The magic of the amazon unfolded once again to our eyes and happily, for another year. To seeing fauna highly adapted to challenging conditions (flooded forest, heavy downpours, competition and lack of fruits for a period of the year) was a reward to our daily efforts to portray in our checklists the amazing richness of this, the largest biome on earth.
Being a tour that offers contrasting habitats, we started with a full day of birding in the vicinity of Lima, where rich oceanic waters allowed views of tens of thousands of Franklin’s Gulls perched on the electric wires along the costanera road. A visit to beach contiguous to Pantanos de Villa gave us the opportunity see shorebirds, black skimmers (a migrant from the Amazon region), teals, cormorants and pelicans at length. We also spent also time exploring the reeds and enjoyed wonderful views of the Many-colored Rush-Tyrant and a nesting pair of the secretive Wren-like Rushbird. We also drove to the picturesque town of Pucusana, and a magical boat trip gave us the opportunity to get superb views of the Humboldt Penguin, Guanay and Red-legged cormorants, a Peregrine Falcon and thousands of Peruvian Booby. The day rounded up with an amazing list of birds and that included seeing one of the extreme specialists of the Peruvian coast, the Surf Cinclodes.
Following a day of birding in the Lima area, we took a flight that went across the Andes, to the city of Iquitos, in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. During the following six days we explored the Amazon river and its main two tributaries in Peru, the Ucayali and the Marañon rivers. This allowed us to visit the habitats associated with the river flow that although seeming similar from the air, each one offered a unique experience.
