North Peru birding tour

Marvelous Spatuletail Photo: Gunnar Engblom. Photographed at Leymebamba on June 22, 2009

I am back from one of the best birding routes of the world, packed with endemics and spectacular species. I will have more time to blog now, as I have no birding trips coming up for a while.  This week and next I shall make a series of blogs connected in one way or another to Nothern Peru. Come back daily to this page for more news. First out is a short picture summery about the last trip.

My recent tour to Northern Peru started off a bit nervously due to the violant clash against demonstrators and police just 5 days prior to our departure with over 30 dead (and probably more as numbers unfold). See my previous blog-post for more info on this unfortunate and sad news. We were to pass through this same area. Therefore at the start of the trip I decided it was probably better to just re-route the trip via Cajamarca and Balsas to get to Leymebamba, instead of the planned route via Jaen and Bagua, where potentially more problems could rise.

This was a mixed cultural and birding tour.  I guided 3 women who had grown up together attending the same school. Only one of them, Laura, was a birder from start. Nancy and Jaynie were good sports and participated in the birding activities as well. Jaynie was not feeling too well part of the trip and took it easy at the serenity of the Abra Patricia Owlet Lodge while we were staying there.  In 10 days we noted short of 300 species of birds, but we were not only birding as I just stated. We visited archeological sites and museums, such as the great Sipan Museum in Lambayeque, Tucume, Cajamarca, Leyemebamba Laguna de Condores musuem and Chachapoyas fortress Kuelap. In Lima we made visit to the Gold Musuem and National Museum in Lima. Right now the group is visiting Cusco and Machu Picchu with our guide Alex. Surely many birds are being added.

Lodging highlights were Chaparri and Abra Patricia Lodge, while finding a male Marvelous Spatuletail at the feeders across from the Museum in Leymebamba was the most exciting of all our birds seen.

Coming back to Lima with million things to do I am just posting some of my pictures below with short comments. Upcoming articles this week (tempted schedule….but in reality don’t be surprised if it takes longer!).

• Birding Chaparri (Tuesday)
• Birding Abra Patricia (Wednesday)
• Culture in Northern Peru – combine birding and archeology (Thursday)
• Hummingbird watching in Peru. Best places to watch hummingbirds. (Friday)

Long-tailed Mockingbird Chaparri. Photo: Gunnar Engblom

Striped Owl. Chaparri. Photo Gunnar Engblom

Rufous Flycatcher. Bosque Pomac. Photo Gunnar Engblom. Rufous Flycatcher is one of the most wanted endemic species in the region and generally uncommon to rare.

White-faced (Tropical) Gnatcatcher. Bosque Pomac. Photo Gunnar Engblom

Cinereous Finch. Bosque Pomac. Photo: Gunnar Engblom

Peruvian Plantcutter. Bosque Pomac. Photo: Gunnar Engblom The most threatened species in the region together with White-winged Guan.

White-winged Guan. Chaparri. Photo Gunnar Engblom

Royal Sunangel. Abra Patricia. Photo: Gunnar Engblom

If you are interested in a tour to Northern Peru, check out our extensive offering on our new summery North Peru tour page. There are both comfortable trips that combine birds and culture suitable for non-birding spouses, as well as more intense birding trips.

Related blogposts.

• Two Perus – two good owls. Partly on Long-whiskered Owlet.
• Pelagic birding in Tumbes.
• Tumbes dry forest.
• I’ve got Parkinson’s – but I feel good!