February 11, 2024
Our alarm went off at 4:30 AM and at 5:00 AM we began the long, windy drive in the dark across the Andes. The reason for our early start is that we had a date with tinamous and wood-quails at a small family-run reserve called Arena Blanca. Our contact at the reserve, Norbil, urged us to arrive before 6:45, as this is the typical time that several species come in for food, including Little Tinamou, Cinereous Tinamou and Rufous-breasted Wood-Quail. He has built a hide where one can watch the feeding take place, while still being out of view from the birds.
The traffic was sparse at this early hour and the road was well-constructed, so we made good time as we crossed a mountain pass and began our descent down the east slope of the Andes. The dawn chorus of Andean Solitaires pierced through the car windows, and so I opened the driver-side window, enjoying the symphony. As far as the eye could see were green, forested hillsides, the only domain of the Long-whiskered Owlet and many other creatures. We would be returning to these montane slopes eventually, but first we had to descend to 1000 m in elevation at Arena Blanca, where the low elevation ensured that quite a few Amazonian species were present.
As we pulled up to Norbil's property, he was waiting there for us to quickly usher us down the path to the bird hide. The show would be starting soon.
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| The bird hide - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
Laura and I picked the ground floor so that we would have eye-level views (and photos) of the birds. Norbil placed the seed down and, within minutes, a Gray-cowled Wood-Rail was the first of the breakfast crowd.
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| Gray-cowled Wood-Rail - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
My new 500mm lens has a lot of advantages over my old 300mm lens, but I wished I had my old lens with me for this situation. The forest floor was quite dark (I needed all the extra light I could get), plus the birds were close enough that I had trouble fitting them into the frame. The new lens does have vibration reduction though, so even with a slow shutter speed I could obtain sharp images.
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| Gray-cowled Wood-Rail - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
We noticed that a Cinereous Tinamou was sneaking around the back of the forest opening, and it soon waddled up to the seed pile.
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| Cinereous Tinamou - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
Laura and I have seen Cinereous Tinamous on a few occasions previously, usually on a quiet forest trail, but this one provided us with much better views. I love how incredibly round tinamous are; they look like they would have trouble standing up without toppling over.
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| Cinereous Tinamou - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
A couple of Little Tinamous (an adult and its chick) also made regular appearances during our hour-long stakeout. This was one of my main targets for the morning. Despite having heard Little Tinamou dozens (hundreds?) of times previously, I can only recall seeing this species once, and I had never photographed it.
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| Little Tinamou - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Little Tinamou - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
It was special to have such good views of the chick as well.
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| Little Tinamou - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Little Tinamous - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
I paid attention to the birdsong from within the hide, and almost every species was a new one for the trip. The soundscape included quite a few Amazonian species, such as Speckled Chachalaca, Thrush-like Antpitta, Hauxwell's Thrush, Golden-collared Toucanet, Olive-faced Flatbill and Peruvian Warbling-Antbird. We heard several groups of Rufous-breasted Wood-Quails, but none seemed all that close to the hide. While we waited, a few Orange-billed Sparrows hopped into view, along with several White-tipped Doves.
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| Orange-billed Sparrow - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
The wood-quails weren't getting any closer; they only show up about half the time, anyways. Laura and I were happy with what we had seen and besides, there were lots of other birds to look for.
In addition to the hide, Norbil's property is designed well to encourage a nice variety of bird species. He has an extensive hummingbird garden with a lot of porterweed and various feeders. The cecropia-rich edge of the clearing around the buildings is popular with tanagers and flycatchers. And several short forest trails (including the entrance trail) increase the chances of forest species. For a small property, it has a substantial species list.
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| Hauxwell's Thrush - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
Laura and I were able to add a new one to the all-time list when I noticed a Pale-tailed Barbthroat feeding on a planted heliconia. This hermit-like hummingbird is uncommon in the lower foothills and the Amazon basin, and it can be hard to see well.
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| Pale-tailed Barbthroat - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
It only took a few minutes until we connected with one of our main targets here, the Black-bellied Tanager. This attractive species mostly replaces the Silver-beaked Tanager in several river valleys on the lower slope of the east Andes.
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| Black-bellied Tanager (male) - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Black-bellied Tanager (female) - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
Zimmer's Antbird was my primary target at Reserva Arena Blanca. It has a restricted range in northeastern Peru, eastern Ecuador and extreme southern Colombia, often in areas with sandy soils. Several pairs are found on Norbil's property and we found a cooperative bird after some effort.
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| Zimmer's Antbird - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
We also bumped into a handsome Peruvian Warbling-Antbird in the same area. Another species that I had never photographed before.
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| Peruvian Warbling-Antbird - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
For much of our visit, Laura and I hung around the hummingbird garden where we had a good view of not just the hummingbirds, but the cecropias and other trees that formed the edge of the clearing. There were fewer hummingbirds present than at other times of the year, as Norbil informed us that many species are nesting at the moment and not visiting his feeders as often. Still, we tallied eleven species. Hummingbirds are some of my favourite birds and so I enjoyed photographing them.
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| Golden-tailed Sapphire - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Rufous-crested Coquette - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Blue-tailed Emerald - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Little Woodstar - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
The hummingbirds weren't just competing with each other for the nectar, but also with various bees, butterflies, and moths.
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| Telegonus talus - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Telegonus anausis - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Periplacis hebrus - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Telegonus talus - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
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| Unidentified (tribe Ithomiini) - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
This hairstreak was my favourite butterfly of the bunch.
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| Thestius meridionalis - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
A walk down a short forest trail led to a scrubby area that was undergoing succession. We found a Lined Antshrike and Black-faced Tanager here, while a pair of Masked Tanagers fed in one of the cecropias. I rarely see Masked Tanagers and so it is always a treat encountering this gorgeous species. I still haven't managed a good photo of one, though!
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| Masked Tanager - Reserva Arena Blanca, San Martín, Peru |
Laura and I left Arena Blanca with over 60 birds on our eBird checklist, while I had taken over 500 photos. We would definitely recommend this reserve.
On our way back westward, Laura and I made a few birding stops along the side of the highway at different elevations. Ideally, we would have had several days devoted to birding the road, but there just wasn't time on this trip. A whole host of mouth-watering species exist in these mountains, and the road provides the only easy access. Unfortunately, we did not properly explore between the elevations of 1000m and 1600m where we would have had a chance of finding Ash-throated Antwren, Equatorial Graytail, Rufescent Antshrike and others.
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| Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
We explored for a couple of hours near the eBird hotspot Altomayo, situated around 1700m in elevation. As we parked the vehicle beside the road, a male Andean Cock-of-the-Rock perched nearby. A good omen!
Despite it being the early afternoon, we lucked into some great birds. The key when exploring these areas is finding a mixed species flock. The forest may seem dead with hardly a single bird vocalizing. But the sounds of a few call notes can quickly transform into a wave of birds moving through the area. If you are lucky, the mixed flock will linger along the roadside for a few minutes, preferably on the downslope side. We were lucky with this flock.
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| Slaty-capped Flycatcher - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
I had three semi-realistic targets at this elevation. All were tanagers that have limited ranges/elevations along the east slope of the Andes, and I had struck out with these three species on numerous previous occasions. They were the Green-throated, Vermilion and Blue-browed Tanagers.
One of the first birds I got on was unmistakeable. A crimson tanager with black wings, tail, face and throat - a male Vermilion Tanager!
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| Vermilion Tanager - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
I had wanted to see this species for years, ever since I first "dipped" on it in Ecuador five years earlier. And here was a pair of them, at eye-level, no less. Numerous excited profanities were uttered as I photographed this beauty. A nemesis conquered.
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| Vermilion Tanager - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
To make things even better, a pair of Blue-browed Tanagers materialized with the flock as well! They weren't quite as accommodating for photos, but the views were amazing. What a bird.
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| Blue-browed Tanagers - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
How amazing would it have been if this flock contained our other target, the Green-throated Tanager? Unfortunately, it was not to be. But we weren't complaining. Below are a few other photos from this excellent mixed flock.
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| Golden-collared Honeycreeper (female) - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
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| Vermilion Tanager - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
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| Golden-crowned Flycatcher - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
If someone would have informed us that our day's highlight had not even happened yet, I would not have believed them. But it was true.
As we were slowly driving westward up the mountain road, Laura saw something out of her car window. Monkeys! At this elevation there are not many possibilities. Could these be the Critically Endangered Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys?
There was nowhere to pull over, but I couldn't hear any other traffic and so I stopped in the middle of the road. We hopped out to investigate and confirmed that they were indeed woolly monkeys! For a few glorious seconds we watched this incredibly rare species until I heard the rumbling of a transport truck. Time to move the vehicle.
There was a pull-off after another half-kilometre and Laura and I speed-walked back to the site of the monkeys. The rain had started and our search continued with our umbrellas protecting us. Luckily, the monkeys hadn't moved far and we spent some time observing this family group.
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| Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
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| Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
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| Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
Thought to be extinct until the 1970s, the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey is currently listed as Critically Endangered and is hanging on by a thread. Its population is estimated around 250 individuals and it is only found in a section of the north Peruvian Andes. The forest reserve we were in, Refugio Natural Alto Mayo, was established to help protect the small population of this species.
We stood there on the side of the road in the pouring rain, watching the monkeys do their thing. They were quite curious of us and one of the youngsters came over and shook some branches, so we made sure to give them their space. The tough lighting conditions made for difficult photography but I managed a few "record" shots.
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| Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys are one of the largest primates in the New World and they have thick woolly fur which helps them in this cold montane climate. The male was quite distinctive with his long yellowish pubic hair tuft! Such a cool experience to watch these guys...
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| Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
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| Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
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| Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) - Refugio Natural Del Alto Mayo, San Martín, Peru |
Laura and I continued onwards to the Owlet Lodge, where we had one night booked. But that will be the topic of my next post.
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