Peru - Day 40; Muyuna Lodge

   My first full day at Muyuna started with a 04:15 wakeup before at 04:30 breakfast. Once this was completed myself and Moises set off upriver in our boat, with the main goal of finding the Wattled Curassow. On the journey upriver we found our first Capybara of the trip, picked up in the thermal as we headed upriver.

  The morning was unfortuanately overcast but there was decent bird activity. It did not take us long to hear our first Curassow but it sounded far in the early morning gloom. Forunately not long after, one flew across the river in front of us and alighted in a tree in clear view. The light remained terrible but it was good to have this target safely in the back.

  As we continued we eventually found another Curassow, but the problem remained. The third individual we found was however much better. The light had improved by this point and so photos were better, and the bird was closer which was nice. It even flew over us as it passed from one side of the river to the other, where it continued to show well.

  Throughout the morning the birding was good, and I picked up several new species. The most important of these was the Black-tailed Antbird, which was a cracking little bird that showed well but sadly never in the clear open. When it sang its wings quivered, which was a fantastic quirk to see. Additionally I had new species in American Pygmy Kingfisher, Cinnamon-rumped Foliage-Gleaner, Short-tailed Parrot and Festive Amazon.

  It continued to be a great trip for mammals, with another trip tick and a new species this morning. The trip tick, specifically for Iquitos, was a group of Colombian Red Howler, including a female with an infant, and Brown Cappuchin was also a trip tick for this section, but the views were terrible. Finally I was shown a Night Monkey roosting in a tree cavity, my first time seeing one of these monkeys like this.

  After lunch we headed back out in the motorboat, heading back up the same stretch of river but this time aiming to travel further and with the main target in mind being that of Anaconda. Sadly this failed to materialize, but it was a pleasant afternoon regardless. The highlights were roosting individuals of both Great and Common Potoo, the latter close and the former quite distant.