Having cleaned up on all our target birds in the area the previous day, today was more of a day in transit than a quest to track down anything specific. We said farewell to our rustic lodging from the last few days, and headed northeast down the Satipo valley towards the town of Satipo itself, as we would slowly bird our way back down to civilization.
This valley is still very well forested, with ample woodland
flanking the steep valley sides. Because of that, we were able to encounter many
mixed flocks during the morning as we slowly drove down the valley. The beauty
of this was that as we descended in altitude, the species composition also
gradually changed, with many of the species we had become familiar with seeing
over the past few days becoming less common, with other species replacing them.
While the flocks were excellent, with a wide variety of
species, there were a number of birds that really stood out from the rest.
Picking up an Amazonian Umbrellabird from the car was nice, as was a stunning
male Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, also perched on the roadside. But the absolute
highlight of the day was first a single, but then a pair, of Sunbittern on the
river below us. We were alerted to a potentially interesting bird by a
high-pitched two-note whistle, but did not expect to then see the crazy
butterfly wings of Sunbittern as it flew upriver. Fortunately, it only flew a
short distance and we were then able to watch it jumping around the rocks on
the river. Absolutely brilliant birding.
There were a few new birds in the mixed species flocks, and
while they were nothing spectacular, they were still nice to see. Olivaceous
Siskin and Short-billed Chlorophonia (Yellow-whiskered Bush-Tanager) were both challenging IDs to sort out,
while Blue-chinned Barbet gave us the run around for a while before it
eventually showed itself. Thankfully Lemon-browed Flycatcher showed nicely on a
couple of occasions. Sadly there were no Antpittas or Tapaculos on the agenda
today, but in the following days, more will come.
In the afternoon and evening, we booked into a hotel and sorted out the car again, now that we had finally left the dusty Andean roads behind us. After three nights in a shack with no washing facilities, it was nice to finally get to have a proper wash.
Satipo Road: Torrent Duck, Speckled Chachalaca, Squirrel Cuckoo, White-collared Swift, Fork-tailed Palm Swift, Sparkling Violetear, Speckled Hummingbird, Long-tailed Sylph, Sunbittern, Andean Motmot, Versicolored Barbet, Ocellated Piculet, Rufous-rumped Antwren, Montane Woodcreeper, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Spotted Barbtail, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Streak-necked Flycatcher, Olive-striped Flycatcher, Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Inca Flycatcher, Marble-faced Bristle Tyrant, Scale-crested Pygmy Tyrant, Cinnamon Flycatcher, Smoke-colored Pewee, Black Phoebe, Rufous-tailed Tyrant, Lemon-browed Flycatcher, Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Brown-capped Vireo, White-collared Jay, Inca Jay, Blue-and-white Swallow, House Wren, Mountain Wren, Grey-breasted Wood Wren, White-capped Dipper, Andean Solitaire, Olivaceous Siskin, Yellow-whiskered Bush Tanager, Common Bush Tanager, Yellow-browed Sparrow, Russet-backed Oropendola, Dusky-green Oropendola, Crested Oropendola, Three-striped Warbler, Buff-rumped Warbler, Russet-crowned Warbler, Slate-throated Whitestart, Spectacled Whitestart, Magpie Tanager, Black-eared Hemispingus, Silver-beaked Tanager, Blue-capped Tanager, Yellow-throated Tanager, Blue-grey Tanager, Blue-necked Tanager, Beryl-spangled Tanager, Saffron-crowned Tanager, Golden Tanager, Golden-eyed Flowerpiercer,
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