I
do so hope that you will follow my adventures. You can do so via
this blog and also by my Biking Birder Facebook page and Twitter
feed.
or
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I
am trying to raise money for two charities and obviously I would love
you to donate to them.
Birdlife
International
Chaskwasi-Manu
Children's Project
OK!
The adventure starts on Sunday next at Los Pantanos de Villa nature
reserve, south of Lima, Peru. After the day spent there birding with
friends, the adventure of my lifetime is ahead; six months of
cycling, packrafting and birding. Six months to experience oceanic
coastline, desert, mountains and rainforest. Six months to try and
see more than 618 bird species, the incredible Green Birding list
that is the current World Green Birding Year list record held by
Dorian Anderson of the USA.
30th
March 2018 – Mala Part 2
Up
early, around five, I walk around the compound as daylight grows and
the sunrise approaches from over high hills to the east. The compound
is made of half a dozen or so bungalows of various expensive design
with large gardens around each. All enclosed from the rest of the
area by a high fence and thick hedge, our bungalow has it's own fence
and hedge with a tall wooden gate.
Once
outside this birds are soon to be heard if not seen in the
half-light. Pacific Parrotlets are somewhere near, as are Long-tailed
Mockingbirds. I reach a security tower near an area of two plots of
dirt for sale and climb to sit on the top step and watch.
The
sky brightens and sunrise! I always love that moment, the second that
the Sun appears and the sharp, bright light sparkles above a ridge of
mountain. In the past I have seen sunrises on so many holidays and
sitting here I go through some special sunrise moments in my memory.
From the northern tip of The Formentor Peninsula on Majorca looking
towards Menorca as the Sun appeared whilst I sat on the edge of a
high limestone cliff. Watching the golden ball set sail above the
ocean horizon from a vantage point on a Tenerifian hill, Gran Canaria
close by the the left. One memory involved two astrophysicists from
France. In the Gredos Mountains of Spain together we had watched The
Perseide meteorite shower on a warm August night in 2009. I joked
that I wanted to see the following sunrise from atop a nearby
mountain. Next morning in darkness I followed a path leading to a
rocky scrabble over scree to get to a summit, arriving just in time
to the majestic sunrise. Wolves howled their delight at the coming
day. Well so I thought at the time as the haunting howl filled the
valleys. It turned out to be a group of six large huskies at a nearby
mountain refuge, seen as I descended to new friends.
Sunrise
from a hot air balloon over the Nile in a hot air balloon, sunrise
over The Atlantic from a beach near Cape Canaveral with the Space
Shuttle in an upright position, I have been so lucky to have such
wonderful memories and fortunate indeed that sunrise watching
opportunities still are a feature of my travels.
A
Burrowing Owl is head spinning on a nearby chimney, alert in the
early sunlight. A small party of Pacific Parrotlets land on flower
heads upon a bush near the base of the ladder to the tower and I
watch and photograph them carefully trying not to move over much. A
very small female hummingbird hovers going from flower to flower, a
Peruvian Sheartail.
So much smaller than an Amazilian Hummingbird and
just to prove that to me one of the latter comes and displays at me
from less than metre away! A goosebump moment as the hummingbird
performs in front of my face, going from side to side hovering so
close I could touch it if I stretched my arm out. It eventually lands
on a nearby twig and I slowly photograph it.
Other
birds come close and as if to prove that I am reasonably well
concealed, a House Wren lands on the netting next to my face,
centimetres from my left eye. A split second mistake as it
immediately leaves to land on a nearby fencepost.
The
fence line proves useful as other birds land on it, Croaking Ground
Doves and the occasional Blue-black Grassquit are outshone by a
brilliant red Vermilion Flycatcher.
After
breakfast Mani, Katia, Nicholas and Katia's 'bestie', Christina and I
head off to explore nearby villages. A pecan nut cluster covered in
sugary icing is reminiscent of the sugar mice Mum bought for we kids
after the ordeal of a haircut and a long walk through St Steven's
Park in Stourbridge, a stop on the river view ridge.
An icy, slushy
juice called Cremolada, mine flavoured with pulped Lucuma brings the
next stop in the village of Azpitia.
Hot
now with no cloud and not a breath of wind, I fall asleep as we
travel up a long valley overlooked by dusty, high sedimentary hills
seemingly made of rock layers and a fine clay-like material. I awake
when the car stops, finding us in a village called Calango . We go into a Catholic church to find all the statues and altar art
work covered in sheets to show that this is Good Friday, the
crucifixion day of Christ.
Outside again, we walk along a street to a
huge anciently decorated rock enclosed with gates and a high wall
covered with explanatory murals, Coyllur Sayana.
Back
to the bungalow for a large lunchtime meal, Peruvians really know
their food and the quality is so much better than English
supermarkets would ever allow. Table tennis with Nicholas, football
with the girls and then a two hour siesta is disturbed by the girls
wanting me to see the three peacocks that have entered our garden.
Moonrise
just after the sunset, a full moon so beautifully photographed by
Mani. Peruvian Thicknees fly over noisily and a few tiny bats
flycatch. Eat the mozzies lads!
An
evening is spent quietly laying in a hammock listening to gentle
songs sung by Jack Johnson, beautiful reflections of simple yet
special moments, 'Do you remember?' Malu, Fabian and Fernando's nine
year old daughter has beautifully coloured in a phoenix-like bird for
me. I will place it on my personal Facebook page as a profile picture
once I return to the Wifi world.
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