Peru - Day 31; Explorama Lodge

   My first destination on my own was with the ExploreNapo company, which owns four lodges heading north along the Amazon river and into the Napo River. I had arranged four nights with them, although I was a little unsure what exactly my itinerary was. Once I met up with my guide, Luis, at 08:30 I was informed I had two nights at Explorama Lodge and then two more nights at ExploreNapo. The first lodge, Explorama, was mostly focused on riverside specialities and so that was what the first day largely entailed.

  It was around 90 minutes by boat from the docks in Iquitos, upriver to the lodge. Once there, Luis was keen to head straight out, with possibly the most important target of this specific lodge on his mind, the Orange-eyed Flatbill. Although uninspiring, it was my first key-target of this trip and the one that would most likely get left behind should we fail to find it here. Fortunately, taking the trail south from the lodge, we did not have to wait long before a pair of these flycatchers showed very nicely above the trail for us. Additionally it was good to get another target species seen with Scarlet-crowned Barbet, although this species is much commoner.

  In addition to the birds, it was great to be welcomed to the lodge by yet more primates. Warily watching the banana feeders as we passed were a group of three or four Tamarins, including an adult with a baby, and in the canopy there was a noisy group of Squirrel Monkeys passing by. It continues to be an absolutely brilliant trip for mammals.  

  After lunch we explored the trail heading directly behind the lodge for little more than hour. The target for this trail was the Black Bushbird, a distinctive antbird that I had failed to even consider as a target for this trip. Once again, Luis produced the goods and we had phenomenal views of a stunning male even using its distinctive feeding technique. The trail produced little else, with Plumbeous Antbird and Great Antshrike being the best of what little else we saw, but it being mid-afternoon it was good to see much at all.

  With the Bushbird secured, we jumped in a boat and set off to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the riverside islands, home to several range-restircted species. Unfortunately, just as we reached the first island, the heavens opened. It took about half an hour for the rain to stop, and during that time it absolutely pounded down on us. It was so heavy it even knocked a small snake out of the tree under which we were sheltering, and into the water. Even under my poncho my clothes were drenched, and it was difficult to be motivated again.

  Still, once it stopped the birds started again and the wet clothes were soon forgotten about. On the first island we had some luck with Plain-breasted Piculet, which showed very nicely, but it was on the second island that the target birds began to quickly roll in. We started with a very showy River Tyrannulet, followed by both Red-and-white and Parker’s Spinetails and then finished off with a very nice Riverside Tyrant. Additionally there were lifers for me with Oriole Blackbird and White-winged Parakeet. The only downside was the lingering thick cloud cover, which made the afternoon feel much later than it actually was.

  After dinner we took a slow canoe trip down the creek adjacent to the lodge. It was exceptionally lively with small mammals, although almost all were too quick to obtain any identifiable photos. A Southern Opossum was the best we managed, although it too was too quick for photos. All the roosting birds we found, and there were several, turned out to be Plumbeous Antbirds with the exception of a single White-bearded Hermit. The amphibian selection was also fantastic! Once the creek trip was over, I also explored the garden a bit, and found a nice snake in the bamboo, as well as an Amazonian Bamboo Rat. An excellent evening to round off an excellent day.