipped by, heading up the hill. Martin got up to throw out our trash and look in the direction that the bird had flown. Just as he turned his back, I saw the male Ruby Topaz, flashing his golden throat. I called out, but before Martin could turn around, it was gone.

We kept assuring ourselves that it would return shortly. It didn't. We waited, sometimes less than patiently. I got up and circled several other flowering shrubs, but with no luck. After what seemed an eternity, the bird returned, and we got decent looks. We realized that the bird we had seen on the path earlier, must have been a Ruby Topaz, after all. We had another cold coke in celebration and decided to drive a loop through another part of the park. It was already about 2:30 PM and the park closed at 4:00 PM.

The loop was not particularly filled with birds, but we did manage to find Crested Bobwhite, a new bird for me. There was a spectacular view off of the tip of the island. Time was getting short, so we kept moving, not wanting to get locked in when the park closed. We made a stop at the head of the orchid trail, where we discovered a female Ruby Topaz, building a nest! Unfortunately, she was deep in a thorn tree, and I was not able to get any photos.

We drove back to Willemstad and did a quick run through the waterfront area. What a lovely town it is! The architecture is beautiful. The cruise ship, the Crown Princess, was in dock and we were both stunned at the massive size of it. We then headed back to the airport to return the rental car and catch our flight to Suriname.

Our flight went well, making a brief touch down in Trinidad. We had a little discussion about whether I can say I have been in Trinidad now, but decided it really doesn't count. Our guide, Sean Dilrosun, met us at the airport when our flight landed, just after midnight. We drove to Paramaribo, which took about 45 minutes and checked into our hotel.

Photos for the day-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157628051353597/

Curacao Bird List-
1 Crested Bobwhite
2 American Flamingo
3 Magnificent Frigatebird
4 Great Egret
5 Snowy Egret
6 Little Blue Heron
7 Tricolored Heron
8 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
9 Osprey
10 White-tailed Hawk
11 Crested Caracara
12 American Kestrel
13 Merlin
14 Peregrine Falcon
15 Black-bellied Plover
16 Spotted Sandpiper
17 Least Sandpiper
18 White-rumped Sandpiper
19 Stilt Sandpiper
20 Common Tern
21 Rock Pigeon
22 Scaly-naped Pigeon
23 Bare-eyed Pigeon
24 Eared Dove
25 Common Ground-Dove
26 White-tipped Dove
27 Brown-throated Parakeet
28 Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
29 Blue-tailed Emerald
30 Brown-crested Flycatcher
31 Gray Kingbird
32 Red-eyed Vireo
33 Black-whiskered Vireo
34 Barn Swallow
35 Tropical Mockingbird
36 Yellow Warbler
37 Prothonotary Warbler
38 Northern Waterthrush
39 Bananaquit
40 Black-faced Grassquit
41 Saffron Finch
42 Rufous-collared Sparrow
43 Carib Grackle
44 Venezuelan Troupial
45 Yellow Oriole
46 House Sparrow

Peru, Day 18, May 19, 2010: Auggh! Will it Never End??

2010-06-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, it does end with this post, at the least the Peru blog does. I know it seems like these posts have gone on forever. This was our longest trip, and one of the most productive.

We started our final day by sleeping in a bit. Henry picked us up at 7:30 AM, then we collected Alejandro and took off for the coast. Our first stop was at a reed lined small lake. Lots of ducks and herons were using this area. I got a much better look at White-cheeked Pintail. Cinnamon Teal were quite common. Ruddy Ducks were scattered around. The Andean Ruddy Ducks resemble Masked ducks somewhat, with a rusty body and a black head. The blue bill is really striking.

I spotted one of my target birds flying into the cat tails next to us, Wren-like Rush-bird. It really does resemble a Marsh Wren, but is actually not even a passerine, but a furnarid. It was a great looking bird, but not my main target for the area, Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, or Siete Colores, (seven colors) as its called locally. Very little of the lake edge is accessable, but we worked the area that we could get to, with no luck. Alejandro said it was usually very common there. (I have heard that story before!)

We drove down the road to another area where Alejandro had seen them in the past, as sure enough, he found one very quickly. It is one of those birds that is so much better looking in person than in the book. I got some really crummy photos, but as bad as they are I was happy to get them. We also saw a Plumbeous Rail working in the reeds. From where we were standing we could see the beach and several ponds that had shorebirds. There was no question where we would go next.

The ponds did hold a number of shorebirds that I would have expected to be long gone by May 19. We added a good number of trip birds. When we got to the beach I looked out and saw hundreds and hundreds of gulls. I thought "Oh shoot, we are never going to get Martin out of here!" There were many Belcher's Gulls, Grey Gulls and Kelp Gulls. A flock of Franklin's Gull flew by, again surprising me that they had not migrated further north by now. Peruvian Boobies and Pelicans flew by in good numbers. Finally we dragged Martin to the car and departed, but not before checking even more shorebirds near the beach entrance.

We started driving North. The landscape was absolutely nothing like I had ever thought of when I heard the word Peru. The bare sand colored hills were covered in small shanties. The sky was lead gray and there was some light fog in the air. There was no natural color, though the people we saw more than made up for that. It was really sobering for me. These people had so little. The houses were no bigger than my kitchen, some of them made of woven mats hung on frames. I felt like I was living in total decadence, I don't mean that in the laughing way we sometime use that word.

Driving further, the landscape became even more desolate, as the houses ran out. This is true desert. We turned off the highway and headed to Lomas de Lachay, a well known park. This was the driest looking place I have ever seen. As we drove in I could not see one living green thing. It was gray rock and sand, made even grayer by the light fog. This was such a weird contrast, the very dry desert and the constant fog. Alejandro told us in Spring you couldn't see 10 meters in front of you, the fog was so thick. The little moisture that the few plants get is from this fog. Hills that looked like piles of huge rocks lined the road.

I was wondering what birds could possibly live here. This was answered when we saw a pair of Burrowing Owls. We also saw the first plants since we turned into the park, tall thin cactus were scattered up the hill. We parked and started walking out, looking for Cactus Canestero, another furnerid that resembles a wren somewhat. Alejandro pointed out a nest, a big mass of sticks stuffed between several cactus branches. Unfortunately nobody was home, so we went further up. We heard one calling and started using the play back on the iPod. The bird flew right in, and put on a real show. True to his name, he sat in the cactus as he checked us out.

We returned to the car and left for another part of the park. We circled around on the highway, and took a different entrance road. Not far after the turn, we found a small group of Least Seed-snipe. Seed-snipe are actually shorebirds, but they look more like ptarmigan or grouse. They are very well camouflaged. As we scanned we could pick out more birds across the dry weedy fields. This park had a lot more vegetation, with brush and small twisted trees.

As we entered the park we started seeing Black-chested Buzzard Eagles. They seemed to be everywhere. A bird perched next to the road was very cooperative model for some photographs. We arrived at an area with some picnic tables and several trails up into the hills. We hiked up, looking for Raimondi's Yellow-finch. We got up to the top and scanned the rocks. Alejandro had seen the Yellow-finches here a number of times, but this day wasn't destined to be one. I was getting tired of scanning, so I started looking around where we were standing. Down the trail I saw what I initially thought was a large house cat trotting towards us in the distance. I put up my binoculars and saw that it was not a cat, but a fox, a Grey-coastal Fox and it kept coming down the trail. I held my breath expecting it to turn tail and run as soon as it spotted us, but it kept coming. It actually got quite close, before it turned off the path and made a wide circle around us through the brush. It was my "bird of the day!" even if it was a mammal.

We returned down to the picnic area, getting some great looks at more Buzzard Eagles, some flying by on eye level. We went back out to the highway, seeing a few Peruvian Thick-knees near the road. We were 100 km from Lima and had an evening flight home, so we went south back to the city. It seemed a long drive, and we felt a bit sad to be leaving, even though we had been in Peru for almost three weeks. Our flight was a bit delayed, but we got home the following day with a lot of memories and a lot of great birds.

I finished the trip with 533 species, and over 200 life birds. It was an experience I will never forget. Peru is a beautiful country with an amazing diversity of birds. I highly recommend it. Gunnar did a great job putting our trip together. Every single person I met who worked for him was exceptional. Alex and Alejandro were amazing guides. All of our drivers were very skilled and careful. I learned so much about Peru from Juan Jose. We laughed a lot and I will be able to tell stories about this trip for the rest of my life. I will end my narrative with a statement that I make all the time, "Go somewhere!" You can, its easier than you think and the benefits will last a lifetime. Travel changes you for the better in ways that can not be explained. Thanks for reading this and if you ever have any questions let me know!

Photos from this day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624174506937/

Here are my birds from the day:
1 Cinnamon Teal

2 White-cheeked Pintail

3 White-tufted Grebe

4 Pied-billed Grebe

5 Peruvian Booby

6 Neotropic Cormorant

7 Great Egret

8 Snowy Egret

9 Little Blue Heron

10 Cattle Egret

11 Striated Heron

12 Puna Ibis

13 Black Vulture

14 Turkey Vulture

15 Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle

16 Harris's Hawk

17 Variable Hawk

18 American Kestrel

19 Plumbeous Rail

20 Common Moorhen

21 Slate-colored Coot

22 Peruvian Thick-knee

23 Black-bellied Plover

24 Killdeer

25 American Oystercatcher

26 Black-necked Stilt

27 Greater Yellowlegs

28 Lesser Yellowlegs

29 Ruddy Turnstone

30 Pectoral Sandpiper

31 Stilt Sandpiper

32 Wilson's Phalarope

33 Least Seedsnipe

34 Gray-hooded Gull

35 Gray Gull

36 Franklin's Gull

37 Belcher's Gull

38 Kelp Gull

39 Rock Pigeon

40 Eared Dove

41 Bare-faced Ground-Dove

42 Groove-billed Ani

43 Burrowing Owl

44 Amazilia Hummingbird

45 Coastal Miner

46 Wren-like Rushbird

47 Cactus Canastero

48 Many-colored Rush Tyrant

49 Vermilion Flycatcher

50 Blue-and-white Swallow

51 House Wren

52 Band-tailed Sierra-Finch

53 Drab Seedeater

54 Grassland Yellow-Finch

55 Rufous-collared Sparrow

56 Peruvian Meadowlark

Peru, Day 17, May 18 2010: Its a Versace!

2010-06-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

I would say I woke up in Huachupampa, but I wasn't sure I had any sleep. I am not sure why, the bed wasn't bad. I was comfortable, but for what ever reason, it had me concerned. Altitude sickness is more likely if you are over-tired. I had a little problem with it once before, and we had seen Jens have a bad time of it at the beginning of the trip. I made a conscious decision to take it easy.

We had breakfast at the hotel and started back up to the White-cheeked Cotinga spot. Martin was really wanted some photos and early morning was the best time. As we drove up we saw Andean Condors launching themselves off of the cliffs above us. We also spotted a new mammal for me, a Viscacha. Its a relative of the chinchilla, but resembles a rabbit with slightly short ears. That is until it turns around; the tail is similar to a squirrel's. It's fur is incredibly plush. It was beyond cute!

We arrived at the Polylepus grove where we had seen the cotingas the previous day. As we got out of the van we saw a Black-breasted Hillstar feeding near the road. Martin got some fabulous photos. I got some ok ones. A Giant Hummingbird flew up and down the stream by the cliffs, looking like a large swallow. We also got a great look at Black Metaltail. A Mourning Sierra-finch perched up nicely. The White-cheeked Cotingas flew in up the hill and Martin tried to get some photos. Unfortunately the distance made it difficult.

Martin and Alejandro decided to climb up the hill to the top of the cliffs above the road to try for better photos. Martin had our scope, his regular camera with the large lens and another camera with a smaller lens for digiscoping. I decided to stay down with the car and Henry, our driver. I was feeling the lack of sleep, so I rested in the car for a little while. Suddenly Henry went scrambling up the cliffs toward Martin and Alejandro. I didn't think any thing of it. Henry would go join them from time to time and he is as agile as a Mountain Goat.

After a while I got out of the van and walked up the road to where they had climbed the hill. As I got there I saw Henry coming down. He looked very upset. He stopped and between my bad Spanish and his worse English, he let me know that Martin had dropped his camera down the cliff. I said a word I can't repeat, knowing this was very serious. Henry kept making a rolling, tumbling motion with his hands. He then said the camera was ok, but the lens was smashed. This was the reason he went scrambling up the hill. He had seen the camera fall and went to retrieve it. I was sick to my stomach. Martin's photos mean so much to him. At least it was at the end of the trip, I thought, as we only had one more day. I knew what that big lens cost and I knew we wouldn't be able to get another until we got home.

I waited for Martin and was shocked to see him grinning as he walked down. He said he was so happy that Henry had gotten the camera back with his photo card in it, that it was no big deal. Then he explained it was NOT the camera with the big expensive lens, but his digiscoping camera, which had a very inexpensive lens on it. Unbelivably, the camera body survived and is still working! I told him he needs to tell Canon what a great camera it is. He did get some good photos of the White-cheeked Cotinga, which are posted here:
http://www.martinreid.com/Misc%20website/PE10WhitecheekedCot.html

We drove further up, heading towards the Miloc Bogs where we had gone for the Diademed Sandpiper-plover early in the trip. We picked up a few birds along the way, including Junin Canastero, an endemic that allowed me to get good photos. Andean Geese were feeding in the boggy fields. As we were driving by some rocks, I saw a cute fuzzy bunny with a long squirrel tail and called out "There's a..., um...., ah..., one of those Versace things!" Obviously I meant a Viscacha. Martin is still teasing me about that.

We got up to the bog and Martin was thrilled to almost immediately find an Olivaceous Thornbill. This high elevation hummingbird feeds on red flowers that grow right above the ground. Like a few other high elevation hummingbirds, it often walks around feeding on the ground, instead of flying. This was the last thornbill species Martin needed. He was trying to get better photos, while I figured I was lucky to get even the crummy one I took, so I started walking across the peat, avoiding holes where it had been cut for fuel. Suddenly a white, gray and rust colored bird jumped up and ran in front of me. It was an adult Diademened Sandpiper-Plover! It was so cool to see an adult, as the one we had earlier had been a juvenile. It was even cooler that I was able to get better photos.

We left and drove back to Lima, arriving at our hotel not too long after dark. We walked around Miraflores near the hotel looking for dinner. Most of the restaurants in that area are raither posh, and we were in no condition to do posh, so we settled for a neat little taco shop. The food was beyond good. We told the waiter that their tacos would past anyone's test in Texas. We returned to the hotel, packed our bags for our trip home the following evening and prepared for one last day, birding near Lima.

Here are my photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624285361858/

Here is my bird list for the day:
1 Andean Goose

2 Crested Duck

3 Silvery Grebe

4 Puna Ibis

5 Black Vulture

6 Turkey Vulture

7 Andean Condor

8 Variable Hawk

9 American Kestrel

10 Giant Coot

11 Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

12 Andean Gull

13 Kelp Gull

14 Rock Pigeon

15 West Peruvian Dove

16 Eared Dove

17 Croaking Ground-Dove

18 Black-winged Ground-Dove

19 Groove-billed Ani

20 Band-winged Nightjar

21 Shining Sunbeam

22 Black-breasted Hillstar

23 Giant Hummingbird

24 Black Metaltail

25 Olivaceous Thornbill

26 Andean Flicker

27 Dark-winged Miner

28 Bar-winged Cinclodes

29 Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail

30 Streak-throated Canastero

31 Junin Canastero

32 Stripe-headed Antpitta

33 Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrant

34 White-browed Ground-Tyrant

35 D'Orbigny's Chat-Tyrant

36 White-cheeked Cotinga

37 Blue-and-white Swallow

38 Brown-bellied Swallow

39 Chiguanco Thrush

40 Cinereous Conebill

41 Peruvian Sierra-Finch

42 Mourning Sierra-Finch

43 Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch

44 White-winged Diuca-Finch

45 Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch

46 Rufous-collared Sparrow

47 Shiny Cowbird

48 Black Siskin

Peru, Day 16, May 17 2010: When You See the Southern Cross for the First Time

2010-06-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

We woke up in our little hotel in Miraflores and had breakfast. Our new guide, Alejandro met us right on time in the lobby. We checked our big bags with the hotel clerk, as we would be returning the following night and took off for the Santa Eulalia valley in the high central Andes. We were very happy to see Henry, our original driver. The drive out made me realize just how huge Lima is. The valley is not that far from the edge of Lima, but getting to that edge seemed to take forever. Even in the city there are high rocky hills/mountains. The traffic is fairly heavy.

We finally turned off the main road and started heading up. Where we were going was an extremely high altitude and the road climbed quickly. Our first stop was a small gorge. We were looking for Oasis Hummingbird, which we found, but we also got a little bonus. A Giant Hummingbird put on an incredible show, flying straight up, higher and higher, then dropping like a rock. This is a bird I had only seen very briefly in Ecuador on our first trip. I wanted a better look and was thrilled that this one was so cooperative. This hummingbird is the largest in the world. The first impression that I had was that it was a swift. Its so large you can actually see the wings beating. I hate to say it, but even though the Oasis was a life bird, the Giant was the star for me.

We then moved up even more. My memories of this day are more about the drive up than the birds. It was a most riveting experience. The road is gravel and very narrow. It twists and turns around rock faces and the drop below the road is spectacular. It seems to be barely one lane, but trucks come up and down, which we had to pass. At every turn Henry honked to make sure if anyone was coming the opposite direction they would know we were there. Roadside shrines where people had not made the curves were very common. At one turn there were nine little ones joined together, perhaps a van or bus that didn't make it. Its funny, I should have been terrified, but I wasn't. Henry's driving was superb and I was feeling rather fatalistic.

To demonstrate how high up this road I took these photos. We spotted a bridge in the distance that looks unbelivably high. It passed over a deep ravine and looked tiny in the distance.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/4701933914/
We finally arrived and passed over; then on the other side we climbed even higher. Here is the photo I took of the same bridge from the other side.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/4701934248/in/photostream/
I hope this gives some inkling of just how high up we were getting. It was beyond breathtaking.

We did see some incredible birds along this track. A small flock of Mountain Parakeets flew in, giving good looks. A Bronze-tailed Comet, a type of hummingbird, was a thrill. Collared Warbling-finch and Giant Inca Finch were great additions to our trip list. I loved the Mourning Sierra Finch. It reminded me a lot of our Harris Sparrow, with a black face and pinkish bill. We continued to climb. A perched Spot-winged Wood Pigeon even let me take some crummy photos. I was also very happy to get Blue-and-yellow Tanager. This is bird that I had to work very hard to miss on our other trips. Its what Martin would call a "tart's tick", a bird that any decent birder should have gotten long ago!

At lunch time we reached our main destination, a Polylepus grove where Alejandro had seen one of our most wanted birds, White-cheeked Cotinga. This is a very difficult species to see, and we didn't really expect to see it this day. We thought we would have to come back at dawn the next day for our best chance. We saw some other great birds here, Black-breasted Hillstar and Black Metailtail, both high altitude hummingbirds. Several Andean Condors flew over, causing me to catch my breath. Even without the cotinga we were happy. Then, to our astonishment one flew in! We got brief, but great looks. Unfortunately it was too far away for Martin to photograph, but we were extremely happy.

We drove back down to the village of Huachupampa. We had been told the accomodations here were extremely basic, so we were not expecting much, but the hotel was fine! We did have a bunk bed in our room, but the bottom bunk was a double, so that was ok. It was very clean and the lady who ran the hotel was delightful. We had a very nice dinner. After dinner Martin and Alejandro compared their photos from the day.

In all of our trips to South America I had never seen the Southern Cross. It always seemed like it was cloudy, or the view of the stars wasn't great. I also thought I would need someone to point it out to me. I had asked Alejandro at dinner if he knew the constellation. He said yes, and I thought after dinner we might look for it, but he and Martin were engrossed in conversation so I decided not to press it. I went upstairs to go to bed, but before I went into the room I went to a large open window and looked out towards the south. There it was, plain as day. I almost cried. This might have been my last trip below the equator, so it meant a lot to me. Since then I have found myself humming the Crosby, Stills and Nash song, Southern Cross all the time. By the way, I have heard that there is a "false cross". If you think this is what I saw, please don't correct me. I would rather stay deluded. To add to my happiness a pair of Band-winged Nightjars were circling the steeple of the little church, catching bugs in the light.

Here are my few photos from the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624152931105/

Here is my bird list:
1 Cattle Egret

2 Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle

3 American Kestrel

4 Rock Pigeon

5 Spot-winged Wood Pigeon

6 Pacific Dove

7 Eared Dove

8 Croaking Ground-Dove

9 Bare-faced Ground-Dove

10 White-tipped Dove

11 Mountain Parakeet

12 Peruvian Pygmy-Owl

13 Band-winged Nightjar

14 White-collared Swift

15 Andean Swift

16 Sparkling Violetear

17 Shining Sunbeam

18 Black-breasted Hillstar

19 Giant Hummingbird

20 Bronze-tailed Comet

21 Black Metaltail

22 Oasis Hummingbird

23 Peruvian Sheartail

24 Black-necked Woodpecker

25 Thick-billed Miner

26 Bar-winged Cinclodes

27 Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail

28 Canyon Canastero

29 Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant

30 Spot-billed Ground-Tyrant

31 Cinereous Ground-Tyrant

32 Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant

33 D'Orbigny's Chat-Tyrant

34 White-browed Chat-Tyrant

35 Tropical Kingbird

36 White-cheeked Cotinga

37 House Wren

38 White-capped Dipper

39 Chiguanco Thrush

40 Long-tailed Mockingbird

41 Cinereous Conebill

42 Blue-and-yellow Tanager

43 Peruvian Sierra-Finch

44 Mourning Sierra-Finch

45 Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch

46 Great Inca-Finch

47 Collared Warbling-Finch

48 Band-tailed Seedeater

49 Rusty Flowerpiercer

50 Rusty-bellied Brush-Finch

51 Rufous-collared Sparrow

52 Golden-bellied Grosbeak

53 Hooded Siskin

Peru, Day 15, May 16 2010: More goodbyes and the most shocking bird of the trip

2010-06-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

We woke up in Taropoto at 5:00 AM and had a little breakfast at our hotel. We had arranged the night before for it to be prepared before the regular opening time. When they opened the restaurant up for us, the first thing the girl did was turn on some rather loud music. Peru is a country that loves music. You hear it everywhere you go, but at 5:00 AM we were not quite ready for it, so we asked her to turn it off. She seemed a little mystified, though very happy to accommodate us.

We took off for the Yurimaguas Tunnel, which runs through a ridge near town. Past the tunnel the road starts descending into the Amazon basin. We arrived right at sunrise and were a little surprised to discover two young men with a motorcycle, one of whom was a local birder. They were staring down a deep gorge. We stopped and they told us that it was a Cock-of-the-Rock lek. Sure enough we soon heard the amazing sounds of wooing males, which Martin likens to pigs on crack cocaine. You would never guess such a beautiful bird could make such a horrible sound. Unfortunately we only heard them, but we had seen several already on the trip.

We had a nice conversation with the young man. He told us he had seen a Blackish Pewee just a little while before we arrived. Martin had told Alex the one bird he really wanted to see at this spot was Blackish Pewee. Its commonly found at this spot, so we were hopeful. We worked our way down the road a bit to where he had seen it, but had no luck. We did see several other good birds, including a Yellow-cheeked Becard. We found a flock of tanagers, including Bay-headed, Blue-necked, Masked, Yellow-bellied and Silver-beaked. Flycatchers, other than the pewee, were thick. Cliff Flycatchers were extremely common.

A Koepke's Hermit was feeding along the steep hill above us. Alex found a Spot-winged Antbird. A Chestnut-tipped Toucanet tried to fool us into thinking it was a Yellow-browed. We got fabulous looks and even a few photos of a White-throated Woodpecker. A Gilded Barbet put on a bit of a show. But we still hadn't seen the Blackish Pewee. Alex starting teasing Martin a bit, calling everything Blackish: Blackish Toucan, Blackish Woodpecker, Blackish Barbet. Alex has a great sense of humor, which had us laughing a lot on the trip.

We walked through the tunnel to the other side to see if maybe a pewee was over there. Juan Jose stayed with the car. A few minutes after we got through the tunnel, Juan Jose drove up and told us, very excitedly that he had seen the pewee! We jumped in and turned around, driving back through the tunnel. We parked and jumped out, but the other birder said it had just flown off. We spent a little more time searching, with no luck. We were under some time constraints, so we had to leave.

This was our last day with Juan Jose and Alex. They were both flying home and we were returning to Lima. Alex was leaving first, so we took him to the airport and had our goodbyes. I would really miss him. He is a great guide, one of the best we have ever had. Our flight wasn't leaving until evening, so Juan Jose took us back to town for lunch. I haven't mentioned my digestive problems in the last few blogs, (I bet you all are thankful for that!) but the situation had suddenly gotten a bit scary. I finally mentioned it to Juan Jose after lunch. He said "Let's go to the pharmacy. They can give you something." Sure enough the pharmacist asked me some questions about the symptoms and gave me some antibiotics and something to balance the flora of my gut. I won't go into any more detail, but it worked.

After lunch we headed back to the river where we had birded the day before. This spot sometimes has Comb Ducks, so I was searching the river itself and the banks, very thoroughly. I spotted several birds on the bank, but they were quite distant. With my binoculars I couldn't get much detail. This area is not pristine habitat. There is a lot of agriculture and the trees are not continuous on the banks. I thought the birds were going to be lapwings. I pointed them out to Martin, who got the scope on them. He also figured they were lapwings. When he got them in the scope he laughed a little. I asked them what they were and he said "Have a look". I looked through the eye piece and said "HOLY COW", well something like "holy cow". There were four Hoatzins sitting on the bank! The only time I had seen them before was in Brazil deep in the rain forest on a river. They were not even on the radar as far as I was concerned for this trip. Martin was totally amused at how excited I was. For the rest of the day I kept talking about it. They are one of my all time favorite birds, resembling dinosaurs almost more than birds. They are an incredible demonstration of evolution.

We walked up the path where we had been the evening before. A couple of Corya Wrens were calling, but still invisible. We worked our way up a path with Juan Jose and played the call of the Sulphur-bellied Tyrant-manakin. One respondedcrakes we heard the night before, but they were silent.

We drove back to town, working our way to the airport, which was not especially easy to find. We said goodbye to Juan Jose, who I really like. He is incredibly educated, lived in Europe and Libya and knew so much about Peru and its history. Even better, he was a lot of fun, a good birder and a good driver. I felt a little sad leaving him and Alex. We flew back to Lima and settled into our hotel in Miraflores. The next day we would have a new guide and our former driver Henry.

My photos for the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624268779950/

Bird list for the day:

1 Great Egret

2 Cattle Egret

3 Swallow-tailed Kite

4 Roadside Hawk

5 Rock Pigeon

6 Plumbeous Pigeon

7 Eared Dove

8 Ruddy Ground-Dove

9 Maroon-tailed Parakeet

10 Cobalt-winged Parakeet

11 Squirrel Cuckoo

12 Smooth-billed Ani

13 Amazonian Swift

14 White-tipped Swift

15 Koepcke's Hermit

16 Gray-breasted Sabrewing

17 Black-throated Mango

18 Fork-tailed Woodnymph

19 Golden-tailed Sapphire

20 Green-backed Trogon

21 Blue-crowned Motmot

22 Striolated Puffbird

23 Bluish-fronted Jacamar

24 Gilded Barbet

25 Chestnut-tipped Toucanet

26 White-throated Woodpecker

27 Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner

28 Fasciated Antshrike

29 Blackish Antbird

30 Spot-winged Antbird

31 Thrush-like Antpitta

32 Forest Elaenia

33 Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant

34 Yellow-breasted Flycatcher

35 Cliff Flycatcher

36 Social Flycatcher

37 Dusky-chested Flycatcher

38 Crowned Slaty Flycatcher

39 Tropical Kingbird

40 Andean Cock-of-the-rock

41 Sulphur-bellied Tyrant-Manakin

42 Yellow-cheeked Becard

43 Yellow-green Vireo

44 Slaty-capped Shrike-Vireo-heard

45 Rufous-browed Peppershrike- heard

46 Blue-and-white Swallow

47 White-banded Swallow

48 Southern Rough-winged Swallow

49 Coraya Wren- heard

50 Scaly-breasted Wren-heard

51 Silver-beaked Tanager

52 Blue-gray Tanager

53 Yellow-bellied Tanager

54 Bay-headed Tanager

55 Blue-necked Tanager

56 Masked Tanager

57 Black-faced Dacnis

58 Green Honeycreeper

59 Swallow Tanager

60 Buff-throated Saltator

61 Slate-colored Grosbeak

62 Blue-black Grassquit

63 Chestnut-bellied Seedeater

64 Saffron Finch

65 Yellow-browed Sparrow

66 Rufous-collared Sparrow

67 Hepatic Tanager

68 Blue-black Grosbeak

69 Yellow-rumped Cacique

70 Orange-crowned Euphonia

71 Thick-billed Euphonia

72 Bronze-green Euphonia

Peru, Day 14, May 15, 2010: Orchids or birds? Or maybe Butterflies!

2010-06-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

We headed fairly early going to a private reserve near Moyobamba. This property is owned by the family of one of the workers at Abra Patricia and we were delighted to see him there when we arrived. (This was the same guy who showed us the Ochre-fronted Antpitta. I am mortified that I can not remember his name!) The reserve is devoted to birds and orchids and it has plenty of both.

As we drove into the reserve there were Blue-backed Grassquits and Yellow-browed Sparrows singing. There was a beautiful palapa in front of the family home with wonderful plantings. We moved past this area and headed up a trail past a brushy area. We quickly picked up one of the specialty birds, Cinerous-breasted Spinetail. A bit further on, entering the woods there was a Golden-tailed Sapphire, working a flowering tree. The trail steadily climbed and we were being passed all along the way by farm workers heading up to the coffee plantation higher up. The land is fenced and well marked as a reserve on either side of the trail.

We passed through a gate into a heavily shaded area with several hummingbird feeders. Long-tailed Hermits and another Golden-tailed Sapphire were coming in. After a little while we headed back out to the trail and climbed some more. We crossed a creek and stopped at a spot where one of our main targets is sometimes seen, Fiery-throated Fruiteater. We heard one calling and started the search through the tree tops. Alex played the call, but the bird didn't seem too interested. Alex peered into a tree top above us and spotted it! It was sitting very still and he worked like mad to get us on it. Then it flew. We got an extremely quick look with little detail, but enough to see it what it was. Alex has the most incredible eyes! I had been scanning that tree for quite a while and would have sworn that there were no birds of any kind up there. We tried for a while to get it to come back in, but had no luck. It was a definite BVD, (better view desired).

I started back down, photographing some great butterflies. Martin, Alex and Juan Jose caught up. We caught up with a mixed flock and added a few tanagers and Wing-barred Piprites, a name I really love. Then we found a bird that we had missed a few days before, Mishana Tyrannulet. We were thrilled, as we thought we had probably missed it. It posed beautifully for Martin. We got a good number of other flycatchers. Finally we got back to the house.

We sat under the palapa and had an ice cold Coke, which tasted amazingly good. After resting a few minutes Juan Jose asked me if I wanted to see some of the orchids. I am always thrilled to see them so of course I said yes. We walked over to a shaded area where a large number of orchid plants were being tended. Many were not blooming, but the ones that were blew me away. Juan Jose explained a bit how different orchids bloom, some on stems, some actually in the middle of the leaves. The lighting wasn't great for my little point and shoot, but I did get a few shots. We headed back to Moyobamba for a great lunch at a "chifa", a Chinese restaurant.

After lunch we headed further down hill towards Tarapoto, where we would return to Lima the following day. Not far out of town we stopped along the road and walked back to a small bridge next to a large rock wall. There was a deep crevice in the rock where we saw three or four Oilbirds roosting quite close to the road. This was certainly MUCH easier than my muddy slide into a cave in Ecuador to see them several years ago. Even better nobody had to push my, um, posterior back up the muddy slope afterwards.

We arrived in Tarapoto in the late afternoon. The traffic there was unbelievable! The streets were curb to curb motocabs, the little motorcycle driven cabs seen all over Peru. I have never seen anything like it. We slowly worked our way through town to the country side and then to Juan Guerra, a tiny settlement on the river. It was very late in the day and we were losing light, but we still were able to do a little birding. We heard a couple of Coraya Wrens calling, but never saw them.

We walked up a cattle path to a hillside with a lot of bushes and grass. The vegatation was very thick. A pair of Chestnut-headed Crakes started calling. I was a bit surprised, as I always associate crakes and rails with water. Alex played their call and they responded strongly. They came very close, sounding like they were right by the path, but we never had a sniff of a look. I couldn't believe how close they were! South American birds must go to school to learn how to hide. We went back to the car, but Martin got distracted by the dragonflies in a small pond by the road, until it was too dark to see. We fought our back through the motocabs in town to our hotel.

Here are my photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624261639238/

Here is my bird list:

1 Speckled Chachalaca

2 Great Egret

3 Cattle Egret

4 Black Vulture

5 Turkey Vulture

6 Swallow-tailed Kite

7 Double-toothed Kite

8 Roadside Hawk

9 Chestnut-headed Crake-Heard

10 Rock Pigeon

11 Ruddy Pigeon

12 Eared Dove

13 White-eyed Parakeet

14 Blue-headed Parrot

15 Smooth-billed Ani

16 Oilbird

17 White-collared Swift

18 Fork-tailed Palm-Swift

19 Tawny-bellied Hermit

20 Long-tailed Hermit

21 Fork-tailed Woodnymph

22 Golden-tailed Sapphire

23 Blue-crowned Trogon

24 Black-fronted Nunbird

25 Bluish-fronted Jacamar

26 White-throated Toucan

27 Lafresnaye's Piculet

28 Cinereous-breasted Spinetail

29 Rufous-fronted Thornbird

30 Olivaceous Woodcreeper

31 Great Antshrike

32 Plain-winged Antshrike

33 White-flanked Antwren

34 Blackish Antbird

35 Scale-backed Antbird

36 Mouse-colored Tyrannulet

37 Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet

38 Forest Elaenia

39 Small-billed Elaenia

40 Ochre-bellied Flycatcher

41 Mishana Tyrannulet

42 Olivaceous Flatbill

43 Yellow-breasted Flycatcher

44 Euler's Flycatcher-Heard

45 Long-tailed Tyrant

46 Great Kiskadee

47 Social Flycatcher

48 Gray-capped Flycatcher

49 Streaked Flycatcher

50 Tropical Kingbird

51 Fiery-throated Fruiteater

52 Wing-barred Piprites

53 Red-eyed Vireo

54 Olivaceous Greenlet

55 Green Jay

56 Blue-and-white Swallow

57 Southern Rough-winged Swallow

58 Thrush-like Wren

59 Coraya Wren

60 House Wren

61 Scaly-breasted Wren

62 Black-billed Thrush

63 Slate-throated Redstart

64 Russet-crowned Warbler

65 Magpie Tanager

66 Common Bush-Tanager

67 Blue-gray Tanager

68 Paradise Tanager

69 Blue-necked Tanager

70 Blue-black Grassquit

71 Yellow-browed Sparrow

72 Rufous-collared Sparrow

73 Bronze-green Euphonia

Peru. May 14, Day 13: One more time

2010-06-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

We would be leaving Abra Patricia this morning, so Martin got up very early, about 4:30 AM to try for the Long-whiskered Owlet one last time. He was joined by Alex and Juan Jose. They were next to the tower, an area that the owl had been seen at before, when a small, almost tailless. owl shaped bird flew right past Juan Jose and Martin. Was it the owlet? Since I wasn't there, I can't say, but Juan Jose and Martin both are fairly sure it was. Martin was pretty jazzed when he came back to get me up to go to breakfast.

After we ate we went back to the gate area one more time. We looked again for the Lulu's Tody-tyrant, but only heard it. We packed up and headed down hill for the final time. We stopped a few times before getting to Afluentes. We finally got good looks at Bar-winged Woodwren, a much wanted bird that we had been trying for for several years. We saw a number of Swallow-tailed Kites again. I felt a little sad to be leaving this area. We stopped at a pull out and I picked out a bird that Martin was excited about despite its rather subdued appearance, a Drab Hemispingus, a type of tanager. We did see a pair of Lulu's Tody-tyrants nearby.

We arrived at Afluentes and immediately picked up a good mixed flock. The tanagers were thick. There were Golden, Flame-faced, Beryl-spangled, Saffron-crowned and Grass Green, all birds I have seen before, but love so much. Then Martin found a Blue-browed Tanager, which I wanted very much! Martin was on a bit of a roll. He spotted a flash of red and black. At first he thought it was a White-winged Tanager, which we had seen a few days before at this site. Then he realized it was one of his main targets, a Vermilion Tanager and it was a stonker, as he would say. A beautiful red, about the size of our Scarlet Tanager, but with a black mask similar to a Cardinal, this was a real looker. We ended up seeing four of them. Then Alex found a bird that trumped the tanager, at least as far as I was concerned, a Lanceolated Monklet! It perched for ages, giving good looks and crummy photos, well MY photos are crummy.

It was hard to leave, but we had a ways to go, so we took off, stopping at the chicken restaurant in Agua Verdes one more time. We had driven just a bit further when we saw a very long snake crossing the road. Snakes are almost as good as birds as far as I am concerned. (I wanted to be a herpatologist when I was a kid.) We backed up and stopped; then we jumped out of the car. The snake was crawling down a concrete drainage ditch, so we got great looks and a few photos. It was black with diagonal yellow stripes. Juan Jose said it was some kind of rat snake, and not venomous, which was a little disappointing. Martin had seen a large Coral Snake a couple of days previously, so I was wanting something a bit more dangerous.

We pressed on to Rioja. In the late afternoon we visited the forest at Yacumama again, where we had seen Point-tailed Palm-creeper on our previous visit. It was rather quiet, but we did add both Amazon and Green Kingfisher on the river, as well as Black-fronted Nunbird. A Tropial showed well on the other side of the river. As we were leaving I spotted a Capped Heron, a big favorite of mine, in one of the lagoons.
Photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624255335918/

Bird list for the day:

1 Great Egret

2 Cattle Egret

3 Striated Heron

4 Capped Heron

5 Black Vulture

6 Turkey Vulture

7 Swallow-tailed Kite

8 Roadside Hawk

9 White-throated Hawk

10 Rock Pigeon

11 Band-tailed Pigeon

12 Plumbeous Pigeon

13 Blue Ground-Dove

14 White-eyed Parakeet

15 Cobalt-winged Parakeet

16 Red-billed Parrot

17 Smooth-billed Ani

18 White-collared Swift

19 Fork-tailed Palm-Swift

20 White-bearded Hermit

21 Tawny-bellied Hermit

22 Sapphire-spangled Emerald

23 Speckled Hummingbird

24 Violet-fronted Brilliant

25 Chestnut-breasted Coronet

26 Collared Inca

27 Emerald-bellied Puffleg

28 Long-tailed Sylph

29 Masked Trogon

30 Amazon Kingfisher

31 Green Kingfisher

32 Lanceolated Monklet

33 Black-fronted Nunbird

34 Versicolored Barbet

35 White-throated Toucan

36 Lafresnaye's Piculet

37 Yellow-tufted Woodpecker

38 Little Woodpecker

39 Golden-olive Woodpecker

40 Pale-legged Hornero

41 Azara's Spinetail

42 Cinereous-breasted Spinetail

43 Ash-browed Spinetail

44 Streaked Tuftedcheek

45 Montane Foliage-gleaner

46 Plain Xenops

47 Buff-throated Woodcreeper

48 Montane Woodcreeper

49 Variable Antshrike

50 Rufous-vented Tapaculo- Heard

51 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet

52 White-crested Elaenia

53 Inca Flycatcher

54 Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant

55 Golden-faced Tyrannulet

56 Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant

57 Lulu's Tody-Flycatcher

58 Cinnamon Flycatcher

59 Rufous-tailed Tyrant

60 Dusky-capped Flycatcher

61 Great Kiskadee

62 Boat-billed Flycatcher

63 Social Flycatcher

64 Gray-capped Flycatcher

65 Tropical Kingbird

66 Barred Fruiteater

67 Barred Becard

68 Brown-capped Vireo

69 Rufous-browed Peppershrike

70 Blue-and-white Swallow

71 Southern Rough-winged Swallow

72 Thrush-like Wren

73 Gray-mantled Wren

74 House Wren

75 Bar-winged Wood-Wren

76 Gray-breasted Wood-Wren

77 White-capped Dipper

78 Andean Solitaire

79 Swainson's Thrush

80 White-eared Solitaire

81 Black-billed Thrush

82 Great Thrush

83 Slate-throated Redstart

84 Spectacled Redstart

85 Russet-crowned Warbler

86 Magpie Tanager

87 Rufous-crested Tanager

88 Black-capped Hemispingus

89 Oleaginous Hemispingus

90 Drab Hemispingus

91 Capped Conebill

92 Common Bush-Tanager

93 Blue-gray Tanager

94 Palm Tanager

95 Blue-capped Tanager

96 Vermilion Tanager

97 Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager

98 Grass-green Tanager

99 Golden Tanager

100 Saffron-crowned Tanager

101 Flame-faced Tanager

102 Blue-browed Tanager

103 Beryl-spangled Tanager

104 Blue-and-black Tanager

105 Silver-backed Tanager

106 Black-faced Dacnis

107 White-sided Flowerpiercer

108 Yellow-breasted Brush-Finch

109 Rufous-collared Sparrow

110 Giant Cowbird

111 Orange-backed Troupial

112 Yellow-rumped Cacique

113 Crested Oropendola

114 Golden-bellied Euphonia

115 Bronze-green Euphonia

116 White-vented Euphonia

117 Blue-naped Chlorophonia

Peru, May 13 2010, Day 12: A Borrowed Lens

2010-06-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

It was wonderful waking up at the Owlet Lodge at Abra Patricia! Its a lovely spot; the accommodations are wonderful. We walked down for breakfast, which was bread, juice and eggs. They sat the eggs in front of me and I immediately gave them to Martin. I am not much of an egg eater even when my digestive track is functioning well. Juan Jose asked me if I was not well. I told him I was not and he reached into his pocket and handed me some tablets. Alex told me to have some coca tea, which seems to the recommendation for everything in Peru. I took both. One or both did help throughout the day. I did eat the bread, which was always good there, and grabbed some crackers from the snack table for later.

We walked down to the gate by the road to look for Lulu's Tody-tyrant again. I really wanted to see this bird, partially because I think its such a cool name. We didn't have any luck again, but there was an even bigger reward there! One of the men from the lodge at the lodge, whose name has completely slipped my mind, much to my chagrin, came down and pointed out that an Ochre-fronted Antpitta was calling across the road. We went over and he led us up a side path to a different area. He was extremely skilled in imitating the call and fairly quickly the bird came in, allowing decent looks. I was extremely happy with what I saw, but Martin wanted to get some photos, which I would have, too if my good camera lens wasn't broken. I decided to walk back and let them try to get more. It always seems to me the fewer people the better.

I went back and birded around the gate. I was thrilled to get excellent looks at Silver-backed Tanager, which I had only seen in flight before. I worked the area where the Lulu's had been before, but still didn't see it. Martin, Alex and Juan Jose returned and we packed up to head down hill again. The area between the lodge and Agua Verdes is so good I think we could have worked it for a week and still found new birds. We stopped at the spot where we had seen the Royal Sunangel previously and I got an even better look. The navy blue color caught the light perfectly. I grieved for my camera lens. We heard both Andean and White-eared Solitaires calling, but still never were able to see either one. Solitaire song is so lovely, its the best part of the bird, so I was ok with that.

We moved down a bit farther and stopped. A Lulu's Tody-tyrant was calling by the side of the road! We were able to get excellent looks. It is an incredibly cute bird, tiny with a rusty head, bright yellow belly and a gray back. It rivaled the antpitta for the bird of the day at that point, at least for me. It's range is tiny. We dropped even further down. A Swallow-tailed Kite cicled lazily overhead and we got a great look at White-throated Hawk.

We decided to work the area around Afluentes again, as it was noted as being a good spot for Equatorial Gray-tail and Vermilion Tanager. The mixed flocks were present again, but not in the numbers that we had previously. We went to Agua Verdes to eat the "chicken's under the table" restaurant. (the dogs and chickens were starting to recognize me!) After lunch we birded around town a bit and then headed back to the lodge, arriving mid afternoon. I was starting to feel a bit rough again, so I opted out on hiking.

Martin made an incredibly generous offer. He lent me his very nice 100-400 mm lens with image stabilization. He was going to do some digiscoping instead with his other camera. I was ecstatic, as none of my bird pictures taken with my Fuji had been worth a flip. This lens is head and shoulders above what I normally use. I parked myself by the hummingbird feeder and went to work. I am very self critical of my photography skills. I always wonder if anything I take is even worth keeping. On this day I got photos I have only dreamed of taking. The hummingbirds were crisp and clear, with beautiful color. It was amazing. I realized that good equipment makes all the difference! Now I am going to have to save a couple of grand to get the lens I want.

We had a nice dinner and Martin went out looking for the owl again. I decided to go to bed and look at my pictures. I was sound asleep before I got a dozen photos in. My bed was great and the mountain air is soporific for me, at least at night.

Note: I got a nice email from Juan Jose yesterday correcting something I had written. The sarcophagus at Pomochocha was NOT Incan, but Chachapoyan, another pre-Colombian culture. Thanks for the correction, Juan Jose! I do remember him telling me that now, but its been a few weeks and there was so much to remember!

Photos for the day, including my hummingbird shots:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624212215478/

Bird List for the day:
Cattle Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Swallow-tailed Kite
Roadside Hawk
Band-tailed Pigeon
Plumbeous Pigeon
Ruddy Ground-Dove
White-tipped Swift
Green Violetear
Andean Emerald
Sapphire-spangled Emerald
Speckled Hummingbird
Ecuadorian Piedtail
Fawn-breasted Brilliant
Chestnut-breasted Coronet
Bronzy Inca
Collared Inca
Royal Sunangel
Emerald-bellied Puffleg
Long-tailed Sylph
Masked Trogon
Azara's Spinetail
Rufous Spinetail
Long-tailed Antbird
Ochre-breasted Antpitta
Rufous-vented Tapaculo-Heard
White-crested Elaenia
Torrent Tyrannulet
Golden-faced Tyrannulet
Lulu's Tody-Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Chestnut-crested Cotinga
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Green Jay
Blue-and-white Swallow
House Wren
Bar-winged Wood-Wren- Heard
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren- Heard
Chestnut-breasted Wren- Heard
Andean Solitaire- Heard
White-eared Solitaire- Heard
Great Thrush
Slate-throated Redstart
Spectacled Redstart
Magpie Tanager
White-capped Tanager
Common Bush-Tanager
Silver-beaked Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Blue-capped Tanager
Yellow-throated Tanager
Yellow-scarfed Tanager
Paradise Tanager
Green-and-gold Tanager
Blue-and-black Tanager
Silver-backed Tanager
Grayish Saltator
Buff-throated Saltator
White-sided Flowerpiercer
Yellow-breasted Brush-Finch
Yellow-browed Sparrow
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Cacique
Bronze-green Euphonia

Peru, May 12, Day 11: A Couple of BIG Surprises

2010-06-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

We got up very early to head to Morro del Calzado, an isolated large hill outside of Rioja. We wanted an early start because this area is good for nightjars and owls. We were lucky, flushing a Spot-tailed Nightjar. We heard a Rufous-bellied Owl calling, but it did not respond to the tape. We arrived at the trail head right at dawn. We spent a little time looking around the parking area for Mishana Tyranulet, but were not lucky with that.

As we were preparing to start up the trail we had our first big surprise of the day. A pair of swifts flew over. Martin has spent a lot of time studying swifts, both in the field and with museum skins. He grabbed his camera and started shooting and called "White-chested Swift!" This is a bird that is known to be in Peru, but has very rarely been seen. He was able to get recognizable photos. Then a pair of White-chinned Swifts flew over; again he was able to get photos. It was a great start to our visit in the park.

We finally started up the path and started picking up birds in mixed flocks. Alex found a Scale-backed Antbird, which was fairly responsive. Pardise and Gold-and-Green Tanagers worked the trees, along with Blue Dacnis and Purple Honeycreeper. Martin called out immature Bay-headed Tanager, but when we got a good look at it we realized it was a target bird we expected later in the trip, Dotted Tanager! This was almost as big a surprise as the swifts. Alex confirmed the ID. Score! Another bird we were happy to see, however briefly, was the foot-hill form of Striped Manakin, which could be split in the future.

This was a day with a lot of heard birds. Little Tinamou, (I think I have seen one Tinamou for every hundred I have heard!) several species of flycatchers, even a couple of hummingbirds are on this list. One heard bird was particularly frustrating. We had worked our way up to a small stream crossing, when it called, a Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper. This is a bird that we have tried for numerous times. We used playback, but it only moved further down stream. At least this time we got to hear it, which is more than we have gotten in the past.

We came back down to the parking area and resumed our search for the Mishana Tyranulet, but had no success. Martin got a bit distracted by some dragonflies, but we finally dragged him away to start our trip back up to Abra Patricia and the owlet lodge. As we retraced our drive from the day before, we saw a lot of the same birds, but added a few new species, Flycatchers were particularly good. We stopped for lunch again at the "chickens running under the table" restaurant. Unfortunately my appetite was suffering from my on going bout of digestive problems, but between the chickens and the bewildering antics of the participants of a karaoke show on the t.v. hanging on the wall, it was a bit of fun.

After lunch we walked a trail through some white sand forest behind the town the restaurant was in, Agua Verdes. Martin and Alex saw a Napo Sabre-wing, but I missed it. I did find a butterfly that I had never seen, a blue Buckeye. We arrived back at the Owlet Lodge and settled in again. The hummingbird feeders were as busy as ever. I was feeling a bit droopy, but did manage to eat that night. The lodge gave us a bottle of red Peruvian wine, which was lovely of them. Luckily it was a dry red, not sweet, but I have to confess I won't be going out to buy Peruvian wine any time soon! But its always been my experience, once you get one glass down, the second is much better.
Photos for the day (almost all bugs, no birds)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624085960691/
Bird list for the day:

Little Tinamou- Heard
Cattle Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Swallow-tailed Kite
Roadside Hawk
Speckled Chachalaca
Rock Pigeon
Plumbeous Pigeon
Blue Ground-Dove- Heard
White-eyed Parakeet
Blue-headed Parrot
Red-billed Parrot
Squirrel Cuckoo
Smooth-billed Ani
Rufous-banded Owl- Heard
Common Pauraque
Spot-tailed Nightjar
White-chested Swift
White-chinned Swift
Chestnut-collared Swift
White-bearded Hermit- Heard
Gray-breasted Sabrewing- Heard
Fork-tailed Woodnymph
Sapphire-spangled Emerald
Speckled Hummingbird
Chestnut-breasted Coronet
Bronzy Inca
Emerald-bellied Puffleg
Long-tailed Sylph
Long-billed Starthroat
White-bellied Woodstar
White-tailed Trogon
Masked Trogon
Cuvier's Toucan- Heard
Speckle-chested Piculet
Yellow-tufted Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner- Heard
Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper- Heard
Olivaceous Woodcreeper- Heard
Scale-backed Antbird
Chestnut Antpitta- Heard
Rufous-vented Tapaculo- Heard
Andean Cock-of-the-rock
White-lored Tyrannulet
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Forest Elaenia
White-crested Elaenia
Sierran Elaenia
Slaty-capped Flycatcher- Heard
Golden-faced Tyrannulet
Common Tody-Flycatcher- Heard
Yellow-olive Flycatcher
Cliff Flycatcher
Smoke-colored Pewee- Heard
Rufous-tailed Tyrant
Long-tailed Tyrant
Grayish Mourner
Short-crested Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Streaked Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Masked Tityra
White-winged Becard
Striped Manakin
Red-eyed Vireo
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Blue-and-white Swallow
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
Gray-breasted Martin
House Wren
Gray-breasted Wood-Wren- Heard
Scaly-breasted Wren- Heard
Great Thrush
Tropical Parula
Slate-throated Redstart
Magpie Tanager
Common Bush-Tanager
Silver-beaked Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Palm Tanager
Blue-capped Tanager
Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager
Yellow-throated Tanager
Paradise Tanager
Dotted Tanager
Green-and-gold Tanager
Blue Dacnis
Purple Honeycreeper
Buff-throated Saltator
Blue-black Grassquit
Deep-blue Flowerpiercer
Yellow-browed Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Oriole Blackbird
Yellow-rumped Cacique
Crested Oropendola
Bronze-green Euphonia

Peru, May 11, Day 10: Adios to our Compadres

2010-06-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

This was the day we were saying goodbye to Jens, Kathy and Dan. We would continue on by ourselves for the rest of our trip with Alex and Juan Jose until we returned to Lima and got a new guide and driver. But there was still a lot of birding to be done before our farewells. I was feeling much better, particularly after the coca tea prescribed by Alex for my ailments.

We began our birding by the gate to the reserve. A muddy path across the road is the best spot for Ochre-fronted Antpitta. We walked up the trail through thick forest. We arrived at a spot with enough of an opening to look up a hill through the trees. Alex played the call and the bird called back, but never came into view. We crossed back to the reserve and Juan Jose told us he had seen a Lulu's Tody-tyrant, one of our main target birds at the lodge, in the trees below the parking area. Unfortunately we couldn't re-find it. We got in the van and started down towards Rioja where we would part company.

Our first stop was a biggie. We were looking for Royal Sunangel, a navy blue hummingbird. It was my second most wanted hummingbird for this trip. We parked at a work area where both men and women were staging to carry supplies up a steep mountain for a radio tower. It was really impressive to see workers hoisting up bigger loads than I could carry from the car to the front door and starting up a mountain trail that led straight up to the top, no switchbacks here. They regarded us with a little curiousity.

The best spot to see the Sunangel is on the top of a little bluff next to the road. That path was steep, too. Initially I thought I would not try it, as I could see down hill from the roadside pretty well, but after the group glimpsed a Sunangel zip by, I clambered up. We did see it again, though not as well as I had hoped. There wasn't very much room to stand, so I started down. I was being over cautious, as there was a little scree and I felt like I could easily slide. One of the men waiting to carry supplies up saw me and ran up the hill to assist me down. I was really touched by his kindness! The others followed me down shortly after. We heard both Andean and White-eared Solitaires singing, but never saw either.

We travelled further down hill. stopping several times to work mixed flocks along the road. White-capped Tanagers were real crowd pleaser (if you can call our little group a crowd) We had We arrived at an area called Afluentes that proved to be wonderful. The tanagers alone with worth the stop, with Golden, Flame-faced, Blue-capped, Beryl-spangled, Green-and-gold, Blue-necked and Yellow-throated. We also scored big with Versicolored Barbet. Probably my favorite bird at this spot was Speckle-chested Piculet, a tiny woodpecker. This area is well known as a spot for Vermilion Tanager, but we had no luck.

We moved further down hill and had lunch in Aguas Verdes at an interesting chicken restaurant, called "El Eden". It wasn't exactly my idea of paradise. Inside it looked like it used to be a car garage. There was motor oil spilled on the floor and it was built of rough wood. While we ate a scruffy looking chicken walked under the table. (Watch out! You might be lunch tomorrow!) There was an assortment of pregnant dogs and a mother cat with kittens, but the food was good and the waitress was very nice.

We departed for Rioja and arrived at our hotel. We bid our friends goodbye and checked in. Our original plan was to drive to Tarapoto with Kathy, Jens and Dan, where they would depart for Lima, and we would return to Rioja for the night, but Gunnar called and told Alex and Juan Jose there was a change of plan. There were road closures going on and I think he was worried we might get stuck coming back. Gunnar arranged alternate transportation for them and Juan Jose and Alex stayed with us in Rioja.

After a little siesta we took off to bird an area outside of the city. There is a spot outside of the city called Yakumama, which was excellent! Fork-tailed Palm-swifts were shooting by overhead. A Point-tailed Palm-creeper flew by very close in response to Alex's playback. We were particularly thrilled to see Huallaga Tanagers. A pair of Magpie Tanagers flew over, joined by the ubiquitous Palm and Blue-Gray Tanagers. A small pond held a Russet-crowned Crake. All in all it was a very satisfying day.

Pictures for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624081462561/

Bird list for the day:
1 Great Egret

2 Striated Heron

3 Black Vulture

4 Turkey Vulture

5 Roadside Hawk

6 Black Caracara

7 Russet-crowned Crake-heard

8 Band-tailed Pigeon

9 Plumbeous Pigeon

10 Ruddy Ground-Dove

11 Blue Ground-Dove

12 White-eyed Parakeet

13 Cobalt-winged Parakeet

14 Red-billed Parrot

15 Smooth-billed Ani

16 Short-tailed Swift

17 Andean Swift

18 Fork-tailed Palm-Swift

19 Violet-headed Hummingbird

20 Speckled Hummingbird

21 Chestnut-breasted Coronet

22 Collared Inca

23 Royal Sunangel

24 Emerald-bellied Puffleg

25 Long-billed Starthroat

26 Ringed Kingfisher

27 Gilded Barbet

28 Lemon-throated Barbet

29 Versicolored Barbet

30 Emerald Toucanet

31 Speckle-chested Piculet

32 Azara's Spinetail

33 Rufous-fronted Thornbird

34 Pearled Treerunner

35 Point-tailed Palmcreeper

36 Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner

37 Streaked Xenops

38 Olive-backed Woodcreeper

39 Streak-headed Woodcreeper

40 Ochre-fronted Antpitta

41 Rufous-vented Tapaculo

42 White-crested Elaenia

43 Ochre-bellied Flycatcher

44 Variegated Bristle-Tyrant

45 Spectacled Bristle-Tyrant

46 Ashy-headed Tyrannulet

47 Peruvian Tyrannulet

48 Ornate Flycatcher

49 Common Tody-Flycatcher

50 Cliff Flycatcher

51 Rufous-tailed Tyrant

52 Great Kiskadee

53Social Flycatcher

54 Tropical Kingbird

55 Barred Fruiteater

56 Brown-capped Vireo

57 Red-eyed Vireo

58 Rufous-browed Peppershrike

59 Green Jay

60 Blue-and-white Swallow

61 Southern Rough-winged Swallow

62 Gray-breasted Martin

63 Mountain Wren

64 Gray-breasted Wood-Wren

65 Black-capped Donacobius

66 Andean Solitaire

67 White-eared Solitaire

68 Great Thrush

69 Slate-throated Redstart

70 Citrine Warbler

71 Russet-crowned Warbler

72 Magpie Tanager

73 White-capped Tanager

74 Black-eared Hemispingus

75 Gray-hooded Bush Tanager

76 Common Bush-Tanager

77 White-lined Tanager

78 Huallaga Tanager

79 Silver-beaked Tanager

80 Blue-gray Tanager

81 Palm Tanager

82 Blue-capped Tanager

83Yellow-throated Tanager

84 Green-and-gold Tanager

85 Golden Tanager

86 Flame-faced Tanager

87 Yellow-bellied Tanager

88 Blue-necked Tanager

89 Beryl-spangled Tanager

90 Silver-backed Tanager

91 Black-faced Dacnis

92 Purple Honeycreeper

93 Buff-throated Saltator

94 Chestnut-bellied Seedeater

95 White-sided Flowerpiercer

96 Yellow-breasted Brush-Finch

97 Rufous-collared Sparrow

98 White-winged Tanager

99 Scarlet-rumped Cacique

100 Yellow-rumped Cacique

101 Bronze-green Euphonia

Peru, May 10, Day 9: Step two of the Peruvian Weight Loss Plan

2010-06-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

We woke up early to a nice breakfast and hummingbirds in the garden of the hotel. I was delighted to see a Green-tailed Trainbearer, not a new hummingbird, but as I said before, I love long tailed hummingbirds. Kathy, Jens and I headed down to Lake Pomacocha with Alex and Juan Jose, while Dan and Martin stayed at the hotel, as there wouldn't be any new birds for either of them. The lake was really beautiful. A long pier led out to a covered dock.

We had spent a some time earlier in the trip looking for rails, which was a lot of work and not always successful. I knew Plumbeous Rail was at the lake, but didn't hold a lot of hope of seeing it. I was stunned when we almost immediately saw one wandering around the open. We actually saw a couple. A Striated Heron sat on the edge of a small fishing canoe beached on the lake edge. The second life bird I got was White-cheeked Pintail, a bird I should have had a long time ago. A Grassland Yellow-finch flew out of the reeds. Yellow-billed Pintails were feeding in the swampy grass next to the lake. As we were leaving Alex spotted a bird that I didn't think I would see this year, as I assumed I had missed them in Texas during migration, a female Bobolink!

As I walked down the pier to go back to the van I noticed I felt just a little bit "off". I figured I was just a little tired. We got back to the hotel, packed the van, bought a cool t-shirt and took off for the famous Owlet Lodge at Abra Patricia. We stopped at a small store to get some Coke Zero and agua con gas. I was completely amused to see a sign next to the door advertising that this bodega was an authorized buyer of coca leaves. Coca is a major crop in this area, legally grown for coca tea. We left town and arrived at Abra Patricia fairly quickly.

Juan Jose parked the van inside the gate of the lodge and we started up the path to the buildings. The path is uphill, but isn't difficult. I started up and was surprised that I very quickly got out of breath and had to rest. The lodge is not at a high altitude, so I couldn't figure out what was wrong. By the time I got up to the top I knew. I was struck with a sudden attack of "tourista". I have done a good number of trips to the tropics and have never had any problem. I am pretty careful about not drinking the water, nor eating lettuce or other raw vegetables that I think have not been washed in purified water. Occasionally I sneak something I shouldn't, but I seem to have a very solid constitution. When we got to the cabin I took an Imodium and figured I would be fine.

The lodge doesn't do lunch, so we drove down hill to a tiny restaurant. The food was simple, but good and I felt fine eating. We returned to the lodge and again I had a hard time walking up. I sat for a while and watched the hummingbird feeders at the main building and was blown away by the number of birds. Emerald-bellied Puffleg was a new bird for me. Chestnut-breasted Coronets, Bronzy Incas, Speckled Hummingbird, both Violetears, Collared Incas and one of my favorites, Long-tailed Sylphs were all common. There were also feeders by all of the cabins. I was still feeling very tired.

Alex suggested a hike to the tower. I decided to stay at the cabin and rest and just bird around the immediate area. I wasn't too concerned because Martin and I would be returning to the lodge later in the trip for a couple of days. I ended up sleeping some but did find some gorgeous orchids and a few good birds. Probably the best was a pair of Chestnut-crested Cotingas, a bird that we had seen in Colombia, but is very easy to miss. The group returned and said they had not seen a lot.

We went up for dinner and were presented with Pisco Sours, which I believe is the national drink of Peru. Normally I would have drank mine and then Martin's, but I only sipped a tiny bit. Then the soup was brought out. It was beautiful, a thick tomato with cheese on top. I took one look and told Martin I couldn't eat. I got up and went back to our room. Martin and the others went out looking for the Long-whiskered Owlet, an almost mythical bird that has been found at the reserve. They didn't have any luck, which is the normal result, but Alex stayed out later and did actually hear one call. I was already asleep when Martin got back. I hoped that I would feel better after a good night's sleep.

The days photos:http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624067805069/
And the day's bird list:
1 White-cheeked Pintail

2 Yellow-billed Pintail

3 Cattle Egret

4 Striated Heron

5 Black Vulture

6 Turkey Vulture

7 American Kestrel

8 Plumbeous Rail

9 Common Moorhen

10 Andean Lapwing

11 Puna Snipe

12 Band-tailed Pigeon

13 Speckle-faced Parrot

14 Groove-billed Ani

15 Green Violetear

16 Sparkling Violetear

17 Speckled Hummingbird

18 Violet-fronted Brilliant

19 Chestnut-breasted Coronet

20 Bronzy Inca

21 Collared Inca

22 Emerald-bellied Puffleg

23 Green-tailed Trainbearer

24 Long-tailed Sylph

25 White-bellied Woodstar

26 White-crested Elaenia

27 Torrent Tyrannulet

28 Tropical Kingbird

29 Chestnut-crested Cotinga

30 Blue-and-white Swallow

31 House Wren

32 Gray-breasted Wood-Wren

33 Great Thrush

34 Citrine Warbler

35 Blue-capped Tanager

36 Yellow-bellied Seedeater

37 Grassland Yellow-Finch

38 Bobolink

39 Hooded Siskin

Peru, May 9, Day 8: THE bird!

2010-06-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

When we were planning to do this trip we discussed several options. At one point Martin asked me what bird I most wanted to see in the Western hemisphere. I didn't even hesitate; it was the Marvelous Spatuletail. I remember seeing a video of this bird displaying several years ago and being totally blown away. I love hummingbirds and this one is a doozy! Its body is tiny, 15 cm, but the tail on the male bird is a wonder to behold. It consists of only four feathers, two long pointed straight ones and two incredibly long raquet shaped feathers that cross and can be moved independantly. When the bird flies the tail is all over the place. May 9 was the day we were going for this bird.

We left Jaen and did some birding on the road from Jaen to Pedro Ruiz. Its a shame that modern English tends to hyperbole, because it becomes difficult to express the depth of feeling when something really is awe inspiring. This drive falls into that category. I have been lucky enough to travel in several countries in South America and to have seen the Andes in numerous locations. None of these places came close to blowing me away the way this road did. The mountains shot up overhead right next to the road. It was impossible to see the tops through the van windows in many places. Cascades of water dropped well over a thousand feet in several locations. The third tallest waterfall in the world, over 3,000 ft, in this area. Unfortunately we didn't see that one, but the ones we did see were pretty darn spectacular.

We saw some birds, of course. Several Fasciated Tiger-herons were in the river that ran along parts of the road. We picked up Peruvian Pigeon, Buff-bellied Tanager and Maranon Spinetail. We tried very hard to find Maranon Thrush, but had no luck. Martin and I had been fortunate to see it in Ecuador several years ago, so we were not too disappointed, but I wish we had gotten it for the others in our group. Finally after lunch we arrived at the Spatuletail Reserve near Huembo.

The reserve sits in a beautiful valley. We walked down the trail leading to a gazebo when it started to pour. We had been very lucky with weather on this trip, so we really couldn't complain. The feeders where the Spatuletails come in is lower down and there is no cover, so we waited under the shelter for the rain to let up. Finally it cleared a bit, so we headed down. There are benches across from the feeders. We sat and waited. A week before we left for our trip we talked with a friend who had been at the reserve several months ago. He said female Spatuletails came in to the feeders, but not the males. They had spent hours hiking to find a male with a full tail. I was trying hard not to get my hopes up, figuring we would have the same luck.

The feeders are extremely busy. We had Chestnut-breasted Coronets, three species of Woodstars, Andean Emerald and Bronzy Incas coming in. Then HE flew in, a male Spatuletail in his full glory. I can take video with my little point and shoot Fuji and thought I was ready. The first video I shot is rather funny. I immediately dropped the camera when I saw the bird (luckily I had the strap on) All you can see is the ground swinging back and forth and hear me saying "OH MY GOD!" Luckily I did a little better with the second one.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/4626648459/
You can hear Martin's camera clicking and me whispering "What a gorgeous bird!" The video is not good quality, but if you look carefully you can see the tail bobbing around.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/4626648459/
After we recovered a bit we walked a trail near the feeders. To be honest, I do not recall any of the birds we saw, but I did see some incredible orchids. We then walked back up to the administration building and watched the feeders there. We were thrilled to see yet another Marvelous Spatuletail. I shot another video; the quality is even worse, but you can see the tail moving a bit better.
We had a bit more rain and a little rainbow right before we left. The spatuletail was every bit as good as I had imagined!

I have not talked much about our hotel accommodations in my blogs. I am making an exception for this night. We stayed in Pomochoca, a town next to a good size lake, formed by an old volcano crater. When we arrived in town I was a little curious., as it is very rural and the homes and businesses were extremely simple. We have stayed in some rather spartan hotels, and I thought this would be another one. I was more than pleasantly surprised when we pulled into a gated facility and found a really lovely resort! The gardens were beautiful, as was the lobby and our room. Our driver Juan Jose pointed out a huge pottery sculpture of a person in a pre-Colombian style. He explained it was a replica of an Incan sarcophagus. He told me to look in the back. I was stunned to see an actual mummy! We then went to our room to get ready for dinner. Suddenly we lost electrical power and the lights went out. This is pretty common in Latin America, so I wasn't concerned. We took our flashlights and walked to the dining room for dinner. As I passed the mummy I couldn't help think that this felt like a bad horror movie. Luckily he stayed put and we had a great dinner.

My photos for the day including the videos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624185095048/

Our bird list:
1 Fasciated Tiger-Heron

2 Great Egret

3 Snowy Egret

4 Black Vulture

5 Turkey Vulture

6 Savanna Hawk

7 Harris's Hawk

8 Roadside Hawk

9 Short-tailed Hawk

10 Crested Caracara

11 American Kestrel

12 Peruvian Pigeon

13 Eared Dove

14 Croaking Ground-Dove

15 White-tipped Dove

16 Speckle-faced Parrot

17 Groove-billed Ani

18 Lesser Nighthawk

19 Green Violetear

20 Sparkling Violetear

21 White-bellied Hummingbird

22 Andean Emerald

23 Violet-fronted Brilliant

24 Chestnut-breasted Coronet

25 Bronzy Inca

26 Marvelous Spatuletail

27 Purple-collared Woodstar

28 White-bellied Woodstar

29 Little Woodstar

30 Emerald Toucanet

31 Pale-legged Hornero

32 Maranon Spinetail

33 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet

34 Highland Elaenia

35 Vermilion Flycatcher

36 Short-crested Flycatcher

37 Great Kiskadee

38 Tropical Kingbird

39 Green Jay

40 Blue-and-white Swallow

41 White-winged Swallow

42 Speckle-breasted Wren

43 House Wren

44 Long-tailed Mockingbird

45 Buff-bellied Tanager

46 Silver-beaked Tanager

47 Blue-gray Tanager

48 Palm Tanager

49 Blue-black Grassquit

50 Chestnut-throated Seedeater

51 Saffron Finch

52 Peruvian Meadowlark

53 Scrub Blackbird

54 Shiny Cowbird

55 Yellow-tailed Oriole

56 White-vented Euphonia

Peru, Day 7 May 8, 2010 I get high on birding!

2010-05-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

We left our hotel in Olmos and headed up to the Abra Porculla area. The pass is at 2100 meters, just under 7,000 ft, not all that high, but enough to have a little chill in the air. The views from the pass are breathtaking! The clouds were below us and the birds in the area were great. There are a number of endemics which we were looking for.

We did quite well here, picking up Chapman’s Antshrike, Rufous-necked Foliage Gleaner, Black-cowled Saltator and the sometimes difficult to find Piura Chat-Tyrant. I got a decent look at Bay-crowned Brush-finch. A Peruvian Sheartail, though not rare, was a big treat. There is something about long-tailed hummingbirds… Spot-throated Hummingbird is far from a “looker”, but we were very happy to add it to our list. I was walking along the road and heard what sounded like a bumble bee. I looked up and saw a tiny hummingbird zipping off, a Short-tailed Woodstar. Unfortunately no one else saw it. Luckily after a little searching we re-located it. We had both Black-chested Buzzard-eagle and Variable hawk flying over. Maranon Crescent-chest was probably my favorite bird here

We stopped at a scrubby hill side to look for Little Inca Finch. It took some real effort, but we finally got good looks when one responded to Alex’s play back. We also had Elegant Crescent-chest. How could anyone complain about a two crescent-chest day? There were a couple of spinetails working a mossy tree and we had the obligatory grassquits and seed-eaters.

Photos for the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624029110989/

Bird list for the day:

1 Great Egret

2 Snowy Egret

3 Cattle Egret

4 Black Vulture

5 Turkey Vulture

6 Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle

7 Variable Hawk

8 Rock Pigeon

9 West Peruvian Dove

10 Eared Dove

11 Ecuadorian Ground-Dove

12 White-tipped Dove

13 Groove-billed Ani

14 White-tipped Swift

15 Gray-chinned Hermit

16 Sparkling Violetear

17 Spot-throated Hummingbird

18 Amazilia Hummingbird

19 Andean Emerald

20 Peruvian Sheartail

21 Short-tailed Woodstar

22 Azara's Spinetail

23 Necklaced Spinetail

24 Rufous-fronted Thornbird

25 Point-tailed Palmcreeper

26 Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaner

27 Chapman's Antshrike

28 Collared Antshrike

29 Northern Slaty-Antshrike

30 Chestnut-crowned Antpitta- Heard

31 Maranon Crescentchest

32 Elegant Crescentchest

33 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet

34 Mouse-colored Tyrannulet

35 Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant

36 Common Tody-Flycatcher

37 Vermilion Flycatcher

38 Piura Chat-Tyrant

39 Tropical Kingbird

40 Blue-and-white Swallow

41 Speckle-breasted Wren

42 Superciliated Wren

43 Mountain Wren

44 Tropical Gnatcatcher

45 Great Thrush

46 Long-tailed Mockingbird

47 Citrine Warbler

48 Three-banded Warbler

49 Bananaquit

50 Rufous-chested Tanager

51 White-lined Tanager

52 Silver-beaked Tanager

53 Fawn-breasted Tanager

54 Streaked Saltator

55 Black-cowled Saltator

56 Plumbeous Sierra-Finch

57 Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch

58 Little Inca-Finch

59 Blue-black Grassquit

60 Black-and-white Seedeater

61 Chestnut-bellied Seedeater

62 Dull-colored Grassquit

63 Rusty Flowerpiercer

64 Saffron Finch

65 Bay-crowned Brush-Finch

Peru. May 7, Day 6: A change of elevation and scenery

2010-05-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

We woke up in Chiclayo, a smaller group, in a very different place. We met our new driver, Juan Jose, who I instantly liked. He speaks excellent English and has a great knowledge of Peru and its history. He also is a very good birder, so we had two guides, not just a guide and a driver. We were starting out in the dry Tumbes area of Northwest Peru, not too far from the Ecuadorian border. The Tumbes area, which includes part of Southwestern Ecuador is an area of heavy endemism, with at least 50 range restricted species, about a third of them endangered or vulnerable. There are a wide variety of habitats, from tropical rain forests on the coast to the driest desert on earth in the south. We have birded this region in Ecuador, but there were still many possibilities on the Peruvian side.

We began the day at Bosque de Pomac, a dry scrub forest. The habitat seemed very familar. It reminded me both of the forest near Rio Hacha Colombia and some of our Texas thorn scrub. We walked down the main road and the birds came very quickly. We had not walked far at all, when Martin spotted a Rufous Flycatcher, one of our main targets for this area. Unfortunately the bird flew quickly. We all didn't see it. We worked the area, trying to refind it, when we were distracted by another, even better bird, Peruvian Plantcutter. This is a bird that can be very difficult to find. We all got good looks, when a second bird came in. Unfortunately my camera situation did not allow photos. After we enjoyed the pair of Plantcutters, we returned to the Rufous Flycatcher area and were rewarded by good looks. We also added Necklaced Spinetail, a very cool looking bird.

We needn't have worried about the flycatcher; they were quite common in the area. We saw the plantcutter again and got great looks at the Tumbes form of Tropical Gnatcatcher, which looked quite different from other forms I have seen. A Peruvian Meadowlark made a good showing. We have seen these several times, but I still am blown away by it, a RED Meadowlark. Alex took us to a more open area, nearby, where we were able to see Tumbes Swallows flying over. A Peruvian Pygmy Owl answered Alex's whistling. We saw a Coastal Miner working the rocky ground. After we left here, we came across a flock of Peruvian Thick-knees. Then we found another of our targets along the road, White-tailed Jay. This is a spectacular jay, similar to Tufted Jay, which is found in Mexico.

We grabbed lunch at a small restaurant and then went to Quebrada Limon, the most reliable spot for White-winged Guan. This bird was discovered in the 1870s and then not seen again for over 100 years. We arrived at the spot and waited for a local guide, which is necessary. The group started hiking up before he arrived, knowing the guide would catch up. Unfortunately I was struggling a bit with the terrain and still feeling a little off from my bad bout of sea sickness the day before. (maybe a little dehydrated) I was having trouble keeping up, so I decided to stay back and look for butterflies, which seemed to be thick. Shortly after, the local guide passed me, heading after them.

I puttered around, attempting to get some decent photos, with little luck. I did see a number of birds, including more White-tailed Jays and Tumbes Sparrow. I worked up and down the trail a little, talked to the goats, who were not impressed, and tried to keep cool. I wandered around a little and suddenly worried that I might not be where I needed to be for the group to refind me. I tried to find a landmark that I recognized, but I was a little uncertain. Just as I started to get concerned, I saw them coming down the trail.

Kathy and Jens had stopped by a creek, while Dan and Martin had gone on with the guide. Martin and Dan had fleeting glimpses of the Guan, but Kathy and Jens were the lucky ones! While standing by the creek, several guans came in quite close to drink. Everyone was very happy, but quite tired. We walked back to the van and headed for our hotel. I was feeling a little disappointed in myself for not persevering, but there were plenty more birds to come!

Here are my lousy photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624020344483/

Here is my bird list:
1 Great Egret

2 Snowy Egret

3 Cattle Egret

4 Black Vulture

5 Turkey Vulture

6 Harris's Hawk

7 Variable Hawk

8 American Kestrel

9 Peruvian Thick-knee

10 Black-necked Stilt

11 West Peruvian Dove

12 Eared Dove

13 White-tipped Dove

14 Red-masked Parakeet

15 Pacific Parrotlet

16 Groove-billed Ani

17 Peruvian Pygmy-Owl

18 Lesser Nighthawk

19 Amazilia Hummingbird

20 Green Kingfisher

21 Scarlet-backed Woodpecker

22 Golden-olive Woodpecker

23 Coastal Miner

24 Pale-legged Hornero

25 Necklaced Spinetail

26 Collared Antshrike

27 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet

28 Mouse-colored Tyrannulet

29 Short-tailed Field-Tyrant

30 Rufous Flycatcher

31 Peruvian Plantcutter

32 White-tailed Jay

33 Blue-and-white Swallow

34 Southern Rough-winged Swallow

35 Tumbes Swallow

36 Fasciated Wren

37 Superciliated Wren

38 Tropical Gnatcatcher

39 Great Thrush

40 Long-tailed Mockingbird

41 Bananaquit

42 Blue-gray Tanager

43 Streaked Saltator

44 Cinereous Finch

45 Saffron Finch

46 Tumbes Sparrow

47 Peruvian Meadowlark

48 Scrub Blackbird

49 Shiny Cowbird

50 White-edged Oriole

Peru, May 6, 2010 Day 5: Step one to my Peruvian Weight Loss Plan

2010-05-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

Bet you were confused about the original title of this series of blogs. My "weight loss plan" didn't start at the beginning of the trip, but on this day. We did a pelagic trip. Peru is well known for phenomanal pelagic (that is deep sea) birding. The cold Humboldt current skirts the Peruvian coast, causing an upwelling of sea life, ie. food. This of course brings in the birds.

When we were planning the trip, Martin was ecstatic at the idea of doing a pelagic. These Peruvian trips are so exciting, I even was very enthused. I had sworn to myself that I would never set foot on a boat again after the last Texas pelagic I went on. Our pelagics can be grim. You can go all day and only see a handful, if even that, of sea birds. Combine that with a penchant for seasickness, and its hard to get worked up. The last trip had been particulary bad. But this was Peru! There would be bazillions of birds! And I had heard the seas sometimes were very calm! And I was going to try the scopolamine patch! It would all be great!

It really was great at first. We left out of Callao right at dawn. I was picking up life birds even before we got on the boat. Belcher's, Gray and Kelp Gulls were zipping around. Inca Terns were just as beautiful as their photos. Peruvian Pelicans sailed over head. We took a small dinghy out to the boat, which looked great. We settled in on the bow after a quick breakfast of coffee and sandwichs. The coffee tasted great. We set out and I was feeling wonderful. Unlike the boats I have taken pelagic trips on in the Gulf of Mexico, this one didn't reek of fish and diesel. The sea breeze felt wonderful. We quickly added Great Grebe and Peruvian Booby to our list.

One of my most wanted birds for Peru was Humboldt Penguin. I had never seen any penguin, other than in the zoo. I knew that my chances of getting to Antarctica were less than nil, so this was probably my only shot. I wasn't disappointed! We passed a rocky island and there were a handful of the penguins, looking just like they do in the movies. I was delighted! There were also South American Sea Lions and many boobies and cormorants. Gunnar Engblom, who is the head of Kolibri Expeditions, was on the boat. He told me we would see even more on the way back in.

Shortly after we passed the islands, we began seeing large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters. Then a bird that I would have thought was an alcid if I had been on the North American Coast, landed and immediatly disappeared below the surface, a Peruvian Diving Petrel. I spotted several more. They have a very distinct flight style. After that the albatross started to arrive. I believe the first for me was Waved, but I also saw White-capped and Black-browed. Elliots (White-vented) Storm-petrels were pretty common. My lifer Chilean Skua bullied its way through. Then we had Ringed Storm-petrel, which I was very excited about. Gunnar promised to look for a whale for me, as I still had never seen one.

Then it happened. I noticed the coffee that had tasted so good earlier was kind of sitting a little funny. The sea was a bit rougher and we were getting a little spray on the bow. Martin and the others went to the top of the boat. I decided to stay put, moving to the middle to try to avoid too much spray. I took a little drink of water and that was the end of my pleasant sea trip. I will not go further in describing what happened. I ended up sleeping some, which helped, at least while I was sleeping. I missed some birds, but at that point I don't think I would have cared if an Ivory-billed Woodpecker flew onto the deck.

At one point I heard Martin say "That Albatross has a yellow bill" My reaction was "Well, thats just great for the albatross!" I had no idea that it was significant. Martin and Gunnar photographed the bird and later a second bird that also had a yellow bill. They turned out to be Chatham Island Albatrosses, birds that breed only on a small rocky island called the Pyramid, east of New Zealand. I did not go out to see them, much to my dismay when I was feeling more like myself. Later in the day Gunnar called for me to come out on deck. I was able to drag myself to the door just in time to see the spouting of a Blue Whale. It was VERY impressive, even in my state. It looked like a geyser shooting straight up.

By the end of the day I was feeling much better. I did resume my birding and enjoyed the show. We cruised by the islands Gunnar had mentioned that morning, and were able to see huge numbers of sea birds. The penguins were thick on several of the small rocky islands. The number of Peruvian Boobies was staggering. A Surf Cinclodes was picking along the ledges. I was really glad I had not been smelling those islands earlier in the day. The skyline of Lima was beautifully lit in the late sun. Despite my mal de mer, I managed to get 20 life birds.

We hustled off the boat, as we had an interior flight to catch. Dan, Martin and I, along with Kathy and Jens, were flying north for the second section of our tour. We had to say goodbye to Brian, Tom and Doug. I had really enjoyed birding with them and would miss their friendly joking. They were heading back to the states. We also said goodbye to Julio, who had been our second driver. I was going to miss his cooking! Alex, our guide, had skipped the pelagic. He met us at the airport and continued with us on our flight to Chiclayo.

Here is our my lousy photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624013051595/
And here is my short but excellent bird list:
1 Great Grebe

2 Humboldt Penguin

3 White-capped Albatross

4 Black-browed Albatross

5 Waved Albatross

6 White-chinned Petrel

7 Pink-footed Shearwater

8 Sooty Shearwater

9 Elliot's Storm-Petrel

10 Ringed Storm-Petrel

11 Markham's Storm-Petrel

12 Peruvian Diving-Petrel

13 Peruvian Booby

14 Peruvian Pelican

15 Red-legged Cormorant

16 Guanay Cormorant

17 Black-crowned Night-Heron

18 Gray-hooded Gull

19 Gray Gull

20 Franklin's Gull

21 Belcher's Gull

22 Kelp Gull

23 Peruvian Tern

24 Inca Tern

25 Chilean Skua

26 Surf Cinclodes

Peru, May 5, 2010: My 2000th Bird!

2010-05-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

This day marked a big milestone for me, my 2000 species of bird. Unfortunately I didn't know what species it was, or even that I saw it this day. I was a little confused about what I had and hadn't seen on our previous trips to South America. I had a pretty good idea, but thought I had ended the day with 1999. Luckily when we got home and I entered my data I discovered that the 2000 bird was the last bird of the this day! (It was a much better bird for that milestone than Belcher's Gull, which was my first bird of the following day) No, you have to wait until the end of my post to find out what it actually was. Suspense needs to build.

This was a day of some retracing steps. We started the day at the spot where the Rufous-backed Inca Finch had eluded us on the first day. We hiked up, with Alex playing his iPod. Our luck prevailed and within a few minutes we got a decent look. I was thrilled to find a Giant Conebill, a bird I had missed here the first day. Sparkling Violetears zipped around. We also had White-bellied Hummingbirds. Julio, our driver, had breakfast ready for us, so we went down and ate. While we sat there another Inca Finch flew in and perched right by us. It would have been easy to anthropomorphize his behavior and imagine him laughing at us. Ash-breasted Sierra Finches were common at this sight. We had a Blue-and-Yellow Tanager flit through the trees, a bird that was my "tart's tick" a few days before. (Tart's tick is a British birding expression for a bird any decent birder should have seen years before)

To be honest I don't remember a whole lot of this day, until the end. I know we birded along the road, heading up to the Ticlio bog. I do remember eating at a Chifa (South American Chinese restaurant), where one of our group confessed that he was not feeling all that great and wasn't going to eat. There was a stop at Lake Junin, again, where was the Junin Grebes again, along with Common Miner and Bright-rumped Yellow-finches. We drove up and up into the mountains, passing several huge copper and gold mines, which are a bit disconcerting. Its obvious that there is a negative environmental impact, but the economy of Peru depends heavily on the income generated by these mines.

We arrived at the bog mid afternoon. The temperature was quite cold. It began to snow very lightly. We worked our way across the soggy field. We had a distant sighting of White-winged Cinclodes. Then Alex spotted "my bird", a juvenile Diademed Sandpiper Plover! There is a photo of this bird hanging in our apartment. Martin had seen it in Chile years ago. I ached to see one the first time I saw that photo. The bird was hunkered down initially. I got a few poor digiscoped photos with my point and shoot, but I was happy. Even before I realized that this was bird 2000, I was ecstatic.

We started back to the van. One of our group, the member who didn't eat lunch, was walking off quickly, looking for some privacy. When he got back to the van, he did not look well. The combination of his "stomach" problems, the fast walk and the very high altitude seemed to be taking a toll. We got in the van and started back for Lima. Shortly after we left, he was slumping in his seat, seemingly asleep. Then to the alarm of all of us in the van, he fell out of his seat, onto the floor of the van. Martin and one of the other members of the group, got him back in his seat. He roused a bit, but they had to hold him up. As we descended to a lower altitude he progressively got better. By the time we got down about 2,000 feet lower, he was fine. I had a similar incident in Ecuador several years back. High altitudes can do crazy things. We got back to Lima a couple of hours later and he was joking and acting like he was fine. It was an important reminder to respece the mountains! When we checked into our hotel I was delighted to see our old friend and traveling companion, Dan Peak, was already checked in. He was joining the group for several days.

Here are the photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624006164657/

My bird list for the day:
1 Andean Goose

2 Yellow-billed Teal

3 Junin Grebe

4 Great Egret

5 Puna Ibis

6 Variable Hawk

7 Mountain Caracara

8 Slate-colored Coot

9 Andean Lapwing

10 Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

11 Puna Snipe

12 Andean Gull

13 Rock Pigeon

14 Eared Dove

15 Black-winged Ground-Dove

16 Sparkling Violetear

17 White-bellied Hummingbird

18 Andean Hillstar

19 Black-breasted Hillstar

20 Andean Flicker

21 Common Miner

22 Plain-breasted Earthcreeper

23 Bar-winged Cinclodes

24 White-bellied Cinclodes

25 Streak-backed Canastero

26 Junin Canastero- Heard

27 Sierran Elaenia

28 Cinereous Ground-Tyrant

29 White-fronted Ground-Tyrant

30 Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant

31 White-browed Chat-Tyrant

32 Tropical Kingbird

33 Blue-and-white Swallow

34 Brown-bellied Swallow

35 Andean Swallow

36 Great Thrush

37 Chiguanco Thrush

38 Paramo Pipit

39 Giant Conebill

40 Blue-and-yellow Tanager

41 Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch

42 White-winged Diuca-Finch

43 Rufous-backed Inca-Finch

44 Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch

45 Rufous-collared Sparrow

46 Golden-bellied Grosbeak

47 Hooded Siskin

48 Black Siskin

Peru, May 4, 2010, Day 3: Ride 'em cowgirl!

2010-05-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

This was our day to visit Bosque Unchog. This site was one of the reasons we adjusted the amount of time we were spending in Peru. Its a very reliable place for Golden-backed Mountain Tanager, the last of the Buthraupis that Martin needed. Its not an easy bird to find. These woods are also home to Rufous-browed Hemispingus, Pardusco and Bay-vented Cotingas, along with a number of other birds. Its at a fairly high elevation, about 3,600 meters, just under 12,000 ft.

The bosque is a bit distant from "civilisation" so we had to leave the hotelvery early. Since I had some difficulty with hiking the day before, we made last minute arrangements to have a horse for me. We arrived at the site, but there was no horse to be seen. Alex said we could start down and the man with the horse would catch up. We could hear snipe calling in the fields below us. We started on the trail just as the sun was coming up. It was a little chilly, but not bad. The sky was partly cloudy. We started down and I wasn't having too much trouble keeping up.

The mountain-tanager is sometimes seen close to the beginning of the trail, but we were not so lucky this day. We did see a number of birds as we walked. At the start of the trail we had a singing Line-fronted Canastero. Tyrian Metaltails, a hummingbird we have seen many times, were around, but we were thrilled to see Coppery Metaltails. A Sword-billed Hummingbird flew in, always a great bird to see. The forest itself was very interesting. Because of the altitude, the trees are small and many were covered in mosses. There was still no sign of the horse, so I worked my way down, only slightly slower than the group, catching up when they stopped for birds.

The first big thrill we had was when a dark rusty and black bird flew across the path, a Rufous-browed Hemispingus. This can be a very difficult bird to see, missed by many birders that come to the bosque. I was very happy with the brief, but good look, but we were really lucky in that this guy was a show off! He came in very close and allowed photos. Even better, he was followed by a second bird. We were all in an euphoric state, higher than the altitude. Even if we didn't see another bird, we would have been happy. We pushed on.

We quickly added Pardusco to the day list. This tanager is not exactly a looker, but its another bird that can be missed. We kept scanning for a big golden bird, but didn't have any luck in that department. We did have Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanagers, which were not new for us, but gorgeous birds anyway. We finally arrived at an area where Alex had seen the Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager in the past. The weather was pleasant. We all worked hard scanning and listening.

We were kind of spread out on a hillside, overlooking the forest. Martin and I, were further down the hill. We saw Bryan, Tom and Doug conferring, looking at a bird perched up in a tree. We started up towards them and heard the word "cotinga". Initially they thought it was the common Red-crested Cotinga, but as we got closer they realized it was the much rarer Bay-vented Cotinga! We scrambled up and all got good looks and I got a horrible photo. We also picked up Golden-collared Tanager, another of our targets. A Yungas Pygmy-owl showed very well. Then things got rather quiet.

After waiting for quite a while Alex suggested that he would go down into the woods and see what he could find. Bryan and Tom decided to go with him. I was feeling the altitude just a little and was happy to wait where we were. They took off down the path to a lower area where they could cut across. The sky had gotten cloudy and some mist was blowing in. They were quite a ways down, when they started to wave. As we hurried down it started to rain a little. We caught up to them just as the rain increased. Alex was searching the hill with his scope, while Tom held an umbrella over his head.

It turns out that Brian had seen the Golden-backed Mountain-tanager in the woods. Just as Tom looked in the scope that Brian had put on it, the mist hid the bird from view. Alex could hear it calling. We got our scope set up, too. Unfortunately the mist was just getting worse and worse. We tried seeing through it, until our eyes ached. Its called cloud forest for a reason. The rain let up and from time to time we could just make out the shapes of the trees, but no flashes of yellow. Alex went down to the forest edge to listen. The bird was still calling (we did hear it) but he didn't see it. It was extremely frustrating! The mist cleared and there was still no sign of the bird.

The good news was that my "horse" arrived. It turned out to be a mule, but that was fine with me. I made it down the hill, but wasn't looking forward to the long hike back up. I found out later that deciding to get the mule at the last minute was a bit of a hassle for Gunnar, so if you do visit Peru and go to Bosque Unchog, decide early! It was WELL worth it, believe me. The mule's owner, Mr. Reye Rivera, patiently waited while we tried and tried to refind the bird. Julio, who was now back to being our driver, sent down some amazing hamburgers that he made for lunch. (This guy can cook!)

Finally it was time to start back up to the van. I mounted my steed with some difficulty, due to my huge feet not fitting into the small stirrups. Martin got some photos of this process, but I threatened him with serious bodily harm if he ever shows them! Mr. Rivera led us up the hill. I very hokily found myself humming El Condor Passe by Simon and Garfunkel. The ride up was almost as good as the birds we had seen. Mr. Rivera was a wealth of knowledge. He pointed out tiny orchids, giving me the Latin names, which I promptly forgot. (This would not surprise Sister Theodore, my high school Lating teacher one bit) He also showed me a stone that had Inca carvings on it and pointed out Incan ruins up on a hill. I was able to really look at the forest, since I didn't have to be careful about tripping on the path. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

We beat everyone but Brian back up to the van. Brian is an amazingly fast hiker! The sky was beautiful. I was really happy, until I tried to photograph a small farm, down the hill from our starting point. The zoom on my camera lens wasn't working. I fooled around with it, but got nowhere. Martin finally arrived and I had him look at it. He was unable to fix it. Somehow on the ride up the lens must have hit my binoculars and it was now broken. I was sick to my stomach. I did have a small spare camera, but it was a fairly simple point and shoot. Camera shops are in short supply in rural Peru, so it looked like I was in a bit of trouble, as far as photos went. I tried to suck it up, but still felt a bit low.

On the way back to Huanaco we picked up a few more birds. Alex found a Barred Forest-falcon. We got decent looks at Brown-flanked Tanager. I still felt a little discouraged about my camera, but on reflection, I was pleased with the day. The only miss was the Golden-backed Mountain-tanager, but the other birds more than made up for it. Most birding group camp at Bosque Unchog for two or three days and don't see all the birds we saw. I also figured some people would be glad that I didn't have so many pictures to show them!

Here are the photos I did take that day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623996904631/

Here is the bird list:
1 Barred Forest-Falcon

2 Mountain Caracara

3 Andean Lapwing

4 Andean Snipe-heard

5 Band-tailed Pigeon

6 Eared Dove

7 Yungas Pygmy-Owl

8 Sparkling Violetear

9 White-bellied Hummingbird

10 Violet-throated Starfrontlet

11 Sword-billed Hummingbird

12 Great Sapphirewing

13 Tyrian Metaltail

14 Coppery Metaltail

15 Line-fronted Canastero

16 Pearled Treerunner

17 Rufous Antpitta- heard

18 Neblina Tapaculo- heard

19 White-throated Tyrannulet

20 Black-crested Tit-Tyrant

21 Ochraceous-breasted Flycatcher

22 Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant

23 White-browed Chat-Tyrant

24 Barred Fruiteater

25 Bay-vented Cotinga

26 Blue-and-white Swallow

27 Great Thrush

28 Spectacled Redstart

29 Rufous-browed Hemispingus

30 Brown-flanked Tanager

31 Pardusco

32 Cinereous Conebill

33 Blue-backed Conebill

34 Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager- heard

35 Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager

36 Golden-collared Tanager

37 Yellow-scarfed Tanager

38 Golden-billed Saltator

39 Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch

40 Black-and-white Seedeater

41 Drab Seedeater

42 Band-tailed Seedeater

43 Moustached Flowerpiercer

44 Golden-bellied Grosbeak

45 Hooded Siskin

Peru, May 3, 2010, Day 2: The Paty Trail and the Carpish Tunnel

2010-05-22T17:16:00.000-07:00

We left our hotel in Huanuco at about 5:00 AM, heading to the Paty Trail and Carpish Tunnel. This area is well known for a number of endemics. When we arrived it was lightly raining and was very dreary. The Paty trail begins at the back of a local school that sits below the road. The trail is a bit steep and that day it was rather muddy. I have some serious balance issues, so I was a bit nervous. Before starting down we looked through a mixed flock along the road. Spectacled Redstarts flitted through the trees, along with Citrine and Russet-crowned Warblers. An Andean Guan was sitting on a branch high over the road. A pair of young piglets were running back and forth, providing a a little bit of the cuteness factor.

The rain had let up a bit, so we started down to the beginning of the trail. The path led steeply down from the school building to a futbol field. It then turned and went down hill into some beautiful forest. I told the group to go ahead, that I would catch up, needing some time to get my "trail legs". I got down to the field, only falling on my posterior once. Martin waited for me and we dropped down into the forest. I found a good spot, where birds were passing through and decided to stick there. I told Martin to go on, which he did. Sometimes I would rather just sit and let birds come to me. This was not a bad decision.

I quickly heard a Bay Antpitta calling. I had my iPod, and played the call, but the bird didn't come in any closer. Then I heard a Chestnut Antpitta nearby. Again I didn't see the bird, but I do count heard birds, especially ones like antpittas and tapaculos. A Trilling Tapaculo sang loudly. I also heard a Gray-breasted Mountain Toucan calling across the hills. I did see parrots flying over, Scaly-naped Amazons. I moved a bit further down the trail, catching up to Martin. Another Bay Antpitta was calling. I played the iPod and the bird came in, sounding like it was right under our feet. As usual, we never saw a feather. I don't know how antpittas do it. They seem to have the power of invisibility!

Martin and I decided to go back up the sports field, as its reputed to be very good for birds. When we cleared the rim of the hill we saw a large group of school children playing futbol, girls against boys. I never realized you could play in rubber boots. The kids were fascinated by us, a few coming over from time to time to just look at us. We worked our way around the field, trailing kids, and did manage to see a few birds. Both Rufous and Azara's Spinetails were around. A couple of Pearled Treerunners moved up and down the tree trunks. Then we were thrilled to hear a flock of White-collared Jays. We managed to catch a glimpse of a couple as they flew up towards the road. The rest of the group came up and we headed back to the road.

When we got back up to the road, the White-collared Jays were loudly calling. We managed to get very good looks. The name White-collared is a bit confusing to the average person. We tend to think of collars as being around the back of the neck. Instead the jays have a thin line of white around the front. It can vary from a relatively thick white band, to a barely noticible sliver. These birds were in the latter camp. We had our lunch and moved on to our next stop, the trail by the Carpish Tunnel.

The trail up above the tunnel was not steep, nor very muddy. I really enjoyed the walk. The weather was a little better; still cloudy, but not raining. There were numerous butterflies and flowers. I photographed a darner dragonfly ovipositing in a small pool. As we walked we came to an area where there had been a recent landslide. There was enough of the trail left to walk safely, but it was a bit disconcerting. Alex, our guide, was completely fearless, standing on the edge, playing his iPod to call in birds. As we continued, Alex succeeded in finding one of our main targets in this area, Yellow-scarfed Tanager. We also actually saw a Chestnut Antpitta! I even got a poor photo of it.

We birded our way back to our hotel in Huanuco and got ready for dinner. We went to a nice little restaurant, where I ordered something called a mixto. I was thinking it would be like a dish I had in Brazil, skewers of mixed grilled meats. Well, it was grilled. It smelled and tasted pretty good, but I have no idea what some of it was. There were pieces of heart, which I like very much and some cubes of beef. But then there was something that looked like the skin of a tongue with strips of other stuff hanging down off of it, kind of like the hangy down things in a car wash. Maybe it was tripe, but it didn't look like any tripe I have ever seen. I am a pretty adventourous eater, (I even love haggis!) but I have to admit I didn't finish it. If we go back to Peru, I will be doing more research into the country side cusine!

Here is a link to my photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624115058612/

Here is my bird list:
1 Andean Guan

2 Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle

3 American Kestrel

4 Band-tailed Pigeon

5 White-tipped Dove

6 Speckle-faced Parrot

7 Scaly-naped Parrot

8 Peruvian Pygmy-Owl- Heard only

9 Andean Swift

10 White-bellied Hummingbird

11 Collared Inca

12 Violet-throated Starfrontlet

13 Tyrian Metaltail

14 Masked Trogon

15 Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan- Heard only

16 Azara's Spinetail

17 Rufous Spinetail

18 Pearled Treerunner

19 Streaked Tuftedcheek

20 Olive-backed Woodcreeper

21 Montane Woodcreeper

22 Bay Antpitta- Heard only

23 Chestnut Antpitta

24 Trilling Tapaculo- Heard only

25 Rufous-vented Tapaculo

26 White-tailed Tyrannulet

27 Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant

28 Yellow-olive Flycatcher

29 Cinnamon Flycatcher

30 Golden-browed Chat-Tyrant

31 Tropical Kingbird

32 Barred Fruiteater

33 Barred Becard

34 Rufous-browed Peppershrike- Heard only

35 White-collared Jay

36 Blue-and-white Swallow

37 Fasciated Wren

38 Mountain Wren

39 Gray-breasted Wood-Wren

40 Great Thrush

41 Spectacled Redstart

42 Citrine Warbler

43 Russet-crowned Warbler

44 Superciliaried Hemispingus

45 Common Bush-Tanager

46 Blue-capped Tanager

47 Hooded Mountain-Tanager

48 Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager

49 Yellow-scarfed Tanager

50 Rusty Flowerpiercer

51 White-sided Flowerpiercer

52 Slaty Brush-Finch

53 Stripe-headed Brush-Finch

54 Peruvian Meadowlark

How I Saw Birds and Lost Weight in Peru, Day 1 May 2, 2010

2010-05-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well, here is yet another series of blogs on my birding travels. If you have no interest please forgive me for sending this to you. I am always hesitant, but people do tell me they enjoy reading them.

This was our first trip to Peru, and perhaps will be our last big trip, at least for a while. Initially we had thought we would go for about 10 days. Then it started to expand, first to two weeks, then to three and a half weeks, then back down to just under three weeks. We made our arrangements through Gunnar Engblom with Kolibri Expeditions. It was a first for me, in that we were joining a tour group for part of the trip. In the past we had either traveled by ourselves, or with one or two close friends. The group was rather "organic", in that people came and went. I really liked that Gunnar was flexible and we were able to adjust what we were doing according to the birds we wanted to see.

We arrived in Lima late in the evening on May 1. Our first driver, Henry, met us at the airport. We piled our stuff into the van and took off for Lake Junin, where we were meeting the group, which had already started their tour. Lima is at sea level and Lake Junin is at over 13,000 feet, so this would be a huge adjustment. Altitude sickness is a real risk at that level. Gunnar suggested we drive as far as San Mateo, which is about 10, 000 ft and sleep for a couple of hours in the van, and then proceed to the lake. This would help acclimate us. I was able to sleep pretty well, even while driving. I did occasionally wake, sometimes to snow capped peaks looming over us, lit by the partial moon. I know it sounds trite, but this drive had a truly dream like quality.

We arrived at Junin at about 8:00 AM. Henry was going to drop us off and go back to Lima, but the group was not there. They had some problems with their van, which were being resolved, and were going to be a little late. Finally they arrived. There were three guys from Michigan, Brian, Tom and Doug, and a couple from Utah, Kathy and Jens. They were all serious birders, but not too serious in attitude! I felt a nice sense of comfort with everyone.We also met our guide for most of the trip, Alex, who we quickly released to be an incredible birder and amazing asset.

Our main target species here was Junin Grebe. This flightless bird is only found on Lake Junin and the total population is about 200. It is classified as critically endangered. Despite this, it was easily found. We saw several birds feeding on the far side of the lake near the reeds. They had a very unusual feeding method, almost phalarope like. They would create a little "bow wave" as they swam, pushing up food in front of them. Crested Ducks and Puna Teal, both new birds for me, were also on the lake. Groups of Puna Ibis moved through. Andean Flickers were quite common, as were the cream-winged form of Bar-winged Cinclodes. Andean Negritos, a black and rust colored flycatcher, moved along the shoreline. Even at this high altitude I saw a few butterflies.

Julio, the driver of the other van, got our breakfast for us. He was so well prepared, packing a light weight plastic table and chairs. We had granola and yogurt, along with bread, cheese, meat and fruit. He had fixed a pot of great coffee. I quickly grabbed a cup. One of the other participants said he was going to have coca tea. I knew that coca tea was widely drank in Peru, as it helps with dealing with high altitudes. In my mind I always imagined a few leaves being doled out of a rough woven bag, tossed into an even rougher pottery bowl. I was totally stunned to see Julio hand him a tea bag! Lipton cup o' coca! (Well, it wasn't Lipton, but it was a tea bag) Its completely legal, though don't try to bring some home to the US.

After breakfast Henry and Julio told us there was going to be a change in plans. Instead of going back to Lima, Henry was going to stay with us and Julio was going to take his van in to a mechanic the following day, to make sure the problem was completely resolved. Henry would be the groups driver for that day. We packed up for our next location, a polylepis forest between the lake and our final destination for the evening. On the way, we saw a parade in the one of the small towns, with some of the most beautiful costumes. This is an area with lots of fiestas.

Polylepis forest is found just below the tree line. The trees are small and hold a very interesting community of birds. I was feeling the altitude a bit, so I decided to stay back near the van, while the group climbed up a rather muddy trail. I did see a few birds nearby, along with some butterflies. After a while they came back down, having seen Giant Conebill and a few other species. A Stripe-headed Antpitta was calling nearby, and we got great looks, which is unusual for antpittas! Alex spotted a Torrent Duck in the rushing creek.

We moved on to a different location, where we had lunch. This was a spot for one of the endemics, Rufous-backed Inca Finch. We walked up a path with Alex playing a tape, but had no luck. We did see Sparkling Violetears and White-bellied Hummingbirds. We would be returning to this area in a few days, so we weren't too discouraged. We left for Huanaco, where we were spending the night. The drive was slow, especially on the outskirts of town, where there was another fiesta going on. We checked into our hotel, went for pizza, and settled in for the night.

Here is a link to my photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157624112479236/

Here is our list for the day:

1 Crested Duck

2 Torrent Duck

3 Puna Teal

4 Yellow-billed Teal

5 White-tufted Grebe

6 Silvery Grebe

7 Junin Grebe

8 Great Egret

9 Puna Ibis

10 Cinereous Harrier

11 Variable Hawk

12 American Kestrel

13 Slate-colored Coot

14 Andean Lapwing

15 Baird's Sandpiper

16 Andean Gull

17 Rock Pigeon

18 Black-winged Ground-Dove

19 Burrowing Owl

20 Andean Swift

21 Sparkling Violetear

22 White-bellied Hummingbird

23 Andean Flicker

24 Common Miner

25 Plain-breasted Earthcreeper

26 Bar-winged Cinclodes

27 Stripe-headed Antpitta

28 Tufted Tit-Tyrant

29 White-crested Elaenia

30 Torrent Tyrannulet

31 Andean Negrito

32 Red-crested Cotinga

33 Blue-and-white Swallow

34 Brown-bellied Swallow

35 House Wren

36 Great Thrush

37 Chiguanco Thrush

38 Cinereous Conebill

39 Blue-and-yellow Tanager

40 Golden-billed Saltator

41 Peruvian Sierra-Finch

42 Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch

43 Band-tailed Seedeater

44 Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch

45 Rufous-collared Sparrow

46 Golden-bellied Grosbeak

47 Hooded Siskin

48 Black Siskin

49 Ruddy Duck

Dominican Republic, Return to the Botanical Gardens

2010-02-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

Dear all,
after I returned to Santo Domingo my birding was limited to a half day at the Botanical Gardens. (I know its hard to believe that I spent several days doing normal sight seeing!) I was more than happy to return to the gardens. I got Michael, the driver who picked me up at the airport, to pick me up at the hotel early. The gardens normally charge admission, and don't formally open until 9:00 AM, but they let birders and walkers in early for free. What a great concept! I asked Michael to return at noon and took off down the path. Kate and I had spent a little over two hours here and I was looking forward to staying even longer.

The gardens are really beautiful, with a great mix of natural habitat and some manicured areas. I tried to remember the trail Kate and I took, but got it wrong, big surprise there! Luckily it was still a good area. I found a Bananaquit singing loudly. This is one of the most common birds in Santo Domingo, but I still enjoyed the opportunity to see it in full song and caught a couple of ok photos. The Hispaniolan Lizard-cuckoos were very entertaining. I also was very happy to see both the Antillean Mangos and the Vervain Hummingbirds. The Vervains are so tiny, the second smallest bird in the world. Unfortunately they are also boogers to photograph!

My main target this day was West Indian Whistling Duck. This is one of the rarest ducks in the Americas. They have been badly effected by hunting, habitat loss and predation by introduced mongoose and rats. We had looked for them unsuccessfully on my first visit. I finally found the La Canada area, where Kate has showed me the stream where they are usually found. She had mentioned a park worker who always seemed to know where they were. I slowly walked the trail along the creek, searching along the banks and in the water. I saw the Least Grebe family, an adult with four downy stripey chicks. I also kept my open for a Limpkin, which is usually in the same area. I was almost to the end of the creek, with no success, when I saw a park worker sweeping the trail with a huge palm frond. I stopped and asked him in my extremely bad Spanish about the ducks. I consider it almost a miracle that he understood me, as my request involved a lot of jestures and me quacking. (seriously, I am not kidding!) After he quit laughing he took me back up the way I had come.

We stopped at a small dam, where I finally got my Limpkin. He said that the ducks nest in this area, at least I think thats what he said, as he mentioned huevos. (Or maybe he was asking me to breakfast.) Any way, I told him I would hang around that area and see if one came in. He pointed up, letting me know I needed to check the trees, as well. Whistling Ducks used to be called Tree Ducks, so they are many times perched up above. I slipped him a tip for his help and settled in to wait. He walked back down the hill to finish his sweeping. He was just out of sight when I heard him clapping. I turned around and he was coming up the hill, motioning for me to come. I ran down the hill and he pointed to a dark area, across the creek. There, almost invisible on the dark bank, sat the duck! It was a beautiful thing, so well camouflaged I had probably walked right by it. I took a few pictures, but they are a little dark. I was still extremely happy! On my way back up the bank I found a neat lizard, a Large-headed Anole.

I felt a lot more relaxed after seeing the duck. I wasn't going to get any new birds, but I was hoping to pick up some butterflies. I worked the trail back up to an area where we had seen a lot of bugs before. I did see a number of warblers: Ovenbird, Cape May Warbler, Northern Waterthrush and a beautiful male Prairie Warbler. Its always fun to see "our" spring birds in their winter habitat. I came to the Japanese Gardens, one of the more manicured areas. I wanted to check for dragonflies, so I walked down to the small lake. I found a couple of bugs, Spot-tailed Dasher and Thorn-bush Dasher, both of which I see in Texas. Calista butterflies were thick. Calistas are a group only found in the Caribbean. There are forty five species and they all look alike. I did photograph a few, but I started going crosseyed trying to figure out if they were all the same species, or different. Gray Kingbirds were twittering around the pond. A couple of really flashy butterflies flew through, but only gave teasing looks. I walked back to the entrance through an area of large old trees. A Red-legged Thrush hopped along on the ground, reminding me of an American Robin, but with a bit more flash. Michael was waiting for me when I got to the gate.

I really like these gardens! If you happen to be in Santo Domingo they are well worth a morning, even if you are not a birder. They are beautifully maintained and very relaxing. There is a little train that runs through; I saw large groups of school children on them. I recommend skipping that and just walking. If you are a birder you can pick up a number of good birds here. I really enjoyed the Dominican Republic. I would highly recommend it. If you have any questions please feel free to email me. Now, on to Peru! (I hope)

Here is a link to my photographs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623512520478/

Here is my list for the day:
Least Grebe
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
West Indian Whistling-Duck
Common Moorhen
Solitary Sandpiper
Limpkin
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Hispaniolan Parakeet
Mangrove Cuckoo
Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo
Antillean Palm-Swift
Antillean Mango
Vervain Hummingbird
Hispaniolan Woodpecker
Gray Kingbird
Black-whiskered Vireo
Red-legged Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Palmchat
Black-crowned Palm-Tanager
Bananaquit
Black-and-white Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Northern Waterthrush
Ovenbird
House Sparrow

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/sngcanary

Dominican Republic, Day 3 and 4. A list for a new country!

2010-02-24T18:23:00.000-08:00

After a surprisingly chilly night filled with the cry of Red Junglefowl (actually common roosters to be more prosaic) I got up for a 5:00 AM departure to the Parque Nacional Sierra de Bahoruco, in the mountains on the border of Haiti. Kate warned me to wear a jacket, as we would be gaining some altitude. To be honest, I needed a jacket at her camp! Kate's camp is technically outside of the park, but still part of the same biosphere. The road up is rough, and despite being relatively close, its probably a two hour drive to where we were heading. Many birders who visit this area stay in Baharona, which requires leaving at 2:00 AM. It was worth sleeping in a screened shelter for the extra three hours sleep alone.

As I said the road was rough, but I have been on worse. It does require high clearance. Parts of it are an old river bed. I was a little disappointed to not have any night birds along the road. Least Paraque are in that area, but Kate said they are not likely to sit on the road like our Paraques. We reached the Aguacate Army post while it was still quite dark. The road was blocked with large stones and logs. Kate honked and a couple of solidiers came dragging out, looking very sleepy, and cleared the road so we could pass. Kate is well known in this area and they waived us through. We worked our way up to a corner in the cloud forest where our main target birds are found. We arrived as the sky was lightening. Hispaniolan Nightjars were calling. I definitely needed the jacket. Kate pointed up the hill and said "That's Haiti". It was only a few steps away. The road actually criss crosses the border on the way up. Its not even marked here. Even in the early light I could see the de-forestation. The lovely discordant calls of Rufous-throated Solitaire rang out around us.

A dark bird flew into a small tree a few yards in front of me. In the pre-dawn light I could see it was a thrush, looking somewhat like a very dark American Robin, a La Selle's Thrush! This species is classified as endangered by Bird Life International. The rapid loss of habitat in both Haiti and the DR has put it under extreme pressure. Parque Nacional Sierra de Bahoruco is probably the best place to look for it, particularly the corner we were standing on. At dawn the thrushes will come out on the road, giving good views. I could have gone back down to camp and been happy at this point! Then we heard a Western Chat-Tanager singing behind us. It flew down and made a brief appearance in a near by tree. Since it came in from Haiti, it made two country lists! Several more thrushes flew down to the road and back up into the brush and trees. A Red-legged Thrush, a very common bird in the DR, but one I had not seen yet, joined a La Selle's. Two small dark birds hopped out, two Black-faced Grassquits.

Kate said the Grassquits were a new species to that area. Unfortunately this is not a good thing. They had moved in in response to the rampant de-forestation. The destruction of the forest was not quite as obvious at first glance on the Dominican Republic side. The Haitian side of the border had obviously been stripped of almost all usable trees. The DR side still had a lot green. It even looked lush, but when I looked closely I could see that most of the large trees were gone. Kate said there was a big problem with people cutting the trees for charcoal. The charcoal is used in Haiti for cooking. Its difficult to be upset with people who are barely surviving, but great damage is being done. Kate said that there had been the same problem in the DR, but it was solved fairly easily; propane stoves were distributed and propane gas was subsidized. I am not sure how propane would be provided in Haiti, particularly now, but it does seem like a good idea. The problem was given a very personal face when we saw a Dominican soldier pushing an Haitian man, barefoot and ragged. He had been caught cutting wood. The soldier stopped to talk to Kate. He jestured towards his prisoner and then smacked him on the back of the head. I have wondered ever since what happened to that young man.

We continued working the road and added Hispaniolan Trogan, both Green-tailed Ground-tanger and Hispaniolan Highland Tanager. Pairs of Hispaniolian Parrots flew over, calling loudly. As the weather warmed we watched for Golden Swallows. Finally I picked one out over the Haitian hills. It was high up, but banked and I saw the beautiful golden color on the back. Hispaniolian Emeralds were feeding in the native fuschias. I was totally in love with the Hispaniolan Spindalis. Another Black-faced Grassquit appeared in some seeding bamboo. We got a great look at a Narrow-billed Tody and a Hispaniolan Pewee. Kate suggested we move a bit higher into the pine forest. A endemic form of Pine Warbler is found there, which we quickly picked up. It was an excellent morning! The clouds started to roll in, which would lead to reduced visibility, so we started back.

We were hoping to pick up a few more birds lower down. Interestingly, we moved through more pine forest below the broad leaf cloud forest area. We came to a park house where we saw the solider that we had seen earlier, along with another, and about a dozen Haitian prisoners. Normally Kate would have stopped here, but it didn't seem wise. We went further down to the Aguacate post house and did stop. This is where I walked into Haiti. I didn't go far, but I can say that I have been in the country. A flock of a dozen or so Greater Antillean Grackles popped up and down the field below us. Kate said a Loggerhead Kingbird sometimes hung around behind the house, but we had no luck calling it in. I did see several fabulous butterflies, which I photographed. We drove back to camp, stopping several times to try for one of the "biggies", Bay-breasted Cuckoo. Unfortunately we dipped on this one, but I was still more than satisified.

I slept very well that night. We birded around the camp until about 10:00 AM, trying to find White-fronted Quail Dove, again with no success. We did hear Antillean Piculet twice, but had no luck in seeing it. We had the same luck with Flat-billed Vireo. We were getting ready to get in the car, when Kate heard an Antillean Euphonia. I was thrilled to pick it out in the back of a tree. We decided to head to a beach near Baharona called San Rafael, for lunch. The drive down was very interesting. I loved the little villages with brilliantly colored houses build of curved boards from palm trees. I saw a bird in a palm tree that I thought was a Palm Crow. We made the mistake of turning around and it turned out to be dark Rock Pigeon. This actually was a stroke of luck. We ended up driving down to the beach on a different road. The view was stunning! Kate said she had never driven in that way, but would start doing so in the future.

San Rafael is east of Baharona. The beach has a long slow curve, between two cliffs. The beach is stony and there are wicked rip tides. It was the most beautiful stretch of water I have ever seen. the water is a mind bending turquoise. The foam on the waves is whiter than white. A group of small shacks sits in the shade of palm trees, where a small river comes into the see. Stone walled pools have been built, catching the river water, enabling people to swim. Unfortunately the stone wall of the final pool was broken, so the water levels were really low. It looked like it was being rebuilt. We walked up to one of the shacks and Kate asked what they had. The woman who was cooking pulled out two huge lobsters. We asked the price and decided it was a bit more than we wanted to pay. She then showed us a sea bass and told us the price. We decided that was exactly what we needed. We sat in the shade at one of the tables and watched the sea for birds. I was extremely surprised at how few there were. The only species we saw were Brown Pelicans and Royal Terns. There wasn't a single shorebird on the beach A guy with a parasail floated down from the cliffs above us, drawing the local children in. It almost made up for the lack of birds. Our fish arrived, flanked by rice and pigeon peas and fried plantains. It was very hard to leave.

We drove back to Santo Domingo and saw a few more birds. We added Turkey Vulture and Magnificent Frigate-bird. We went by the rental car place and they took me back to the Mercure. This day was a bit shorter on birds, but I throughly enjoyed it! Kate had made my trip, not just with the birds, but with all the information about the Dominican Republic and its people. I highly recommend her. Her web site is www.todytours.com.

Photos for the two days:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623499809820/
Bird list:
Least Grebe
Magnificent Frigatebird
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
American Kestrel
Common Moorhen
Royal Tern
Rock Pigeon
Scaly-naped Pigeon
Plain Pigeon
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-dove
Hispaniolan Parakeet
Olive-throated Parakeet
Hispaniolan Parrot
Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo
Hispaniolan Nightjar-heard
Antillean Palm Swift
Antillean Mango
Hispaniolan Emerald
Hispaniolan Trogan
Broad-billed Tody
Narrow-billed Tody
Hispaniolan Woodpecker
Antillean Piculet-heard
Hispaniolan Wood-pewee
Stolid Flycatcher
Gray Kingbird
Flat-billed Vireo-heard
Golden Swallow
Rufous-throated Solitaire
La Selle's Thrush
Red-legged Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Palmchat
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Pine Warbler
American Redstart
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Bananaquit
Green-tailed Ground-tanger
Hispaniolan Highland-tanager
Black-crowned Palm Tanager
Western Chat-tanager
Hispaniolan Spindalis
Black-faced Grassquit
Greater Antillean Bullfinch
Greater Antillean Grackle
Hispaniolan Oriole
Antillean Euphonia

The Dominican Republic, Day 1 and 2, a Trip of Firsts

2010-02-22T20:33:00.001-08:00

Dear all,
I returned yesterday from a week long trip to the Dominican Republic. My bird reports will be briefer than my usual ones as I only spent three days seriously birding. Despite the brief time I did extremely well, getting 21 endemics and 41 life birds, including a couple of heard only birds. I really loved the DR and enjoyed my entire trip. I will be very happy to share any and all information that I have.

I titled this a trip of firsts for several reasons. Of course there were the birds that I saw for the first time, but all of my birding trips have those, hopefully. The big firsts are that this is the first time I have done an international trip totally alone. It was also my first trip to the Caribbean. Martin and I had been talking about going to the Dominican Republic for over a year. As most of you know, I am a corporate travel agent. I was lucky enough to win a set of tickets on American Airlines good for the Caribbean in a contest at work. In December when I was able to get vacation dates we set up our flights. Then a couple of serious things happened. On January 12 Haiti suffered the catastrophic earthquake. We did some research and found that the DR was not effected. We decided that we wanted to cut back on our expenses and do a simpler trip, donating what we would save to Doctor's Without Borders. Then Martin had to back out due to work issues. My initial reaction was to completely cancel. After mulling it over and talking to one of the clients I deal with at work who is from Santo Domingo, I decided to do the trip on my own. Needless to say it was a little scary, but also exhilarating!

I did not want to drive on my own, as I knew that traffic can be brutal in Latin America and traffic laws are more suggestions that anything else. I contacted Kate Wallace, a former Peace Corps worker, now doing bird tours and arranged for her to guide me for 3 days. I modified the hotel arrangements that I had done for Barahona in the SW and Samana in the NE. I was going to stay in Santa Domingo for the other 4 days and just do tourist stuff. I packed my bags, tried to learn Spanish in a week and kept telling myself that I wasn't crazy to do this.

I arrived in Santo Domingo on February 13. I was totally blown away by the spectacular coast line when we landed. The water was the most delectible shade of turquoise blue. Kate arranged for a driver, Mike, to pick me up at the airport and take me to my hotel, the Mercure, in the Zona Colonia in Santo Domingo. On the drive to the hotel Mike entertained me with stories of life in Santo Domingo. He speaks excellent English, having lived in New York for a number of years. I was constantly scanning the sky on the drive in for gulls, terns, frigatebirds, or any other water birds. I was a bit surprised that I didn't see a single bird of any kind! The road skirts the shoreline, and despite the lack of birds, I enjoyed the beauty.

We arrived at the Mercure and Mike gave me his mobile number, in case I wanted to do a tour later that day, or anything on my days after Kate and I went birding. The Mercure sits on the corner of El Conde and Hostos, just down from Parque Colon. Its a lovely small French hotel with a restaurant and bar. I checked into my room and immediately went wandering. Hispaniolan Parakeets were roosting about a block away. Antillean Palm Swifts swooped by over head constantly, giving me my first two life birds. After checking out the park and some of the shops, I returned to the hotel for a dinner of lambi (conch) and a glass of white wine.

Kate picked me up at 7:30 AM and we headed to the Botanical Gardens. This is an excellent birding spot. If you ever do a cruise and Santo Domingo is a port of call, its a great place to pick up some local birds. Almost immediatly after walking in we saw Hispaniolan Woodpecker. I had been concerned that I would miss this bird. Boy, was I wrong! They were very common every place we went! We heard the incessant song of Black-whiskered Vireos all through the garden. I assured Kate that we didn't have to spend any time trying to see them, as I had seen them both in Florida and Texas. Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoos were in several places and easy to see, but hard to photograph. We quickly picked up both hummingbirds found in the gardens, Antillean Mango and Vervain Hummingbird. The Vervain is not much of a looker, but charming none-the-less, being the second smallest bird in the world.

Palmchats were common. This is a very interesting bird. Its the national bird of the Dominican Republic. It is the only member of its genus and family, endemic to Hispaniola, not being found anywhere else in the world. They build an "apartment" type nest of twigs in palm trees, with each family having its own entrance. The nests are used year round, not just for breeding. The birds seem to constantly be doing improvements. It was fun to watch them carrying sticks three or four times their length to the nest site.

We were unsuccessful in finding West Indian Whistling Duck, one of our main targets, so I decided I would come back later in the week. After a stop for coffee and a pastry, we headed to Kate's camp in the south-western part of the country. The drive out there was really interesting. Kate has lived in the DR since her days in the Peace Corps. She shared her perspective on the culture along with a good dose of local history. We passed through a number of small towns and villages. Kate educated me on the agricultural going ons and gave me a good over view of what was being done in the country to educate the people on environmental issues. I enjoyed talking to her tremendously!

We arrived at her camp mid afternoon and almost immediately we found a Broad-billed Tody. I am not terribly fond of the word cute, but this bird forced me to use it! We soon heard a Narrow-billed Tody, which is even cuter, if thats possible. Her camp is one of the few places where both species can be found. I took my things to the screened shelter that would be my home for the next two nights and took a quick cold shower. The camp is primitive, but very comfortable. I would have been happy staying there for the entire week. There is a free standing bathroom with flush toilets. The showers are cold, but its hot outside, so they felt good. You can also bathe in a spring fed canal, but I didn't bring my bathing suit. I don't think skinny dipping is an option!

We walked the road by the camp and found a gorgeous Key West Quail Dove. A pond had Least Grebes with chicks and Common Moorhens. White-necked Crows made an incessant racket. Probably the biggest surprise for me was an Antillean Siskin. I was more than delighted to see several male Black-throated Blue Warblers, a rarity in Texas. Bananaquits were "trash birds". We had a nice dinner of chicken, rice and pigeon peas and salad, washed down with copious amounts of Presidente beer. Kate told me we would be leaving at 5:00 AM sharp in order to get up into the mountains for our targets in the morning. I was more than ready to hit my cot!

Photos from the two days
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623490715938/

Bird list:
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
American Kestrel
Common Moorhen
Solitary Sandpiper
Rock Pigeon
Plain Pigeon
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-dove
Key West Quail Dove
Hispaniolan Parakeet
Mangrove Cuckoo
Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo
Smooth-billed Ani
Antillean Palm-swift
Antillean Mango
Vervain Hummingbird
Broad-billed Tody
Narrow-billed Tody -heard
Stolid Flycather
Black-whiskered Vireo
White-necked Crow
Northern Mockingbird
Palmchat
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Waterthrush
Bananaquit
Greater Antillean Grackles
Antillean Euphonia- heard
Antillean Siksin
Village Waver-heard

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/sngcanary

Colombia Day 13, Dec. 19. Return to Reality

2010-01-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

The last day of a birding trip is always difficult. I always feel a little sad. On this trip I felt more than a little sad. We had a flight from Barranquilla to Bogota at 1PM. The drive from Santa Marta was going to be the last opportunity to bird. Luckily this is a really good road for that. We got up at 500AM and drug all of our stuff downstairs at the hotel. Our first target bird, Chestnut-winged Chachalaca, was best gotten at dawn. We sat and waited for Jaime, our driver. He was late. Pablo called him, and he said he would be right there. We suspected that he had overslept. (I was a little bit sympathetic. It had been an exhausting trip) He made good on the promise and showed up shortly after. We jumped in the car and headed east, towards the long thin barrier islands between Santa Marta and Baranquilla.

The sun was rising and we were driving out of Santa Marta. We were all scanning the scrubby trees along the road, looking for the silhouette of a chachalaca. We were a little worried that it might be too late, when we saw a flock right next to the highway. We jumped out the car, which was a little un-nerving, as the traffic was fast and heavy. The birds were a bit shy, but we got very good looks. There were more birds to try for, so we took off. I could almost feel time ticking by. We turned onto the highway that goes to Baranquilla. The landscape quickly changed from desert scrub to mangroves and salt flats. The Caribbean was on one side of the road and on the other a huge estuary formed by the delta of the Magdelena River. We padded our trip list with shorebirds and egrets and herons.

We stopped at a truck stop for a quick breakfast. There was an open porch with a balcony overlooking a little barn yard with peacocks. Hanging on the wall was a small cage holding a Tropical Mockingbird. I asked Pablo if that was legal and he said no, but that the law isn't enforced. There was also a very large walk in cage with an Orange-winged Amazon. These were not exactly the birds we were looking for, but it ended up that it was a good stop. I spotted a Pied-water Tyrant in a tree right next to the balcony. He posed for a couple of photos. Then another black and white bird flew in, a gorgeous Fork-tailed Flycatcher. Its a bird I have seen many times, even a couple of times in Texas, but it was still nice to see him.

We left and drove to Isla Salamanca National Park to look for the last few birds. One of our main targets appeared right next to the road, a male Bicolored Conebill. The gate to the park was closed, so Pablo flagged down a worker behind the wall. There is a charge for admission, but Pablo explained that we had a very short time. They were nice enough to let us bird for about an hour without paying the admission. Again, Martin and I were struck by the graciousness of the Colombians that we encountered. We walked in and I heard a call that I thought I recognized, a Greater Ani. I said something to Martin, but he thought it was something else, so we moved on. We were looking for flowering trees, where Sapphire-throated and Sapphire-bellied Hummingbirds feed. Unfortunately we never found them. We did have a Panama Flycatcher, which was new for me. We needed to leave to make our flight, so we started back to the car. Pablo was walking ahead of us and called out "Greater Ani!" It was exactly where I had heard the call. Hmmm. I was very happy to get this, as it was my last Ani. Yeah, I know, there are only three of them, but its still nice to complete a group.

We drove into Baranquilla, which I found less than impressive. This area has more poverty than we had seen anywhere else in Colombia. The condition of the animals was much worse than other places, which I think is telling. There are many shanties. A large bridge crosses the Magdelana, a huge river. There is heavy industry all around this area. The sky line is packed with large buildings. We didn't get into this area, so I can't really comment on the downtown area. We arrived at the airport, which was a little chaotic. Pablo was returning to Medallin, where he lives and we were going to Bogota, where our flight home would depart from the following day. As we sat waiting for our flights we talked a bit about doing a trip to the Magdelena Valley sometime in the future. We said our goodbyes and hopefully "see you later"s and boarded our flight. We arrived in Bogota, where we returned to our previous hotel, Casona del Patio. We ate pizza in bed and reveled over our long trip list, 385 species. We were very successful, particularly with endemics. Obviously we were very happy. I am posting two lists, first the day list, then our trip list.

I apologize for how many postings I have done on this trip, but it was a long trip! If you have read these I imagine you think the posts went on longer than the trip! I hope you have enjoyed reading them. My last word is GO SOMEPLACE! Its easier than you think and it will change your life forever.

Pictures from the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157623206256134

Day List:
1 Neotropic Cormorant
2 Brown Pelican
3 Magnificent Frigatebird
4 Cocoi Heron
5 Cattle Egret
6 Great Egret
7 Reddish Egret
8 Tricolored Heron
9 Little Blue Heron
10 Snowy Egret
11 Striated Heron
12 Green Heron
13 Black-crowned Night-Heron
14 Boat-billed Heron
15 Turkey Vulture
16 Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
17 Black Vulture
18 Blue-winged Teal
19 Roadside Hawk
20 Crested Caracara
21 Yellow-headed Caracara
22 American Kestrel
23 Peregrine Falcon
24 Chestnut-winged Chachalaca
25 Rufous-necked Wood-Rail
26 Common Moorhen
27 Purple Gallinule
28 Wattled Jacana
29 Black-necked Stilt
30 Black-bellied Plover
31 Semipalmated Plover
32 Whimbrel
33 Solitary Sandpiper
34 Spotted Sandpiper
35 Willet

36 Sanderling
37 Western Sandpiper
38 Large-billed Tern
39 Royal Tern
40 Sandwich Tern
41 Bare-eyed Pigeon
42 Eared Dove
43 Common Ground-Dove
44 Ruddy Ground-Dove
45 Scaly Dove
46 Brown-throated Parakeet
47 Green-rumped Parrotlet
48 Orange-winged Amazon
49 Greater Ani
50 Groove-billed Ani
51 Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
52 Ringed Kingfisher
53 Russet-throated Puffbird
54 Red-crowned Woodpecker
55 Yellow-chinned Spinetail
56 Bar-crested Antshrike
57 Northern Scrub-Flycatcher
58 Pied Water-Tyrant
59 Cattle Tyrant
60 Panama Flycatcher
61 Great Kiskadee
62 Social Flycatcher
63 Tropical Kingbird
64 Fork-tailed Flycatcher
65 Gray-breasted Martin
66 American Yellow Warbler
67 Prothonotary Warbler
68 Bicolored Conebill
69 Yellow Oriole
70 Baltimore Oriole

Trip List:
1 Pied-billed Grebe
2 Cattle Egret
3 Great Egret
4 Black Vulture
5 White-tailed Kite
6 Roadside Hawk
7 Broad-winged Hawk
8 American Kestrel
9 Common Moorhen
10 Band-tailed Pigeon
11 Eared Dove
12 White-tipped Dove
13 Spectacled Parrotlet
14 Squirrel Cuckoo
15 White-throated Screech-Owl
16 Green Hermit
17 Green Violet-ear
18 Blue-tailed Emerald
19 Short-tailed Emerald
20 Fork-tailed Woodnymph
21 Andean Emerald
22 Indigo-capped Hummingbird
23 Steely-vented Hummingbird
24 Booted Racquet-tail
25 White-bellied Woodstar
26 Red-headed Barbet
27 Olivaceous Piculet
28 Acorn Woodpecker
29 Red-crowned Woodpecker
30 Smoky-brown Woodpecker
31 Azara's Spinetail
32 Slaty Spinetail
33 Ash-browed Spinetail
34 Bar-crested Antshrike
35 Plain Antvireo
36 Blackish Tapaculo
37 Plumbeous-crowned Tyrannulet
38 Golden-faced Tyrannulet
39 Mouse-colored Tyrannulet
40 Mountain Elaenia
41 Common Tody-Flycatcher
42 Yellow-olive Flycatcher
43 Black Phoebe
44 Rusty-margined Flycatcher
45 Tropical Kingbird
46 Brown-bellied Swallow
47 House Wren
48 Grey-breasted Wood-Wren
49 Tropical Mockingbird
50 Swainson's Thrush
51 Great Thrush
52 Pale-breasted Thrush
53 Black-billed Thrush
54 Rufous-collared Sparrow
55 Saffron Finch
56 Yellow-bellied Seedeater
57 Yellow-faced Grassquit
58 Sooty Grassquit
59 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
60 Summer Tanager
61 Crimson-backed Tanager
62 Blue-grey Tanager
63 Palm Tanager
64 Fawn-breasted Tanager
65 Flame-faced Tanager
66 Bay-headed Tanager
67 Scrub Tanager
68 Blue-necked Tanager
69 Beryl-spangled Tanager
70 Blue-and-black Tanager
71 Black-capped Tanager
72 Green Honeycreeper
73 Rusty Flowerpiercer
74 Bananaquit
75 Tropical Parula
76 Black-and-white Warbler
77 Blackburnian Warbler
78 Canada Warbler
79 Slate-throated Redstart
80 Rufous-browed Peppershrike
81 Red-eyed Vireo
82 Brown-capped Vireo
83 Rufous-naped Greenlet
84 Andean Siskin
85 Lesser Goldfinch
86 Yellow-backed Oriole
87 Sooty-headed Tyrannulet
88 Smooth-billed Ani
89 Sparkling Violetear
90 Speckled Hummingbird
91 Black Inca
92 Tyrian Metaltail
93 Crimson-mantled Woodpecker
94 Silvery-throated Spinetail
95 Black-capped Tyrannulet
96 White-throated Tyrannulet
97 Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant
98 Short-billed Marsh-Wren
99 Plumbeous Sierra-Finch
100 Rufous-naped Brushfinch
101 Blue-capped Tanager
102 White-sided Flowerpiercer
103 Black Flowerpiercer
104 Tennessee Warbler
105 Eastern Meadowlark
106 Turkey Vulture
107 White-throated Hawk
108 Striped Cuckoo
109 Lazuline Sabrewing
110 Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird
111 Amethyst-throated Sunangel
112 Montane Woodcreeper
113 Rufous-rumped Tapaculo
114 Cinnamon Flycatcher
115 Smoke-colored Pewee
116 Bicolored Cactus-Wren
117 Green Jay
118 Pale-naped Brushfinch
119 Moustached Brushfinch
120 Common Bush-Tanager
121 Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager
122 Golden-fronted Whitestart
123 Colombian Mountain Grackle
124 Sora
125 Spot-flanked Gallinule
126 American Coot
127 White-tipped Swift
128 Blue-and-white Swallow
129 Barn Swallow
130 Apolinar's Marsh-Wren
131 Nicéforo's Wren
132 Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush
133 Streaked Saltator
134 Golden-rumped Euphonia
135 Yellow-hooded Blackbird
136 Apical Flycatcher
137 White-rumped Hawk
138 Flame-winged Conure
139 Short-tailed Swift
140 Black-throated Mango
141 Green-bellied Hummingbird
142 White-vented Plumeleteer
143 Bronzy Inca
144 Collared Inca
145 Long-tailed Sylph
146 Cundinamarca Antpitta
147 Chestnut-crowned Antpitta
148 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
149 Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant
150 Streak-necked Flycatcher
151 Olive-striped Flycatcher
152 Social Flycatcher
153 Sharpe's Wren
154 Andean Solitaire
155 Ochre-breasted Brushfinch
156 Ashy-throated Bush-Tanager
157 Silver-beaked Tanager
158 White-lored Euphonia
159 Saffron-crowned Tanager
160 Metallic-green Tanager
161 Purple Honeycreeper
162 Three-striped Warbler
163 Philadelphia Vireo
164 Russet-backed Oropendola
165 Great Blue Heron
166 Black-crowned Night-Heron
167 Andean Ruddy Duck
168 Speckled Teal
169 Blue-winged Teal
170 Bogotá Rail
171 Wilson's Snipe
172 Noble Snipe
173 Brown Pelican
174 Short-tailed Hawk
175 Scaly Dove
176 Brown-throated Parakeet
177 Blue-headed Parrot
178 Black-backed Antshrike
179 Northern Scrub-Flycatcher
180 Scrub Greenlet
181 Magnificent Frigatebird
182 Reddish Egret
183 Snowy Egret
184 White Ibis
185 Scarlet Ibis
186 Roseate Spoonbill
187 Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
188 Caribbean Flamingo
189 Crested Caracara
190 Yellow-headed Caracara
191 Merlin
192 Limpkin
193 Wattled Jacana
194 Whimbrel
195 Lesser Yellowlegs
196 Solitary Sandpiper
197 Spotted Sandpiper
198 Willet
199 Laughing Gull
200 Royal Tern
201 Sandwich Tern
202 Bare-eyed Pigeon
203 Common Ground-Dove
204 Plain-breasted Ground-Dove
205 Ruddy Ground-Dove
206 Green-rumped Parrotlet
207 Lesser Nighthawk
208 Red-billed Emerald
209 Shining-green Hummingbird
210 Buffy Hummingbird
211 Green Kingfisher
212 Rufous-tailed Jacamar
213 Russet-throated Puffbird
214 Chestnut Piculet
215 Straight-billed Woodcreeper
216 Pale-legged Hornero
217 White-whiskered Spinetail
218 Black-crested Antshrike
219 Barred Antshrike
220 White-flanked Antwren
221 Slender-billed Inezia
222 Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant
223 Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant
224 Venezuelan Flycatcher
225 Brown-crested Flycatcher
226 Great Kiskadee
227 Gray Kingbird
228 Tropical Gnatcatcher
229 Gray Pileated-Finch
230 Vermilion Cardinal
231 Buff-throated Saltator
232 Orinocan Saltator
233 American Yellow Warbler
234 Blackpoll Warbler
235 Prothonotary Warbler
236 Yellow Oriole
237 Troupial
238 Baltimore Oriole
239 Great-tailed Grackle
240 Neotropic Cormorant
241 Savanna Hawk
242 Bat Falcon
243 Semipalmated Plover
244 Caspian Tern
245 Common Tern
246 Orange-chinned Parakeet
247 Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
248 White-collared Swift
249 Band-rumped Swift
250 White-fringed Antwren
251 Yellow-bellied Elaenia
252 Ochre-bellied Flycatcher
253 Ochre-lored Flatbill
254 Vermilion Flycatcher
255 Boat-billed Flycatcher
256 Striped Manakin
257 Southern Rough-winged Swallow
258 Rufous-breasted Wren
259 Black-chested Jay
260 Blue-black Grassquit
261 Gray Seedeater
262 Tocuyo Sparrow
263 Blue-black Grosbeak
264 Trinidad Euphonia
265 Red-legged Honeycreeper
266 Northern Parula
267 Yellow Warbler
268 Northern Waterthrush
269 Carib Grackle
270 Shiny Cowbird
271 Lesser Black-backed Gull
272 King Vulture
273 Band-tailed Guan
274 Black-fronted Woodquail
275 Lined Quail-Dove
276 Red-fronted Conure
277 Red-billed Parrot
278 Pale-bellied Hermit
279 Stripe-throated Hermit
280 Santa Marta Sabrewing
281 Coppery Emerald
282 Violet-crowned Woodnymph
283 Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
284 Blossomcrown
285 White-tailed Starfrontlet
286 Scaled Piculet
287 Plain-brown Woodcreeper
288 Brown-rumped Tapaculo
289 Slaty-capped Flycatcher
290 Tropical Pewee
291 Bright-rumped Attila
292 Dusky-capped Flycatcher
293 Cinnamon Becard
294 White-bearded Manakin
295 Golden-breasted Fruiteater
296 Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush
297 Black-hooded Thrush
298 Thick-billed Seed-Finch
299 Golden-winged Sparrow
300 Black-striped Sparrow
301 Santa Marta Brushfinch
302 Rosy Thrush-Tanager
303 Blue-naped Chlorophonia
304 American Redstart
305 Rufous-capped Warbler
306 Crested Oropendola
307 Black-and-chestnut Eagle
308 Santa Marta Parakeet
309 Scaly-naped Amazon
310 Colombian Woodstar
311 White-tipped Quetzal
312 Masked Trogon
313 Keel-billed Toucan
314 Golden-olive Woodpecker
315 Strong-billed Woodcreeper
316 Streak-headed Woodcreeper
317 Rusty-headed Spinetail
318 Montane Foliage-gleaner
319 Santa Marta Antpitta
320 Black-throated Tody-Tyrant
321 Golden-crowned Flycatcher
322 Stripe-headed Brushfinch
323 Santa Marta Mountain-Tanager
324 Yellow-crowned Whitestart
325 Gray-throated Warbler
326 White-lored Warbler
327 White-tailed Nightjar
328 Mountain Velvetbreast
329 Black-backed Thornbill
330 Streak-capped Spinetail
331 Rufous Antpitta
332 Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant
333 Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant
334 Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant
335 Paramo Seedeater
336 Southern Yellow Grosbeak
337 Santa Marta Warbler
338 Tiny Hawk
339 Bicolored Hawk
340 Barred Forest-Falcon
341 Sooty-capped Hermit
342 Lineated Woodpecker
343 Ruddy Foliage-gleaner
344 Plain Xenops
345 Rusty-breasted Antpitta
346 Santa Marta Tapaculo
347 Olive-sided Flycatcher
348 Thick-billed Euphonia
349 Black-headed Tanager
350 Golden-fronted Greenlet
351 Emerald Toucanet
352 Groove-billed Toucanet
353 Hook-billed Kite
354 Gray Hawk
355 Rufous Motmot
356 Masked Tityra
357 Rufous-and-white Wren
358 Yellow-legged Thrush
359 Swallow Tanager
360 Cocoi Heron
361 Tricolored Heron
362 Little Blue Heron
363 Striated Heron
364 Green Heron
365 Boat-billed Heron
366 Peregrine Falcon
367 Chestnut-winged Chachalaca
368 Rufous-necked Wood-Rail
369 Purple Gallinule
370 Black-necked Stilt
371 Black-bellied Plover
372 Sanderling
373 Western Sandpiper
374 Large-billed Tern
375 Orange-winged Amazon
376 Greater Ani
377 Groove-billed Ani
378 Ringed Kingfisher
379 Yellow-chinned Spinetail
380 Pied Water-Tyrant
381 Cattle Tyrant
382 Panama Flycatcher
383 Fork-tailed Flycatcher
384 Gray-breasted Martin
385 Bicolored Conebill

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/sngcanary

Colombia Day 12, Dec. 18. Beginning the Trip Home

2010-01-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

We had one more morning at El Dorado before heading to Santa Marta for our last night in the Caribbean area. It was hard to think of leaving. Usually on these trips I am ready to go home, especially after a two week trip. This time I think I would have preferred making El Dorado home and going to San Antonio to visit. I realized I was really going to miss the birds, the view, the food, everything. The night before we had heard some very interesting news. Montero, the ranger that lived at the lodge, had started feeding the Santa Marta Antpittas worms! This is something that is going on all over the tropics. Angel Paz in Ecuador was the one who started this. Angel has three species of antpittas that come in for worms on a daily basis. (We visited Angel on my first visit to Ecuador.) This was really exciting! We would be able to see this darn Santa Marta Antpitta after all! Montero said to meet him at 7:00AM. We hung around anxiously waiting. Martin and I worried that he had snuck off without us. Finally Montero came out and we walked down the trail to where he puts the worms. He instructed us to wait to the side, so the antpitta would come in. He said she would come down between 7AM and 730AM. He put out the worms, whistled the "Bob-white" like call of the antpitta and went off to do his work. We waited quietly. And we waited. After about 20 minutes Pablo played the call on his iPod. We waited some more. After about 45 minutes we decided she wasn't coming in any time soon. It was extremely disappointing.

We decided to repeat what we had done the day before, going down to the tiende and then back up to the research station, though spending more abbreviated times at each place. The tiende was fairly active. We had a number of hummingbirds, including a nice female Blossomcrown. Santa Marta Woodstar made a good showing. We had brilliant looks at a Masked Trogan. There were several White-lored Warblers. I saw something I had never seen before, a Tennessee Warbler feeding on bananas. The Blue-naped Chlorophonias and Bay-headed Tanagers joined him. While savoring a small cup of the sweet coffee that the tiende served, we heard a familar call, "Quick three beers!" and spotted an Olive-sided Flycatcher. Unfortunately we had to cut our time there short. We hustled up to research station, hoping for one more chance for the antpitta. Pablo said there was a trail where the antpittas were seen regularly, running back and forth across the trail. I was a little worried about the steepness, as my ankle was bothering me quite a bit, but I decided to try. We worked our way down. It was a repeat of our other visits. The antpitta came in close, called like crazy and then moved off with us not seeing a feather. I have absolutely nothing good to say about the Santa Marta Antpitta!

We returned to the lodge for lunch and then packed to head for Santa Marta. We birded along the road, making one last stop at the tiende. Jaime found us a Lined Quail Dove walking along the raod. Moving down hill we came across different species as we lost altitude. A Hook-billed Kite soared overhead. We spotted a Gray Hawk sitting in a dead tree. A Boat-billed Flycatcher was a nice addition to our trip list. We decided to return to the covered bridge at Pozo Azul, near Minca, in hopes of seeing the Santa Marta Saber-wing again. We didn't repeat on that, but we did see a couple of Swallow Tanagers, a favorite bird of mine and another Cinnamon Becard. We heard Rosy-thrush Tanager again, but still didn't see it. We did get another look at Golden-winged Sparrow. I found the only Motmot of the trip, a Blue-crowned shortly before dark. We ended up in Santa Marta after dark. We had a great dinner (Langoastinos for me!) We planned for our last few hours of birding in the morning on the road from Santa Marta to Baranquillo.
Pictures from the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623192631010/
Day list:
1 Turkey Vulture
2 Black Vulture
3 Hook-billed Kite
4 Gray Hawk
5 Broad-winged Hawk
6 Band-tailed Guan
7 Black-fronted Woodquail
8 Band-tailed Pigeon
9 Lined Quail-Dove
10 Red-fronted Conure
11 Red-billed Parrot
12 Scaly-naped Amazon
13 Green Violet-ear
14 Sparkling Violetear
15 Violet-crowned Woodnymph
16 Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
17 Blossomcrown
18 White-tailed Starfrontlet
19 Tyrian Metaltail
20 Santa Marta Woodstar
21 White-tipped Quetzal
22 Blue-crowned Motmot
23 Rufous-tailed Jacamar
24 Emerald Toucanet
25 Red-crowned Woodpecker
26 Golden-olive Woodpecker
27 Rusty-headed Spinetail
28 Montane Foliage-gleaner
29 Santa Marta Antpitta
30 Santa Marta Tapaculo
31 Brown-rumped Tapaculo
32 Black-throated Tody-Tyrant
33 Cinnamon Flycatcher
34 Olive-sided Flycatcher
35 Boat-billed Flycatcher
36 Cinnamon Becard
37 Masked Tityra
38 Golden-breasted Fruiteater
39 Rufous-and-white Wren
40 Grey-breasted Wood-Wren
41 Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush
42 Yellow-legged Thrush
43 Black-hooded Thrush
44 Pale-breasted Thrush
45 Black-chested Jay
46 Rufous-collared Sparrow
47 Thick-billed Seed-Finch
48 Golden-winged Sparrow
49 Buff-throated Saltator
50 Rosy Thrush-Tanager
51 Blue-grey Tanager
52 Blue-naped Chlorophonia
53 Bay-headed Tanager
54 Rusty Flowerpiercer
55 White-sided Flowerpiercer
56 Swallow Tanager
57 Tennessee Warbler
58 Blackburnian Warbler
59 American Redstart
60 Slate-throated Redstart
61 Yellow-crowned Whitestart
62 White-lored Warbler
63 Rufous-capped Warbler
64 Brown-capped Vireo
65 Crested Oropendola
66 Russet-backed Oropendola

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/sngcanary

Colombia Day 11, December 17. Lets go down! No lets go up!

2010-01-11T17:05:00.000-08:00

This was to be our last full day at El Dorado and we were thinking about tying up some loose ends. Martin was still feeling the sting of not seeing the Blossomcrown, so we decided to go back down hill to the tiende (store) where I had seen in on the way up. We left just before dawn and had not gotten far at all from the lodge when Jaime, our driver spotted something on the road. We saw a South American Bush Dog cross the road just in front of the car! Its short bushy tail disappeared into the undergrowth before we could even think of taking a photo. That was the beginnng of cool things that happened on this day.

We arrived at the tiende just as the sun was coming up. The banana feeder was already hopping with Blue-naped Chlorophonias, Bay-headed Tanagers and Santa Marta Brush-finches. The hummingbirds were just starting to rouse. There are some orange bushes that seem to really attract the hummers. Martin was staking one out that was catching the early sun. A male Blossomcrown came in, flashing its crown and giving him a great look! He was ecstatic. As far as he was concerned that was the sighting of the day, no matter what else we saw. A mixed flock moved through, with White-lored Warblers, a Streak-capped Spinetail and some of the "regulars". A Golden-breasted Fruiteater started giving its high pitched whistle. I finally got a good look and even a bad photo of it. We found both Montane and Ruddy Foliage-gleaners.

We had been hearing Keel-billed Toucans calling off and on since we arrived at El Dorado, but I had yet to see one. I was more than delighted when a pair flew in in the trees above us. Later on a pair of Yellow-billed Toucanets (aka Groove-billed) also moved through. We added a third species with Emerald Toucanet. I am particularly fond of Toucans, so it was nice to add two new species to my life list. I had seen Emerald before, but I wasn't going to turn away from it. We were really liking this spot.

We decided to try for a few more forest birds, so we moved a little ways down hill. This gave us one of the biggest thrills of the trip. In fact Pablo said it was his bird of the trip. We stopped at shaded area with a small stream nearby. We heard a Rusty-breasted Antpitta calling. I have related our earlier antpitta experiences and our lack of success in seeing these guys, so we were not exactly brimming with hope. Pablo played the call on this iPod and the bird moved closer. Then it came into a little clearing and we got a great look. Excellent! It turned out there were two of them. We were not expecting what happened next. One of them flew out and landed on a branch over the road right in front of us in the open. He even sat there long enough so we could get photos. Pablo said he had never seen this species this well. Normally you are lucky to get a little glimpse in the undergrowth. It made up for our earlier experiences!

We went back up the lodge for lunch and decided to go back up to the research station. Since we had had such amazing luck with the Rusty-breasted Antpitta, maybe we could get the Santa Marta. Yeah, right... We got to the station and Pablo and Martin walked down the hill to an area where we heard one calling the day before. My ankle was bugging me, so I decided to stay up top and photograph butterflies. I hadn't done much, when Martin came back up and got me. He said the Antpitta was really close. So, I went ahead and went down. Yes the Antpitta was very close. It sounded like it was maybe 6 feet away. Did we see it? No, of course not. Finally it moved away and we moved on. We did some more birding a little farther up the hill. We had a couple of mixed flocks and then it got quiet. We were moving down the road when suddenly a very small hawk flushed out of the trees, flew over the middle of the road and then back into the trees. It was a Tiny Hawk! I had been really wanting to see this bird since my first trip to South America. Its such a great name. We tried one or two more spots for the Antpitta that Pablo knew, but to no avail. Martin kept saying "All the trip reports say this is one of the easiest antpittas to get!"

We went back down to the lodge and I spent the rest of the afternoon photographing birds at the feeders. I found a really cool bug on the porch of the cabin. It was huge and scary looking with huge pinchers. I loved it! The Violetears were cooperative as far as photos go, as were the Violet-crowned Woodnymphs. Right before dinner I heard a Crested Oropendola giving its crazy call. I scanned the horizon and saw one perched on a tree. I don't even know how to begin to describe this birds song. It consists of all kinds of knocks squeeks and bubbling noise. When it reaches the end of the song the bird throws itself forward into what looks like is going to be a head dive, but it holds on with its feet, just pitching forward. It finished the song with a big WOOOOOW! I watched him for a long time and laughed with every time. I was already feeling sad that this was to be our last night at El Dorado. We went up to dinner. The girls who were there banding were very excited. They had seen night monkeys in the large tree next to the lodge! I was just a little jealous.

Photos from the day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623185506074/
The photos are a little heavy on the Chlorophonias, but how can anyone not want to photograph them?

Bird list for the day:
1 Turkey Vulture
2 Black Vulture
3 Tiny Hawk
4 Bicolored Hawk
5 Broad-winged Hawk
6 Barred Forest-Falcon
7 Band-tailed Guan
8 Black-fronted Woodquail
9 Red-fronted Conure
10 Red-billed Parrot
11 Scaly-naped Amazon
12 Sooty-capped Hermit
13 Green Violet-ear
14 Sparkling Violetear
15 Coppery Emerald
16 Violet-crowned Woodnymph
17 White-tailed Starfrontlet
18 Tyrian Metaltail
19 Colombian Woodstar
20 Masked Trogon
21 Golden-olive Woodpecker
22 Lineated Woodpecker
23 Strong-billed Woodcreeper
24 Rusty-headed Spinetail
25 Streak-capped Spinetail
26 Montane Foliage-gleaner
27 Ruddy Foliage-gleaner
28 Plain Xenops
29 Santa Marta Antpitta
30 Rusty-breasted Antpitta
31 Santa Marta Tapaculo
32 Black-throated Tody-Tyrant
33 Cinnamon Flycatcher
34 Olive-sided Flycatcher
35 Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant
36 Golden-crowned Flycatcher
37 Golden-breasted Fruiteater
38 House Wren
39 Grey-breasted Wood-Wren
40 Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush
41 Black-hooded Thrush
42 Black-chested Jay
43 Rufous-collared Sparrow
44 Yellow-bellied Seedeater
45 Santa Marta Brushfinch
46 Southern Yellow Grosbeak
47 Summer Tanager
48 Blue-capped Tanager
49 Thick-billed Euphonia
50 Blue-naped Chlorophonia
51 Bay-headed Tanager
52 Black-headed Tanager
53 Rusty Flowerpiercer
54 White-sided Flowerpiercer
55 Tennessee Warbler
56 Black-and-white Warbler
57 Blackburnian Warbler
58 Slate-throated Redstart
59 Yellow-crowned Whitestart
60 White-lored Warbler
61 Golden-fronted Greenlet
62 Crested Oropendola
63 Emerald Toucanet
64 Groove-billed Toucanet
65 Keel-billed Toucan

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/sngcanary

Colombia Day Day 10, December 16

2010-01-09T20:02:00.000-08:00

On our second morning at El Dorado we got our driver back! We ate a quick breakfast and started up hill in the dark. We flushed a White-tailed Nightjar off of the road, which was a good beginning! We were heading towards Kennedy Peak, the top of the mountain that El Dorado is located on. The peak is the site of several radio towers, as I mentioned previously. There are a number of birds found at the higher elevations, including a hummingbird, Black-back Thornbill that Martin was really aching for. In fact, it was one of his two most wanted birds of the trip, along with Blossomcrown. Pablo knew a place where he had seen them fairly reliably. Its a bird that most people miss, so we were trying not to get our hopes up too much.

To say the road up is rough is more than an understatement. Its very rocky and even in a high clearance vehicle, its difficult. We were bouncing all over the place. I felt like I had been beat up by the time we got up there. I felt like I had bruises all over. Despite that, the drive up was gorgeous. The vistas were amazing. We had the Caribbean on one side of the road and were getting great looks at snow-capped peaks on the other side. We passed through forest with large stands of red blooming plants that looked custom made for hummingbirds. Several times we passed cliffs blanketed in a pink moss. It was worth the battering! Flocks of Scarlet-fronted Parakeets flew over calling loudly. Red-billed Parrots and Scaly-naped Amazons added to the noise. We stopped at place with a great view, and were rewarded with a flock of Santa Marta Parakeets quite close in. It was a good day for parrots, if nothing else.

We then stopped at a grove of flowering trees. High up in the tops of trees were a bunch of hummingbirds feeding. At first glance all I saw were Sparkling and Green Violetears, who as I have mentioned before, bully all the other hummers. There were a scattering of Tyrian Metaltails and a Mountain Velvetbreast. It was hard to keep looking up. My neck was beginning to ache. It reminded me of spring warbler migration. Then I spotted a bird at the very top of one the trees. It had very tiny short bill and I could just make out the throat color, the thorn bill! I called for Martin, but before he could get on it, the violetears struck and it flew off. Shades of the Blossomcrown. I figured we would re-find it quickly. I figured wrong. Martin and I looked and looked. I even scanned all the flowering shrubs on a lower level across the road, but there was no sign of it. This was not good. It was bad enough that I had the Blossomcrown and he didn't, but this was unbearable. We finally decided to move on and then come back.

The road further up had a huge grove of endemic palm trees, leading up to the towers. The road was lined with low trees and shrubs. We had several mixed flocks, including Santa Marta Warblers and Brush-finches, more Mountain-tanagers, Blue-capped Tanagers, White-sided Flower-piercers and various flycatchers. We found a just fledged Tyrian Metaltail being fed by its mother. She took off, but I was able to get a couple of shots of the baby. We worked back down and checked the grove again and were discouraged to see no hummingbirds at all! It was rather glum. We decided to go down slope to look for Santa Marta Bush-tyrant and then maybe come back. There is a spot with severalsmaller antennae that can be good for them. Pablo walked up a small trail playing the call on his iPod. We heard a bird respond and found it sitting up on one of the antennas. Clouds had moved in, so it was difficult to get a good look, but it appeared to be our target. The problem is there is another bush-tyrant in the area that looks very similar, Streak-throated Bush-tyrant. They are larger than the Santa Martas and they have heavier streaking on the throat. From the silhouette we thought it was a Santa Marta, but Martin made the mistake of photographing it. When we looked on the camera we could see it was a Streak-throated, which we had seen before on previous trips. It did seem smaller than the ones we had seen before, but it definitely was a Streak-throated. We walked back up to the car and heard a bird call that sounded like the tape. There it was, a real Santa Marta Bush-tyrant! It was much closer and the sky had cleared, so we weren't in the fog.

We ate lunch and looked for the Santa Marta Antpitta again. We heard it calling, never saw it. This was getting old! So we decided to go back up to the place where I saw the thorn-bill. The hummingbirds were back in force! This time things were much better. Martin finally spotted a likely suspect. He saw enough to ID it, but as he will say "better view desired!" He asked Pablo if he had the thornbill on his iPod. Pablo did, but hummingbirds rarely respond to tapes in our experience. Pablo went ahead any way and were we surprised by what happened! Immediately a thornbill flew up in a very agitated manner and called back very strongly. We saw where he landed and Martin even got him in the scope. Whew. I was really relieved. I was worried that I was going to have to call Willie Sekula, who was watching our cat for us, to go over and pack my things if Martin didn't get the bird. (They know I am kidding, Martin!) Anyway, we were feeling very full of ourselves! We worked back down, hoping to see more hummingbirds in some good flowers, but we didn't have much success. We did hear Slaty-backed Nightingale Thush which has a fabulous call. It was getting close to sunset, when we decided to head back to the lodge. A Barred Forest-falcon started calling and we tried to get him to come in with a tape, but had no success. Despite that, it had been a great day! After dinner I went straight to bed, but Martin and Pablo tried again for the Screech Owl, with the same results. Martin was so happy with the thornbill, I don't think he really cared!

Photos from the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623051247075/

Bird List:
1 Turkey Vulture
2 Black Vulture
3 White-rumped Hawk
4 Broad-winged Hawk
5 Band-tailed Guan
6 Black-fronted Woodquail
7 Red-fronted Conure
8 Santa Marta Parakeet
9 Red-billed Parrot
10 Scaly-naped Amazon
11 White-tailed Nightjar
12 Green Violet-ear
13 Sparkling Violetear
14 Violet-crowned Woodnymph
15 Mountain Velvetbreast
16 White-tailed Starfrontlet
17 Black-backed Thornbill
18 Tyrian Metaltail
19 Rusty-headed Spinetail
20 Streak-capped Spinetail
21 Santa Marta Antpitta
22 Rufous Antpitta
23 Brown-rumped Tapaculo
24 White-throated Tyrannulet
25 Black-throated Tody-Tyrant
26 Cinnamon Flycatcher
27 Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant
28 Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant
29 Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant
30 Golden-breasted Fruiteater
31 Grey-breasted Wood-Wren
32 Great Thrush
33 Black-hooded Thrush
34 Black-chested Jay
35 Rufous-collared Sparrow
36 Paramo Seedeater
37 Santa Marta Brushfinch
38 Southern Yellow Grosbeak
39 Blue-capped Tanager
40 Santa Marta Mountain-Tanager
41 Blue-and-black Tanager
42 White-sided Flowerpiercer
43 Blackburnian Warbler
44 Slate-throated Redstart
45 Golden-fronted Whitestart
46 Santa Marta Warbler
47 Andean Siskin

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/sngcanary

Colomombia, Dec. 15, Hitching a Ride

2010-01-09T05:28:00.000-08:00

I don't think I ever enjoyed looking out the back door more in my life on waking up. Santa Marta was stretched out 7,000 feet below us. The stars were blazing in the pre-dawn sky. At that point I didn't care if I ever saw another bird. (that is such a lie!) The electricity was still out, so we dressed by candlelight and went up to the main building for breakfast. We could hear Band-tailed Guans calling all around us. It was starting to get light as we walked up to the lodge and the hummingbirds were already battling.

Our original plan had been to go up the mountain to the summit, where there are some radio towers, but there had been a little mix up concerning drivers. We were staying at El Dorado for four nights. We had expected to use their driver and car, but they were short on gasoline. Pablo had arranged for our driver Jaimie to come back on our second full day for the rest of the stay, but on this day we were going to be on foot. With all that was around the lodge, I was happy. After breakfast we decided to walk a trail near the lodge, looking for White-tipped Quetzal. The trail was quiet, we headed back down to the lodge. This was a good move, as there were Stripe-headed Brush-finch on the compost pile, where we had seen the Black-fronted Wood-quail the evening before. Martin spotted a Santa Marta Woodstar on one of the bushes in front of our cabin. I had missed it the evening before. Woodstars are tiny hummingbirds which mimic bumble bees in their flight and sound. This way they can sneak in "under the radar", avoiding a lot of the aggression of the other hummers. Its a lot of fun to watch them fly in very slowly, stopping and starting, buzzing just like a big bee. I imagine them saying "Don't bother about me, I am just a bumble bee. No worries from me".

Pablo suggested we walk the road up hill, so we started out. We hadn't gone fare when we hitched a ride with a driver going up to the radio towers with a worker. There is a research station about half way between the lodge and the towers. Before the lodge opened this is where birders stayed. Its part of a national park and has accomadation which are basic, but adequate. There are gorgeous gardens and the view is even better, if that's possible, than at El Dorado! The driver dropped us off and we went looking for Santa Marta Antpitta. This turned out to be an excercise in frustration. There is a trail behind the building and one was calling less than 20 feet away in the bushes. Pablo played the call back and the bird came a little closer. We worked and worked to see it, but with no luck. We never even saw the tiniest movement. Then it decided to move off. No worries. It was just one bird. All of the trip reports from this area say things like "As usual, the Santa Marta Antpitta was easy".

The Santa Marta Mountain-tanagers more than made up for the antpitta, as far as I was concerned. They resemble Lacrimose Mountain-tanagers, which I have always liked a lot. We got good looks at the tanagers as they worked some bushes almost on eye level. Santa Marta Brush-finches were also around, and even though we had seen them well the day before, I enjoyed them. We added a new warbler, Golden-crowned Whitestart. He was pretty cooperative, even allowing me to take a not great, but recognizable photo. A Black-and-Chestnut Eagle soared over and a flock of Santa Marta Parakeets flew by. As it warmed up a bit butterflies starting flying, and I got a few pictures. I am still working on the IDs and probably will be for some time.

After an hour the driver we hitched with came back down, so we jumped back in and headed to the lodge. We birded the surrounding area until lunch. I had a great time at the hummingbird feeders, practicing photographing them. I decided after looking at my pictures that I need a lot more practice! I particularly liked the Violet-crowned Woodnymphs. They are very common, but the color on the male's gorget is the most spectacular green. I never got tired of it! Blue-naped Chlorphonias also gave my camera a work out. I found it difficult to not continue shooting pictures of them. The make our Painted Buntings look almost dull. After lunch we walked another trail near the lodge, where we easily picked up Rusty-headed Spinetail. Again, we heard Santa Marta Antpitta, which kind of reminded me of a Bobwhite. Again it was really close. Again we didn't see it. What we did see were two White-tipped Quetzals! The male came in first, followed by a female. Any day with a quetzal is a good day. We were also very happy to find out we had electricity again. Unfortunately the water had not heated up much when we took showers, but there are worse things.

The Band-tailed Guans came into the tree across the road at sunset. Crested Oropendalas were calling. Black-headed Thrush were singing and popping up in the fruting tree next to the lodge. After dinner we tried again for the Santa Marta Screech-owl. We heard it calling close by, but it never flew in. I couldn't help but think he was conspiring with the antpitta. It had been a great day and I was very ready for a good nights sleep. Martin spent some time on our balcony enjoying the incredible stars. I got out the novel I was reading and maybe got through two pages before I was asleep.

The days photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623042669293/
The bird list:
1 Turkey Vulture
2 Black-and-chestnut Eagle
3 Band-tailed Guan
4 Black-fronted Woodquail
5 Band-tailed Pigeon
6 Lined Quail-Dove
7 Scarlet-fronted Parakeet
8 Santa Marta Parakeet
9 Red-billed Parrot
10 Scaly-naped Amazon
11 Green Violet-ear
12 Sparkling Violetear
13 Coppery Emerald
14 Violet-crowned Woodnymph
15 White-tailed Starfrontlet
16 Tyrian Metaltail
17 Santa Marta Woodstar
18 White-tipped Quetzal
19 Masked Trogon
20 Keel-billed Toucan
21 Golden-olive Woodpecker
22 Strong-billed Woodcreeper
23 Streak-headed Woodcreeper
24 Rusty-headed Spinetail
25 Montane Foliage-gleaner
26 Santa Marta Antpitta
27 Brown-rumped Tapaculo
28 Mountain Elaenia
29 White-throated Tyrannulet
30 Olive-striped Flycatcher
31 Ochre-bellied Flycatcher
32 Black-throated Tody-Tyrant
33 Cinnamon Flycatcher
34 Golden-crowned Flycatcher
35 Golden-breasted Fruiteater
36 House Wren
37 Grey-breasted Wood-Wren
38 Black-hooded Thrush
39 Rufous-collared Sparrow
40 Santa Marta Brushfinch
41 Stripe-headed Brushfinch
42 Blue-grey Tanager
43 Santa Marta Mountain-Tanager
44 Blue-naped Chlorophonia
45 Bay-headed Tanager
46 Black-capped Tanager
47 Rusty Flowerpiercer
48 White-sided Flowerpiercer
49 Tennessee Warbler
50 Black-and-white Warbler
51 Blackburnian Warbler
52 Blackpoll Warbler
53 Slate-throated Redstart
54 Yellow-crowned Whitestart
55 Gray-throated Warbler
56 White-lored Warbler
57 Brown-capped Vireo
58 Crested Oropendola

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/sngcanary

Colombia Dec. 14, Day 9 All I Can Say is HOLY COW!

2010-01-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

This trip seem to be building to a crescendo. I loved every place we went more than the last. This day everything peaked and to be honest, it pretty much stayed at that peak. We started birding in Minca, just above our hotel. The roads were forested and very easy to bird. We began looking for Rosy-thrush Tanager. Pablo had a spot and sure enough, when he played the tape, they responded immediately. Unfortunately they only called. Despite hearing them very closely, then never showed their beautiful faces. I think they must have taken lessons from the antpittas. We did find Golden-winged Sparrows in the vincinity, which made up for it. They are very flashy for sparrows. We saw our first American Redstarts of the trip, along with the ubiquitous Blackburnians. Several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were around. Grey-breasted Woodwrens were singing. It was a very pleasant morning. We got to a side road that leads to a beautiful spot on a small river, where there is a swimming hole called Pozo Azul. An old covered bridge crossed the river. It was almost like being back in Pennsylvania. Pablo said he had seen Otters on this stretch of water, but that wasn't to be for us. There was something even more exciting. Martin crossed the bridge and spotted a large hummingbird working low in the flowers. It was a bird that we had wanted very badly, but were not at all confident that we would see, a Santa Marta Sabrewing. Pablo had told us this species had been seen on this road before, but it had seemed too good to be true. We were thrilled to say the least, as this is a very difficult bird to find.

We returned to the lodge for our gear and started the climb up to El Dorado. We went back to Pozo Azul, but there was no sign of the Sabrewing. We worked our way up the road and saw some wonderful birds. There was a Black-backed Antshrike very close and confiding. A King Vulture flew over, which is one of my favorite birds. A Cinnamon Becard was right over our heads. We came to a small tiende (store) where they had planted incredible hummingbird gardens. This is a well known spot that birders stop at on their way up to the lodge. We bought a couple of cokes and I had a cup of their sweet strong coffee. There were many blackberry bushes and a few coffee plants. It looked very promising, but as we had run into before, there was a glut of Green Violetears. They were being very aggressive. A banana feeder was next to the store, which had several Blue-naped Chlorophonias, a bird I had missed on our last trip. They are unbelievably colorful! I was very excited to get a few photos.

We spread out a little bit. I was still standing near the banana feeder when I saw a hummingbird that was not a violetear. I saw the bright crown and realized it was one of our main targets, a male Blossomcrown. I called out and Martin ran over. Unfortunately the Violetears flew in faster than Martin could get there and chased it away. This was not good. Martin really wanted this bird. There were two hummingbirds that were on the very top of his list, Black-backed Thornbill and Blossomcrown. We looked and looked and couldn't re-find it. I felt terrible and I am sure Martin felt even worse. I found myself thinking that I wish I had not seen it. (Well, I sort of felt that way.) Pablo told Martin he knew a trail where they were sometimes seen, so we headed off. The trail was up nearer to the lodge. Its called the Mora (blackberry) trail. The Blossomcrowns like blackberry flowers. The trail was rather steep, so I stayed below, as I didn't want to slow them down. I photographed some butterflies while they searched, which satisfied me. They returned not having seen the hummingbird, so we proceeded to the lodge.

We pulled up to a very nice wooden building. Inside the walls are lined with windows. There is a lovely dining room and little store with crafts made my local woman. This building overlooks the cabins. Montero, the ranger who lives on site greeted us. We walked down a long outside stone stair case to a path leading down to our cabin. Hummingbird feeders were everywhere, as were flowering bushes. The view was the most spectacular I had ever seen! We were at about 7000 ft and you could see Santa Marta and the Caribbean down below us. A thin peninsula stretched out to the west, leading to Baranquilla. We were compleletly blown away! The hummingbird feeders were swarming with great birds. One big surprise was White-tailed Starfrontlets. The trip reports we had read had not mentioned the feeders. Violet-crowned Woodnymphs were common. Unfortunately the Green Violetears also liked this area, so there were a few conflicts. Santa Marta Brush finches came in to some bananas on a feeder, soon joined by more Blue-naped Chlorophonias.

We unloaded our gear in the cabin, which was beautiful. One wall was all glass, with sliding doors to a balcony. The view from the balcony of Santa Marta was gorgeous during the day, and enough to make you cry at night, with the stars blazing above and the lights of Santa Marta twinkling below. In the distance we could see the glow of the city lights of Baranquilla. It is impossible to describe how enchanting this place was! The beds were really comfortable with wonderful linens. I know its a cliche, but I felt like I was in heaven. I could move into this place and stay forever. Darn, I wish I was there right now! There was one negative, the power was out. The lines that run to the lodge and to the research station farther up the mountain, are a bit tenuous. This place was so fabulous, we really didn't care. The cook gave us candles and matches. All was well!

We went back outside and worked through all the hummingbirds. The cook came out and told us to check the compost pile. Black-fronted Wood-quail were having their supper! Wood-quail are notoriously difficult to see. We quietly walked over and stood and watched the Wood-quail for about 15 minutes. I got some really crummy photos, but any photos of them are fabulous! Santa Marta Stripe-headed Brush-finch also came in. The hummingbird feeders were still very active. Band-tailed Guans flew into a tree across the road. We heard a Golden-breasted Fruit-eater calling. Finally the sun started sinking and we witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen. We went in to the main building for an excellent candle-light dinner. We met two delightful young women staying at the lodge, one Colombian, on German, who were there banding birds. After dinner we went outside to try to find a Santa Marta Screech-owl. We heard a couple calling close to the lodge, but never actually saw one. This was a small dissappointment, but it did not dim the glow of a wonderful day. I couldn't wait for morning!

Photos taken: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623038983431/ (warning, I took a lot of them!)

Bird List:
1 Turkey Vulture
2 Black Vulture
3 King Vulture
4 Broad-winged Hawk
5 Band-tailed Guan
6 Black-fronted Woodquail
7 Band-tailed Pigeon
8 Ruddy Ground-Dove
9 White-tipped Dove
10 Lined Quail-Dove
11 Red-fronted Conure
12 Orange-chinned Parakeet
13 Red-billed Parrot
14 Smooth-billed Ani
15 Squirrel Cuckoo
16 White-collared Swift
17 Short-tailed Swift
18 Pale-bellied Hermit
19 Stripe-throated Hermit
20 Santa Marta Sabrewing
21 Green Violet-ear
22 Sparkling Violetear
23 Black-throated Mango
24 Red-billed Emerald
25 Coppery Emerald
26 Violet-crowned Woodnymph
27 Steely-vented Hummingbird
28 Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
29 White-vented Plumeleteer
30 Blossomcrown
31 White-tailed Starfrontlet
32 Tyrian Metaltail
33 Rufous-tailed Jacamar
34 Scaled Piculet
35 Red-crowned Woodpecker
36 Plain-brown Woodcreeper
37 Black-backed Antshrike
38 Brown-rumped Tapaculo
39 Ochre-bellied Flycatcher
40 Slaty-capped Flycatcher
41 Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant
42 Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant
43 Yellow-olive Flycatcher
44 Cinnamon Flycatcher
45 Tropical Pewee
46 Black Phoebe
47 Bright-rumped Attila
48 Dusky-capped Flycatcher
49 Social Flycatcher
50 Cinnamon Becard
51 White-bearded Manakin
52 Golden-breasted Fruiteater
53 Southern Rough-winged Swallow
54 Bicolored Cactus-Wren
55 Rufous-breasted Wren
56 House Wren
57 Grey-breasted Wood-Wren
58 Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush
59 Black-hooded Thrush
60 Black-chested Jay
61 Rufous-collared Sparrow
62 Thick-billed Seed-Finch
63 Golden-winged Sparrow
64 Black-striped Sparrow
65 Santa Marta Brushfinch
66 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
67 Buff-throated Saltator
68 Streaked Saltator
69 Rosy Thrush-Tanager
70 Summer Tanager
71 Crimson-backed Tanager
72 Blue-grey Tanager
73 Palm Tanager
74 Blue-naped Chlorophonia
75 Black-capped Tanager
76 Rusty Flowerpiercer
77 White-sided Flowerpiercer
78 Tennessee Warbler
79 Blackburnian Warbler
80 American Redstart
81 Rufous-capped Warbler
82 Crested Oropendola

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/sngcanary

Colombia, Day 8, Dec. 13 Goodbye Riohacha

2010-01-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

I hope you will excuse the delay in my writing this blog. Between the holiday and chasing a couple of amazingly good birds, I got behind. Oh well, its not like I was writing in real time, anyway.

Our birding began early, as usual on December 13. We had arranged to meet Dijohnnes at the Los Flamecos Sanctuary. We parked at the spot where we had seen the Vermilion Cardinal the evening before, secretly hoping he would still be sitting there. Unfortunately he wasn't. Dijohnnes' brother and sister arrived on a bicycle and Dijohnnes pulled up on his shortly after. His younger siblings were a little shy, but did agree to a couple of photos, though making them smile was not easy! Dijohnnes parked his bike and we took off through the scrub. Our main targer that morning was Chestnut Piculet, a tiny member of the woodpecker family.

I had seen one the day before, but Martin had missed it. This was not a good thing! Martin really wanted this bird badly. Its always uncomfortable for one person to get a bird and the other to miss it. I almost felt badly that I had seen it. (Almost!) We had not walked a great distance when Pablo spotted a piculet. We scrambled to all get a look. It took some ducking under bushes and avoiding thorns, but we finally got a great look. I even got a few lousy photos! It made me feel much better that Martin had caught up. We saw many of the same birds we had seen the day before, but didn't repeat on the cardinal. I particularly enjoyed the hummingbirds. The Buffy Hummingbird isn't flashy, but it was still attractive and it let me photograph it, so that was nice!

We went to the restaurant on the beach again for breakfast. While they were preparing it, we birded around the area. One of the first birds we added to the list was another grackle, Caribe Grackle. This one isn't as endangered as the Mountain, nor as range restricted (and pretty) as the Red-bellied, which we had seen on our previous trip, but it was still a welcome addition. It was also interesting to contrast it with its larger cousin, the Great-tailed Grackle, which we also have in Texas. An Orinoco Saltator put on a great show. I enjoyed the Russet-throated Puffbird and the Yellow Oriole again. This little beach area could be addicting.

After breakfast we walked down a dirt road to a lagoon behind the village. Laughing Gulls were loafing, along with a number of terns. A larger first winter gull came in. It appeared to be the Lesser Black-back I had found the day before. Pablo was really excited, as it was a life bird for him. He had missed the bird the day before, as he was arranging for Dijohnned to guide us when it had appeared. It was a nice change to show Pablo a life bird, instead of him showing us! We picked up some more shorebirds and enjoyed the view of the Santa Marta mountains again, knowing we would be heading up very soon. We worked the scrub a bit more, still not seeing the cardinal.

We returned to the river where Martin had seen the Glaucous Tanager the day before. I was hoping it was now my turn to play catch up, but it didn't happen. We did have several warblers, including a Blackpoll and several Prothonataries. The butterflies were absolutely thick. Most of them were White-peacocks, which are fairly common in south Texas, but there were a few others. We thought we had a Greater Ani. It looked large when it was deep in the trees, but when it came out it proved to be another Smooth-billed. We had a long drive ahead of us and we wanted to do some birding along the road, so we big farewell to Dijohnnes and headed west.

We had stopped at a restaurant along the road when we had driven to Riohacha two days prior. Pablo said this was a good spot for hummingbirds and possibly the Glaucous Tanager. That day it was a little late, so the birding was slow. We decided to have lunch there and see what we could find. We ordered and started working the trees in the yard, looking for something interesting. I picked up a life bird almost immediately, Red-legged Honeycreeper. This was, as Martin puts it, a "tart's tick", a British birder expression for a bird you should have gotten a long time ago. There wasn't much else there, so I wandered down to the river edge. I heard a huge splashing and looked down to see a very large lizard scampering across the river. It wasn't until he got across I realized he was not wading, but actually running on the water! It was a Basilisk. sometimes called a Jesus Christ Lizard, because of its ability to walk on water. It was laying on the opposite bank and I tried very hard to get a good photo, as it was a great looking animal. It had a big crest and a ridge down its back. It would open its mouth, and stick out its tongue. I was really impressed, but the light was really bad and he was too far away for the flash to do much good, so the pictures are very sucky. I was able to photograph the most amazing squirrel I have ever seen. It was red. Now, I know, we have Red Squirrels here in Texas, but they are just kind of rusty. This guy was RED. I mean really red!

Our next stop was Minca, a town above Santa Marta where the locals went to get away from the coastal heat. The elevation isn't really that high, but its enough to provide some relief. Its a charming little town, with some good accomadations. Our hotel sat on the Minca river, with rocky rapids right below the dining area. The lodge was decorated with some really unusual local art work, including some wonderful carvings of birds. The food was great, as usual. The beds were good. We were really happy! We went to sleep thinking of those snow capped peaks we were heading up into the following morning.
Photos for the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623142180242/

Bird List:
1 Neotropic Cormorant
2 Brown Pelican
3 Magnificent Frigatebird
4 Great Blue Heron
5 Cattle Egret
6 Great Egret
7 Reddish Egret
8 Snowy Egret
9 White Ibis
10 Roseate Spoonbill
11 Turkey Vulture
12 Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
13 Black Vulture
14 Caribbean Flamingo
15 Savanna Hawk
16 Crested Caracara
17 Yellow-headed Caracara
18 Bat Falcon
19 Semipalmated Plover
20 Whimbrel
21 Spotted Sandpiper
22 Laughing Gull
23 Caspian Tern
24 Royal Tern
25 Sandwich Tern
26 Common Tern
27 Bare-eyed Pigeon
28 Common Ground-Dove
29 Ruddy Ground-Dove
30 Scaly Dove
31 White-tipped Dove
32 Brown-throated Parakeet
33 Green-rumped Parrotlet
34 Orange-chinned Parakeet
35 Smooth-billed Ani
36 Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
37 White-collared Swift
38 Band-rumped Swift
39 Red-billed Emerald
40 Shining-green Hummingbird
41 Buffy Hummingbird
42 Green Kingfisher
43 Rufous-tailed Jacamar
44 Russet-throated Puffbird
45 Chestnut Piculet
46 Red-crowned Woodpecker
47 Straight-billed Woodcreeper
48 White-whiskered Spinetail
49 Black-crested Antshrike
50 Barred Antshrike
51 White-fringed Antwren
52 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
53 Northern Scrub-Flycatcher
54 Yellow-bellied Elaenia
55 Slender-billed Inezia
56 Ochre-bellied Flycatcher
57 Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant
58 Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant
59 Common Tody-Flycatcher
60 Ochre-lored Flatbill
61 Vermilion Flycatcher
62 Brown-crested Flycatcher
63 Great Kiskadee
64 Boat-billed Flycatcher
65 Social Flycatcher
66 Tropical Kingbird
67 Gray Kingbird
68 Striped Manakin
69 Southern Rough-winged Swallow
70 Bicolored Cactus-Wren
71 Rufous-breasted Wren
72 House Wren
73 Tropical Mockingbird
74 Tropical Gnatcatcher
75 Black-chested Jay
76 Rufous-collared Sparrow
77 Blue-black Grassquit
78 Gray Seedeater
79 Tocuyo Sparrow
80 Gray Pileated-Finch
81 Buff-throated Saltator
82 Orinocan Saltator
83 Blue-black Grosbeak
84 Crimson-backed Tanager
85 Blue-grey Tanager
86 Palm Tanager
87 Trinidad Euphonia
88 Red-legged Honeycreeper
89 Bananaquit
90 Northern Parula
91 Tropical Parula
92 Yellow Warbler
93 Blackpoll Warbler
94 Northern Waterthrush
95 Prothonotary Warbler
96 Scrub Greenlet
97 Yellow Oriole
98 Great-tailed Grackle
99 Carib Grackle
100 Shiny Cowbird
101 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Day 7, Dec. 12 How hard can it be to find a cardinal?

2009-12-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

It was a new day, a new place and there were a lot of new birds to be seen. We had slept well. Our hotel was quite comfortable. We met Pablo and Jaime in the lobby and headed out to Los Flamencos Sanctuary, next to the village of Camarones. This reserve has a really interesting community of birds. There are shallow salt lagoons that are home to American Flamingos, Scarlet and White Ibis and many other wading birds. Even more interesting is the dry scrub forest surrounding the lagoons. Despite being on the coast, this is area is desert complete with large stands of cactus. If you don't see the beach you would think you were in Tucson. There are a number of endemics and near endemics that call this scrub home.

Our first stop was actually on the beach inside the perserve. Pablo had arranged for a teenaged boy, Diojohnnes, (I am totally unsure of the spelling of his name) who lives on the sanctuary grounds, to be our guide. He was not a birder, but he has amazing eyes and knowledge of the local fauna, including one of our main targets, Vermilion Cardinal. While waiting for Diojohnnes to join us, I walked down to the beach. A large dark backed gull flew in, a first winter Lesser Black-back! I called Martin over. It was kind of nice to show him a gull for a change! The bird flew on, but a second one came in a few minutes later. It also flew off, right before Pablo and Diojohnnes arrived. This was unfortunate, as Pablo had never seen one. They are fairly rare in Colombia. There is something ironic about seeing a bird that is fairly common at home, but really rare where you are currently birding. Its hard to get super excited, if you know what I mean.

We drove a short distance to an area that was good for the cardinal. One of the lagoons was nearby. We could see some pink shapes across the water in the early morning light. Scoping the water we picked out Roseate Spoonbills, a handful of American Flamingos, and two or three Scarlet Ibis, one of our targets. Sometimes its necessary to take a boat to see the flamingos, so we were lucky. Even though we had seen them before, it was great getting them for our Colombia list. We turned our attention to the scrub forest. Diojohnnes immediately found something of interest to me, a small snake! I don't know herps at all, but I really like them. I got a few photos, if anyone is interested in helping me ID it. It kind of reminded me of a Checkered Garter Snake, though not the same color.

We picked up a number of birds fairly quickly. Scaled Doves flushed up from the bath, which resemble our Inca Doves. Bare-eyed Pigeons flew by, which resemble our White-winged Doves. A Black-crested Antshrike came in close to investigate us, which doesn't look like a darn thing like anything we have in Texas. I really love antshrikes. They have fabulous calls, often heard in jungle movies, and a crazed look about them. We also heard a Barred Antshrike in the distance. Slender-billed Inezias showed well. White-fringed Antwrens were fairly common and very curious, coming close to investigate anyone whistling a pygmy owl imitation. Another target bird, White-whiskered Spinetail, was very cooperative. Things were going very well. We had still not seen the Vermilion Cardinal, but the day was young.

We were getting hungry, so we went back to the beach by Camarones, where there is an open air restaurant. While we were waiting for our food we birded the surrounding trees and picked up Yellow Oriole, Russet-throated Puffbird and Orinocan Saltator. A couple of local kids showed us some fish they had caught, happily mugging for my camera. We had a leisurely breakfast of eggs and plantain, watching the locals fishing in the surf with dug out canoes. Terns and Laughing Gulls worked the waves. Dozens of Snowy Egrets picked through the left overs from the fishing nets. A Whimbrel walked along the water's edge. We could see the snow capped Santa Marta Mountains in the background, behind the curve of the beach. I found myself thinking, "This is the feeling that the big inclusive resorts are trying to capture, but the real deal is so much better!" Sure, Camarones is poor. There were skinny dogs and a few pigs wandering around. It wasn't immaculately clean, like the Bogota area, but I still found it beautiful and consider myself extremely lucky to have experienced it.

We went back into the scrub, still hoping for the cardinal. We trolled with the iPod, and heard a few chips that sounded promising, but had no luck at all. One bird that was abundant was Prothonatary Warbler. It was so peculiar to see a bird I associate with wet wooded areas in desert scrub! We scored on Pileated Finch and Green-rumped Parrotlet. There is a riparian area where Glaucous Tanager is seen. Martin saw it, but I missed it. I had a Green Kingfisher, which Martin missed, but it wasn't a very good trade off, in my opinion! I found a frog/toad, flipped over on its back struggling to turn over. Its belly was streaked with the most amazing fluorescent pink! I flipped him over and got a couple of photos. Again, if anyone wants to take a shot at IDing it, I would appreciate the help.

This area gets extremely hot during mid day. The birds siesta and it makes sense for birders to siesta, too. We returned to Riohacha for lunch and a break. I did walk down to the beach for a little while and watched a number of Magnificent Frigate Birds. Even that was too hot, so I returned to the room and luxuriated in the air conditioning. Regrouping at about 3PM, we returned to Los Flamencos, picked up Diojohnnes and resumed our search for the elusive cardinal.

There were good birds, Scub Greenlet, Troupial, Northern Scrub Flycatcher and more antshrikes. We seperated Venezualian Flycatcher from Brown-crested Flycatcher. Buffy Hummingbird was spectacular! We came across a tree packed with White Ibis and a few Scarlet's thrown in for color. But there was still no cardinal. We tried another patch of woods, but had no luck. How hard could it be to find a cardinal? It looks very similar to our Northern Cardinal. The crest is a bit more extravagant, and the color is more intense. I expected it to act like ours. I don't think I have ever played an owl tape in San Antonio and not had a cardinal respond! Pablo was really trying, but it just wasn't happening. He did see a couple of females retreating into the scrub, but too quickly gone to get us on them. The sun was setting and it seemed completely futile to continue. We drug ourselves back to the car. Then Pablo called out excitedly. A beautiful male Vermilion Cardinal was perched in a low shrub! In ten minutes it would have been too dark to see it. Whew! We arranged to meet Diojohnnes in the morning and went back to Riohacha.

Photos from the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623107652338/

Bird List:
1 Brown Pelican
2 Magnificent Frigatebird
3 Great Blue Heron
4 Cattle Egret
5 Great Egret
6 Reddish Egret
7 Snowy Egret
8 White Ibis
9 Scarlet Ibis
10 Roseate Spoonbill
11 Turkey Vulture
12 Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
13 Black Vulture
14 Caribbean Flamingo
15 Crested Caracara
16 Yellow-headed Caracara
17 Merlin
18 Limpkin
19 Wattled Jacana
20 Whimbrel
21 Lesser Yellowlegs
22 Solitary Sandpiper
23 Spotted Sandpiper
24 Willet
25 Wilson's Snipe
26 Laughing Gull
27 Royal Tern
28 Sandwich Tern
29 Bare-eyed Pigeon
30 Common Ground-Dove
31 Plain-breasted Ground-Dove
32 Ruddy Ground-Dove
33 Scaly Dove
34 White-tipped Dove
35 Brown-throated Parakeet
36 Green-rumped Parrotlet
37 Smooth-billed Ani
38 Striped Cuckoo
39 Squirrel Cuckoo
40 Lesser Nighthawk
41 Red-billed Emerald
42 Shining-green Hummingbird
43 Buffy Hummingbird
44 Green Kingfisher
45 Rufous-tailed Jacamar
46 Russet-throated Puffbird
47 Chestnut Piculet
48 Red-crowned Woodpecker
49 Straight-billed Woodcreeper
50 Pale-legged Hornero
51 White-whiskered Spinetail
52 Black-crested Antshrike
53 Barred Antshrike
54 White-flanked Antwren
55 Northern Scrub-Flycatcher
56 Slender-billed Inezia
57 Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant
58 Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant
59 Venezuelan Flycatcher
60 Brown-crested Flycatcher
61 Great Kiskadee
62 Tropical Kingbird
63 Gray Kingbird
64 Bicolored Cactus-Wren
65 House Wren
66 Tropical Mockingbird
67 Tropical Gnatcatcher
68 Gray Pileated-Finch
69 Vermilion Cardinal
70 Buff-throated Saltator
71 Orinocan Saltator
72 American Yellow Warbler
73 Blackpoll Warbler
74 Prothonotary Warbler
75 Scrub Greenlet
76 Yellow Oriole
77 Troupial
78 Baltimore Oriole
79 Great-tailed Grackle

Day 6, Dec. 11. Goodbye Dan, Hello Guajira Peninsula

2009-12-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

We had a couple of hours early in the morning to finish our Bogota birding. Bogota Rail was our target. Oswaldo had a doctor’s appointment, so we were accompanied by Pablo. Our target that morning was Bogota Rail. Oswaldo had a spot for it near Guasca where he said we couldn’t miss it. (Oh yeah, I’ve heard that before) He had given Pablo directions the evening before. To be honest, we had some trepidation. Rails are always a pain in the neck to see and Pablo was not familiar with the area at all.

We got to the general area and sure enough, the directions were not very clear. We had a very limited time to look. We cruised up and down a gravel road, driving past a very interesting old church with some ruins several times. Pablo called Oswaldo. We still couldn’t find it. We asked a couple of local farmers on the road and they gave us wildly conflicting directions. We were more than a little tense. Finally we stopped a woman driving a donkey cart. She pointed over a hill. It looked like an area that could have some water, so we went through the gate and started up.

Sure enough, there was a beautiful little marsh. Several snipe flushed, a Noble and a couple of Wilson ’s. Then we saw a rail skittering through the grasses. Success! It was brief, but we saw it fairly well. Then we noticed another rail in a different area. And then another! These were very easy to see. They wandered around out in the open, even allowing a few photos. (Mine are pretty poor, but Martin got decent ones. http://www.martinreid.com/Misc%20website/CO09DECBogotaRail.html ) Pablo was stunned by the looks we got. He said he had never seen Bogota Rail anywhere nearly as well as we saw them. Dan and I took a few photos of the nearby church that I mentioned earlier and we took off for the airport.

We had a mid morning flight to Santa Marta which we made in plenty of time. Unfortunately Dan could not continue with us, so Ever took him to the international terminal for his flight back to the states, after dropping us at the domestic terminal. We were very sad to see Dan go. The first part of the trip had been very good, but we were extremely excited for the second section and wished Dan could have shared it with us. Our short flight went well, other than a lack of air conditioning. Maybe this was Avianca Air’s way of acclimating us to the coastal heat.

The landing was spectacular! The run way was parallel to the beach. Brown Pelicans were skimming the surf. The water was cobalt blue. Martin saw a frigate bird. We picked up our luggage and walked outside, where we met our new driver, Jaime. It was obvious we were not in the Andes any more. The heat and humidity was a huge change. Bogota always seemed to be a little gray and misty. Santa Marta was more than sunny. The biggest change was the traffic. I think it’s a requirement that you lay on your horn the entire time you drive. Stop lights and signs seemed to be more of a suggestion than a law. On top of all this, they like traffic circles. It was utter chaos!

We ate a great lunch at an open air restaurant near the airport, and headed east towards Riohacha. We stopped along the way at a restaurant that sat by a river. Pablo had seen hummingbirds in a tree next to the building, but it was not to be this time. We did have a flock of Brown-throated Parakeets. We moved on to a dry scrub forest, where we added Scaled Dove, Northern Scrub Flycatcher, Black-crested Antshrike and White-fringed Antwren. We got into Riohacha right after dusk. Our hotel was a block from the beach with a great view of the Caribbean. I was also excited to actually get to buy something! Two indigenous women were sitting on the steps of the hotel making traditional bags. I did a little bartering (very little actually) and got a bag that I adore!

Photos from the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623104718658/

Bird List:

1 Great Blue Heron
2 Cattle Egret
3 Great Egret
4 Black-crowned Night-Heron
5 Black Vulture
6 Andean Ruddy Duck
7 Speckled Teal
8 Blue-winged Teal
9 Bogotá Rail
10 Common Moorhen
11 Spot-flanked Gallinule
12 American Coot
13 Wilson's Snipe
14 Noble Snipe
15 Eared Dove
16 Tropical Kingbird
17 Brown-bellied Swallow
18 Tropical Mockingbird
19 Great Thrush
20 Black-billed Thrush
21 Rufous-collared Sparrow
22 Beryl-spangled Tanager
23 Blue-and-black Tanager
24 Eastern Meadowlark
25 Brown Pelican
26 Turkey Vulture
27 Short-tailed Hawk
28 Scaly Dove
29 White-tipped Dove
30 Brown-throated Parakeet
31 Blue-headed Parrot
32 Black-backed Antshrike
33 Mouse-colored Tyrannulet
34 Northern Scrub-Flycatcher
35 Bicolored Cactus-Wren
36 Rufous-browed Peppershrike
37 Scrub Greenlet

Sheridan Coffey
San Antonio, Tx
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/

Day 5, Dec. 10 Ever, You Don't Have to Follow Me!

2009-12-29T18:01:00.000-08:00

We began day 5 with a very happy reunion. Pablo Florez, our guide from our first trip had finished the tour he was doing and joined Oswaldo for the last day and a half of the Bogota portion of the trip. Pablo would be our guide for the last week of the trip to Santa Marta . We were also joined by a friend of Oswaldo. We were heading up to the Monteredando reserve outside of Bogota to look for several endemics, including Cundinamarca Antpitta.

As we drove up the mountain road Oswaldo discussed the trail. We had two choices, a very steep short trail, or a very long level trail. I was still struggling a little bit with my ankle, along with my bad knees and balance issues. I told the group I would be happy to stay on the road by the van and bird there while they did the shorter steep trail, even though it would mean missing the antpitta. Martin asked me several times if I was sure and I was. I hated the idea of missing a bird, but I had been feeling like a drag for the group, so I thought it would be better all around.

They headed up hill and I started wandering up and down the road, seeing what I could find on my own. I actually did pretty well. I found a flock of tanagers and even was able to photograph a Saffron-crowned and a Beryl Spangled. I spotted several hawks, a pair of Roadsides and a White-rumped Hawk. A flock of Flame-winged Parakeets flew through the valley below me. (These had been a big favorite on our previous trip) But all was not completely smooth.

Our driver Ever had stayed below with me. As soon as I walked around the corner on the road and he couldn’t see me, he would follow me, usually talking on his mobile phone. I know he was feeling protective of me, which was very sweet, but it did make birding a little more difficult. I didn’t want to say anything, as he was being very nice, but I did not feel like I needed protecting! It was still very pleasant. The weather was perfect. I found a few butterflies to photograph.

It seemed like the group was gone a long time. It was close to lunch time when they finally came down. They did not look happy at all. The antpitta had been within 10 feet of them, calling its head off, but they never saw it. They never even saw a twig move! It actually happened a couple of times. I felt badly for them. I count heard birds, but Martin and Dan don’t. We ate a snack and then started looking for some of the other birds found in the area.

We worked our way back down hill in search of Ochre-breasted Brush-finch. We heard a couple, but never could get them to show themselves. It was a bit frustrating, to say the least. Then, very close to the road, we heard the Cundinamarca Antpitta calling! It was as close as the one up the hill had been, but again we never saw anything indicating the bird was there. I do have to admit I was secretly happy to have heard it, but I tried not to show it, as Martin and Dan were not able to count it. We did finally get great looks the brush-finches. A flock of Flame-winged Parakeets landed right above us. We also had a few of my favorite hummingbirds, Booted Racket-tail, Long-tailed Sylph and Collared Inca.

We started back to Bogota , hoping to find some flowering trees to look for more hummingbirds. It was getting late in the afternoon when we stopped in Guayabetal, a small town. We walked behind a restaurant and found a beautiful tree with brilliant orange flowers. Our “friends” the violetears, were working in the flowers. Then we saw one of our targets, Green-bellied Hummingbird. A few tanagers and honey-creepers joined the hummers. Some local kids came up and stood with us, asking questions. We let them use our binoculars and Martin set up the scope for them. They all seemed to be enthralled. We talked about the bird life of Colombia and in their area. A few adults joined them. It was a really pleasant interval!.

We finished up, stopped for some fresh arapes, and headed back to Bogota. Again, we didn't have a huge list for the day, but the quality was definitely there!

Pictures for the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623097933520/

Bird List:

1 Cattle Egret

2 Great Egret

3 Turkey Vulture

4 Black Vulture

5 Roadside Hawk

6 White-rumped Hawk

7 Eared Dove

8 White-tipped Dove

9 Flame-winged Parakeet

10 Spectacled Parrotlet

11 Short-tailed Swift

12 Green Violet-ear

13 Sparkling Violetear

14 Black-throated Mango

15 Green-bellied Hummingbird

16 White-vented Plumeleteer

17 Bronzy Inca

18 Collared Inca

19 Booted Racquet-tail

20 Tyrian Metaltail

21 Long-tailed Sylph

22 Montane Woodcreeper

23 Cundinamarca Antpitta

24 Chestnut-crowned Antpitta

25 Blackish Tapaculo

26 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet

27 White-throated Tyrannulet

28 Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant

29 Streak-necked Flycatcher

30 Olive-striped Flycatcher

31 Cinnamon Flycatcher

32 Black Phoebe

33 Social Flycatcher

34 Tropical Kingbird

35 Blue-and-white Swallow

36 Sharpe's Wren

37 Grey-breasted Wood-Wren

38 Tropical Mockingbird

39 Andean Solitaire

40 Great Thrush

41 Black-billed Thrush

42 Green Jay

43 Rufous-collared Sparrow

44 Saffron Finch

45 Ochre-breasted Brushfinch

46 Rose-breasted Grosbeak

47 Common Bush-Tanager

48 Ashy-throated Bush-Tanager

49 Silver-beaked Tanager

50 Blue-grey Tanager

51 Palm Tanager

52 Blue-capped Tanager

53 White-lored Euphonia

54 Saffron-crowned Tanager

55 Metallic-green Tanager

56 Beryl-spangled Tanager

57 Blue-and-black Tanager

58 Purple Honeycreeper

59 Rusty Flowerpiercer

60 White-sided Flowerpiercer

61 Bananaquit

62 Tropical Parula

63 Blackburnian Warbler

64 Slate-throated Redstart

65 Three-striped Warbler

66 Philadelphia Vireo

67 Lesser Goldfinch

68 Russet-backed Oropendola

2009-12-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Day Four. No, you don’t want two tamales.

We got up in the dark to get an early start for the Niceforo’s Wren. We figured it would be more likely to respond at first light. I, unfortunately, did not download the song on my iPod, so Oswaldo and Dan went to a great deal of trouble to get it on Dan’s lap top. We got some coffee at a tiny corner shop and headed down hill to the riparian area we had finished at the evening before.

We arrived in a brushy area with fast flowing water where Oswaldo had heard the wren in the past. In fact, there had been in a nest at one time in one of the over hanging trees. We played the call and eventually heard the bird briefly. We worked our way down the creek a little ways, closer to the call. The bird did not seem to be responding to the recording very well. Martin worked his way in even closer and started imitating the call and the bird responded to him! We all finally got at least a brief look, our third critically endangered species in less than 24 hours.

We went back to the area where we had all the hummingbirds the evening before. We had hoped to get some decent photos of the saberwing and the Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird. The hummers were a bit more dispersed, and though we saw both species, they were not hanging around. It was a bit of a steep climb back up, so I decided to start back ahead of everyone. I had also noticed a lot of butterflies as we were working our way down, so I wanted to see if I could get some photos. I was able to get a few decent shots, in spite of the dark conditions. I was just getting to the area where the van was, when Martin, Dan and Oswaldo arrived. We lucked out with the Bicolored Wren, getting much better looks at that wren than we got of the Niceforo’s.

We went back into town for breakfast and to pack up to go back to Bogota . We stopped at a small restaurant. Oswaldo recommended the tamales. Martin and I asked if we should get a couple. Ever, our driver, who could really eat, looked at us like we were nuts. We each ordered one. It was a good thing! The tamale was almost the size of a football. (Well, that’s maybe a slight exaggeration) It came wrapped in banana leaves and was full of all kinds of stuff, garbanzo beans, chicken, pork and who knows what else. I really enjoyed it, though Dan, who is vegetarian, wasn’t crazy about it. We went back to the hotel.

I spent some time outside in the park across from the hotel while waiting for everyone to finish packing. Even here I found some birds, including a Scrub Tanager and the ubiquitous Blue-gray Tanagers. Oswaldo told me he had seen Chestnut-bellied Hummingbirds here in the past, but I had no luck with them. I also took some photos of the town, which I found very charming. The church was particularly lovely.

We were heading back to Bogota for two nights, but we had a stop to make on the way. Outside of the city there is a wonderful wetland, Lago de Fuquene. There was yet another wren, Apolinar’s, a type of marsh wren that we really wanted to see. It’s an endemic, with an very restricted range. I did have this call on my iPod. We pulled up; I played the call and one jumped right out, ready to kick my butt! Unfortunately the reeds were across some water, so I was not able to get a photo. We added a few more species here, Yellow-hooded Blackbird, Spot-flanked Gallinule and Sora. Barn Swallows swarmed over the water. Our list for the day is not long, but we were very happy with what we saw. We got back into Bogota after dark and checked back into the Casona del Patio, where we stayed for two nights. Pablo was meeting us in the morning to continue with us for the rest of the trip.

Photos for this day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/sets/72157623090660462/

Bird list for the day:

1 Cattle Egret

2 Great Egret

3 Turkey Vulture

4 Black Vulture

5 Broad-winged Hawk

6 Sora

7 Spot-flanked Gallinule

8 American Coot

9 Eared Dove

10 White-tipped Dove

11 Smooth-billed Ani

12 Striped Cuckoo

13 White-tipped Swift

14 Lazuline Sabrewing

15 Sparkling Violetear

16 Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird

17 Silvery-throated Spinetail

18 Bar-crested Antshrike

19 Mountain Elaenia

20 White-throated Tyrannulet

21 Tropical Kingbird

22 Blue-and-white Swallow

23 Barn Swallow

24 Bicolored Cactus-Wren

25 Short-billed Marsh-Wren

26 Apolinar's Marsh-Wren

27 NicÈforo's Wren

28 Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush

29 Rufous-collared Sparrow

30 Streaked Saltator

31 Golden-rumped Euphonia

32 Scrub Tanager

33 Brown-capped Vireo

34 Yellow-backed Oriole

35 Yellow-hooded Blackbird

36 Eastern Meadowlark

37 Apical Flycatcher