The day started at 05:00! A quick breakfast and then into the boat to go try to find some of the birds that inhabit the islands we had begun to explore the previous day. The first stop was a flooded channel called Cocha Bondi. The morning was overcast but still lively with birds moving around the channel area. Here there were two main targets; the Pearly-breasted Conebill and the Brownish Elaenia. After much effort we managed to find the Conebill, but the Elaenia eluded us. The previous afternoons downpour had continued effects into this morning, as condensation in my camera meant photographing the conebills was near impossible, and it took over an hour to clear.
We then proceeded to move on from Cocha
Bondi, and visited a flooded area on the western side of the island. Here we
hoped for a few more species; Bay Hornero, Leaden Antwren and Zimmers
Woodcreeper. Sadly the area was far more flooded than we had anticipated, and
so could not fully explore. Fortunately the Zimmers Woodcreeper still showed up
for us, with two individuals showing nicely now the camera situation had
resolved itself. As we were leaving there was another new bird for me with Riparian
Parrotlet!
To try continue exploring for the
aforementioned species we entered another channel slightly further back along
the island. Luis knew the channel would take us into the lake area which we
discovered was still flooded. There were a few moments where the boat raised
out of the water due to submerged branches, but it was otherwise a smooth
enough journey. It paid off as well, as we had phenomenal views of the Leaden
Antwren right in front of the boat. The birding here was generally excellent,
and I had other lifers; Slate-coloured Hawk and White-eared Jacamar! A Bat
Falcon that soared overhead as we were departing made for an excellent bonus
species.
With the Antwren in the bag, we continued to
the new island that we had visited the previous evening. This was only a quick
stop as the Black-and-white Antbird that we were targeting here showed very
quickly and very well. Consequently we returned to back to the main island, but
this time on the far side for another antbird species, this time the Ash-breasted
Antbird. In addition to this stunning antbird showing well, there were two more
target species we connected with here; the Orange-fronted Plushcrown and the Castelneu’s
Antshrike.
Across the river from this previous location
was a large sandbank, and after a question about Sand-coloured Nighthawk, we
then spotted several individuals flying around with the islands terns and skimmers.
We crossed the river and landed on the island to check them out, and found
ourselves surrounded by hundreds of these very attractive nocturnal birds. They
may well prove to be the birding highlight of this section of the trip!
There was just enough time for a quick check of the Varzea forest around the lodge before lunch, and this yielded yet another new species for me with Yellow-bellied Dacnis, followed by a fantastic Long-billed Woodcreeper. After lunch and very short break, we continued exploring the trails from the previous afternoon, and the new birds just kept on coming. In total I managed another five new species; Many-banded Aracari, Hauxwell’s Thrush, Bare-necked Fruitcrow, White-vented Euphonia and Plum-throated Cotinga. Sadly for this last species, it was only a female so I will have to hope that a male shows up at some point. In addition, there was some excellent other birds with Silvered Antbird, Black-spotted Bare-eye and Gilded Barbet!
After dark I did a little exploring but found nothing of note, so chose to rest myself for the upcoming nights...
No comments:
Post a Comment