Our birding destination for the day was the reserve El Zarza, an area of Andean forest on the Peruvian border with a few interesting species we wanted to track down. The area itself was pretty remote, and from our lodging it took us over an hour to arrive at the road through the protected area. Frustratingly, the weather was not on our side, and the drizzle and fog looked well set to spoil our morning.
Fortunately that is not how it transpired. Although it
started a little slow, we soon found a few flocks even in spite on the gloomy
conditions. The light was truly terrible for the first flock we were forced to
resort to photographing birds using a high exposure in order to be able to
identify anything. Despite this, we quickly located one of the most import targets
with Equatorial Greytail, in amongst many other species such as Ashy-throated Chlorospingus
and Deep Blue Flowerpiercer. During the morning we encountered no less than
five impressive mixed species flocks, and each one added new species to our day
list.
It didn’t take long for us to wrap up many of the sites main
targets, including the Spectacled Prickletail, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet and
Orange-cheeked Tanager. The last flock we encountered during lunch was particularly
spectacular, as it not only contained some of the interesting birds mentioned above,
but many were at eye level, allowing us to get really good views of the species
as they passed us by.
Although it slowed down in the afternoon, we were still able
to add good and interesting species. Scarlet-breasted Fruiteater was particularly
nice, with a very dapper male showing extremely well. At the end of the afternoon,
now the weather had fully cleared up, we also had nice views of the range restricted
Coppery-chested Jacamar, and a fantastic pair of Golden-collared Toucanet
rounded things off brilliantly, as we were able to watch them displaying in the
canopy.
Of course, it is also necessary to mentioned that I added a
new Tapaculo to the ever-growing list, with White-crowned Tapaculo. The first
bird we heard would not show, although we saw the vegetation moving from the location
of its song. Frustrated by this we continued the search and the second bird
showed exceptionally well, allowing for fantastic photos of these normally
elusive birds. Throughout the rest of the afternoon we heard multiple more
birds, but never tried to see them, well satisfied with our work on the
Tapaculo front.
We finally left the site at the end of the afternoon, but even
as we were leaving there were birds to be seen. A summer plumaged Spotted
Sandpiper was a surprise to be sure, flushed from the roadside as we passed. If
ever there was an appropriate way to round out a brilliant days birding, then
this was it. Tomorrow we will return to the site in the hopes of repeating our
success.
El Zarza: Squirrel Cuckoo, Speckled Hummingbird, Long-tailed Sylph, Peruvian Racket-tail, Violet-fronted Brilliant, Glittering-throated Emerald, Spotted Sandpiper, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Masked Trogon, Coppery-chested Jacamar, Red-headed Barbet, Golden-collared Toucanet, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Uniform Antshrike, Plain Antvireo, White-crowned Tapaculo, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Olive-backed Woodcreeper, Streaked Xenops, Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, Equatorial Greytail, Spectacled Prickletail, Dark-breasted Spinetail, Golden-winged Manakin, Scarlet-breasted Fruiteater, Wing-barred Piprites, Olive-striped Flycatcher, Marble-faced Bristle Tyrant, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet, Scale-crested Pygmy Tyrant, Cinnamon Flycatcher, Ornate Flycatcher, Golden-faced Tyrannulet, Smoke-colored Pewee, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Inca Jay, Black-capped Donacobius, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, House Wren, Grey-breasted Wood Wren, Chestnut-bellied Thrush, Thick-billed Euphonia, Ashy-throated Bush Tanager, Russet-backed Oropendola, Tropical Parula, Blackburnian Warbler, Three-striped Warbler, Slate-throated Whitestart, Rufous-crested Tanager, Silver-beaked Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Yellow-throated Tanager, Orange-eared Tanager, Blue-necked Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Saffron-crowned Tanager, Golden Tanager, Green Honeycreeper, Golden-eyed Flowerpiercer, Bananaquit, Buff-throated Saltator,
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