The plan for the day was to check some areas of riverbank vegetation for Black-billed Seedfinch before then carrying on to a new site, Hacienda Amorique, which was recommended to us by a Gunnar Emblom, a birder and guide who we encountered whilst looking for White-cheeked Cotinga. There were a few of our targets to be found here, but we left it unfortunately late to make a reservation and had been unsuccessful in our attempts to make contact through social media. Lesson for the future, don’t try to book reserves the night before you intend to visit.
The riverbank birding was tricky, as we only found one area
where access was actually possible. Here we failed to find the Seedfinch but I
did have a lifer with Little Ground Tyrant, which was running on the sandy
shores. This was absolutely eclipsed however by distant views of a Neotropical
River Otter as it swam across. Sadly the views were all too brief, and the
photos I was able to get left a lot to be desired. In the trees behind the
riverbank there was a scene of absolute carnage, as a mob of Chestnut-eared
Aracaris plundered the nests of the Yellow-rumped Cacique colony there. The
Caciques were obviously none too pleased, but their attempts at mobbing
ultimately were futile.
We arrived at Hacienda Amorique late morning. The site was
surprisingly busy, as a group of students had been visiting over the weekend.
One of these helped us translate with the wife of the site manager, Martin, who
was away. We were told that it would be possible to stay for the time we
wanted, but we would have to linger while they prepared rooms, and for Martin
to return to discuss our plans with him. While we waited we had a bit of a
raptor-fest, with Black-hawk Eagle, Plumbeous Kite and Grey-headed Kite all
passing overhead, while three Red-throated Caracara flew through the garden,
with one bird perching up for brilliant views.
Once Martin returned, we had a bite to eat, before he
immediately took us into the garden to show us his first Manakin lek;
Round-tailed Manakin. Its unclear how many males there were here, and I never
saw any actual lekking, but to be surrounded by the calls of Ceratopipra again
certainly brought back some memories of Murici. In the same area we also had a
Rusty-capped Nunlet, which was one of the species we had hoped to encounter
whilst here. Things were already rolling just as we had hoped.
Sadly it did not last, as our afternoon was much less productive. Our attempts to find Cerulean-capped Manakin, one of the sites premier species, at its lek produced just a few frustrating heard onlys. We failed to encounter many birds at all for the rest of the afternoon, although Blackish Antbird and Chestnut-tipped Toucanet were both new for me. The owls we hoped to find we even more frustrating, as we heard all the ones we wanted, but only managed very brief views of a Rufous-banded Owl, as just a silhouette against the illuminated moon. The only respite in the night birding was an Ocellated Poorwill that did actually perch nice and conspicuously, just as the last daylight faded.
Rio Paucartambo: White-tipped Dove, Neotropic Cormorant, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Amazon Kingfisher, Chestnut-eared Aracari, Little Ground Tyrant, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, White-banded Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, White-winged Swallow, House Wren, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Blue-grey Tanager, Blue-black Grassquit,
Hacienda Armorique: Brown Tinamou, Speckled Chachalaca, Plumbeous Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, Ocellated Poorwill, White-collared Swift, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Grey-headed Kite, Swallow-tailed Kite, Black Hawk-Eagle, Plumbeous Kite, Short-tailed Hawk, Band-bellied Owl, Rufous-banded Owl, Rufous-capped Nunlet, Bluish-fronted Jacamar, Chestnut-tipped Toucanet, Red-throated Caracara, Blackish Antbird, Inambari Woodcreeper, Streaked Xenops, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Azara's Spinetail, Round-tailed Manakin, Violaceous Jay, House Wren, Blue-naped Chlorophonia, Russet-backed Oropendola, Slate-throated Whitestart,
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