Buenas
Dias!
Good
morning! It is another lovely day, so RISE and SHINE. Life is for
living!
My
penultimate day in Peru. Tomorrow, Sunday I will be on the way back
to the UK.
A wonderful day yesterday at my favourite Peruvian Nature Reserve, Los Pantanos de Villa, south of Lima. Los Pantanos? Why?
OK,
I know, there are the magnificent National Parks and yes, I love The
Manu yet Los Pantanos de Villa is preferred because of it's brdlife
and it's location. You see I love urban reserves and Los Pantanos de
Villa with over ten million people within twenty miles of it is as
urban as it can get. Mind you, despite this and if one ignores the
constant sound of traffic, a birder can see around sixty superb
species in a day and, at certain times of the year birds numbers
exceed fifty thousand. To think of so many people, especially
children engaging with nature on their doorstep is thrilling.
I
well remember my first visit there on Boxing day of 2013 when the
seemingly never-ending beach was literally covered with immense
flocks of gulls, mostly Franklins and terns, mostly Elegant and
Cabot's.
I
have been there at least a dozen times. Indeed I started my Peruvian
Biking Birder adventure there back in April. Each time is different.
Each time different birds take precedence. Today it was Wilson's
Phalaropes that were present in numbers that would astound a British
birder. I counted 254 of the spinning waders!
Saltwater,
ocea adjacent lagoons, reedbeds, large freshwater-ish lagoons and dry
horse grazed areas; Los Pantanos de Villa has an interesting
selection of habitats and the birds can be very confiding. Imaine
Great and Pied-billed Grebes within yards of you.
Then
there are the staff and volunteers, wonderful friendly people, mostly
young but also older that add enjoyment to a visit with their sense
of fun, their dedication to the reserve and with their desire to
learn as much as possible, so to be able to share this with the
thousands of Liman children that visit. Six coaches full of
schoolchildren were there today!
Today
I had the opportunity to promote the reserve and Peruvian birding by
being interviewed and filmed by PromPeru. Three lovely people;
Melanie, Ricardo and fernando drew the long straw and had to do the
job. Two hours of their company, I look forward to seeing the results
and sharing it all with you.
So
before the July the 3rd details, here are a few
photographs from today at Los Pantanos de Villa :-
Fabulous to see that schoolchildren had cleared a long section of the beach from washed up plastic!
OK . . . . . . .
For
those who may be new to my blog I know that today is October the
sixth but due to a number of factors, mostly a lack of internet
within The Manu national Park, I could not keep up the daily blog
describing my adventures.
To
those who read yesterday's blog and the blog from the day before, I
once more humbly apologise for starting in the same vein!
You
know I survived the six month Biking Birder Peruvian adventure over
The Andes by bicycle and along the Madre de Dios river by packraft!
What
follows over the next 73 days, well to Christmas anyway, will be a
daily update as though we are back together in July of this year. Day
by day I will post my diary as though it is still happening. Together
we will share the thrills, the splendour of nature and the terrors.
Oh yes, there were days of terror but those few moments were outshone
by days of such magnificence that dark clouds were obliterated by
nature's beauty.
So
please read and imagine . . . .
Oh,
and please, PLEASE if you could make a donation to Birdlife
International as you read I would be more over the Moon than I
already am! Neil, I am coming to see you.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bikingbirderperu2018
Thank
you and love to you all,
Be
Green.
Gary
xxx
3rd
July, 2018
Very
sunny morning, cloud forest cloud develops during the day
I
can hear a Creamy-crested Spinetail from my sleeping bag as I lie in
my cold tent watching my breath. Ice on the tent for possibly the
last time, I get up and find a superb Moustached
Flowerpiercer
on the topmost twig of a very close by bush. A Great Thrush is on the
path nearby and the calling Creamy-crested
Spinetail
is seen moving amongst the foliage. As I get my inflatable mattress
and sleeping bag out of the tent, I arrange them so that I can sit on
the steps of the obelisk and watch the sunrise in one direction and
the setting of a gibbous Moon in the other. White-throated
Tyrannulets
come into a small tree and make it a hat-trick of new birds for the
early morning. Smashing little birds these are with the obvious white
throat above a dull grey breast, long tail and wing bars and eye
stripes, they move swiftly and noisily in the branches.
A
short walk to the ridge edge nearby, a deer is looking at me intently
from fifty yards away. Standing on my path, she has immense and pert
round ears, a black nose and large eyes. All seemingly of one colour
in this early morning sunlight she suddenly decides that watching the
human may not be a good idea and slowly walks off into the scrub.
Wispy,
nebulous cloud from the valley deep below starts to ascend and pass.
Soon it covers the ridge and I walk back to the tent in a strange fog
that seems to take the sounds away.
I
take down the tent, it having thawed and dried in the early morning
sunshine. Packed and ready, I start the long descent in the knowledge
that it is all downhill for the next fifty miles, all the way to the
Cadre de Bios River! Actually I don't sit on the saddle as I follow
the dirt road down. I stand on a pedal and balance in order that, one
I can stop immediately upon seeing a bird I would like to identify
or, more hopefully, come across a flock and two, I can leap off the
bike quickly and get to the side of the road if I hear an approaching
vehicle. The second of these considerations is important as minibuses
in particular can speed around a bend at any time and most of the
time they do not warn one of their approach by sounding their horn.
This road is so bumpy that cycling in the more conventional way seems
to me to be practically impossible and dangerous.
The
first birds that stop me are Red-crested Cotingas and both
Rufous-breasted and Brown-backed Chat Tyrants. That all changes
though when I come across my first flock. Rust & Yellow Tanagers
are easy to see as forage amongst the bushes and grassy stems. The
Rufous-paned
Brush-finches
have all black throats though and I will need to check their specie
status. Golden-collared,
Hooded
Mountain
and Scarlet-bellied
Mountain Tanagers
are all moving through and the pace in which they do so, appearing
then disappearing in the dense vegetation, makes the experience
exhilarating.
I
continue down the bumpy road as cloud envelops the hill side and
visibility is restricted. The valleys have gone and the way ahead is
obscured. Luckily traffic is extremely sparse and when I suddenly
come across the entrance to Weyqecha Biological Research Station I am
excited. My next place of accommodation has been reached.
No
one seems to be around as I enter the large reception – dining
room. Hummingbird feeders beside it have Amethyst-throated Sunangel
and Violet-throated
Starfrontlet
feeding. A Collared Inca joins them but is soon chased away.
Brush-finches and Yellow-browed Sparrows come close as they search
for food in the area next to the kitchen and main entrance. I am
entranced by such beautiful birds, birds that can be watched from a
seat and with a cup of coffee. Coffee and tea is available from a
table next to a hatchway through to the large kitchen.
Whilst
imbibing my coffee a man comes in and tells me that he a birder named
Omar working for a company called Cotinga Travel. Good name! Omar
talks birds and I try to persuade him to go back to the pools thirty
or kilometres or so away to photograph the Least Grebe I saw there
yesterday. This dastardly birder, myself that is, wants evidence of
the bird.
I
want to bird and after Omar leaves I meet John, the manager of the
facility. He gives me a map of the trails and I set off for the
nearest and shortest. The trail goes down diagonally into the valley
and a few mist nets have been placed in strategic spots. I hear later
that two scientists are carrying out a bird project. I don't see any
evidence of any birds during my walk as unfortunately no flocks pass
me during my two hour hike.
At
dinner I meet three young girls from England; Abbey, Alice and
Wanxin. The girls are part of a long study project into the effects
of Climate Change on the cloud forest. They are studying at King's
College. London together and part of their costs have been funded by
the Geography Association. I remember that I supported The Geography
Association during my first two Biking Birder adventures in 2010 and
2015 by carrying a glove puppet of Barnaby Bear on the bike. Barnaby
is the Geography Association's Primary Education character for a
major curriculum topic called “Where in the world is Barnaby Bear.”
Wanxin is from Singapore, Abbey is from Ilford and Alice is from
Southampton. They are chatty and fun, wonderful to meet such young
and intrepid people.
Dinner
is served by Blanco and Claudio and afterwards everybody goes to the
back of the kitchen to wash and dry up. Time for the match! Birding
can wait until later. It is time for England against Columbia in the
2018 World Cup taking place in Russia. The last sixteen match and the
winner will meet Sweden in the last eight. A room beneath one of the
bungalows is prepared with a large flat screen TV and a number of
chairs. Factions enter and take opposing positions in the room,
England supporters, that is the girls and I, to the right of the TV.
The Peruvians are all supporting Columbia, something to do with South
America solidarity and they all sit to the left, all nine of them. We
are outnumbered but my vocal prowess makes up for our numerical
shortfall.
The
match kicks off. England dominate but don't score during their purple
patch of play. Luckily neither do Columbia. Half time and honours
even, England ahead on points, I go and fetch biscuits and cakes from
my room. Shared all around with great fun and a game of pretending to
give to about to give a biscuit or a cake to a Peruvian Columbia
supporter and then passing the biscuit or cake to one of the England
supporting girls instead. Eventually I relent and all get a fair
share.
Second
half, England get a penalty and the protesting Columbian defender
gets booked. He has grabbed Harry Kane and pushed him to the ground.
There can be no doubt about the decision and the video referee is not
called for. Harry steps up and plants the ball down the centre of the
goal above the despairing foot of the goalkeeper who has dived to his
right. 1 – 0 to England. I quietly show my delight at the goal by
clapping a couple of times. Do I thump! I am up screaming “goal!”
and dance across the room. “Come on England!”
A
few minutes of the match remain. Columbia have come into the match
more and a long range shot is turned around the post by the diving
Pickford, the England goalkeeper. From the corner the ball is headed
downwards and with a vicious bounce it is in the back of the net. 1 –
1. The Peruvians take their cue to repeat my performance and
celebrate vociferously.
Extra
time, England come closest to deciding the game with a shot that just
goes past the far post. Penalties. Columbia score, England score,
repeated, Columbia score but the Columbian goalkeeper saves the next
England spot kick. 3 – 2 to Columbia. Panic!
Columbia
hit the bar and England score. 3 – 3.
Pickford
saves with his upstretched hand.
Dyer
steps up to win the game for England. England have never won a
penalty shoot-out in the World Cup. Can Dyer score.
He
does! He runs towards the team huddle as England players en masse
create a human pile. Dyer wants a cuddle but is ignored. Meanwhile I
am dancing once more around the room. England have beaten Columbia
and will play Sweden in the last eight. Fabulous.
The
TV is put away and the generator is turned off. Two men, Marcus and
Felix, arrive and after I try to explain that I have been emailed and
that it states that I will be staying in the dormitory, I am taken to
a most luxurious room with ensuite facilities. A large semi-detached
wooden bungalow built on tall stilts with a balcony that looks over
the now cloud free valleys of the Manu Cloud Forest. I sit and watch
as a Masked
Flowerpiercer
pierces a few of the numerous flowers. Incredible views with forest
clad hills, one after the other descending down towards the promise
of the lowlands thirty miles away. For anyone staying here this
terrace with its chairs and proximity to such magnificence makes any
expense and travel so worth while. Another paradise place for The
Biking Birder to enjoy.
Green
Year list : 287 birds
average
new birds to list per day : 3.05 birds
altitude
: 9,580
feet
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