[tom mckinney]

I´ll probably regret starting this, seeing as I´ll now feel obliged to finish it, but anyway, here goes...

So I´m currently sitting in a swankyish hotel in Lima - all paid by completely useless LAN Peru airline - having spent 7 solid hours shouting at airline staff last night, watched 79 channels of Peruvian cable TV (the highlight being Street Fighter with Van Damme and Kylie) and now, at long long last, in my pocket I have boarding cards to get us home to Heathrow.

Amusing. Sort of. Not really very amusing at all. But at least I´ve found a computer with no login password in the Business Suite. Not sure whether I should be in here, but anyway, at least now I can I waste my time on the interernette, and then we can go back to the airport to start shouting at people again. It´s therapeutic.

We´ve been in Peru for 3.5 weeks, exactly to the split second... wait ... wait a bit more .. and ... NOW! That was exactly 3.5 weeks. Shame you missed it.

Peru is really good. And I mean really good. Far better than lots of other places. I´ve been to other places (I´ve even been to Germany) - trust me, they´re all rubbish compared to Peru.

I will mention something about birds soon.

Maybe.

[tom mckinney]

We went to Peru in 2006. It was really good. I keep telling you that Peru is really good, so just start believing me. I wrote a pointless and infantile trip report on a pointless and infantile website that I used to waste my time updating, you can read that trip report HERE (disclaimer - it´s rubbish. To be honest I didn´t even write it). In fact, read that first (all of it, there´s a test at the end) and then go to the next post. I´ll meet you in the next post when you´re done.

Good luck.

[tom mckinney]

Dfferences between our last visit and this one are the following:

1) I now think that Machu Picchu is utterly terrible in every conceivable way. I´m ashamed I ever thought otherwise.
2) The new field guide is spectacular and makes birding there 45,000 times easier for visitors than before.
3) I now fully understand why you should wear suncream.
4) Every individual employee of LAN Peru should be hunted down and kicked in the nuts (even the female employees).
5) We saw lots of different birds and also some of the same ones.
6) The price of staying in Cusco has increased in 3 years by a factor of 6 (I don´t know what that means).
7) I now think that Peru is even better than I thought it was before.
8) And I thought it was really good before.
9) I´ve now seen the bird that I wanted to see more than any other in the whole wide world and beyond.
10) I was amazed to discover that another bird we saw turned out to be even better than the one I thought was going to be the best that I mentioned in point 9).

So you know what´s coming (and thus know not to visit this thread ever again), here is a summary of our trip:

1) Lima
2) Santa Eulalia valley
3) Tambopata - Explorer´s Inn
4) Machu Picchu
5) Abra Malaga pass
6) Cusco
7) Poshest hotel I´ve ever been in (for free)
8) The hotel I´m in now which isn´t all that posh but costs a fortune (we´re staying for free)

And did I mention that LAN Peru are total baxtards?

[lewis20126]

Originally Posted by tom mckinney

9) I´ve now seen the bird that I wanted to see more than any other in the whole wide world and beyond.

Glad you finally caught up with Slender-footed Tyrannulet - it's a real cutie isn't it.

good stuff

cheers, a

[tom mckinney]

Originally Posted by lewis20126

Glad you finally caught up with Slender-footed Tyrannulet - it's a real cutie isn't it.

Yep, main life ambition finally fulfilled.

I'm actually now about to go home (I know, I can't believe it either), so I won't be able to do anymore of this for at least 36 hours ("oh no!"). I might not actually finish it off, or maybe even do any more ("oh no!"), so here were the best bits:

1) Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch, 2 Great Inca-Finch, 3 Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, 3 White-bellied Cinclodes, White-cheeked Cotinga, 2 Olivaceous Thornbill, 7 Andean Condors and lots of other great things in the Santa Eulalia valley on a two day hit+run tour with Kolibri Expeditions and awesome guide Antonio Coral - thoroughly recommended, 10/10 in every single way.

2) Seeing 2 Diademed Sandpiper-Plovers at 4,600m - the bird I wanted to see more than anything else.

3) Discovering that White-bellied Cinclodes were even better than the DSPs just an hour later at Ticlio, with another DSP thrown in for good measure.

4) 2 Royal Cinclodes at Abra Malaga, one of them showing extraordinarily well. Also Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant, Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant, White-browed Tit-Spinetail, Tawny Tit-Spinetail, 2 tame Stripe-headed Antpittas, Puna Tapacula, Junin Canastero and plenty other things that I can`t spell correctly. Don't believe the hype - you can visit the place by yourself without a guide, it´s really easy. Send me a PM if you want any details.

5) 6 species of macaw in a single morning at La Colpa on Rio Tambopata.

6) Masked Fruiteater, Lyre-tailed Nightjar, 2 Cocks-Rocks and a tanager-packed mixed-flockingly-manic time at Aguas Calientes.

7) Inca Wren at Machu Picchu, which finally exorcised the demons remaining from 2006 when we were both so ill we couldn't walk. And which leads me to the final best bit...

8) We never once had the craps, the pukes, or the altitudes.

There were lots of other best bits as well (I haven't told you about the horse that threw up on me yet), but I've got to go.

¡Viva el Peru!

Let's chat soon,

Tom

[username]

White bellied cinclodes was a 'real' surprise turn on for us....we rated it much higher than the Diademed's...maybe we'd seen too many DSP photo's beforehand?! Slightly anti-climatic somehow...[birds surrounded by stunning scenery tho]...

ps...didn't 'do' Machu Picchu....thought better of goin to a rock pile covered with tourists....[looks nice in pix 'without' folk in it tho]....!

pps...Peru is awesome...need to do the north.....

ppps...glad you didn't get the craps......kinda 'spoils things' when you do huh?!

[martinf]

have high hopes for this thread

any good tick stories this time?

[username]

Originally Posted by martinf

have high hopes for this thread

any good tick stories this time?

I too have high hopes for this thread martin...[have missed Tom's 'observations' from skills bills...as i'm certain many of us have]

ps....hard to think of a better 'tick' story than the 'last one' he had...surely he can't top that..?!!

[antshrike69]

Originally Posted by username

I too have high hopes for this thread martin...[have missed Tom's 'observations' from skills bills...as i'm certain many of us have]

ps....hard to think of a better 'tick' story than the 'last one' he had...surely he can't top that..?!!

Me too. Loved the last trip report, so hoping for more high jinks and comedy swearing.

[tom mckinney]

Sorry, can’t beat last time’s tick story, but trust me, the horse throwing up on me is well worth the wait. I’m not talking about a sneeze or a cough here, I mean full bile-laden horse vomit. I’ve said too much already.

Lima

Lima is a big city. It has a city centre, main square, museums, shopping centre, art galleries, banks, restaurants, crime, bars, prostitutes, drugs, cars, motorbikes and buses. Also lots of people. There’s also the Specific Ocean and cliffs. The cliffs look as though they are about to crumble. The beach at Miraflores is made of mud and not sand. When you walk on it you get covered in mud and not sand. So that’s Lima in a nutshell. It’s actually fine, and I was quite disappointed to discover that it wasn’t the Sodom & Gomorrah that every guide book seems to suggest it is.

From pretty much anywhere in Europe it costs a lot of money to fly to Peru. Apparently there’s no competition between airlines because not many of them fly there, and so the few that do can charge what they like. Even if you book your tickets the split second they come on sale, currently you’ll not get much change from £1,000. It’s probably a lot cheaper for US visitors, but even then I don’t think there’s such a thing as a real bargain. Maybe if you go completely out of the high season you'll get a good deal, but that will be when the weather is less predictable and your schedule probably won’t go to plan. Swings, roundabouts.

On the flight I watched X-Men Wolverine and then tried to watch Faster And Even More Furious Than The Other Two Films or whatever it was called, but I gave up because it was so utterly terrible, and also the really good looking latino girl was killed off quite early on - so what’s that all about?

Our bags didn’t arrive at Lima airport. It happens. At least it does to us. Lots. You go to see someone and after 30 minutes they sort it for you. Your bags get delivered free of charge to your hotel when they arrive, hopefully the next day.

We stayed in Miraflores. Everyone stays in Miraflores. Indeed everyone in Lima seems to live in Miraflores - it’s the posh place. I think Miraflores might be like Didsbury in Manchester: nobody really knows where the exact boundaries of the area lie, so everyone in Manchester claims they live in Didsbury because then people can say “Wow! Your house must be worth a fortune?” Miraflores is much nicer than Didsbury. Don’t ever go on holiday to Didsbury, you’ll be really disappointed.

In Miraflores we stayed at the Angels Inn for two nights and it was perfectly fine. Basic, but security was excellent: all the rooms are around the reception desk, and the lovely young family who manage the place are on alert 24 hours a day should any thieving vermin gap-year backpacking hippy filth try to have their way with the lock on your door.

In Miraflores we had to go shopping for warm clothes because our bags wouldn’t arrive until after we’d been on a tour to the Santa Eulalia valley. We went to a department store and bought jackets. I looked like a Peruvian taxi driver in mine. There are no photos of me wearing the jacket because I wasn’t in a very good mood whilst wearing my jacket. I no longer own the jacket, I later gave it to a taxi driver in return for 5 sol off a ride. It was the best outcome for all involved, though he came out far better because the jacket cost me 39 sol, so perhaps it wasn’t the best outcome for all. He suited the jacket far better than me. Later I remembered that I’d left a 2 sol coin in one of the pockets, so he REALLY came out of it better than me.

Inbetween shopping for warm clothes, we visited Parque Kennedy to do a little bit of birding, and wahey! it was surprisingly good: Amazilia Hummingbirds, Long-tailed Mockingbirds, Vermilion Flycatchers in both morphs, Southern Beardless Tyrannulets…

On the beach we had plenty of Inca Terns on La Rosa Nautica restaurant at the end of the pier, Peruvian Boobies, Band-tailed Gulls, other things…

The day was done. We had jackets and gloves. We had a pizza. I couldn’t remember what road our hostal was on. I knew it was Calle something, but that didn’t help, it’s like walking around Didsbury looking for something Road. There was a genuine moment of panic when nobody we asked seemed to have heard of Angles Inn. And then we found it. That’s how things go. Nothing’s ever as bad as it seems, other than what happens to Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption. Now that’s pretty bad, though even he came out of things okay in the end. He probably had a bit of a limp for the rest of his life though, what with all that stuff that went on in the boiler room.

And then we went to bed. But I didn’t sleep much because of the cheese on the pizza which tasted of vinegar.

Peruvian Booby - common
Neotropic Cormorant - common
Black Vulture - common
Variable Hawk - 1 over Parque Kennedy
American Kestrel - 2 on cliffs
Band-tailed Gull - 5+
Inca Tern - common at La Rosa Nautica
Eared Dove - common
Pacific Dove - common
(Scarlet-fronted Parakeet) - small flock over Angles Inn. Feral population.
Amazilia Hummingbird - 3+ in Parque Kennedy
Southern Beardless Tyrannulet - 2+ in Parque Kennedy
Vermilion Flycatcher - both morphs common in Parque Kennedy
Tropical Kingbird - 1 in Parque Kennedy
Long-tailed Mockingbird - 2 in Parque Kennedy
Blue-black Grassquit - common
Rufous-collared Sparrow - yo!
(Bananaquit) - common. Feral population.


Below are two loveley seaside photos and a picture of a dog in a jacket - always gets a laugh from me.

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Nice report so far Tom. A friend of mine has just moved to Didsbury, although she's having problems with the drainage in her flat. I guess things like that happen even in Didsbury.

That's a good shot of a dog in a jacket, although I always find guinea pigs in costumes a bit funnier.
http://cuddlycavies.homestead.com/costumes.html

[username]

Hopefully you will have some very graphic photos to illustrate the 'horse chuck-up' incident Tom.....[tho i guess that would be too much to hope for]!?

Didn't realize that the flight prices to Peru had gone up 'that' much since last year...!!

ps...i hope you at least enjoyed the Wolverine flick....i thought it was pretty good...[sci-fi/comic book junkie that i am].....
pps...look forward to your new postings.....[with or without pix of you covered in projectile horse-vomit].......

[James Lowther]

the excitement is getting too much now!!! and i'm still looking forward to machu picchu (after all you liked it the first time!)

Originally Posted by tom mckinney

4) 2 Royal Cinclodes at Abra Malaga, one of them showing extraordinarily well. Also Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant, Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant, White-browed Tit-Spinetail, Tawny Tit-Spinetail, 2 tame Stripe-headed Antpittas, Puna Tapacula, Junin Canastero and plenty other things that I can`t spell correctly. Don't believe the hype - you can visit the place by yourself without a guide, it´s really easy. Send me a PM if you want any details.

can this count as my PM

[tom mckinney]

Santa Eulalia Valley

My main reason for wanting to go back to Peru was to see Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, a bird I’ve always wanted to see for some unusual reason, though lots of people seem to have them high up on their must-see lists as well. When we went in 2006 I thought that it would be easy to get up to them near Arequipa, but we totally messed up the planning (well the truth is that we didn’t really do much planning). This time I wasn’t going to take any chances, so I got someone else to do all the planning for me.

I did look into visiting Santa Eulalia valley independently by using public transport, but it seemed really irregular and not great for birding. In the end I found this tour with Gunnar Engblom's Kolibri Expeditions. It was brilliant in every way. Our guide Antonio Coral hasn’t been guiding in the Central Highlands for long, but he knew the area really well and his eyesight is something to behold: I’m still in awe of his correct shout of Stripe-headed Antpitta (pretty rare in the area) which he saw high up on a hillside from inside a moving van at the bottom of a valley - bravo! Antonio never stopped laughing and he never stopped looking for a second, so we had a great time and saw everything we paid for - 100% recommendation from us.

Now having visited I wouldn’t recommend going to the area independently, well not if you’re short of time - it’s a vast place. The map of the area in Thomas Valqui’s Where to Watch Birds in Peru is a bit misleading, suggesting that there’s pretty much only one road in the valley, but I can’t say I ever had a clue where we were over the two days, even though I was trying to follow Valqui’s map! There are a million and one ways to get lost in the area, and some sections of the road seem to be pretty dangerous.

We left Lima at 4am to be ready to try for Great Inca-Finch at first light. Regardless of the sexy target birds there’s good general birding to be had all along, and whilst waiting for the Inca-Finch to pop up there was plenty of other things to see, including scores of endemic Rusty-bellied Brush-Finch. By 8am we’d had great views of 3 Great Inca-Finch as well as Thick-billed Miner, so that was two targets down. The day before a group had spent a day specifically looking for Great Inca-Finch, and didn’t see a single sausage, or any Great Inca-Finches either. Perhaps if they'd spent more time looking for Great Inca-Finches and not sausages they'd have done a bit better. I’m not bragging, just pointing out that it’s hit and miss with them. Actually I am bragging - ha ha! We saw three!!!

Next we carried on up to a mirador at about 3,000m for Condors - we saw 3 in a very short space of time.

Still higher up for White-cheeked Cotinga in a patch of Polylepis woodland. I’d have driven straight past this place, it looked more like sparse scrub than Polylepis. No matter though - thar she blows, a distant White-cheeked Cotinga high up on a rock, which then decided to come down to see us for a few nice minutes of viewing. Also there another 4 Andean Condors, including two trying to land on the cliffs but being battered by microscopic American Kestrels.

On the way to a Black-necked Flicker site we stopped at a regular roost for Great (Magellanic) Horned Owl, then stopped at plenty of different places for some great scrubby birding where we had Black-breasted Hillstar, Bronze-tailed Comet, Black Metaltail, Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail and Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant. Eventually we arrived at a Black-necked Flicker site and saw one within seconds of getting out of the van. Not bad at all.

The final target for the day was Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch, a bird so rare and unknown that I may possibly have even just made it up. The chances of seeing one are somewhere between zero and nil, in fact nobody has ever even seen one in the wild, only in my mind. Needless to say we didn’t see one, but on the way to not seeing one we did see some other things, things like Andean Tinamou, a fantastic male Peruvian Sheartail and a cute fat little Peruvian Pygmy-Owl.

The sun fell behind the bare scorched hills as we waited above the village of Huachupampa, waited for the imaginary Rusty-bellied Finch-Warbler, a bird so imaginary and rare and enigmatic that we didn’t see one, and so we went to Huachupampa to spend the night in a hotel. Everyone but me later saw Band-winged Nightjars in the village roosting on some guttering, but I was too busy dreaming about what a Red-chested Brush-Warbler might look like.

Conclusion at the end of day one: money well spent.

Bold = endemics

Andean Tinamou - 1
Andean Condor - 7
American Kestrel - 2+
Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle - 1
Variable Hawk - 3
Eared Dove - common
Bare-faced Ground-Dove - common
Mountain Parakeet - 2 separate flocks of c10
Great (Magellanic) Horned Owl - 1
Peruvian Pygmy-Owl - 1
White-collared Swift - single flock of 10+
Andean Swift - common
Sparkling Violetear - 1
Black-breasted Hillstar - 1 fem
Great Sapphirewing - 1 male
Giant Hummingbird - common
Bronze-tailed Comet - 1
Black Metaltail - 3+
Peruvian Sheartail - 1 male
Purple-collared Woodstar - 4+
Black-necked Flicker - 1 male
Thick-billed Miner - 2
White-winged Cinclodes - 5+
Streaked Tit-Spinetail - 1
Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail - 1
Canastero sp - 2. Probably Streak-throated Canastero but views were very poor.
White-cheeked Cotinga - 1
Torrent Tyrannulet - 1
Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant - 2
Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant - 5+
D’Orbigny’s Chat-Tyrant - 1
White-browed Chat-Tyrant - common
Tropical Kingbird - 1
House Wren - yo!
Chiguanco Thrush - hi hi hi!
Hooded Siskin - common
Cinereous Conebill - common
Blue+yellow Tanager - common
Mourning Sierra-Finch - common
Band-tailed Sierra-Finch - common
Great Inca-Finch - 3
Black-throated Flowerpiercer - 2
Greenish Yellow-Finch - common
Rusty-bellied Brush-Finch - common
Rufous-collared Sparrow - I am Cornholio!
Golden-bellied Grosbeak - 2. And they’re bluddy byootiful as well.

***

Some appalling photos below, most digi-binned. Great Inca-Finch; White-cheeked Cotinga; Andean Condor after being bombed by a Kestrel; Great Horned Owl; Rusty-bellied Brush-Finch.

[tom mckinney]

And some other photos from the day:

* The van (don't know why you would want to see this, but anyway)
* Santa Eulalia valley
* Another scenic one - the Polylepis. Note how I italicised the word, like everyone else does. Why do you have to italicise it? Is it science or something?
* juv Variable Hawk
* Antonio drinking from the Condor fountain in Huachupampa

[tom mckinney]

Huachupampa to Ticlio Pass

So we had just one hour at dawn to try for the impossible Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch and then it would be time to work our way up to over 4,500m. We waited as the sun rose, with plenty of nice birds including a Spot-billed Ground-Tyrant, Speckled Hummingbird (a new bird for the area?), 2 Oasis Hummingbirds and lots of birds with hyphens in their names. Because we saw pretty much all the expected Santa Eulalia targets on day one, we just assumed that we were going to see the Warbling-Finch, and we did as well: there just in front of us, only a couple of metres off the ground, was the rarest bird in the world ever, looking as rare, endemic and poorly known as all the literature suggested it would be.

Honestly though, this was a great looking bird, but sadly if increased intensive agriculture and vanishing trees have their way then Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finches will soon be a lot more rare and poorly known than they currently are. The entire known population is tiny and restricted to a small area, and what with being so close to Lima, they could easily be wiped out should nobody heed their potential plight. So how does a visiting birder go about helping? Who can you give a donation to? Would a donation make any difference whatsoever? I hope not, because I’m broke at the moment and charity begins at home, in my pocket. No, seriously, it’s very worrying, because there’s often nothing other than good fortune to prevent many of these endemic species just being wiped out in the blink of an eye. A bit more in this LINK.

Gaining height, we continued to stop at good scrub for top-up views of many of yesterday’s local niceness, as well as adding plenty of new things. Soon the White-winged Cinclodes began to turn into Bar-winged Cinclodes and the temperature began to drop. Good job I had my taxi driver’s jacket.

Antonio brought the van to an emergency stop with a shout of Stripe-headed Antpitta, and a quick scramble out ensured that we all saw the crazy potato on pipe-cleaners go running up a scree slope into a small patch of Polylepis, growling all the time.

Still another 1,500m to go to the top. Scenery dramatic. Mountains, snow-capped etc… Ground-Tyrants everywhere. White-winged Diuca-Finch flying in front of the van. Rain. Cold. Sleet. Wind. Then a bit of snow. Road becoming bad. High altitude lakes = Giant Coot. Higher still, now well over 4,000m. Further stops to check out more Ground-Tyrants as two Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe waddle up to the side of the van for some shelter.

4,600m, good boggy area, time to trample around. 2 Mountain Caracaras, flushing Puna Snipe, failing to see Diademed Sandpiper-Plovers. Further again, same type of area, same strategy, similar failings. And then I discovered a brand new method for finding Diademed Sandpiper-Plovers. It’s really easy. What you do is get your binoculars and start scanning all over the place, and then when you see a distant group of birders stood in the middle of a high altitude bog you quickly drive over to them and then look at the 2 Diademed Sandpiper-Plovers that they are watching - wahey!

Were they as good as I excpeted? Indeed they were. And why were they? I have no idea. I mentioned in a previous post that so many people seem to want to see DSPs more than any other bird. I suppose there’s something about a bird which lives its entire life in pretty inhospitable conditions, and for birders there’s a sense of adventure about seeing a bird at such altitudes. But in reality they’re probably not that difficult to see anymore, in fact I think that they’re even pretty common in parts of Chile? Still, don’t let any of that “reality” stuff spoil things, until an hour later this was the best bird I’d ever seen and I was bouncing with joy as we walked further into the marsh for closer views, though that could have been because the bog was a bit springy under foot.

I refused to take any photos because I just wanted to watch them and enjoy them, and also there’s no point because all of my photos are so chronically bad that the end result is only ever heartache when I eventually see them on my laptop. Whilst watching them we also had an Olivaceous Thornbill, an extreme altitude hummingbird that spends most of its time wandering about on the floor looking for dropped coins, obviously without much luck.

There’s a nice selection of DSP photos HERE.

Last stop of the day was up another 200m to Ticlio bog at 4,800m. I dare you to go for a quick sprint up there, like run really fast and see what happens - I bet you’ll feel really great! Go on, just do it for a laugh. (By the way, don’t do it, you’ll probably die.) More trampling around a bog ensued, as 5 Black-faced Ibis flew over, another Olivaceous Thornbill (also looking for dropped coins) and then another single DSP with even better views this time. Getting late, but still one final bird to see, not looking good. Our driver and assistant knocked together the tastiest tuna fish sandwiches I’ve ever had as we talked with Antonio about having to leave soon without having seen White-bellied Cinclodes. Be philosophical: you always need something to go back for, there’s no point in seeing everything otherwise you’d have no point in birding anymore. Yeah right, and like that really helps!

Back in the van and leaving without the Cinclodes. Painful. But then fate. Our driver Juan Jose stalled on a steep section of the track, so why not have one final scan? And there it was, a White-bellied Cinclodes far up on the top of the ridge by some piles of rubbish. I thought I’d better tell everyone else, and so - even though it was so effing cold - we got out of the van to look at it. Oh my! What a lovely bird. So lovely that as we were looking at it, Antonio turned around and found 2 more just behind us. They were even lovelier. So 3 White-bellied Cinclodes. And as I watched them I realised that I was probably watching the best bird I’d ever seen. Why? Don’t know, call it women’s intuition, or something like that. I’d never had a favourite bird in the whole wide world before (obviously other than the American Coot on Shetland - that’s a bird which transcends any sense of favouritism), and I thought it would probably be Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, only it wasn’t, it was these Cinclodes. Best. Bird. Ever.

So go there and see them. And then eat another tuna fish sandwich to celebrate.

One final bit of excitement though: on the way back down the Central Highway into Lima we were pulled over by the pigs in San Mateo. The filth busted our driver Juan Jose for having tinted side windows without a permit - seriously, I didn't make that up! Juan Jose had to pay a fine, one of these Peruvian fines that went straight into the narc’s back pocket. Bribing the bizzies - hardcore!

So in conclusion: without exaggeration, two of the best days birding imaginable, though luck was definitely with us. I think the price of the tour is pretty good value (certainly was for 4 people) and I really can’t think of a single bad word to say about anything, from my initail email enquiry to Gunnar many months ago to being dropped off back in Lima.

Bold = endemic
Bold, underlined and in capitals = very good indeed

Andean Goose - common
Crested Duck - 5+
Speckled Teal - 5+
Andean Duck - 10
Black-faced Ibis - 5
Puna Ibis - common
Black-crowned Night Heron - 1
Mountain Caracara - 2
American Kestrel - common
Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle - 1
Variable Hawk - common
Giant Coot - common
Andean Lapwing - 3+
DIADEMED SANDPIPER-PLOVER - 2 at Marcapomacocha; 1 at Ticlio. Not endemic, just in case any pedants (peasants?) pick me up on the bold lettering (up yours!)
Rufous-bellied Seed snipe - 2
Puna Snipe - 5+
Andean Gull - 4
Eared Dove - common
Bare-faced Ground-Dove - common
Mountain Parakeet - common
Sparkling Violetear - common
Giant Hummingbird - common
Black Metaltail - 1
Speckled Hummingbird - 1
Olivaceous Thornbill - 2
Oasis Hummingbird - 2
Plain-breasted Earthcreeper - 1
Bar-winged Cinclodes - common
White-winged Cinclodes - common (but none over 3,500m)
WHITE-BELLIED CINCLODES - 3 at Ticlio. For what we have received, may the Lord make us truly thankful.
Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail - 1
Stripe-headed Antpitta - 1 just past the end of the Polylepis. Very coolio.
White-browed Chat-Tyrant - common
Spot-billed Ground-Tyrant - 1
Puna Ground-Tyrant - common
Taczanowksi’s Ground-Tyrant - 1
Cinereous Ground-Tyrant - common
White-fronted Ground-Tyrant - common. These are really quite huge.
Andean Swallow - 10+
White-capped Dipper - 2
Chiguanco Thrush - hola!
White-winged Diuca-Finch - 5+
Hooded Siskin - common
Peruvian Sierra-Finch - 3
Mourning Sierra-Finch - common
RUFOUS-BREASTED WARBLING-FINCH - 1. 1st ever sighting with human eyes.
Greenish Yellow-Finch - 1
Rusty-bellied Brush-Finch - common
Rufous-collared Sparrow - throw me a noose

***

2 piccies of the Cinclodes; Sparkling Violetear with some pollen on its cap; White-fronted Ground-Tyrant; the place on the road where we had the first ever sighting of the Warbling-Finch, apparently a regular place for them, not that anyone else has ever seen them.

[tom mckinney]

Marcapomacocha - cold
Milloc - colder
Ticlio - coldest (mad rush to get back for tuna sandwich)

[tom mckinney]

Explorer's Inn

I’ve been dreaming about visiting Explorer’s Inn ever since I found out how cheap it was; nothing provides me with more inspiration than not spending very much money. It’s really cheap (note that this is all relative). For 7 nights full board, all transport from Puerto Maldonado airport and a trip 4 hours upriver, overnight camping and a visit to the big claylick we paid only £400 each. Like I said, it’s relative, but you have to just trust me on this, that is a real bargain in terms of these lowland lodges.

Tambopata is much cheaper than Manu, mainly because there are so many lodges, so competition is forcing the lodges to slash their prices. The problem with this is that there are now so many lodges that the area seems to have lost any feeling of remoteness, though the trip to the claylick really did give you a sense of isolation. When we went to Manu it was somewhat different: Amazonia and Pantiacolla Lodges were much less disturbed. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed a week at Explorer’s Inn and I could easily have stayed for another week.

Another problem was that we were unlucky to visit during a period of very dry weather, which was probably responsible for many birds shipping out and moving elsewhere. We later heard that Manu Wildlife Centre had been a bit slow going around the same time that we were at Explorer’s Inn, and this was attributed to it being so dry.

Having enjoyed Antbirds so much in 2006, I was completely prepared for Antbird mayhem, having committed to memory the songs and most calls of every anticipated Ant-thing. Unfortunately Antbirding was p1ss poor, and even many of the expected common species were either very rare or completely absent. To add to this we never heard or saw a single ovenbird, flycatchers (even impossible canopy neck-breakers) were nowhere to be seen and tanager flocks were also non-existant. After a bit of rainfall I have no doubt that Explorer’s Inn would be quite amazing: the trails are brilliantly maintained and there are patches of bamboo that almost made me cry - they looked so good and yet were completely dead, there was an eerie silence even early in the morning.

Enough moaning, it was still a really good week, though the humidity and insects can get you down a bit at times. I’m moaning again.

All visitors to the lodge are assigned a guide and join a group for various activities - but don’t panic, they’re all optional, so you can opt out of all the guided activities and then just do your own thing. Also, make sure you know where groups are going to be the night before you go out, then you can plan your next day far from the madding crowds. However, don’t dismiss everything on offer, we went on the caiman search twice and that was really good, also the small claylick (Collpita) just a few minutes downriver is also worth a trip and was the only place we had Yellow-crowned Parrot. Food was all good. Beer is pricey. Showers are cold, and you really wouldn’t want them any other way! Average daytime temperature about 30C, humidity verging on the intolerable at times.

The trip to the big parrot claylick (La Colpa) was the main reason for our visit and it really is unforgettable, though I’ve forgotten why. I call it the big claylick because I don’t actually know what it was called, mainly because whenever I asked anyone they told me something different. There are two big clay licks near Tambopata Research Centre, and we went to the one where Blue-and-yellow Macaws visit (apparently they don’t visit the other one), so if you know which one that is, then do please let me know, because I don’t have a f***ing clue. A trip there involves another 4 hours of boat travel upstream and an overnight camp, all good fun. Make sure whoever takes you knows you’re only alive for the birds, because then they’ll dump you on a trail on the other side of the river for a while whilst the other general wildlife enthusiasts go for a swim or something. This trail was pretty good with Pale-winged Trumpeter and Amazonian Antpitta. The river by the campsite has enormous swarms of sandflies, so for fzzks sake don’t forget to take some very effective repellent, preferably the type that melts your eye lids.

The next day you get to an island opposite the lick just before dawn and then just sit and wait behind a palm screen - it’s really good. The trees end up full to bursting with parrots and parties drop down to the clay cliffs to feed, but they’re always pretty wary, and the slightest disturbance (usually low soaring vultures) has them heading off straight away. With a bit of luck you should get great views of 6 species of macaw. You need to visit in the dry months, because if the cliffs are wet then the birds won’t feed on the clay.

Over the week we walked most of the trails at the lodge and the best trail was Tapir. Main was also good, the little pier at Laguna Chica was really good and Panchita/Ant Trail weren’t too bad either. Dusk was spent either at Laguna Chica or at the river on the mirador above the boats. Cocococha Lake had 7 Giant Otters in it when we were there. Monkeys are always around, usually common things like Red Howler, Dusky Titi and Saddleback Tamarin. Amazonian Red Squirrel are also pretty common. A large family of Capybara showed really well on the river on the way back from the claylick.

***

Tinamous
Great Tinamou - 1 occasionally heard pre-dawn behind shack 6
Cinereous Tinamou - commonly heard, usually at dawn & dusk. 1 seen on Laguna Chica Trail
Little Tinamou - 2+ singing at dusk at Laguna Chica
Undulated Tinamou - everywhere and usually a couple bumming around by shack 6
Brazilian Tinamou - 1 heard singing on the opposite side of the river at dusk from the mirador above the boats. Heard 3 times and song was a perfect match with the one on my iPod from xeno-canto
Bartlett’s Tinamou - occasionally heard pre-dawn behind shack 6

Horned Screamer - 2 on the way to the Colpa

Orinoco Goose - 2 by the campsite

Guans
Speckled Chachalaca - 2 at Laguna Chica
Spix’s Guan - common
Razor-billed Currasow - 2 on Tapir Trail at 1575m and 1650m. Very outside chance they were the same bird, doubt it though
Starred Wood-Quail - 3 calling at Laguna Chica at dusk

Neotropic Cormorant - common

Anhinga - 2 at Cocococha Lake and 1 at Katicocha Lake

Herons
Rufescent Tiger-Heron - 1 spotlighted on the river during a caiman search
Capped Heron - 1 over Laguna Chica
Cattle Egret - small flocks seen heading downstream at dusk
Little Blue Heron - 1 on the river
Snowy Egret - usually 1 around on the river and seen on boat journeys
Cocoi Heron - 2 on river on way to the Colpa

New World Vultures
Greater Yellow-headed Vulture - common
Black Vulture - commonish
King Vulture - the Communards. Occasionally soaring and 2 seen twice in the canopy at junction of Ant and Panchita Trails - a roost?

Hawks
Plumbeous Kite - common
Slate-coloured Hawk - 1 at the Colpa
Great Black-Hawk - 1 on the river on the way to the Colpa
Roadside Hawk - heard a lot but only 2 seen at the Colpa

Falcons
Black Caracara - usually a few seen on river journeys
Laughing Falcon - ha ha ha ha ha ha ha… Big laughing fool heard at dusk at the mirador above the boats
Lined Forest-Falcon - a pair either side of us on Panchita Trail 150m. Felt just like being stalked by Velociraptors in Jurassic Park, you know how they always hunt in pairs. Ignore me, I’m talking bollox
Bat Falcon - 2 catching dragonflies over the river at dusk viewable from mirador above the boats. Great views

Pale-winged Trumpeter - 1 on campsite trail

Rufous-sided Crake - our new best (only) friend. Each time we got to Laguna Chica we could see the reeds moving as he came running to us, got under the pier and started shouting at us. Sounds just like a Little Grebe

Sungrebe - 2 at Cocococha Lake

Pied Lapwing - 2 on the river
Spotted Sandpiper - 2 on the river

Large-billed Tern - 2 at the Colpa

Pigeons
Plumbeous Pigeon - occasionaly heard
Ruddy Pigeon - endlessly singing all bloody day long. Schulenberg and co decribe the song phonetically as hit the foul pole, no idea what that means. More appropriate would be shut the f*** up
Gray-fronted Dove - commonly heard and usually 2 foraging around near shack 6
Ruddy Quail-Dove - 1 on Main Trail

Parrots
Blue+yellow Macaw - 4 at the Colpa
Scarlet Macaw - common
Red+green Macaw - common
Chestnut-fronted Macaw - common
Red-bellied Macaw - c5 at the Colpa
Blue-headed Macaw - 10+ at the Colpa
White-eyed Parakeet - common
Dusky-headed Parakeet - common
Cobalt-winged Parakeet - common
Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlet - 2 over Laguna Chica early morning
Orange-cheeked Parrot - common
Blue-headed Parrot - common
Yellow-crowned Parrot - 2 at the Collpita
Mealy Parrot - common

Cuckoos
Squirrel Cuckoo - 2 at Laguna Chica
Smooth-billed Ani - a few occasionally by the river

Owls
Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl - 1+ heard every night in the clearing and 1 at the campsite
Spectacled Owl - 1 calling at dusk start of Main Trail
Amazonian Pygmy-Owl - 1 at start of trail to Sunset Point near football pitch and 1 behind shack 6

Common Potoo - 1 at campsite

Nightjars
Pauraque - common over the river
Ladder-tailed Nightjar - usually a few each night over the river and often landing on mud by the boats

Swifts
White-collared Swift - small flocks over Laguna Chica
Pale-rumped Swift - 2+ at Laguna Chica, the rump is really easy to see with even the slightest twist of the tail. Probably Grey-rumped as well, but never saw them well enough.
Short-tailed Swift - 3 Laguna Chica
Fork-tailed Palm-Swift - a few usually around over the river

Hummingbirds
Reddish Hermit - 4+ on Swamp Trail at 650m - a lek? Also 1 in the clearing on bushes by the comedor
White-necked Jacobin - 2 battering the sh*t out of each other by the football pitch
Fork-tailed Woodnymph - 1 often on flowers by shack 6

Trogons
Black-tailed Trogon - commonly heard all over the place and usually seen if you put a bit of effort into it. 1 very tame bird at the campsite
Collared Trogon - a pair on Laguna Chica Trail
Blue-crowned Trogon - occasionally heard and less occasionally seen at Laguna Chica

Kingfishers
Ringed Kingfisher - 1 at Cocococha Lake
American Pygmy Kingfisher - 1 at Katicocha Lake. Stupidly small. Birds shouldn’t be this ridiculous. Great bird though.

Motmots
Broad-billed Motmot - occasionally heard around the clearing. 1 seen well at the mirador
Blue-crowned Motmot - common
Rufous Motmot - 1 at start of Main Trail. Probably had lots calling as well, but the mp3 I used for reference was really crap quality and I’m not 100% certain on them all

Bluish-fronted Jacamar - 1 by the steps at start of Main Trail

Puffbirds
Black-fronted Nunbird - common
White-fronted Nunbird - 1 on the Main Trail
Swallow-wing - common. 2 flycatching every afternoon in the clearing

Barbets
Gilded Barbet - usually 1 around the clearing
Lemon-throated Barbet - 1 heard at Laguna Chica and a fem aurantiicollis showed nicely at the mirador above the boats

Toucans
Emerald Toucanet - 1 in the clearing
White-throated Toucan - seen and heard everywhere. Great birds, but a pretty rubbish call
Channel-billed Toucan - probably more common than I think, but I didn’t hear them even half as much as White-throated. Really tricky to ID by sight alone in SE Peru

Woodpeckers
Chestnut Woodpecker - 1 on Tapir Trail
Lineated Woodpecker - 1 resident in the clearing
Red-necked Woodpecker - everywhere, doesn’t diminish how cool they are though

Woodcreepers
Plain-brown Woodcreeper - 1 on Laguna Chica Trail. The stupidest song ever?
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper - 1 on Main Trail
Long-billed Woodcreeper - 3 by the hide at Cocococha Lake. I do believe that ‘haunting’ would be an appropriate term to describe their song
Cinnamon-throated Woodcreeper - 2 residents in the clearing. WARNING: don’t tick them by song alone, there’s a few Thrush-like Wrens perfectly imitating them
Buff-throated Woodcreeper - everywhere

Antbirds
Great Antshrike - 3 at Laguna Chica. Marvellous fun. Great birds, hence their name
Plain-winged Antshrike - everywhere
Pygmy Antwren - 1 on Tapir Trail and 1 on Main Trail
Sclater’s Antwren - a pair on Bamboo Trail
Stipple-throated Antwren - 1 on Main Trail
White-flanked Antwren - 1 on Panchita Trail
Long-winged Antwren - 1 on Panchita Trail
Striated Antbird - 1 at campsite
Chestnut-tailed Antbird - common
Black-spotted Bare-eye - occasionally heard
Black-faced Ant thrush - common. You’ve got to love them, especially when they start answering Undulated Tinamous.
Amazonian Antpitta - 1 on campsite trail

Tyrant Flycatchers
Flammulated Bamboo-Tyrant - 1 on Main Trail
Johannes’ Tody-Tyrant - 1 at campsite
Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant - 1 on Tapir Trail and 1 on Swamp Trail. So can someone please tell me the evolutionary advantage of being this small? Mega awesome birds
Golden-crowned Spadebill - 2 on Swamp Trail.
Vermilion Flycatcher - 2 at the Colpa
Drab Water-Tyrant - usually a couple knocking about by the river
Short-crested Flycatcher - 2 by the boats
Tropical Kingbird - common
Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher - 1 at the airport
Boat-billed Flycatcher - 1 at the mirador above the boats
(Southern) Streaked Flycatcher - usually 2 in the clearing
Social Flycatcher - common
Lesser Kiskadee - 1 near the Colpa
Black-tailed Tityra - 2 at the Colpa and 3 at Laguna Chica

Cotingas
Screaming Piha - common. Don’t care how common they are, I absolutely love them
Bare-necked Fruitcrow - look up a lot and you’ll them fly over. Only 1 ever seen sat down though
Purple-throated Fruitcrow - only 1 fem seen in the clearing. Heard a few times though

Manakins
Band-tailed Manakin - 2+ near end of Tapir Trail. Strange call, as if there’s 2 birds calling simultaneously, like stereo but slightly out of synch.
Fiery-capped Manakin - ‘jink’. Nice call, nice looking, nice all round. 2 on Tapir trail 2000m
Varzea Schiffornis - 1 wolf whistler on Main Trail not too far from Caticocha Lake
Thrush-like Schiffornis - 1 at end of Tapir Trail
Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin - common, unless there was just 1 bird following me around. Also one accidentally blinded by torch light one night (sorry about that!)

Jays
Violaceous Jay - a few on river journeys
Purplish Jay - usually some knocking about making a big racket

Swallows
White-winged Swallow - common over the river
White-banded Swallow - common over the river
Southern Rough-winged Swallow - common over the river

Wrens
Black-capped Donacobius - always a pair at Laguna Chica. Nice birds, and they go mad for a bit of pishing
Thrush-like Wren - everywhere
Moustached Wren - everywhere

Thrushes
Black-billed Thrush - only 1 on campsite trail. Thought these would be far more common
Lawrence’s Thrush - nightmare. The masters of immitation, and they regularly had me scribbling things into my birdspotting jotter until I realised what was going on
Hauxwell’s Thrush - Blackbird singing in the dead of night. A nice reminder of home, well that’s if being reminded of home is a nice thing

Tanagers
Magpie Tanager - 2 at Laguna Chica and 1 at airport
Masked Crimson Tanager - 2 at Laguna Chica
Silver-beaked Tanager - common
Blue-gray Tanager - common
Palm Tanager - 1 in clearing
Green+gold Tanager - 1 on Ant Trail
Blue Dacnis - pair in clearing

Sparrows
Yellow-browed Sparrow - look for bits of filthy scrub by mud and you’ll soon see some
Red-capped Cardinal - 1 in the clearing and a couple at Laguna Chica

Blackbirds
Crested Oropendola - common at the Colpa
Russet-backed Oropendola - common
Yellow-rumped Cacique - common
Giant Cowbird - 3 at Cocococha Lake

[tom mckinney]

Some piccies:

*Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin (or is it another female manakin? Difficult to tell with it looking so uncomfortable!) Accidentally blinded whilst looking for Amazonian Pygmy-Owl. Sorry!

*Hoatzins at Cocococha Lake

*Emerald Toucanet in the clearing

*King Vulture

*Radioactive Spectacled Caiman

[tom mckinney]

And from the claylick:

[ed keeble]

[quote=username;1591613]Hopefully you will have some very graphic photos to illustrate the 'horse chuck-up' incident Tom.....[tho i guess that would be too much to hope for]!?

This is not up to Tom's usual standards of accuracy- or at least, if he did encounter a vomiting horse or the aftermath of it, that is one of best rares of the trip.

----------------------------------------------

Can horses vomit?

The vets agree with you: horses cannot throw up. That's what they are taught in veterinary school; that's what the books say.

.......

Humans can vomit. Horses almost physically can't because of the power of the cut-off valve muscle. Also, the esophagus meets the stomach at an angle which enhances the cut-off function when the horse's stomach is bloated with food or gas. Then the stomach wall pushes against the valve, closing the esophagus even more completely from the stomach. Normally, the mechanics are such that the horse's stomach ruptures before the valve yields...

[username]

That's very educational Ed.....! So are we to assume then...that Tom has perhaps misidentified the 'sticky mixture' that covered him? It is entirely possible, of course, that he may have gone into some sort of memory-altering shock after having recieved the unwelcome 'horsey' shower. Perhaps photographic evidence is necessary in order to verify such a rare occurrence......sounds hysterical tho...[not to Tom at the time i imagine]....!


ps...horses are the only thing, that i know of, that i am allergic to...tho i don't vomit in there presence....[well...i nearly did once many years ago when i almost trod in a horse..or it could have been a donkey...whatever it was..it wasn't very well....it was pretty much 'dead' actually....rotting on some Spanish plain]....!

pps....Tom...ain't it those 'sand-fly' that carry the flesh-eating 'thing'?...sounds like 'fleisschh meinniasis' or something like that...nasty s**t.......to be avoided at all costs.....unless you want something to 'drop off'.......[ahh....the joys of the tropics].....

ppps....very much enjoying your 'reports'.......keep em coming...unless you get bored....!

[tom mckinney]

Thanks Ed, that means it must have been another orally expelled fluid then. It came out with some real force. I shall have to do some research ...

Hey User: leishmaniasis is the little swine of a flesheating disease. There's no way to avoid being bitten by Sandflies, even if you bathe in DEET and hermetically seal yourself with cling film at least one will still find a way in. The only good thing I can say about leishmaniasis is that Ben Fogle had it once, though sadly he recovered.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle5219545.ece

[username]

Our guide in Peru...'Dave'...[Tanager tour bloke...quite excellent]...showed us his scars from leshmaniasis....not good! Scared the s***e out o me!...then again i'm a 'wuz'..not like the big butch Ben Fogley-types....who are...lets face it...far too 'man' for anyone to stand....[tho i dare say they have their female...and probably male...admirers]....

ps....watched an even 'butcher' butch bloke on channel four series 'daredevils' last night...where basically this mad bearded fellow ran a marathon in the arctic...wearing only pants and sandels...called himself the 'iceman'...!!....[i wud call him something else]....

pps....Ben Fogle?....your a 'light-weight' mate....!

[birdboybowley]

Originally Posted by tom mckinney

...another orally expelled fluid then...

This is one of my big no-no's when choosing a girlfriend....

Great read Tom!