My final post from Peru....
September 22, 2022
Much like the previous morning, Laura and I arranged a packed breakfast and we hit the trails around dawn. While birds were obviously on my mind, there were still a few mammals that I was really keen to search for, too. And luck was on our side.
It was mid-morning when I saw it. I had been walking slowly, scanning the mid-level and canopy, when I noticed a slight movement of fur in the upper levels of the tree. I collected myself and anxiously inspected the creature with my binoculars. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be - a saki!
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| Gray's Bald-faced Saki - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
Sakis are shy, cautious monkeys that move slowly and methodically in the trees. They are often monogamous, living in pairs that spend their days in the canopy looking for their preferred food - unripe fruits.
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| Gray's Bald-faced Saki - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
This particular species is Gray's Bald-faced Saki which is found in the west-central Amazon. Little is known about this species and information on its population size is lacking. Gray's Bald-faced Saki has a fluffy, non-prehensile tail and an amazing "bowl-cut" hairdo that gives it a distinctive look.
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| Gray's Bald-faced Saki - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
We soon discovered a second saki and for the next fifteen minutes or so we watched them interact in the trees. What a rush to finally encounter this rare and poorly known species! It was our ninth monkey species at Los Amigos out of ten possible species. The only one missing was the Black-headed Night Monkey.
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| Gray's Bald-faced Saki - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
Our other excellent non-bird sighting was a mature Tiger Rat Snake that Laura spotted in a trailside brush pile. This individual was pushing seven feet in length, and it was quite the adrenaline rush when I apprehended it.
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| Tiger Rat Snake (Spilotes pullatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| Tiger Rat Snake (Spilotes pullatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
We let her go and she quickly made her way up a vine and into the subcanopy. Rat snakes do quite well in the trees...
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| Tiger Rat Snake (Spilotes pullatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
Birding was a little slow but we came away with a few nice sightings including our first Rio Madeira Stipplethroat and Semicollared Puffbird. Mostly, though, I was scouting for my planned Big Day which would begin at midnight (I blogged about the Big Day earlier -
you can read about it here).
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| Semicollared Puffbird - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
Laura came through with the best bird sighting of the day. These two Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlets were busy excavating an old termite mound near Cocha Raya in the north end of the trail system.
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| Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlets - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlet - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlets are thinly scattered but widespread in Amazonia. They are one of the tougher parrots at Los Amigos with just a handful of prior records. We were exceedingly lucky to watch this pair basically at eye-level beside the trail.
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| Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlet - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
Though we hoped that the parrotlets liked the termite nest and would be in the area for tomorrow's Big Day, this was not the case and they were nowhere to be found when we returned the following day.
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| Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlets - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
The environmental conditions were hot and humid for another day in a row and our energy quickly drained on the long walk back to the station.
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| Paraspiculatus orobia - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| Panca trogon - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
We elected to take a long siesta. After all, better to save our bullets for tomorrow's Big Day! Though I couldn't help myself and most of my siesta was spent birding the station clearing. The best bird during this venture was a vocal Long-billed Woodcreeper, undoubtedly one of the better woodcreepers that exists. It would be our only encounter with this incredible species during our stay at Los Amigos.
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| Long-billed Woodcreeper - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
That afternoon, we investigated Pozo Don Pedro. This small wetland is embedded within a stand of Mauritia palms in the lowlands adjacent to the main river (Río Madre de Díos). The boardwalk had long since failed but by walking with care, we could approach the edge of the open water. A dilapidated canoe was tied up in the shallows; she appeared sea-worthy despite having a thick layer of fallen leaves and rainwater covering her floor. After a brief clean-up and bailing job, we untied the vessel and paddled around the wetland. It was magical.
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| Paddling on Pozo Don Pedro - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
The air was perfectly still and the only sounds were the soft calls and rustlings of the capuchin monkeys, feeding on the palms around the edge. A Point-tailed Palmcreeper rattled away from somewhere off in the distance.
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| Pozo Don Pedro - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
We hoped to see the glistening scales of a Green Anaconda in the shallows; wishful thinking of course. Still, it was an idyllic way to spend the last daylight hours. As we hiked back up to the main trail, the sun broke through the heavy cloud cover and illuminated our position. A Dull-capped Atilla and a pair of Bluish-slate Antshrikes lent their voices to the dusk chorus.
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| Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
Not wanting to waste an evening, Laura and I headed back out on the trails once night had fallen. This time, we visited a different area where the trail crossed a steep gulley before continuing on level ground through a bamboo thicket. And I came through with the snake of the hike!
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| Two-lined Forest Pitviper (Bothrops bilineatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
The Two-lined Forest Pitviper (
Bothrops bilineatus) absolutely glowed. It would be impossible to miss. I tried to capture that in the next photo.
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| Two-lined Forest Pitviper (Bothrops bilineatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
This species, also called the Green Jacaraca, is one of the most venomous snakes of Latin America. Despite its cute appearance it can pack quite a punch, not a surprise when one deduces that it is in the same genus as the famous Fer-de-Lance. The Two-lined Forest Pitviper is an arboreal ambush hunter that will sit and wait for days on end until its prey comes walking by. They feed mainly on small reptiles, but I'm sure they will take a small bird or mammal whenever the opportunity arises.
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| Two-lined Forest Pitviper (Bothrops bilineatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
This was only the second individual of this species that we have seen in the wild. We were, understandably, quite excited!
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| Two-lined Forest Pitviper (Bothrops bilineatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
Even besides the pit viper, the night walk was rather successful. Below are some of the other highlights.
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| White-throated Tinamou - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| Heliconius erato - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| Amazon Green Anole (Anolis punctatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| Tityrus sp. - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| Red-snouted Tree Frog (Scinax ruber) |
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| Striped Woodhaunter - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
I don't typically find bamboo thickets to be terribly productive environments to find amphibians at night. We were pleasantly surprised with the haul this evening which included some really neat frogs.
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| Three-striped Poison Frog (Ameerega trivittata) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| White-lined Leaf Frog (Phyllomedus vaillantii) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
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| Jaguar Leaf Frog (Pithecopus palliatus) - Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Díos, Peru |
That evening, I went to bed early in anticipation of my planned Big Day that would officially begin at midnight.
As you can read about in that post, I postponed the Big Day due to some weather, starting it during the mid-morning and finishing 24 hours later, on September 24.
Laura and I left the Amazon behind, flying to Lima for a layover and then eventually, Toronto. Peru had treated us well and we both left with wonderful memories of this country. Laura and I did quite well with birds, finding 980 species during our 10 week visit. Not bad, especially considering that we did not visit the north at all. I didn't keep track of the number of mammals, reptiles or amphibians, but we found many memorable examples of all three. And the butterflies and moths kept us entertained as well. I am already looking forward to my next visit to Peru.
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