Los Pantanos de Villa, looking north
I
do so hope that you will enjoy following my adventures. You can
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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
April
1st, 2018
Los
Pantanos de Villa
Early
morning cloud burnt off by eleven, then hot, 28 Celsius, sunny with
very little wind. Westerly.
And
so the great Green Birding adventure begins, Biking Birder
IV-Peru2018. Manuel and I are at Los Pantanos de Villa, a wonderful
nature reserve south of Lima. Ever since we met back in 2014 at a
lodge, Chuncho Lodge, in Tambopata National Park near Puerto
Maldonado, Manuel and his wife Katia, together with their two boys,
Luis-Fernando and Nicholas, not forgetting their three dogs, have
been close friends. No visit to Peru would be the same without seeing
them. Manuel, Mani for short, is a keen nature photographer and eager
to learn more about birds. We are in the right place. There will be
thousands but, more importantly for the World Green Birding record
attempt, how many bird species will we see. My worry is that the
waders that spend the Austral Summer in South America, before
migrating north for the breeding season, will have already gone.
Otherwise I know what to expect at Los Pantanos. I have been here
many times before. This fact becomes apparent when the girl behind
the desk in the reception cabin greets me like a long lost friend.
“Gary!” Grecia shouts and introduces me to her co-worker, Nick.
Permits
bought, ten soles each, birding we go. Shiny
Cowbird
Molothrus
bonariensis are
on the fence, Black
Vultures
Coragyps
atratus
are atop every palmtree with more flying overhead. West
Peruvian Doves
Zenaida
meloda
are cooing whilst sitting on telegraph wires as skeins of Neotropic
Cormorants
Phalacrocorax
brasilianus fly
towards the northern lagoons. Franklin's
Gulls
Leucophaeus
pipixcan seem
to be everywhere in the sky with a huge chimney of hundreds of them
riding a thermal.
Mani
and I cross the road and enter the northern area through high metal
gates, passing the four bins for rubbish and recycling. The pathway
towards the largest of the lagoons is squashy, made of cut reeds and
dragonflies of three species are common, as are a skipper-like
butterfly.
Two
Harris
Hawks Parabuteo
unicinctus
take off from their palmtree perches and head off over the road
towards large reedbeds. Blue
& White swallows
Pygochelidon
cyanoleuca are
hawking the insects. Eared
Doves
Zenaida
auriculata are
in the only substantial tree adjacent to the path. Crossing over
bridges, we look into the shallow water of narrow dykes and see lots
of fish. Two small stripey fish are beautiful and small long-tailed
fish are feeding on algae on floating sticks. Larger fish appear
including one around twenty five centimetres long with broad
horizontal stripes, some sort of perch species.
We
reach the lagoon and watch as Great
Grebes
Podiceps
major
dive to catch fish. Superb grebes with tall, elegant necks and smooth
gliding action over the water followed by a gentle submergence.
Scanning around brings a variety of egrets; both Yellow-crowned
and Black-crowned
Night Herons
Nyctanassa
violacea
and Nycticorax
nycticorax,
Great
and Snowy
Egrets Ardea
alba and
Egretta thula,
Striated
Heron
Butorides
striata and
a lone Cattle
Egret Bubulcus
ibis.
Past experience tells me there will be a lot more later at roost
time. Moorhens.
as
I know them, or Common
Gallinules Gallinula
galeata,
those ubiquitous rails with their around the globe distribution, are
present in numbers and there are a few Cinnamon
Teal Spatula
cyanoptera.
Out on the water there are a couple of Grey-hooded
Gulls
Chroicocephalus
cirrocephalus with
a larger party of bathing Franklin's Gulls. A Many-coloured
Rush Tyrant
Tachuris
rubrigastra
flies past but lands out of sight amongst the tall reeds. Nine
colours or ten, a spectacular small bird that is so difficult to
photograph. Now do I call the next bird species seen Andean
Coot
or Slate-coloured
Coot
Fulica
ardesiaca?
I prefer the former but most lists name it as the latter. No matter,
down onto the list it goes.
A
walk around the lagoon via the long pathway ends with a tall
observation tower of very sturdy construction. It is near to the busy
dual carriageway but the reserve is inaccessible here unless one
wants to wade through a deep and wide dyke.
From
the tower's platform, how I wish there were seats, we look over the
reedbeds and lagoon and see hundreds of Neotropic Cormorants on
islands of cleared reed. A single Puna
Ibis
Plegadis
ridgwayi is
walking along one of the island's edges. Way over at the back of the
lagoon a couple of Ruddy
Ducks
Oxyura
jamaicensis are
easy to see, despite the distance, as the male's bright blue bill
shines out in the strong sunlight. A couple of Belcher's
Gulls Larus
belcheri fly
over.A heron strides across one of the furthest islands and I write
down Coqui. Reflect, check . . . no it isn't but what is a
Black-crowned Night Heron doing out in the open in broad daylight? My
mistake.
Back
the reception area, we pass it and follow a circular path around a
mostly hidden lagoon where one can take a motorised boat ride. I
can't. Pied-billed
Grebe
Podilymbus
podiceps adults
are feeding two youngsters small fish and a Wren-like
Rushbird
Phleocryptes
melanops reveals
itself briefly.
On crossing a small bridge, where a dyke is almost
filled by verdant green water plants, we can see a nearby Great Egret
wading and Mani spots a Spotted
Sandpiper Actitis
macularius.
As we both photograph it a Plumbeous
Rail
Pardirallus
sanguinolentus flies
out and is soon lost amongst the taller reeds. I see another one a
little bit later as it to quickly scuttles into the deeper recesses.
Back
to the road, Mani and I chat as we head for the sea. Vermilion
Flycatchers
Pyrocephalus
rubinus of
differing ages and plumages are in the trees by houses we pass and
two American
Kestrels
Falco
sparverius seem
to be unconcerned as we pass near to where they perch. Back in
Britain I would wait to count Rock
Dove
Columba
livia until
I had seen true birds on Outer Hebridean islands of West Scotland.
Here I am not so fussy and write down the name onto the growing Green
Birding list. A few Groove-billed
Anis
Crotophaga
sulcirostris are
in hiding in thick bushes beside the road.
What
on earth is that?! A brilliant green, yellow and blue bird of some
size is a bush then a shrubby tree. What is a Green
Jay
Cyanocorax
yncas doing
here? It must be an escaped bird. How sad to think that there is a
trade in captured Green Jays. It doesn't go onto the list but is
lovely to see and so unexpected.
Near
to the end of the hedgerow bushes, just before the extensive
sea-locked lagoon near the beach, Bananaquits
Coereba
flaveola and
Yellow-hooded
Blackbirds
Chrysomus
icterocephalus
are
calling, singing and occasionally showing themselves.
The
lagoon, my favourite area with thousands of birds. This lagoon will
either have lots of American-bound waders or not. A small rocky
island is covered with birds. Mainly Ruddy
Turnstones Arenaria
interpres, there
are also Greater
and Lesser
Yellowlegs Tringa
melanoleuca and
Tringa
flavipes,
Stilt
Sandpipers Calidris
himantopus,
American
Oystercatchers Haematopus
palliatus,
Spotted
Sandpipers and six Least
Sandpipers Calidris
minutilla!
The waders are here. Nearer to us, on a muddy and well vegetated bank
are more Lesser yellowlegs and Stilt Sandpipers with a Pectoral
Sandpiper
Calidris
melanotos as
well. Brilliant. Mani walks away to photograph nearby Yellow-headed
Blackbirds and finds a Killdeer
Charadrius
vociferus.
Meanwhile, on the stony island, a Common
Tern
Sterna
hirundo lands.
On a post bill structure points to the bird being a Cabot
Tern
Thalasseus
acuflavidus.
Along
the lagoon there are small headlands that triangulate out into the
deeper water. These are all covered in birds; the nearer ones have
hundreds of Franklin's Gulls but the further ones have around a
thousand Black
Skimmers Rhynchops
niger.
There are few more bizarre birds than a Black Skimmer. The lower
mandible of the large red and black bill is a lot longer than the
upper. The bill can be so heavy that the poor bird has to sometimes
lie prostrate on the sand to rest it's head! With bill open, the
Black Skimmer flies along a waterway dragging the lower mandible in
the water. On feeling contact with a surface feeding fish the
mandible snaps shut and hence a food item is taken. Seeing Skimmers
skimming is an avian treat. Seeing
them en masse like this is likewise a true thrill. Mani tells me that
the Spanish name for them is Rayador
americano, the American Streaker!
In
the haze of the distant inland bank of the lagoon we see a Little
Blue Heron
Egretta
caerulea and
some Black-necked
Stilts
Himantopus
mexicanus,
together with some White-cheeked
Pintails
Anas
bahamensis.
Still at the north end of the lagoon we find House
Wrens
Troglodytes
aedon and
Mani shouts as he finds a superb male Peruvian
Meadowlark
Sturnella
bellicosa on
a tall brick wall.
We
walk along the beach, looking along the lagoon's closest edges and
see a small group of Willets
Tringa
semipalmata
just as a flock of twenty eight Hudsonian
Whimbrel
Numenius
phaeopus fly
over. Out at sea it is a huge surprise to see practically nothing.
The usual massed ranks of boobies, cormorants and pelicans aren't to
be seen and it takes some time to see even the common seabirds.
Eventually though Peruvian
Boobies Sula
variegata,
Inca Terns Larosterna
inca,
Peruvian Pelicans Pelecanus
thagus,
Guanay Cormorants Phalacrocorax
bougainvillii and
Royal
terns
Thalasseus
maximus are
added. Last year, with Jason Oliver, we estimated the Guanay
Cormorant flock to be around 50,000! Today the number is less than
ten. Amazing. On previous visits I have seen massed curtains of
Peruvian Boobies diving in a synchronised wave into the sea but not
today. Every visit is different. Part of the charm of the place, how
I would love to be able to visit more regularly.
Walking
the beach, Mani photographs a Snowy Egret in the sudsy surf as I
watch a couple of Gray
Gulls Leucophaeus
modestus,
another bird I have seen here in their hundreds before today. I can't
complain though, the waders are here.
Up
on the highest area of sandy beach I am heading to the south end of
the lagoon as Mani continues to photographs birds along the tideline.
Suddenly I hear a plaintive call and turn around to find an American
Golden Plover
Pluvialis
dominica quite
close by sitting on some twigs and rubbish. Brilliant to see one so
close and unconcerned instead of amongst a huge flock of European
Golden Plover.
Going
to the inland side of the lagoon, Mani and I conceal ourselves behind
large reeds and get astounding views of a few Yellow-crowned Night
Herons. Eyeball to eyeball with these birds is a wonderful experience
as dozens of Blue & White Swallows hawk around us, picking off
just a few of the millions of small flies. Masses of spiders' webs
take some more of them but they hum as we walk through them.
Along
the sandbank, more Mul
ti-coloured Rush Tyrants show themselves and
the views towards the favellas is incredible. Over a wooden bridge
and along a stream, we pass two waders that allow great comparison
between the two closely related species, Lesser and Greater
Yellowlegs.
Heading
for an area where in the past there have been a number of bird-filled
shallow scrapes and pools, Mani and I find it mostly dry except for a
small amount of marshy mud. This has birds, not many but amongst the
Lesser Yellowlegs is a Pectoral Sandpiper and a couple of
Semi-palmated
Sandpipers Calidris
pusilla.
Three
Peruvian Meadowlarks are here too as well as a Striated Heron and
Little Blue Heron. Fascinating to watch numbers of Blue & White
Swallows coming down to take a drink from the stream.
Back
to the road with time approaching five p.m. Mani and I search for and
find a Burrowing
Owl
Athene
cunicularia almost
totally concealed in long grass. Two Scrub
Blackbirds
Dives
warczewiczi are
noisily calling and the American Kestrels are still on the same
palmtree.
At
the visitor's reception two guinea pig-like animals scuttle across
the path and it is time for Mani to leave for Lima. It has been a
truly magnificent birding day and having Mani share all the wonderful
moments has been terrific. Mani leaves in a car. I start to walk for
my overnight hotel in Chorillos. Walking along the very busy
dual-carriageway towards Chorillos I count the Cattle Egrets coming
into roost. I count around 650 before I have passed the roost site.
Crossing the road to view a couple of very dirty pools, there are
more Franklin's Gulls, Coots, Neotropic Cormorants, Black-necked
Stilts and Lesser Yellowlegs and another Plumbeous Rail is out in the
open. By the time I get my camera out of my rucksack it has gone.
Later,
in my hotel room, I open my notebook and see the number 64. Sixty
four bird species on day one, I feel content that this is a
reasonable start.
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