Andean foothills

 Monday, November 14, 2022

Our final full day in Peru featured a birding expedition to the north of Lima. The Loma de Lachay reserve covers a variety of environments in the western foothills of the Andes. As previously mentioned, the coastline including Lima is very dry, a desert in which it literally never rains. During our 90 minute drive north this morning, it rained lightly for about two minutes: our guide said it was the first rain he’d seen in 2-3 years!  The narrow but heavily populated coastline gets all its water from streams coming down out of the Andes. 

 Lima is also cloudy 9 months of the year, and the clouds tend to hover at about 500 meters above sea level. So once the elevation of the foothills exceeds 500 meters, there is a bit of a cloud forest effect. Grasses, scrubby bushes and a native tree called the Tara grow at these elevations. The trees tend to cluster around exposed rock faces, which collect more condensation and drip it to the soil, creating better growing conditions in their immediate vicinity. Eighty years ago, when there were more trees, the area was more lush and hosted deer, mountain lions and guanacos. Many of the trees were cut down to help build the coastal railroad, and now the area only hosts foxes, vizcacha (a long tailed rabbit like creature) and small rodents.  It also hosts more birds than might be expected from such a desolate landscape, including mountain parakeets.  Our second stop in the same reserve was truly desert, rocky and filled with an endemic cactus, but even there we saw a few bird species and two vizcacha.  

Pictured: mountain parakeets, vizcacha, Andean tinamou, black-chested buzzard-eagle taking off, oasis hummingbird 

Final day in the Amazon

 Sunday, November 13, 2022

This morning we visited the village of Amazonas, a community of 350 people with its own primary and secondary schools, and a number of joint projects with the NGO Minga-Peru. We saw demonstrations about local cuisine (heavily reliant on yuca, plantain and local fish), and how they squeeze sugar cane to get a sugary juice that can be drunk as is, used in cooking, to make rum or boiled down to molasses. We also learned about the natural fibers and how they create the dyes used to color the fibers which they use in their woven handicrafts.  A couple of the villagers talked about (via a translator) their projects to improve agriculture, for example creating fish ponds to raise higher quality fish for consumption and sale than is readily available in their section of the rivers.  They also run leadership training courses to empower women.  They produce a radio program that reaches 120,000 rural people in the Amazon region, providing education and information about health and other topics. During the pandemic the radio station also broadcast school content for the children. 

About 10:00 we sailed to the confluence of the Ucayali and Maranon rivers, which in Peru is considered the start of the actual Amazon River (Brazil thinks the Amazon starts at the next confluence, with the Negro River, which just happens to be across the Brazilian border). The captain rang the ships bell and we toasted and gazed south from the bow toward the Atlantic, which is still a couple of thousand miles away. 

On our way back to the Iquitos airport, we drove through another rainstorm, which cleared before we needed to be outdoors. At the edge of Iquitos, we stopped at an animal rescue center. Their animals are mostly rescued from poachers or from the pet trade, and include macaws, parrots, anteaters, fresh water manatees, turtles, sloths and the giant Pische fish. They have successfully raised and released 20 manatees to the Pacaya-Samiria reserve over the past 12 years, and are raising funds to try to acquire a prosthesis for a young giant anteater whose front leg was broken by poachers.  The baby 3-toed sloth was adorable. Her parents were killed, so the reserve has given her a teddy bear to snuggle with. 

Today was a bit oppressive in terms of heat and humidity. This was graphically demonstrated by the fog poring from the AC vents in the airplane. It will feel good to get back to more temperate weather in Lima, but it will feel odd to awaken to concrete rather than greenery in the morning. 

Pictured: fibers and dyes, an example of the finished weaving, local food demonstration, sugar cane squeezing, oriole blackbird

Dark water

 Saturday, November 12, 2022

We moored overnight at the mouth of a dark water tributary to the Maranon; the interface between the dark water and the brown of the main river was quite sharp and after breakfast we went up to the top deck to get a better view. We heard a loud snorting, and then discovered that it was the sound of pink river dolphins surfacing to breathe. They were quite active — some raising flukes and snouts out of the water, others rolling around. Our naturalists explained that this was courtship behavior. It was hard to tear ourselves away to go on the morning skiff ride, but fortunately the dolphins were still there when we returned. There were a few gray river dolphins in the area as well.

The morning cruise up the dark water streams was quiet, with a bit of birdlife but no new species. Our luck with weather continued— a thunderstorm in the early afternoon cleared out in time for our scheduled activities. On an afternoon kayaking adventure we saw a troop of squirrel monkeys, and got to see them again on the afternoon skiff. We again saw a lot of kingfishers, including good views of all five species found in the upper Amazon. As the sun set, we watched herons, kingfishers and humans all catching armored catfish for supper.

Pictures: interface of Maranon and Yanayacu rivers, common squirrel monkey, Coico heron with armored catfish, pink river dolphins, three-toed sloth 

Samiria River

 Friday, November 11, 2022

Last night we sailed for 12 straight hours to get to the starting point for this morning’s skiff ride on the Samiria River, one of the most pristine sections of the reserve. The local naturalists are familiar with this river but our trip leaders had never visited it before. In order to maximize our explorations (while avoiding the midday heat), we left at dawn and ate a picnic breakfast on the river with the three skiffs hooked together. The Samiria is a “black water river” meaning that it flows from the forest and is dark with tannins, rather than the other streams and rivers we’ve seen, which flow from the Andes and are brown and murky. The Samiria was also much calmer, with little visible current and much less floating debris. The gray river dolphins had a wonderful time playing all along our route.

Shortly after turning from the larger Maranon River into the Samiria, we found a pod of giant river otters, both in the water and out on the bank moving up and down to their den. Today was Toucan and Macaw day — we saw 4 species of the former and 3 of the latter. We also saw several groups of red Howler monkeys and our guide saw a Harpy eagle, which would have been amazing, but it flew off before the rest of us could see it. 

Pictured: giant river otters, white-throated toucan, horned screamer taking off, gray river dolphin

Walking in the rain forest

 Thursday November 10, 2022

This morning’s activity was to walk through the rainforest near the town of Casual. The area is protected and maintained by several local villages although it technically lies outside the reserve. A local expert found interesting creatures for us to see: a Goliath bird-eating tarantula, a bullet ant (largest in the world and toxic if not lethal), a red-tailed boa, unusual grasshoppers and several frogs and toads including a red-backed poison dart frog. It was great to just “be” in the rainforest. 

At lunchtime, our first real Amazon rainstorm blew through with wind, thunder, lightning and sheets of rain. We watched the storm move in from the east, the forest downstream slowly being engulfed in heavy rain.  Our ship, which was moored to the river bank, rocked from the heavy winds. We were grateful for the storm’s timing, as the sky cleared before our scheduled late afternoon skiff ride on the Maranon River, about 3/4 of a mile wide at this location. 

Our lecture today was about medicinal plants, and Erickson used live examples he had gathered early this morning, rather than slides with pictures of the plants. Some of the plants brought ants with them, but one had a baby pink-toed tarantula inside!

The afternoon skiff ride on Pahuachiro Creek was particularly productive. A pair of local fishermen showed us the freshwater barracuda and tiger stingray they had caught — the barracuda was smaller than expected but the stingray was enormous. We had a pair of terrific primate viewings: Saddleback Tamarin and Squirrel Monkeys. These monkeys often move through the forest together.  We also saw several beautiful tanagers, two woodpeckers, and all five species of kingfishers present in this region. 

Pictures: saddleback tamarin monkeys, airplane grasshopper, Goliath bird-eating tarantula, masked crimson tanager 

Monkeys!

 Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Overnight and continuing today we made our way back downstream on the Ucayali. This morning before breakfast we had the top deck to ourselves and we saw a number of new birds on the bank where the boat moored overnight (such as the spot-breasted woodpecker below). After breakfast we explored the Magdalena River by skiff; watching parakeets and woodpeckers building their nests was a highlight, as was seeing a king vulture soar not too far above us.  In the late morning we had a lecture on fish in the Amazon watershed (over 5600 species, 80% of them in the catfish and characin families). Some of the larger fish species are endangered by sport fishing, and one of the remedies is to raise them in small scale fish farms which also helps the local economy. We are to visit one of these on Sunday.

For the afternoon we sailed downstream on the Ucayali and then back upstream on the Yarappa. Our guide, Erickson, told us that this was an afternoon for monkeys, and it certainly was! The Yarappa is lined with lodges, some for fishing and some for more extended eco-tourism. A troop of Woolly Monkeys has gotten accustomed to traffic on the river and hang out close enough for good viewing and photography. Then, in a rare treat, we traveled further upstream to a new eco-lodge being built by Erickson’s uncle, where we were able to see a young Red-faced Uakari and four Noisy Night (Owl) Monkeys. All are pictured below because words will be inadequate for how special these viewings were. As the sun started to set and we headed back to the boat, we saw a lesser anteater (Tamandua) methodically destroying an ant trail on the side of a shoreline tree. 

Pictured: king vulture, Spot-breasted woodpecker, Red-faced Uakari, Noisy Night (Owl) Monkeys, Woolly Monkey, Tamandua (Ucayali subspecies).

Life in the Amazon

 Tuesday, November 8, 2022

This morning we had an early start, exploring the bank of the Ucayali River and a narrow side stream called the Belluda Cano. We saw many familiar birds and some new ones (including 20 scarlet Macaws in a single flock):and got to see a Monk Saki monkey feeding in a tree near the stream. These monkeys used to be hunted not only for meat but for their bushy tails, which were made into feather dusters.  We returned to the boat for breakfast, and lectures on monkeys, local fruits (complete with a tasting session) and photography.  

In the afternoon we explored the Dorado River, first in two-person kayaks and later in the skiffs. We stayed out after sunset to look for nocturnal creatures, although the full moon made many animals a bit shy. All along these tributaries to the Amazon there are small villages and temporary shelters, all focused on subsistence farming and fishing as a source of revenue as well as for food. Larger villages have generators; smaller ones have kerosene lamps and no electricity. We watched a family group, which had caught armored catfish with gill nets and long lines further upstream, toss the fish by hand from the bottom of their wooden canoes into a large floating and netted platform. When the holding cage is full enough, they will float with the current back downstream to Nauta, a 3-4 day journey, eating a few of the fish along the way.  We also watched children helping to clean and mend nets and swimming in the river, with no fear of the piranhas (which are another source of food to them). Piranha are not nearly as aggressive as Hollywood would have us believe, although there are special circumstances where they become a hazard to mammals including humans. 

The scale of the Amazon watershed continues to be overwhelming. We travel several times a day to new locations to enable new explorations, on “minor rivers” at least half a mile wide. So far we have traveled upstream; the current is obvious from the debris floating downstream, sometimes whole trees that have fallen into the river when the soil around was eroded by the current and collapsed, but more often a tangle of branches, logs and vines. While the rainy season has not really begun yet, it has rained a bit in the last few weeks so the water level is gradually rising. This increases the amount of material being washed downstream. On the other hand, the high water mark visible on standing trees is still about five feet higher than the current water level. 

Pictured: local fruit exhibit, blue-and-yellow macaws, yellow-crowned brush-tailed tree rat, Butterfly, American Pygmy kingfisher, Monk Saki Monkey (and the wrong photo got posted in yesterday’s blog, that was a juvenile black-collared hawk not a speckled chachalaca)

Exploring the Ucayali River

 Monday, November 7, 2022

We awoke to a wall of green outside our windows, as the boat had moored near the shore overnight. From the top deck we observed river dolphins, water birds and songbirds as the sun rose. After breakfast we headed out in motorized skiffs to explore a local creek and a lake-like portion of a side stream. We caught a glimpse of a Pygmy marmoset, the smallest monkey in the world, as well as beautiful birds and more dolphins. 

The ship navigated to another location for the afternoon, further north along the Ucayali River. We learned more about the Amazon River, its tributaries and the Pacaya-Samiria reserve through talks by our guides. The geologic history of the region is fascinating and explains some of the species found here: 65 million years ago, the only highlands were to the east and water flowed to the Pacific. About 23 million years ago, both a central mountain range and the Andes along the western coast began to emerge which trapped water and species in the bowl between them. Species like the river dolphins, electric eels and stingrays evolved to live in fresh water, and have remained in the Amazon region after the further uplift of the Andes changed the drainage pattern to discharge in the Atlantic Ocean. The scale of the Amazon River system is astounding. The Amazon River discharges 57 million gallons every second. It has 200 tributaries, 17 of which are more than 1000 miles long, and 10 of which carry more water than the Mississippi. 

On our second skiff ride we saw a three-toed sloth, a tayra (a sleek arboreal predator that is very rare to see), and a number of different types of parrots and parakeets. As we approached the boat, two kinds of nighthawk swooped all around us in the dimming light. For the day we saw 67 species of birds, about half of which were new to us. 

Pictured: Red-capped cardinal, Pygmy marmoset, speckled chachalaca, yellow-rumped cacique, blue-fronted jacamar, yellow-headed blackbird

Into the rainforest

 Sunday November 6, 2022

On Sunday morning we went with a local guide to the Larco Museum in Lima, which houses 45,000 pre-Incan pieces from across Peru. The elegance, quality of preservation, and sheer magnitude of the collection was overwhelming.  We ere amazed by two pieces of tapestry, from 900-1300 AD, sewn with 360-400 threads per inch, and still in good condition.  There was a vase with decorations that narrated the whole series of events involved in the ritual killing and subsequent blood-drinking ceremony when enemy soldiers were captured; subsequent excavations at a site from the same civilization uncovered implements and graves that matched the pictures on the vase. There were thousands of years of different civilizations before the Incas, and in many cases the Incas adopted the best of the technology and arts techniques from the civilizations they overtook.  

Most of the rest of the day was spent traveling — a 90 minute early afternoon flight from Lima to Iquitos and then a 2 hour van drive to Nauta where we boarded our riverboat.  We will be spending the rest of the trip exploring the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, which covers 2.08 million hectares (about the size of Costa Rica) and is home to 90,000 people who have found ways to sustainably live in this protected area.  There are 25 guests on our riverboat, which is elegantly decorated with hardwoods and local flora. Our room is at the port bow on the upper deck, which gives us a panoramic view as the boat navigates upstream on tributaries to the Amazon. 

Pictured:  golden mask, one of the tapestries and our cabin

Lima

 Saturday November 5, 2022

Our flight arrived early (before 5am), immigration was very quick and our hotel is on the airport property, so we had quite a while to wait before the start of  our birding tour at 7:30.  We drove to three different areas south of Lima. Our first stop, the Villa Wetlands is a national park on the Pacific Ocean.  We walked around a lagoon and saw many species of shorebirds and ocean birds, as well as the beautiful rush-tyrant in the reeds. Our second stop was Pucusana, an active fishing village.  There we went out in a motorized skiff to see cormorants, terns, pelicans and  Humboldt penguins nesting on the rocky shoreline cliffs. We also saw an amazing number of sea lions — sunbathing, swimming, and porpoising all around our skiff.  The final location was a dirt road along a rather smelly polluted stream, but it is one of the few places near Lima that has natural vegetation (because of the stream) and we saw a hummingbird and some unusual songbirds there.

The most striking thing was how dry Lima is. It literally never rains here, although sometimes there is mist or fog. The combination of the cold Humboldt current from the south, and the rain shadow from the Andes to the east creates a temperate desert. All the water for this city of 10 million comes from rivers that flow down from the Andes to the east. Nothing grows (no shrubs, no grasses, let alone trees) unless a human irrigates the plant. Lima is right on the Pacific Ocean, and the original shoreline is very steep sandy cliffs. The city has reclaimed a lot of land from the ocean and uses it as park land, mostly for ball fields and beaches.

Pictured: Humboldt penguin, many-colored rush-tyrant, bran-colored flycatcher (rufescent sub-species), Peruvian pelican.

One more trip for the year -- Lima and Upper Amazon

 

We'll be heading to Lima for a day of birding, and then up into the headwaters of the Amazon for a 7 day immersion in the rain forest.  We'll explore by skiff, by hiking, and maybe even by swimming (hopefully where there are no pirahna!) and by cruising on our small but luxurious riverboat.  We'll have one more day of birding near Lima on the return.  Once we are in the Amazon we'll be off-grid, so blog posts will be batched at the end, but I hope you'll come back to see them!