It being my last morning in Allpahuayo Mishana I gave it one last go to find at least one more of my target species for the site. I opted to walk the same lower trail as I had the previous evening, and I had some success here with one more target species added. Unfortunately it was a pretty low level target species; Citron-bellied Attila, but having heard it twice the two previous days and not seen it, it was good to finally lay eyes on it. There was also two more Brown Nunlet in the same area which was nice, and a decent sized mixed-species flock also passed through.
But the highlight of the morning has to go to
the Great Tinamou that I spooked off the path as I was heading back.
Fortunately, instead of flying or running away, it opted to stand motionless
and pray that I did not see it. This allowed me to get some fantastic views,
and even move around without the bird flinching, giving me much better views
that I managed when I saw this same species in Los Amigos a few weeks ago.
That concludes my time in Allpahuayo Mishana.
At 10:00 I packed my things and at 11:00 Muyuna Lodge passed by to collect me.
I jumped into the van and headed to the dock from where the boat would transfer
us to Muyuna. The boat journey passed through a fantastic heronry, mostly Great
Egrets as well as a few commoner species. Hundreds of egrets got up from the
banks in front of us, scattering as we motored by.
During lunch I was introduced to my guide,
Moises, and the plan was made for the afternoon. We would start with the trails
behind the lodge, to hopefully track down my most wanted mammal for the trip,
pre-Ocelot of course. That being the Pygmy Marmoset. And it did not take us
long to track them down. They live in the Mahogany trees behind the lodge, and
with a little playback they come down from the canopy to feed on the sap. We
also encountered another group in another tree later on, meaning that in addition
to the first individual, we also got to see at least four together. And they
were just as awesome as I had expected, fantastic animals with great
personailities, seemingly unbothered by our presence.
There was also some excellent birding to be
done behind the lodge. The mosquitos were absolutely awful, but that did not
put us off and we soon started making progress with my targets. First to fall
was Rufous-necked Puffbird, a smart species with a fantastically quirky tail
movement when we saw it, swinging from side to side. Next we had brilliant
views of Blue-necked Jacamar before rounding out the walk with a pair of
Saturnine Antshrike, although it was already getting dark at this point and
viewing was difficult.
We had hoped to head out exploring for
animals and owls after dark, and although the rain made it a little nervous, in
the end we managed to have an hour searching the river after dark. Our main
target was Black-banded Owl but sadly we had to leave this as heard only. We
did manage to find a sleeping Muscovy Duck and several Boat-billed Herons. On
the mammal front we found two Brown-throated Three-toed Sloths, and an
assortment of large rats but little else. The fish jumping in the lagoon we
visited were spectacular, with one even ending up in the boat before I threw it
back overboard. An enjoyable evening.
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