Photo Tours - We are offering bird and nature photo tours to some of our favorite destinations beginning in 2008. These tours will be led by professional photographer Laura Fellows AND a birding guide with the goal of photographing birds and other animals within their natural environments. For examples of Laura's work. please visit her photo galleries on our website. For more information, CLICK HERE.
Peru Birding Tours - We are offering birding tours to Peru in 2008 as a joint venture with a well established Ecuadorian birding tour company. Our tours go to Machu Picchu, Abra Malaga, the Manu Road, and Manu Biosphere Reserve. Tour prices are the same whether you book with us or our Ecuadorian partner company.
January 2008 Belize Birding Tour with H. Lee Jones - Three Canadians joined us for an excellent birding tour of Belize and Tikal. The tour was led by H. Lee Jones and a second guide, Wilfred Murie. In total was saw 277 species of birds during the tour plus several additional species seen by our tour participants on Caye Caulker before the tour started. During the tour we stayed at wonderful Hidden Valley Inn in the western Maya Mountains, the Jungle Lodge at Tikal National Park, Mama Noot's Backabush Lodge near Mayflower-Bocawina National Park, and at Bird's Eye View Lodge at Crooked Tree. Everyone was most pleased with the accommodations as well as the food throughout the tour.
We enjoyed many birding highlights during the tour. Most spectacular was an Orange-breasted Falcon that perched less than 100 ft. from us in a tree overlooking King Vulture Falls at Hidden Valley. We had glorious views of this bird for over 20 minutes! In the same location we saw 6 adult and 1 juvenile King Vultures soaring above the canyon and across the face of the falls. We diligently searched for Stygian Owl at several known day roosts and even had the help of the resident guide in looking for this mysterious bird, but we could never locate it. We have seen it on prior tours to Hidden Valley, but no luck this trip. Other notable birds we saw at Hidden Valley included Azure-crowned Hummingbird, Plain Wren, Black-headed Siskin, Rufous-capped Warbler, Rusty Sparrow, and Yellow-backed Oriole.
We spent 3 days and 3 nights at Tikal, a fabulous birding locale. We again saw Orange-breasted Falcon, this time a pair perched in plain sight on a tree limb next to the Mundo Perdido pyramid. Amazing that we had great views of this bird twice on the same tour in two different locales. The extraordinarily adorned Ocellated Turkey is a fixture at Tikal, where they are readily seen near the lodge entrance. We saw them every time we were in that area. Other notable birds we saw at Tikal were Blue Ground-Dove, Brown-hooded Parrot, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Canivet's Emerald, Purple-crowned Fairy, Tawny-winged and Ruddy Woodcreepers, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Northern Royal Flycatcher, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Black-headed Shrike-Tanager, and Blue Bunting. We also explored the archaeological site itself, and several of us climbed up to the top of Mundo Perdido as well as the observation scaffolding erected in the main temple square. It's an amazing place.
At Mama Noot's we spent a day birding in Mayflower-Bocawina National Park and another day birding in Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Reserve and nearby areas. We heard several owls but saw only Black-and-white Owl. Other birds we saw during our stay included Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, Rufous-breasted Spinetail, Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant, Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher, Black-crowned Tityra, Golden-hooded Tanager, and Orange-billed Sparrow.
From Mama Noot's we drove north up the Hummingbird Highway and stopped in at Blue Hole National Park for a morning of birding. The upper trail is rather steep so a couple people in the group decided to stay on the lower trail. Those who took the upper trail were rewarded with a real prize, great views of a Tody Motmot that perched not 20 ft from us just off the trail. Farther up the trail we had decent views of a hard-to-see Rufous Mourner that flew into a tree directly overhead. We also had excellent views of Rufous-tailed Jacamar and Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant, always a good bird to see.
Our tour ended with a two-day visit to Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. January is a bit early to visit because the water levels are still high, but we did find a pair of Jabirus on a nest nearby. We took a 4-hour boat trip on the lagoon and saw a good variety of water birds and raptors including Boat-billed Heron, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Great Black-Hawk, Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Gull-billed Tern, Forster's Tern (!), Snail Kite, and Black-collared Hawk. We also saw the near-endemic Yucatan Woodpecker from the boat. We birded several trails and roads on the island and found 2 gours of the near-endemic Yucutan Jay along with several other birds including notably Yellow-headed Parrot, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Olive Sparrow, and Yellow-tailed Oriole.
December 2007 Ecuador birding tour - Our birding tour to northern Ecuador in December 2007 was a resounding success. Six participants joined us on the tour, led by master guide Willie Perez, and we saw or heard 6561 species in 14 days of birding. We spent 4 days birding the western Andes including Yanacocha Reserve, Mindo Valley including a morning at Finca Angel Paz, Rio Silanche Reserve and Milpe Bird Sanctuary farther downslope, and Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve. We then spent 6 days birding the eastern Andes including Antisana Reserve, Papallacta Pass, the private reserves around Guango Lodge and Cabanas San Isidro, Guacamayos Ridge, the upper Loreto Road, the Archidona Road, and El Para Reserve. Finally, we spent 5 days including transfer days birding in the Amazon headwaters of the Rio Napo while enjoying Napo Wildlife Center. We enjoyed fine accommodations and fantastic food throughout the tour. Everyone was tired by the end, but the fantastic birding made all our efforts worthwhile.
Among the many amazing birds we saw, some truly stood out. Highlights in the western Andes included Hook-billed Kite, Tiny Hawk, great views of a perched Black Hawk-Eagle at Rio Silanche, close-up views of five Dark-backed Wood-Quail adjacent to the trail at Finca Angel Paz, Mottled Owl, Black-and-white Owl, Lyre-tailed Nightjar, 30 species of hummingbirds including White-whiskered Hermit, Green Thorntail, Andean Emerald, Purple-chested Hummingbird, Empress Brilliant, Buff-tailed Coronet, Velvet-purple Coronet, Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Great Sapphirewing, Sapphire-vented Puffleg, Purple-bibbed Whitetip, Booted Racket-tail, Black-tailed Trainbearer, Violet-tailed Sylph, and Purple-throated Woodstar, good looks at a female Golden-headed Quetzal, great looks on two different days of the spectacular endemic Toucan Barbet, as well as close-up looks at the equally spectacular Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, Golden-green Woodpecker, Guayaquil Woodpecker, Red-faced Spinetail, Spotted Barbtail, Streak-capped Treehunter, Western Woodhaunter, Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, Russet Antshrike, White-flanked Antwren, Esmeraldas Antbird, Immaculate Antbird, great looks at Giant Antpitta and Yellow-breasted Antpitta at Finca Angel Paz along with fleeting glimpses of Ochre-breasted Antpitta, Unicolored Tapaculo, Narino Tapaculo, Spillman's Tapaculo, Green-and-black Fruiteater, Barred Fruiteater extraordinary displays of three male Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks on the lek at Finca Angel Paz, White-bearded Manakin, Blue-crowned Manakin, the amazing Club-winged Manakin, 51 species of flycatchers, 38 species of tanagers including Cinereous Conebill, Superciliated Hemispingus, Guira Tanager, Tawny-crested Tanager, Blue-capped Tanager, Hooded Mountain-Tanager, Black-chested Mountain-Tanager, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanager, Yellow-collared Chlorophonia, Blue-whiskered Tanager, Flame-faced Tanager, Rufous-throated Tanager, Rufous-winged Tanager, Golden-naped Tanager, Metallic-green Tanager, Beryl-spangled Tanager, Black-capped Tanager, Yellow-tufted Dacnis, Purple Honeycreeper, and Swallow Tanager, a variety of seedeaters, flowerpiercers, and finches including Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Chestnut-bellied (Lesser) Seedeater, White-sided Flowerpiercer, Glossy Flowerpiercer, Masked Flowerpiercer, Rufous-naped Brush-Finch, Tricolored Brushfinch, and White-winged Brush-Finch and the endemic Black-winged Saltator.
We went to Antisana Reserve in hopes of seeing Andean Condors, which did not show themselves this year. We did have a distant view of 2 highly endangered Black-faced Ibis flying low across the valley. We also saw several highland specialties and other interesting birds including Silvery Grebe, Andean Teal, Cinereous Harrier, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Carunculated Caracara, Andean Coot, Andean Lapwing, Andean Gull, Black-winged Ground-Dove, Shining Sunbeam, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Giant Hummingbird, Blue-mantled Thornbill, Bar-winged Cinclodes, Stout-billed Cinclodes, Andean Tit-Spinetail, Streak-backed Canastero, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, Tufted Tit-Tyrant, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant, Hooded Siskin, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, and Grassland Yellow-Finch. We also visited another highland area around Papallacta Pass, including the Cayambe-Coca Reserve above the pass and the Water Plant road near Papallacta village. We hoped to see Andean Condor, but again no luck. We did see another main target species, Rufous-belled Seedsnipe, with 3 individuals walking just below the parking lot at the top of the access road not more than 15 feet away when we first arrived. The scenary from this vantage point was fantastic, as is the great expansive of simply gorgeous tundra vegetation. Other highland birds we saw around Papallacta included Short-tailed Swift, Shining Sunbeam, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Tawny Antpitta, Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant, White-banded Tyrannulet, Agile Tit-Tyrant, Black Flowerpiercer, and Pale-naped Brush-Finch.
While in the eastern Andes we went birding in the gardens around Guango Lodge, in the private forest reserves owned by Cabanas San Isidro, on the rocky trail along Guacamayos Ridge, the upper Loreto Road, and in El Para Reserve. We encountered some rainy weather while in the eastern Andes, especially the day at El Para where we were essentially rained out. The trails at El Para are somewhat steep and difficult in places anyway, but the rain made it worse. We went because the birding there can be fantastic on a good day. We did see some good birds, including Black-bellied Cuckoo, Gray-breasted Sabrewing, White-fronted Nunbird, Yellow-billed Nunbird, Lemon-throated Barbet, Little Woodpecker, Dark-breasted Spinetail, Black-faced Antbird, Black-faced Antthrush, White-browed Purpletuft, Chestnut-crowned Becard, Fulvous Shrike-Tanager, Green-and-Gold Tanager, Green Oropendola, and Olive Oropendola. There were a lot more great birds we saw the previous year that we missed this time around because of the weather. We enjoyed some great birding at Guango Lodge, around San Isidro, and elsewhere on the eastern slope. Notable birds included Torrent Duck, Wattled Guan, Sickle-billed Guan, White-capped Parrot, Rufous-bellied Nighthawk, 30 species of hummingbirds including White-bearded Hermit, Black-throated Hermit, Tawny-bellied Hermit, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Glittering-throated Emerald, Fawn-breasted Brilliant, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Buff-tailed Coronet, Mountain Velvetbreast, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Tourmaline Sunangel, Glowing Puffleg, Booted Racket-taile, Mountain Avocetbill, Long-tailed Sylph, White-bellied Woodstar, and Gorgeted Woodstar, along with great close-up looks at Masked Trogon, fleeting looks at Crested Quetzal, several woodpeckers including Lafrasnaye's Piculet, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, Yellow-vented Woodpecker, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, and Powerful Woodpecker, a good variety of ovenbirds including Azara's Spinetail, Ash-browed Spinetail, Spotted Barbtail, Pearled Treerunner, and Streaked Tuftedcheek, several antbirds including Long-tailed Antbird and Black Antbird, great looks at Chestnut-crowned Antpitta and White-bellied Antpitta that have been conditioned to come out onto the trail for food at San Isidro, Dusky Piha, 35 species of flycatchers, Rufous Wren, Sharpe's Wren, Mountain Wren, Glossy-black Thrush, Black-billed Thrush, Turquoise Jay, Black-billed Peppershrike, Black-crested Warbler, 38 species of tanagers including Grass-green Tanager, Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager, Gray-hooded Bush-Tanager, Black-eared Hemispingus, Masked Crimson Tanager, Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager, Golden-rumped Euphonia, Orange-bellied Euphonia, Turquoise Tanager, Paradise Tanager, Saffron-crowned Tanager, Flame-faced Tanager, Yellow-bellied Tanager, Golden-naped Tanager, Blue-and-black Tanager, Black-capped Tanager, Black-faced Dacnis, and Purple Honeycreeper, several seedeaters, flowerpiercers, and finches including Caqueta Seedeater, Chestnut-bellied Seed-Finch, Bluish Flowerpiercer, Masked Flowerpiercer, Slaty Brush-Finch, and Yellow-browed Sparrow, and a variety of icterids including Red-breasted Blackbird, Orange-backed Troupial, Subtropical Cacique, Mountain Cacique, and Russet-backed Oropendola. We also had great views of the mysterious San Isidro Owl, which is intermediate in appearance between Black-banded Owl and Black-and-white Owl and may be a species new to science rather than a hybrid because it is able to breed true.
Finally, we spent 4 nights at Napo Wildlife Center. While there we visited the 35-meter observation tower and the parrot clay lick, boated along blackwater creeks through varzea forest, and hiked trails through terra firma forest. The weather was overcast but not rainy at the observation tower, perfect for birding. Some of the birds we saw there were Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Chestnut-fronted Macaw, Re-bellied Macaw, Black-headed Parrot, Amazonian White-tailed Trogon, Black-tailed Trogon, White-necked Puffbird, White-fronted Nunbird, Gilded Barbet, Lettered Aracari, Ivory-billed Aracari, Many-banded Aracari, Channel-billed Toucan, White-throated Toucan, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, Scaly-breasted Woodpecker, Chestnut Woodpecker, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Mouse-colored Antshrike, Pygmy Antwren, Plum-throated Cotinga, Spangled Cotinga, Bare-necked Fruitcrow, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Golden-faced Tyrannulet, Sirystes, Crowned Slaty Flycatcher, Violaceous Jay, Turquoise Tanager, Paradise Tanager, Opal-crowned Tanager, and Casqued Oropendola. We had great success at both parrot clay licks, where the birds came in by the hundreds. The day before, the parrots did not go onto the first clay lick at all. At the clay licks we saw Dusky-headed Parakeet, Cobalt-winged Parakeet, Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlet, Orange-cheeked Parrot, Blue-headed Parrot, Yellow-crowned Amazon, and Mealy Amazon. We saw a great variety of birds from our dugout canoes as we paddled blackwater streams and even from the powerboat going down and back up the Napo River. Notable birds included the highly secretive Zigzag Heron sitting on a nest under an overhand along Anangu Creek, Least Bittern, Slender-billed Kite, Orange-breasted Falcon, Blue-throated Piping-Guan, lots of bizarre Hoatzins, Sungrebe, Sunbittern, Pied Lapwing, Collared Plover, Great Potoo, Blackish Nightjar, Ladder-tailed Nightjar, 5 species of kingfishers including the harder to see Green-and-Rufous Kingfisher, White-eared Jacamar, White-chinned Jacamar, Black-fronted Nunbird, Swallow-winged Puffbird, Scarlet-crowned Barbet, Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaner, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Silvered Antbird, Dot-backed Antbird, White-winged Swallow, White-banded Swallow, Black-capped Donacobius, Buff-breasted Wren, Scaly-breasted Wren, Masked Crimson Tanager, Turquoise Tanager, Moriche Oriole, Orange-backed Troupial, and Oriole Blackbird. During several hikes through drier terra firma forest, we saw some additional species including notably great looks at Great Jacamar, Cream-colored Woodpecker, Amazonian Barred Woodcreeper, Dusky-throated Antshrike, Cinereous Antshrike, White-flanked Antwren, Rio Suno Antwren, Gray Antwren, Spot-winged Antbird, Rufous-capped Antthrush, Black-faced Antthrush, the amazing Black-necked Red-Cotinga displaying on a lek far back on a wet, muddy trail deep in the terra firma forest, Blue-backed Manakin, Wire-tailed Manakin, White-crowned Manakin, Orange-crested Manakin, Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin,, the secretive White-necked Thrush, and Red-rumped Cacique. We heard the amazing song mimicry of Lawrence's Thrush but were never able to actually see this frustratingly difficult bird to find. In addition to birds, we also saw several mammals including a rarely seen tapir, Dwarf Squirrel, Night Monkey, Golden-mantled Tamarin, Brown Capuchin, Squirrel Monkey, and Red Howler Monkey.
November 2007 Galapagos Islands birding and nature photo tour -
Our 2007 birding tour of the Galapagos Islands was a co-marketing venture with Neblina Forest. The tour was led by Lelis Navarette and was a great success. We saw 65 bird species in total, including all the Galapagos endemics except the rare Galapagos Martin. We also saw a variety of seabirds from the boat as well as nesting colonies of seabirds on the various islands. In addition to birds, we saw several other specialty animals of the Galapagos. I will take some pains to avoid further mention of the brightly colored Sally Lightfoot Crabs that are found on many rocky shorelines throughout the islands and everybody raves about. Those with cameras enjoyed fantastic opportunities to photograph lizards and birds during the tour, not to mention the crabs.
The tour began with a 2-hour flight from Quito to Baltra, the embarkation point for all Galapagos tours. As we walked off the tarmac from our plane, a Galapagos Dove flew by the terminal building and we saw our first Galapagos finch, a Small Ground-Finch. Then, before we could even get to our yacht, the Fregata, we saw an accidental, a Black Tern in winter plumage flying about the harbor area. This was only the 5th record of this species in the Galapagos ever! We then sailed a short distance to Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz Island, where we had our first taste of Galapagos endemics. En route we saw Galapagos Shearwater, newly split from Audubon's Shearwater, and our first look at the ubiquitous Elliot's Storm-Petrel, a subspecific form of White-vented Storm-Petrel. We also saw our first Blue-footed Boobies and Nazca Boobies flying by our yacht. On the beach and a little inland we were amazed to see Greater Flamingos in a freshwater pond. We also saw our first Galapagos Mockingbirds as well as Small Ground-Finch and Medium Ground-Finch.
We sailed overnight to Genovesa Island, a less frequently visited island because of its considerable distance from the other islands in the Galapagos. A major attraction there is the Sharp-beaked Ground-Finch, which is only on Genovesa, and we had great views of this bird. Genovesa also features a large colony of Red-footed Boobies, a species that does not nest on the other islands and is only occasionally seen at seen away from Genovesa. A second feature attraction is the large colony of Great Frigatebirds, which nest only on Genovesa. This island also afforded us our first views of the beautiful Swallow-tailed Gull as well as Lava Gull, both endemic to the Galapagos.
The sail from Geneovesa to the northwestern shore of Isabella takes all night and traverses some quite choppy waters of the open ocean. This was the most likely time for people to feel sea sickness, and a few people did. Those of us who stayed topside watching for seabirds were rewarded with good views of Dark-rumped Petrel, a large and quite scarce petrel endemic to the Galapagos. The seas north and west of Isabella are the best places to see this species. We also had our only views of Band-rumped Petrel and Leach's Storm-Petrel during this traverse.
We visited several locales on the west side of Isabella over a period of 2 days. We also sailed across the strait to nearby Fernandina Island for an afternoon and a night's anchoring. There we had our first views of Galapagos Penguins and Galapagos Hawk as well as sea lions and marine iguanas. On Isabella we again saw the endemic Galapagos Hawk during a walk across fresh black lava. We also saw our main target bird, the highly endangered endemic Mangrove Finch, which nests only in the mangroves on the west side of Isabella and has a surviving population of only about 50 pairs. In addition to birds, we visited a lagoon where we saw numerous Green Sea Turtles and we saw several Southern Right Whales blowing and porpoising some distance from our yacht.
From Isabella we sailed overnight to Floreana, where we spent the next morning. On Floreana we had great views of a Paint-billed Crake. We also had our first views of the endemic Galapagos Flycatcher. We fulfilled our primary goal of seeing Medium Tree-Finch, found only on Floreana, and also saw Small Tree-Finch, Small-Ground-Finch, and Medium Ground-Finch. In the afternoon we sailed past nearby Champion's Islet, the only place one can see the endemic Charle's Mockingbird.
That night we sailed to Espanola Island, our favorite place on the entire tour. We spent the morning exploring, hardly enough time! Espanola is the primary nesting site of Waved Albatross. Nesting begins in April and is winding down by November at the time of our visit. Much of the colony was already abandoned but there were some young birds about. We even saw 2 adults going through their courtship rituals, which was a real treat and gave us unexpected photo opportunities. Espanola also has a large colony of Blue-footed Boobies, which were just beginning their nesting season. We greatly enjoyed watching and photographing their antics as they went through their courtship rituals. From the cliffs on the far side of the island we saw many albatrosses and boobies as well as a single Red-billed Tropicbird flying by. Espanola is also home to the Hood Mockingbird, which is not found on any other islands.
In the afternoon we sailed to nearby San Cristobal, one of the more populated islands in the Galapagos. We visited the village and learned about the history of the island, not always a pretty story. The main attraction of the island is the Chatham Mockingbird, found only there, and we had many great views of this bird. We also saw a variety of Darwin's finches, including Vegetarian Finch, Small Tree-Finch, Woodpecker Finch, and Warbler Finch as well as the more ubiquitous Small, Medium, and Large Ground-Finches.
Overnight we sailed to Santa Cruz Island for our last full day in the Galapagos. In addition to visiting the Darwin Research Station, we had a couple goals in mind. A primary goal was to see Common Cactus-Finch and Large Tree Finch, found only on Santa Cruz, both of which we saw. We also saw Small Tree-Finch, Woodpecker Finch, and Warbler Finch as well as the more common ground-finches. A second major goal was to see the Giant Tortoises found in the interior of the island. These can be seen in captivity at the Darwin Research Station, but it was far more exciting to see them in the wild. We found many of them, scattered like giant, slowly moving boulders across an open field in a reserve established for their protection. We also saw a land iguana on Santa Cruz, the only one we saw during the tour. We skipped Sante Fe Island, where one of the two species in the Galapagos is found and where they are most easily seen.
During our last night we sailed to nearby North Seymour Island, not far from Santa Cruz and Baltra. There we saw a second colony of Blue-footed Boobies as well as Lava Gull and Swallow-tailed Gull. We also saw a single Red-footed Booby on the island. The main attraction is the large colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds. They were in various stages of nesting, with many incubating eggs or brooding and feeding chicks. We were a bit late to see their incredible courtship displays, but we saw several males with partially inflated gular pouches and one male with a fully inflated gular pouch. It was an amazing sight to behold. It takes the birds about 20 minutes to fully inflate these pouches, but once inflated the blazing red color ballooning out from their throats is quite amazing.
Our flight back to Quito was quite uneventful once we actually left. Unfortunately, due to fog in Quito planes were grounded and our departure was delayed about 5 hours. The only good thing was that when we finally left, the airline provided us with a direct flight to Quito instead of stopping in Guayaquil en route. We were sorry to leave the Galapagos, but we left with a lot of great memories and great photos.
October 2007 Brazil scouting trip - We had a very successful scouting trip to Brazil. We visited Cristolino Lodge in the southern Amazon Basin, the Pantanal, the SE Atlantic Forest in Itatiaia National Park and in forest reserves near Ubatuba, and Iguazu Falls National Park. As a result of this visit, we expect to be offering a birding tour to the SE Atlantic Forests (Itatiaia and Ubatuba) and the Pantanal in late August 2008. Our stay at Cristolino Lodge was less successful in terms of birding than we had expected because we relied on a volunteer guide who was less capable than hoped for. Most volunteer guides there have been excellent, but ours was a disappointment. Nevertheless, we did see some good birds. Among the endemics and specialty birds we saw at Cristolino were Yellow-faced Parrot, White-bearded Hermit, Black-girdled Barbet, Red-necked Aracari, Curl-crested Aracari, Chestnut-throated Spinetail, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Spix's Woodcreeper, Curve-billed Scythebill, Glossy Antshrike, Spot-winged Antshrike, Cinereous Antshrike, Pygmy Antwren, Blackish Antbird, White-browed Antbird, Black-faced Antbird, Band-tailed Antbird, Spangled Cotinga, Red-headed Manakin, White-crowned Manakin, Flame-crested Manakin, Amazonian Tyrannulet, Helmeted Pygmy-Tyrant, Spotted Tody-Flycatcher, Little Ground-Tyrant, Red-billed Pied Tanager, Yellow-backed Tanager, White-winged Shrike-Tanager, White-lored Euphonia, White-vented Euphonia, Rufous-bellied Euphonia, Black-faced Dacnis, Yellow-bellied Dacnis, Red-capped Cardinal, and Olive Oropendola.. We also saw a variety of interesting mammals, including Neotropical Otter, a Giant Otter that had caught a quite large fish, Brown Capuchin Monkey, White-whiskered Spider Monkey, and Red-handed Howler Monkey. Cristolino Lodge is a great birding locale and we hope to offer a tour there sometime in future. Specialty and endemic birds we saw in the Pantanal included Greater Rhea, Plumbeous Ibis, Chaco Chachalaca, Hyacinth Macaw, Golden-collared Macaw, Mato Grosso Antbird, Red-crested Cardinal, Yellow-billed Cardinal, and Unicolored Blackbird. We also saw and photographed numerous other fascinating birds including Jabiru, Capped Heron, Whistling Heron, Southern Screamer, White-faced Whistling Duck, the very difficult to see Rufous-sided Crake, Picui Ground-Dove, Little Cuckoo, Band-tailed Nighthawk, Toco Toucan, Pale-crested Woodpecker, Campo Flicker, Helmeted Manakin, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Purplish Jay, Hooded Tanager, Red-crested Finch, Scarlet-breasted Blackbird, and Chopi Blackbird. We also saw large numbers of Black Caimans lounging along the edges of remaining standing water still present at end of dry season as well as a variety of mammals such as Marsh Deer, Red-brocket Deer, Sulphur Anteater, Crab-eating Fox, and Black Howler Monkeys. In the SE Atlantic Forest we visited Ubatuba, Pereque area, and Itatiaia National Park. At Pereque our main target bird was the highly endangered Black-hooded Antwren, and we enjoyed great looks of this bird as well as obtaining several photos of it. Other endemics and specialty birds we saw included Dusky-legged Guan, Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail, Saw-billed Hermit, Dusky-throated Hermit, Sombre Hummingbird, Brazilian Ruby, Saffron Toucanet, Spotted Piculet, Araucaria Tit-Spinetail, Chestnut-throated Spinetail, Pallid Spinetail, Itatiaia Thistletail, Orange-eyed Thornbird, Rufous Cachalote, White-collared Foliage-gleaner, Spot-breasted Antvireo, Rufous-backed Antvireo, Unicolored Antwren, Ferruginous Antbird, Bertoni's Antbird, Rufous-tailed Antbird, Ochre-rumped Antbird, Scaled Antbird, Blue Manakin, Pin-tailed Manakin, Serra do Mar Tyrannulet, Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet, Drab-breasted Bamboo-Tyrant, Fork-tailed Tody-Tyrant, Yellow-lored Tody-Tyrant, Gray-hooded Attila, Lemon-chested Greenlet, Rufous-headed Tanager, Olive-green Tanager, Brazilian Tanager, Azure-shouldered Tanager, Golden-chevroned Tanager, Diademed Tanager, Green-headed Tanager, Red-necked Tanager, Brassy-breasted Tanager, Gilt-edged Tanager, Bay-chested Warbling-Finch, Red-rumped Warbling-Finch, and Buffy-fronted Seedeater. We missed some birds but feel we had great success given that we were there at the beginning of rainy season and had steady rains 2 of the 3 days we were at Itatiaia. We're now offering a tour for late August 2008 to the SE Atlantic Forest area and the Pantanal, a time of year when we're likely to encounter much better weather and hence have even greater success birding in these fabulous locales in Brazil.
September 2007 Peru scouting trip - In September we attended the week-long first Bird Fair in Peru as guests of the Peru Tourism Ministry and Prom Peru. The fair was a big success, with many influential members of the birding community attending. We spent 5 days following the northern Peru birding route, visiting Chaparri Reserve in Tumbes Province and traversing the Andes from Chiclayo to Tarapoto. We also spent half a day birding the Villa Wetlands south of Lima. Our group saw over 300 species despite not having enough time to do any area we visited justice. One of the biggest highlights was viewing the incredible Marvelous Spatuletail, a highly endangered lek-breeding hummingbird with extraordinarily long tail plumes that seem to dance in the air some distance from the bird as it flies from flower to flower. Nearly as exciting were great views of the highly endangered Peruvian Plantcutter, Royal Sunangel, and the recently described and also endangered Johnson's (Lulu's) Tody-Tyrant. Other notable birds we saw were such endemic and endangered/threatened species as Humboldt Penguin, Red-legged Cormorant, Peruvian Booby, White-winged Guan, Red-masked Parakeet, Pacific Parrotlet, Tumbes Hummingbird, Short-tailed Woodstar, Speckle-chested Piculet, Coastal Miner, Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes, Chinchipe Spinetail, Elegant and Maranon Crescent-Chest, Rufous-vented Tapaculo, Tumbesian Tyrannulet, Tumbes Tyrant, Maranon Gnatcatcher, White-tailed Jay, Huallaga Tanager, Silver-backed Tanager, Cinereous Finch, Sulphur-throated Finch, White-headed Brush-Finch, Tumbes Sparrow, and White-edged Oriole. At the fair itself we met a variety of Peruvian lodge and tour operators. The entire visit was most informative and we expect to begin offering both birding and bird/nature photo tours to Peru within the next year. Peru is second only to Columbia in the number of bird species within its borders and exceeds Columbia in the number of endemic species found there. It is a relatively undiscovered birding destination but offers great promise now that it is safe to travel throughout the country.
