Peru - Day 12; Mirador Pico de Hoz & Amazonia Lodge

   I was awoken to the song of the Rusty-belted Tapaculo, singing relentlessly in the vegetation not far from our room. With daylight breaking I decided to head straight for the source of the song to track the bird down, and hopefully manage to see it this time. Fortunately it did not take long before I had managed to see the bird, perched up on a fallen log in the early morning understorey darkness. In the following half hour I managed a couple more views but never particularly prolonged. After yesterdays disappointment, this was a huge relief. 

  We would leave the Mirador Pico de Hoz today, and had until 09:30 before we had to leave. In that time we managed to clean up on target, the Bamboo Antshrike which was a tricky customer as it flew across the road, before I managed to get a clear view. The adult King Vulture did not pay a visit to the vulture feeding hide, but a juvenile was present. 

  And with that our very enjoyable visit to the this excellent site came to an end. We said our farewells to Jonathan to drove onwards to the village of Atalaya about 15 minutes away, where we would get the boat to our next stop, the Amazonian Lodge. Our journey to the lodge was very straightforward in the end, with a short journey by boat first before arriving at the lodge late morning. Because of this we spent the first few hours relaxing on the lodge veranda, before lunch and a rest. The feeder at the lodge helped keep us entertained, with a pair of Blue-throated Piping Guans being new for me, as they fed each other the bananas from the feeders. 

  At around 14:30 we set off into the forest. We had no guide for this lodge and so had to discover the trails for ourselves. We eventually managed to complete the Tower Trail that leads up the adjacent mountains through dense forest. It was a difficult trail at times, but the forest was excellent at there were a few birds to keep us entertained despite being the afternoon. The only new bird for me was a Silvered Antbird which was feeding along a river at the start, but other highlights included a fantastic performance from another Rusty-belted Tapaculo, a brief Ringed Antpipit and a Ruddy Quail Dove. A group of Cappuchin monkeys offered a nice mammal bonus.

  At night I searched with the thermal and torch around the lodge trails, but with less success than I had at Mirador Pico de Hoz. Still, a Grey-fronted Dove made for a nice roosting bird tick, and at the end of the walk I found a group of three Night-Monkeys, making it a fairly successful walk in the end.