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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

North Peru DIY Planning (1 Viewer)

One other bird to not forget that just popped into my head is Speckle-chested Piculet. It can be in flocks at FAN or anywhere from there down to Reserva Arena Blanca. Piculets tend to respond well to playback, if you can't get a good recording of that species it is vocally near identical to Ocellated Piculet and should respond as well.
Speckle-chested at FAN didn't really respond at all (guess too many people have tried?), but I found it in the late afternoon near the hummingbird feeders. Should also be at Huembo.
 
Hi Oli,

Just a couple general comments: you have a LOT of driving and road conditions can be trying. You will have to drive a lot at night to leave yourself sufficient time to bird, in my opinion.

Some more specific comments:
The Owlet lodge trails are perhaps not necessary, the Puente Sin Nombre trail opposite and a bit below the lodge has Chestnut and Leymabamba Antpitta, Johnson's Tody-Fly along the start of the trail, Emerald-bellied Puffleg and more.

Aguas Verdes and Arena Blanca are sort of the same thing. You can bird a few kms uphill from town along the road but mostly the same birds as you will find at the reserve, I would bird the reserve and if you're missing something key bird a bit above town on the way back to Affluente/Elmer's Llanteria.

For your Tunnel / Koepcke's day, the metal tower past the Koepcke's spot is probably the best stakeout anywhere for Dotted Tanager, and is good for Plumbeous Euphonia.

Upaquihua is excellent, can get everything there without going to Juan Guerra, and I suspect you'll see more concentrating on one spot and not rushing so much. Upaquihua is worth getting to early and spending time, lots of good birds and some can take a bit of time.

I would recommend staying at Waqanki and birding there more, one of the best spots in N Peru, tons of specials to be found. Morro Calzada is not a necessary stop and there have been robberies, might be best avoided.

There is a stop near La Rioja for Pale-eyed Blackbird and Black-billed Seedfinch.

Your drive through the Balsas looks aggressive time wise, it's a long drive and while paved, is very, very windy. It's also very scenic. The birds can be tricky, surprisingly, particularly the Parrotlet. I might suggest bird from Leymabamba to Abra Barro Negro and then start down the other side and camp, continuing in the morning, rather than trying to do Leymabamba to Celendin in one day with the birding.

You'll see a lot no doubt but you are going to miss tons of the hard birds and endemics on such a fast schedule. Just up to you how much variety you want to see vs seeing more of the birds from fewer locations.

Sounds like an awesome trip either way!

Thanks Josh. Will take your advice on board, we can swap the planned visit to Morro Calzada with more time at Wakanki and fit an extra night's camping between Leymebamba and Celendin in our current spare day.

Are there any other changes given the time we have (1st-23rd) that could slow the trip down? I am thinking we can cut some of the lake stops.
 
Speckle-chested at FAN didn't really respond at all (guess too many people have tried?), but I found it in the late afternoon near the hummingbird feeders. Should also be at Huembo.

I heard one there from the cabins while chatting with Kenny, chased it a bit but it didn't respond to playback. Later on my way back up from La Rioja towards the pass again I just stopped for a flock a few kms above Aguas Verdes and pulled one out almost instantly with playback. I had previously tried a few flocks near the Llanteria without luck, FWIW.
 
Thanks Josh. Will take your advice on board, we can swap the planned visit to Morro Calzada with more time at Wakanki and fit an extra night's camping between Leymebamba and Celendin in our current spare day.

Are there any other changes given the time we have (1st-23rd) that could slow the trip down? I am thinking we can cut some of the lake stops.

Hard to say, it's really just a tradeoff of seeing more habitats and more birds overall vs how much you want to invest in the hard birds. I spent about 40 days in that area and still dipped a couple birds, though I did find an interesting thing or two :)
 
Hey Josh (or anyone),

when you say

"The Owlet lodge trails are perhaps not necessary, the Puente Sin Nombre trail opposite and a bit below the lodge has Chestnut and Leymabamba Antpitta, Johnson's Tody-Fly along the start of the trail, Emerald-bellied Puffleg and more."

Is this Puente sin Nombre trail a private trail, with entry costs? Also, does it also have Royal Sunangel, or do you need to go on the Owlet Lodge trails for that one? Sounds great if it's cheap or free! Could you estimate how far along the main road from the lodge entrance it is, or any other way to ensure finding the right trail?

cheers, (and starting to get excited about being in that area soon!)

Larry
 
Puente Sin Nombre is at GPS coords (-5.697,-77.795) give or take. A large dirt pullout on the S side of the road, to the W of the bridge, with a little shack and a light post or electrical pole or something in the middle of the pullout. From there a muddy track heads S. It was really muddy when I was there, like 12" of standing water and 12" deep mud in places, gumboots pretty mandatory. The first few hundred meters where it's scrubby is the best spot in the area for Johnson's Tody-Flycatcher. Also there at the start you can get Leymabamba Antpitta though it probably requires some bushwhacking around. Further in, Chestnut Antpitta occurs just along the track. Rusty-breasted Antpitta is there too but easier at FAN. Other good stuff there off the top of my head includes Inca Flycatcher (also at FAN), Black-throated Tody-Tyrant, and Yellow-scarfed Tanager. Emerald-bellied Puffleg is not too uncommon, I have seen it there on most visits, and haven't seen it lower down the road. That species is the one reason to go to the Owlet Lodge if you dip it at Puente Sin Nombre, as it will be at the feeders.

As far as I know you cannot get Royal Sunangel at FAN, Puente Sin Nombre, nor the Owlet Lodge, at least not regularly. The typical spots are some cliffs that are called Royal Sunangel Cliffs or the like in eBird and the birdfinding guide, and a trail in that area that apparently may be closed now? Sorry I don't have really good gen on that bird there, I had already seen plenty of them in Ecuador so didn't go looking at Abra Patricia.

eBird hotspots for that area are located in the correct locations and can really provide guidance on where to find everything. Actually eBird use in Peru is pretty excellent and except for driving directions / where to park / logistics with locals type information, can tell you pretty well where to find just about everything.
 
One male on both days we were there in mid July - I think it is regular.

cheers, alan

My bad! Did not know that. I was about to suggest that it was perhaps seasonal but eBird counters that, looks fairly year round. Perhaps it was just absent when I was there. Having already seen it I didn't focus on it too much, but had asked Kenny if it showed up and he said something like "Nah it's not around" which I seem to have misunderstood as never around.
 
Hi everyone, just checking in with updated plans.

I haven't had much luck tracking down information about car rental from Tarapoto - I found contact information on yellowpages.com Peru, but didn't get responses to my emails and didn't want to make an international phone call. Besides, based on rates in other areas I'm estimating the cost would be $300-400 plus fuel, which I'd rather save. I compared trip costs with car rental and car camping vs. public transport with lodging, and the latter is far cheaper. So I'm electing to go with public transport, even though that means I'll have to skip some of the shorter stops, e.g. Oilbird cave, possibly Afluente. Here's my plan:

Oct 31: Morning flight to Tarapoto, transport to Moyobamba, pm visit to Waqanki and stay at nearby Seizo House
Nov 1: Full day at Waqanki, including trek for Ash-throated Antwren. Overnight at Seizo.
Nov 2: travel to FAN. Maybe stop at Afluente/Lanteria on the way to look for specialties there, hitch a ride or flag down a colectivo to continue to FAN. Overnight FAN, try for owlet.
Nov 3: Full day FAN, possibly arrange guided visits to nearby areas. Backup night to try for owlet.
Nov 4: travel to Pomocochas, pm visit to Huembo or the lake. Overnight in Pomacochas (haven't tracked down specifics yet but I know there are cheap options).
Nov 5: early morning start at San Lorenzo for Pale-billed Antpitta and others. Pm visit to Huembo or lake as needed. Overnight in Pomacochas.
Nov 6: revisit San Lorenzo if needed. Travel to Tarapoto.
Nov 7: morning at Escalera Cordillera, night flight to Lima.

Does anybody have specific recommendations for lodging in Tarapoto? For those who have done similar itineraries with public transport, does this sound like a reasonable plan?
 
...Can't help now but..gulp.. we're off on Monday, and will hopefully get round to hitting that area in a couple of weeks or so, so we'll let you know how badly we got on as soon as we can. Thanks for this thread Abby, I'm sure it'll help :t: :t:
 
Hi everyone, just checking in with updated plans.

I haven't had much luck tracking down information about car rental from Tarapoto - I found contact information on yellowpages.com Peru, but didn't get responses to my emails and didn't want to make an international phone call. Besides, based on rates in other areas I'm estimating the cost would be $300-400 plus fuel, which I'd rather save. I compared trip costs with car rental and car camping vs. public transport with lodging, and the latter is far cheaper. So I'm electing to go with public transport, even though that means I'll have to skip some of the shorter stops, e.g. Oilbird cave, possibly Afluente. Here's my plan:

Oct 31: Morning flight to Tarapoto, transport to Moyobamba, pm visit to Waqanki and stay at nearby Seizo House
Nov 1: Full day at Waqanki, including trek for Ash-throated Antwren. Overnight at Seizo.
Nov 2: travel to FAN. Maybe stop at Afluente/Lanteria on the way to look for specialties there, hitch a ride or flag down a colectivo to continue to FAN. Overnight FAN, try for owlet.
Nov 3: Full day FAN, possibly arrange guided visits to nearby areas. Backup night to try for owlet.
Nov 4: travel to Pomocochas, pm visit to Huembo or the lake. Overnight in Pomacochas (haven't tracked down specifics yet but I know there are cheap options).
Nov 5: early morning start at San Lorenzo for Pale-billed Antpitta and others. Pm visit to Huembo or lake as needed. Overnight in Pomacochas.
Nov 6: revisit San Lorenzo if needed. Travel to Tarapoto.
Nov 7: morning at Escalera Cordillera, night flight to Lima.

Does anybody have specific recommendations for lodging in Tarapoto? For those who have done similar itineraries with public transport, does this sound like a reasonable plan?

Edit: I meant lodging in Pomacochas... plenty of options to choose from online in Tarapoto.
 
...Can't help now but..gulp.. we're off on Monday, and will hopefully get round to hitting that area in a couple of weeks or so, so we'll let you know how badly we got on as soon as we can. Thanks for this thread Abby, I'm sure it'll help :t: :t:

Hi Larry,

Best of luck and I look forward to hearing how things go! I hope to run into you around Lima or Paracas in November!
 
Also an update for those who were interested in hearing if I found out anything about car hire in Tarapoto. I did hear back via email from MTL car (contact info found via yellowpages.com), they do have cars available and the price quoted to me was 1200 soles (~370 USD) for an 8-day rental.
 
Cajamarca and closing ;) struggling to get much birding done, but managed Grey-bellied Comet this morning and Unicolored Tapaculo yesterday
 
Just got to Moyabamba from the west. In Pomacochas easy to find cheap accom, we stayed at Lago Azul which was clean and had WiFi. Easy to get tuktuk to Huembo. Don't panic if you have to wait an hour for spatuletails, we had 3 males eventually, one with long wires. Didn't manage San Lorenzo (finding birding very tough with Ronnie so missing most sites). Really easy to get lifts along any stretch of the rd between pom and moyo. 2 nights at FAN well worth the price, but only heard the owlet. Both antpittas and cinnamon screech were amazing, and the other stuff. You're totally at the mercy of the rain for the owls, and other birding here.

Generally finding the birding harder than anywhere else I've been. Almost impossible to get onto anything interesting for more than a split second unless you use playback. Not my kind of thing. Never had so many unidentified birds! Didn't manage anywhere between FAN and Aguas Verde's, where we stayed at Eden, and went to Arena Blanca this morning. Hummers there were mind blowing. 14 spp in about 2 hours, and 3 spp of tinamous and the woodquails. Didn't have time to get away from the hummer zone!

That's it from your live action reporter, in the zone, on a hammock :)
 
Just got to Moyabamba from the west. In Pomacochas easy to find cheap accom, we stayed at Lago Azul which was clean and had WiFi. Easy to get tuktuk to Huembo. Don't panic if you have to wait an hour for spatuletails, we had 3 males eventually, one with long wires. Didn't manage San Lorenzo (finding birding very tough with Ronnie so missing most sites). Really easy to get lifts along any stretch of the rd between pom and moyo. 2 nights at FAN well worth the price, but only heard the owlet. Both antpittas and cinnamon screech were amazing, and the other stuff. You're totally at the mercy of the rain for the owls, and other birding here.

Generally finding the birding harder than anywhere else I've been. Almost impossible to get onto anything interesting for more than a split second unless you use playback. Not my kind of thing. Never had so many unidentified birds! Didn't manage anywhere between FAN and Aguas Verde's, where we stayed at Eden, and went to Arena Blanca this morning. Hummers there were mind blowing. 14 spp in about 2 hours, and 3 spp of tinamous and the woodquails. Didn't have time to get away from the hummer zone!

That's it from your live action reporter, in the zone, on a hammock :)

Lucky you mate, I'm waiting for a knee replacement!

Did you take a camera, can we expect three months of ID assistance requests, hope so!

A
 
Just got to Moyabamba from the west. In Pomacochas easy to find cheap accom, we stayed at Lago Azul which was clean and had WiFi. Easy to get tuktuk to Huembo. Don't panic if you have to wait an hour for spatuletails, we had 3 males eventually, one with long wires. Didn't manage San Lorenzo (finding birding very tough with Ronnie so missing most sites). Really easy to get lifts along any stretch of the rd between pom and moyo. 2 nights at FAN well worth the price, but only heard the owlet. Both antpittas and cinnamon screech were amazing, and the other stuff. You're totally at the mercy of the rain for the owls, and other birding here.

Generally finding the birding harder than anywhere else I've been. Almost impossible to get onto anything interesting for more than a split second unless you use playback. Not my kind of thing. Never had so many unidentified birds! Didn't manage anywhere between FAN and Aguas Verde's, where we stayed at Eden, and went to Arena Blanca this morning. Hummers there were mind blowing. 14 spp in about 2 hours, and 3 spp of tinamous and the woodquails. Didn't have time to get away from the hummer zone!

That's it from your live action reporter, in the zone, on a hammock :)

Thanks for the update and gen Larry! Glad to hear it's easy to get lifts and to find a cheap room in Pomacochas. Will you be visiting Wakanki? I had written off Arena Blanca but maybe I'll take another look at visiting - I had figured there wasn't anything I couldn't see elsewhere or hadn't seen before but perhaps it'd be worthwhile anyway. I hope you and your family are enjoying the trip despite the difficult birding!
 
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