South America 2007- where and which guides? (1 Viewer)

Hi there, Im Jim and having just completed a degree in history at the university of Nottingham, I plan to have a few months travelling around South America before training to be a teacher (I know there are a few teachers on the forum- am I making the right decison?! I figured birding in the holidays and working with kids was right up my street). Of course Im a keen birder but my mates joining me on the road wont be quite so keen, Ill have to ditch them for a few weeks whilst I pick up a few Peruvian endemics I think.
Peru and Ecuador sound like places I wanna go to, and then anywhere else I can manage in around 3 months. Hope to leave in April. Any recommendations?
Obviously I cant wait to get out there, but would like to go with some sound knowledge of the birds I can expect to see. To be honest Im not even sure what some of the commoner species will look like, and with the possibility of encountering over 1500 birds in some countries I figured I need to be reasonably well versed in the basics. However, I have found that the fieldguides that exist are numerous and large. I will be travelling light with room for perhaps one book. Should I study as many as I can before I head out, or is there one book I need to have with me? Can I purchase books once im out there? With xmas round the corner im thinking the usual book tokens could be put to good use.
Apologies in advance for all the questions here, and no doubt ill be back to pick brains nearer the time for tour guides etc!
Thanks in advance,
Jim.

Jimbob,
Anywhere you pick will almost certainly be good for birds! However, I can't imagine just one field guide so I'll just say now, good luck with that part. Peru and Ecuador are both also on my wish list and I plan to finally get to Ecuador next summer. While you're waiting for responses here, I'll suggest that you also do some forum searches on the site as there are already some excellent trip planning / field guide threads that will really open your eyes to these and other S.A. possibilities. In any case, have a great trip. I'm sure it will give you a lifetime of memories and also a desire to return again and again.

Cheers Dave, have done a search and as you suggest there is plenty to be getting on with.

I went to Peru this summer for just over a month. It was my first trip to South America. The birding is mostly really easy but occasionally horrendously difficult (eg Elaenias & silent Woodcreepers). Overall the best advice for a first trip (and a trip without a guide) is to not have any target birds and therefore not be annoyed by what you miss. Even without trying too hard for specific birds we amassed quite a nice list. Everything other than about 5 birds were all lifers. Next time we'll be more interested in sought after birds having got much of the "fodder" under our belts.

Our trip was based around the Gringo Trail (Cusco-Machu Picchu-Arequipa-Pisco) but with a long detour into Manu national park and some time in the Amazon lowlands. This is where the birding is frantic and extremely exciting, interspersed with short periods of incredible frustration (usually associated with neck breaking canopy flocks of Flycatchers).

You could dump your travel mates in Cusco and let them do the Sacred Valley and take a detour into Manu by bus. There is basic accomodation along the Manu Road, but for the lodges you will have to book in advance. The only way to stay in the lowlands is in a lodge, but don't believe them when they say that you can only get there by private transport - it's not true.

Arequipa is the place for Condors (at Colca Canyon we had views of them down to a few metres) and the Ballestas Islands near to Pisco is only a short hop from Lima and one of the World's great seabird spectacles (boat trips easily arranged the day before at travel agents in Pisco).

Can't recommend it enough for a first time visitor. All birds covered in the Clements & Shany field guide to Peru (text poor; some illustrations very poor), but make sure you back it up by taking the fantastic Ridgely & Greenfield Birds of Ecuador. Most important is to have recordings (birding by ear in the lowlands is of utmost importance as the bamboo is extremely dense) and be prepared to do some ethically sound and sensible playback to get views of certain birds.

PM me if you want any more info.

Tom

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

There is also a new field guide: Birds of South America - Non passerines by Francisco Erize and drawings by Rodriguez Mata. It's small and easy to carry along. For the passerines you could buy the 2 books of Birds of South America by Ridgely and Tudor and separate the plates from the book or, if you don't like destroying an excellent book, copy the plates.

Another book to be thought about is the Raptors of the World Field Guide.

jimbob said:

Hi there, Im Jim and having just completed a degree in history at the university of Nottingham, I plan to have a few months travelling around South America before training to be a teacher (I know there are a few teachers on the forum- am I making the right decison?! I figured birding in the holidays and working with kids was right up my street). Of course Im a keen birder but my mates joining me on the road wont be quite so keen, Ill have to ditch them for a few weeks whilst I pick up a few Peruvian endemics I think.
Peru and Ecuador sound like places I wanna go to, and then anywhere else I can manage in around 3 months. Hope to leave in April. Any recommendations?
Obviously I cant wait to get out there, but would like to go with some sound knowledge of the birds I can expect to see. To be honest Im not even sure what some of the commoner species will look like, and with the possibility of encountering over 1500 birds in some countries I figured I need to be reasonably well versed in the basics. However, I have found that the fieldguides that exist are numerous and large. I will be travelling light with room for perhaps one book. Should I study as many as I can before I head out, or is there one book I need to have with me? Can I purchase books once im out there? With xmas round the corner im thinking the usual book tokens could be put to good use.
Apologies in advance for all the questions here, and no doubt ill be back to pick brains nearer the time for tour guides etc!
Thanks in advance,
Jim.

Click to expand...

I have been on 4- 6 week trips to Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezula and would find it difficult to choose a favourite, although if I did it would probably be Bolivia, and it is very cheap once you are there. However Ecuador has a much good field guide (Bolivia doesn't have one!)and Peru more cultural sites. numbers of birds are such that there is a very real limit to how much you will be able to learn before you go.

Sorry haven't really answered your question but there is no wrong or right place and you will just have to accept that you will have to lug large field guides unless you go to Chile and you will be the wrong time of year for there.

Don't know what your Spanish is like but I would advise learning as much as you can.

Steve

Fritz- copying the plates is a good idea, might do that. And by the way had a quick look at your gallery, some great birds down with you! Hope I can make it that far, sounds awesome.
Steve- What is the right time of year to do Chile/Argentina? Obviously the penguins would be a big draw for me, as would any cetaceans. Just had a chat to my old uni tutor and he inisists I get down to Tierra Del Fuego.
Sound advice on the Spanish, I need to scrub up on it to say the least.
Gracias!

jimbob said:

Fritz- copying the plates is a good idea, might do that. And by the way had a quick look at your gallery, some great birds down with you! Hope I can make it that far, sounds awesome.
Steve- What is the right time of year to do Chile/Argentina? Obviously the penguins would be a big draw for me, as would any cetaceans. Just had a chat to my old uni tutor and he inisists I get down to Tierra Del Fuego.
Sound advice on the Spanish, I need to scrub up on it to say the least.
Gracias!

Click to expand...

Never having been there I wouldn't know for sure but obviously our summer is their winter and so will be very cold in the south. I would imagine our autumn as it is their spring.

Can I recommend Michelle Thomas CDs for learning Spanish although it is best to combine this with something else because although they are excellent for grammar they do not attempt much vocab. English is generally not spoken at all apart from in the most touristy areas - and even there not much - in the S American countries I have been to.

Steve

The best time to visit Argentina should be from end of August to October, if you are looking for cetaceans. This you could do in the area of Peninsula Valdez (city of Puerto Madryn) and the area of the Ria del Deseado (city of Puerto Deseado). I don't know anything about the cetaceans, so I couldn't give you the species names. In Peninsula Valdez you could also see Sea Lions, Sea Elephants and Magellanic Penguin. In the area of Ria de Deseado you should find also Sea Lions, Magellanic Penguin and Rockhopper Penguin. Also you could find Penguins visiting the city of Ushuaia in the isle of Tierra del Fuego. You must take a ship to 'Estancia Harberton' and on different islands you'll see Sea Lions, Magellanic Penguin and Gentoo Penguin. King Penguin you could see only on the Falklands.

For Birds you should try to visit sometime around end of september and beginnig of october. You'll see most of the birds displaying themselves or beginning to build nests. This makes them easier to find in areas like the north of Argentina (Misiones => Atlantic Forest, Jujuy => Cloud Forest, Ibera => Wetlands, Chaco & Formosa => Humid & Dry Chaco Forest) where you must bird by ear to be able to find the most of them.

Re the teaching: There's no way I could give up the teaching holidays: I'm birding abroad for about 7- 8 weeks a year and still have holiday time left over. Great for a 'world birder' not ideal for British birding and twitching though. Of course it is rewarding, the pay is reasonable these days. There's plenty of stress but yes you probably are making the right decision.