February 18, 2024 (continued)
Where I last left off, Laura and I had just completed our sixteen-day loop through the mountains and deserts of northern Peru with the rental car. We dropped the vehicle off at the airport with no issues and boarded our flight. We were heading to the Amazon.
There are no direct flights from Chiclayo to Iquitos and so we had a layover in Quito before our connection to Iquitos. Finally, against the dark night sky, the lights of Iquitos appeared out of the plane windows. Around half a million people live here, making Iquitos the largest city in the world that is not connected by road to other cities. The only way in or out is to fly or take a boat.
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| Slender-billed Kite - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
We took a tuk-tuk from the airport to the hotel located downtown. We bought some cold drinks, had an amazing cold shower, and settled in for the evening. It had been a long travel day and sleep came quickly.
February 19, 2024
In the past when Laura and I have visited the Amazon, we have more or less tried to do things on a budget. Field stations are one way to do this, and in southern Peru we spent five nights at Los Amigos Biological Station. Here in the Iquitos area I had trouble finding affordable destinations like Los Amigos that still gave us the chances at my target bird species. And so we decided to splurge on several ecolodges that cater to birders. For the first four nights we would split our time between two lodges (Explorama Lodge and ExplorNapo Lodge) which are run by the same organization. Then we would return to Iquitos for a couple of nights and we would finish the trip with three nights at Muyuna Lodge. I picked these lodges strategically as they are situated in different regions with different species. Explorama is found on the north bank of the Amazon River, ExplorNapo is located on the Napo River, and Muyuna is situated south of the Amazon. Needless to say I was pretty pumped for what the next week had in store!
We were picked up by a representative from Explorama and taken to their office located on the waterfront where we paid for our stay and met our guide for the next five days and four nights, Luis Mayanchi del Aguila. Back when we originally booked our stay, we requested a guide that specializes in birdwatching. This can be hit or miss in our experience but we really lucked out this time. Luis is a phenomenal birder and he knows locations for many of the rare or localized species in the region. His English was excellent and he was quite personable; we really enjoyed our time with him. I would specifically ask for Luis if you book a stay at Explorama or ExplorNapo.
By 9 AM we had sorted out all of the necessary paperwork and loaded our gear into the boat. And we were off! As our boat maneuvered from the channel to the main river, Laura and I realized that this was the very first time we had been on the Amazon River proper.
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| First time on the Amazon River! |
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| Osprey - Iquitos, Loreto, Peru |
Luis and I had discussed my target species back at the office and so he had come up with a plan for our stay. Many of my targets are river island specialties, and several of them could be found between Iquitos and Explorama Lodge. These birding stops helped to break up the 1.5 hour boat trip to the lodge, and it gave us a chance for some morning birding before the heat of the day really sunk in.
Within the Amazon basin there are a handful of bird species that specialize on the ephemeral habitats located on river islands. Because these rivers are so dynamic and move so much water, over time they shift the courses of their flows and this allows sandy islands to pop up. Eventually, low grasses and other vegetation takes hold. Given enough time, the islands will be colonized with various shrubs and eventually, cecropia stands and other tree species. Various bird species can be found on islands that contain specific vegetation communities. These birds are somewhat nomadic, moving around to breed in their preferred habitat and then leaving once the vegetation community changes due to plant succession.
We stopped at our first island and put our rubber boots to good use as the high river levels meant that the island was covered with shallow water. As we sloshed around we tried to avoid touching too much vegetation due to all the ants on all the branches. Even though it was barely 10 AM, the sun was really beating down on us and I was drenched with sweat within minutes. Welcome to the Amazon!
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| Tromping across an Amazonian river island, Loreto, Peru |
Luis picked this island as it provided good habitat for Riverside Tyrants, one of the trickier river island species here. His intel paid off as we found a pair relatively easily!
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| Riverside Tyrant - river island east of Iquitos, Loreto, Peru |
We found a few other target birds relatively quickly, including our first Parker's Spinetails, White-bellied Spinetails and Black-and-white Antbirds. That was easy!
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| Parker's Spinetail - river island east of Iquitos, Loreto, Peru |
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| White-bellied Spinetail - river island east of Iquitos, Loreto, Peru |
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| Black-and-white Antbird - river island east of Iquitos, Loreto, Peru |
Our next stop was along the south side of the Amazon where Luis had a stakeout for the localized Black-tailed Antbird. The ground was dry here and the forest more mature. Though it was now 11:30 in the morning, bird activity was still reasonably good and we quickly tallied species like Tui Parakeet, White-shouldered Antbird and Black-spotted Bare-eye.
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| Tui Parakeet - Amazon River east of Iquitos, Loreto, Peru |
Though the Black-tailed Antbirds sang back to the tape, they refused to come in and so we left without having seen them. This is one of the tougher riverine species here, but Black-tailed Antbirds are more common at Muyuna Lodge so I wasn't too concerned. We would catch up with them there.
On our walk back to the boat we found a pair of Leaden Antwrens next to the trail, another one of my targets.
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| Leaden Antwren (male) - Amazon River east of Iquitos, Loreto, Peru |
We continued towards the lodge and pulled up to the dock at 12:40 PM, just in time for lunch. To our surprise, Laura and I were the only visitors! No complaints here. Our room was relatively simple but it included mosquito netting around the bed and a fan, both necessities here in the Amazon.
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| Catoblepia berecynthia - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
Though most of my target birds are searched for on the various river islands, several of them can be found around the lodge on the trail system. The main one for me was the Orange-eyed Flatbill, a drab flycatcher that is found in low densities in flooded forest and which has a limited range in western Amazonia.
After lunch, Laura and I had a brief siesta before convening with Luis at 2:30 PM for an afternoon hike to the river followed by a visit of the massive river island due south of us. As expected the birding was a little slow at this hour and we couldn't turn up any Orange-eyed Flatbills around the lodge. But there is always life to be found here in the most biodiverse region of the planet and I photographed several lizards, butterflies, and a pair of adorable Red-mantle Saddle-back Tamarins (one had just caught a huge katydid!). Birds included a Green-and-rufous Kingfisher, a photogenic Dull-capped Attila and a Slender-billed Kite.
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| Bridled Forest Gecko (Gonotodes humeralis) - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
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| Red-mantle Saddle-back Tamarin (Saguinus lagonotus) - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
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| Dull-capped Attila - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
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| Dull-capped Attila - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
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| Glassy-winged Skipper (Xenophanes tryxus) - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
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| Slender-billed Kite - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
We watched dark gray storm clouds approaching from the east as we boated across the Amazon. Hopefully the impending storm would hold off long enough for us to get some birding in!
The cooler air and light breeze caused by the heavy overcast conditions was very welcome as we began hiking along a flooded trail on the river island. Right away we saw dozens of White-winged Parakeets around a small clearing - a common species, but a lifer for us. It was difficult to obtain good views other than in flight as they seemed to vanish when landing in the tops of trees.
Other birds, such as this Bare-necked Fruitcrow, were more photogenic.
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| Bare-necked Fruitcrow - Isla Yanamono, Loreto, Peru |
We had several target birds here in the flooded forest including Plain-breasted Piculet and Zimmer's Woodcreeper. There was also a small chance of Pale-billed Hornero which is one of the trickiest river island species in northern Peru.
Our walk was highly successful and we quickly connected with a curious Zimmer's Woodcreeper. The views were incredible!
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| Zimmer's Woodcreeper - Isla Yanamono, Loreto, Peru |
A few minutes later, I noticed a streak of rufous across the trail. It landed deep in the forest and through a gap in the vegetation I re-found the bird. A Pale-billed Hornero! I frantically got Laura on it and we spent the next couple of minutes soaking in the views. Photos were difficult as it did not stay still for long and the forest understory was quite dark, but I was thrilled with the experience anyways.
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| Pale-billed Hornero - Isla Yanamono, Loreto, Peru |
Pale-billed Horneros are basically endemic to the Amazon of northern Peru and so is a top target for all visiting birders here. I really expected to have to work to see one so it was pretty incredible having such good views on our first day! The Pale-billed Hornero prefers the understory of flooded forest close to rivers, whicle most other hornero species are limited to open habitats.
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| Pale-billed Hornero - Isla Yanamono, Loreto, Peru |
Shortly after, a Leaden Antwren came in to my tape and we also had top-tier views of him, improving on the looks we had of the pair earlier in the day.
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| Leaden Antwren (male) - Isla Yanamono, Loreto, Peru |
Our luck continued as we walked back out to the river and our waiting boat. A few more minutes in the clearing produced a pair of Plain-breasted Piculets. Another range-restricted specialty in the bag.
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| Plain-breasted Piculet - Isla Yanamono, Loreto, Peru |
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| Plain-breasted Piculets - Isla Yanamono, Loreto, Peru |
Luis directed the boatman to a different side of the island where he often sees Ash-breasted Antbirds. This species prefers mature cecropia forest on river islands. Though one responded to the tape, we were unsuccessful with luring it in. And so we called it a day and boated back across the river to the lodge, making it back in time before the rain hit.
After dinner, Laura, Luis and I went on a walk around the lodge property in search of herps. We struck out on snakes but found a few frogs. Birds were fairly vocal at dusk and included Bartlett's Tinamou, Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, Great Potoo and others. It had been a fantastic day!
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| Common Big-headed Frog (Oreobates quixensis) - Explorama Lodge, Loreto, Peru |
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