Explorations of an Ecologist: 2022 Part 4: July, August, September (Peru)

July (continued)

Up to this point, all of our travels in 2022 had been to countries that we had explored previously. We were really looking forward to Peru, a new country for us that was sure to be full of potential lifers. We planned to spend over two months in this massive, diverse country.

We rented a car from the Lima airport and drove a loop through the center of the country for the first month, focusing on the various ridges and valleys of the Andes, places that often provide habitat for endemic species. We also hung out on the desolate coastline south of Lima, where the cold, offshore Humboldt current is the life force that attracts birds to this region.

We also spent most of a week along Satipo Road, christened the "poor man's Manu Road". The birding and naturalizing opportunities here were ridiculous, and our car was able to navigate the pot-holed, gravel road with relative ease. Though Satipo Road lacks the infrastructure and tourist lodges found on Manu Road, the species are somewhat similar and we connected with some tough ones like Jalca and Junin Tapaculos, Eye-ringed Thistletail and Oxapampa Antpitta. We swung into the Andamarca Valley for a morning and found several yet-to-be-described species and the Black-spectacled Brushfinch, endemic to this valley.

We spent the last couple of days of July at Lago Junín, where we slept at over 4000m in elevation and had to scrape the ice off the car windows each the morning. The puna grasslands were full of birds, but the highlight was a visit to Ondores where a local birder took us out to see the secretive Junín (Black) Rail and Junín Grebe, both endemic to the lake.

Belcher's Gull

American Oystercatcher

Vermilion Flycatcher

Many-colored Rush Tyrant

Laura and I in Pucusana

Inca Tern

Blue-footed Booby

Peruvian Thick-knee

Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle

Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant

A nicely maintained road in the Santa Eulalia Valley

Rufous-breasted Warbling Finch

Andean Condor

White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant

Andean Geese and Puna Ibises

Painted Big-eared Mouse

Olivaceous Thornbill and Gentianella carneorubra

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

White-bellied Cinclodes

Chilean Flamingo

Mountain Caracara

Golden-collared Tanagers

Rufous-booted Racket-tail

Common Chlorospingus

White-collared Jay

Mantaro Wren

Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant

Yellow-scarfed Tanager

Perisama philinus

Olive-backed Woodcreeper

Mothing at Hacienda Armorique

Rufous-capped Nunlet

Melanis smithiae

Lanceolated Nunlet

Dazzling Glasswing (Godyris duillia)

Wattled Guan

Chestnut-crested Cotinga

Masked Fruiteater

Subtropical Doradito

Andean Lapwing

Ornate Tinamou

Vicuña

Junín Canastero

Junín (Black) Rail

Junín Grebe

August

Our route with the rental car continued in central Peru's Andes. Following in the footsteps of the late, influential ornithologist Ted Parker, we caught up with the Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, Bay Cotinga, and several other birds that are endemic to remote cloud forests at Bosque Unchog.

PN Huascarán was the furthest north that we ventured in Peru. The impossibly blue waters of alpine lakes set against pristine glaciers provided a scenic backdrop as we observed scarce birds like White-cheeked Cotinga, Green-headed Hillstar, Plain-tailed Warbling Finch and Tawny Tit-Tyrant. On our way back to Lima we stopped into the Marca area, an infrequently-visited dry valley where we found several rare endemic species: Piura Chat-Tyrant, Bay-crowned Brushfinch and Russet-bellied Spinetail.

Laura and I returned the car to Lima and made our way southwards by bus, stopping over in Paracas along the coast, and eventually arriving in the city of Arequipa. Now firmly in southern Peru, we completed a route with a rental car that brought us down the coast to search for Slender-billed Finch and Raimondi's Yellow-Finch, then across the mountains and vast puna grasslands to Lake Titicaca to search for its eponymous grebe and many other birds specialized in these high altitude habitats. A rare Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant and a dapper Lesser Horned Owl were big highlights south of Lake Titicaca. Finally, we birded some volcanic slopes near Arequipa and turned up Tamarugo Conebill, White-throated Earthcreeper and several other specialized birds.

We bused to Cusco and picked up another car there, giving us a chance to search for additional endemics in Andean valleys. The east slope of the Andes provided a chance to explore refreshingly green forests and Polylepis forest. At the Abra Málaga pass we found a Critically Endangered Royal Cinclodes, one of my top highlights in Peru! We finished off the month by venturing west to an isolated area home to the Vilcabamba Thistletail, Vilcabamba Tapaculo and Johnson's Tody-Flycatcher, then looping back around and southwest of Cusco where we found species endemic to the Apurimac Valley. The month ended with a rare sighting of the little-known Taczanowski's Tinamou during an epic hike in Sanctuario Nacional de Ampay. It was a busy month!

Tschudi's Tapaculo

Oreiallagma quadricolor

Barred Fruiteater

Bosque Unchog

Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager

Line-fronted Canastero

Pardusco

Yellow-scarfed Tanager

Páramo Pipit

Our trusty rental car, Pardusco

Laura and I in Parque Nacional Huascarán

Giant Coot

Green-headed Hillstar

Ancash Tapaculo

Stripe-headed Antpitta

Blue-mantled Thornbill

Tawny Tit-Spinetail

Black-crested Tit-Tyrant

Band-winged Nightjar

Rufous-backed Inca-Finch

Parque Nacional Huascarán

Plain-tailed Warbling-Finch

Giant Conebill

Peruvian Pygmy-Owl

Desert Coralsnake (Micrurus tschudii)

Russet-bellied Spinetail

Gray Gull

Least Seedsnipe

Laura with our scooter in Paracas

Humboldt Penguins

South American Sea Lion

Semipalmated (left) and Western Sandpipers

Belcher's Gull

Peruvian Tern

Microlophus sp.

Peruvian Thick-knees

Slender-billed Finch

Streaked Tit-Spinetail

Cactus Canastero

Golden-spotted Ground-Dove

James's Flamingos

Plumbeous Rail

Mountain Guinea Pig

Yellow-billed Teal

Mountain Caracara

Mountain Viscacha

Liolaemus sp.

Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant

Andean Avocet (right)

Llamas and alpacas

Variable Hawk

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Junonia vestina

Bog-walking in search of seedsnipes

Rufous-bellied Seedsnipes

Tarucas

White-throated Earthcreeper

Straight-billed Earthcreeper

James's Flamingos

Puna Canastero

Metardaris cosinga

White-tufted Sunbeam

Royal Cinclodes

Nevado Verónica

Blue-and-yellow Tanager

Lymanopoda prusia

Vilcabamba Thistletail

Cinnamon Flycatchers

Rusty-and-yellow Tanager

White-rumped Hawk

Bearded Mountaineer

White-eared Puffbirds

Apurímac Brushfinch

Apurímac Spinetail

Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch

Red-crested Cotinga

Laura and I with our guide dog at Sanctuario Nacional de Ampay

Yungas Pygmy-Owl

September

Though we had visited "poor man's Manu Road" earlier in Peru, now it was time for the real deal. A week along this road, one of the most biodiverse in the world, was only enough to scratch the surface. From a birding point of view we cleaned up and missed very few species. It was wonderful to dust off the mothing gear once again, while herps were also heavily featured now that we were finally out of the high Andes.

Laura's father, Mark joined us for a week. We tried to fit in as much as we could and we visited high alpine lakes, the varied habitats of the Abra Málaga pass and several Incan ruins. We concluded his visit with four nights at the Secret Forest Research Station in the Amazon basin. Thanks to Chris Ketola's hospitality, we enjoyed productive night-hikes, a morning on a canopy tower and excellent birding and hiking along rainforest trails. Of course, the mothing here was outrageous as well.

Laura and I concluded our Peru visit by venturing down the Río Madre de Díos to another Amazonian research station: Los Amigos. This provided the best birding and mammal watching of the trip; we found nine species of monkeys including Emperor Tamarins and Gray's Bald-faced Sakis, two big targets of mine, and a surprise Southern Tamandua munching on termites one night. During our final day at Los Amigos I completed a highly successful birding big day, where I tallied 265 species in 24 hours. We loved our stay here and we would love to return one day, not least because we dipped on the Black-faced Cotinga.

Peru was incredible. Laura and I will definitely be back; the northern half of the country awaits!