Peru Day 31; Desvío a Azpitia & Departure

 A rather typical last day really. We were awoken at 05:00 by fighting cats outside the hotel, ideal before a long flight, and didn’t really recover, removing the lie-in that we had all wanted. Still, we did not leave the hotel until it was already half 6, with very little to achieve during the morning, and the flight not actually departing until 17:30 at night.

There was one spot we wanted to check on the way, or rather I wanted to check, for Parrot-billed Seedeater. It was little more than a dirt road off the highway passing through an area of dusty agriculture. We spent an hour exploring the area, and were rewarded with a single female Parrot-billed Seedeater. It showed well though, although we lost it after just a few minutes. Other birds in the area that were new, at least for the trip list, were Shiny Cowbirds and Streaked Saltator. Perhaps the highlight was the impressive numbers of Vermillion Flycatchers, with possibly up to twenty encountered during the morning.

After this, we continued to complete the two hour drive up to Lima. After a bite to eat it was already getting on for midday, so we headed to the airport to drop the car off in the hope that Bill, who was staying on for an extra week, might be able to grab his new vehicle early and make progress on his new itinerary. Thus, we wrapped up our trip, and I write this final entry from the departures lounge at Lima airport.

Sadly I fell just short of the 500 species I had hoped for after realising it was possible about half way through the trip. In total I managed 495 species, including 153 new birds. This was an absolutely brilliant result, especially considering how much time we spent at high altitude in low species environments. An excellent result, and a testament to the work we all put in over the last four and a half weeks. 

-Parrot-billed Seedeater

-Streaked Saltator

-Vermillion Flycatcher

Species List:
Desvío a Azpitia: Croaking Ground Dove, West Peruvian Dove, Groove-billed Ani, Amazilia Hummingbird, Pacific Parrotlet, Vermilion Flycatcher, Blue-and-white Swallow, House Wren, Long-tailed Mockingbird, House Sparrow, Hooded Siskin, Peruvian Meadowlark, Shiny Cowbird, Blue-grey Tanager, Cinereous Conebill, Blue-black Grassquit, Parrot-billed Seedeater, Chestnut-throated Seedeater, Drab Seedeater, Streaked Saltator,