Birdwatching Expedition 8n9d
DAY 1
Arrival & Reception by Birding Guide. Although all of our guides have basic bird identification skills, only a handful truly qualify as birding guides - able to identify hundreds of species by sound and sight. Our birdwatching expeditions not only have an especially designed program but also a trained birding guide.
Transfer Airport to Puerto Maldonado Headquarters. Upon arrival from Lima or Cusco, we will welcome you at the airport and drive you ten minutes to our Puerto Maldonado headquarters. While enjoying your first taste of the forest in our gardens we will ask you to pack only the necessary gear for your next few days, and leave the rest at our safe deposit. This helps us keep the boats and cargo light.
Puerto Maldonado to Tambopata River Port. Upon arrival to Puerto Maldonado we will drive to the Tambopata River Port. This forty five minute drive will take twice as long as we stop along the road's secondary forest to scan for Purus Jacamar, White browed Blackbird, Pearl Kite, and Scaled Pigeon.
Tambopata River Port to Posada Amazonas. A private boat with individual seats and a roof will drive us upriver to Posada Amazonas. As we eat lunch on the boat, we will stop the hour long drive as many times as necessary to search for: Pied Lapwing, Collared Plover, King Vulture, Bat Falcon, Olive and Russet-backed Oropendolas and Ringed Kingfisher and Amazon Kinfisher.
**Boxed Lunch.
Orientation. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.
**Dinner.
Overnight in Posada Amazonas.
DAY 2
**Breakfast.
Posada Amazonas Canopy Tower. A thirty minute walk at dawn takes us to this 30 meter tall scaffolding tower, which will add a whole new dimension to our Amazon birding experience: the forest canopy. We will spend the whole morning waiting for a canopy mixed flock to appear. The mixed flock is mostly all about tanagers: Paradise Tanager, Green-and-gold Tanager, Flame-crested Tanager, Turqoise Tanager, Opal- rumped Tanager and others. The tower also offers good opportunity for Cream- colored Woodpecker, Gilded Barbet, Plum-throated Cotinga and Striolated Puffbird. Macaws and toucans are seen flying against the horizon, including the Chestnut-eared, Lettered, Emerald, Curl-crested, and Brown-mandibled Aracaries. As the sun heats up we will see lonely raptors. This is your best chance for hawk-eagles and even harpy!
**Lunch.
Shahue Trail. Today we will bird the Shahue Trail, good for Fiery-capped Manakin, Round-tailed Manakin, Pale Rumped Trumpeteer and Pavonine Quetzal.
**Dinner.
Overnight in Posada Amazonas.
DAY 3
**Breakfast.
Bamboo Forest. We depart on a fifteen minute drive to the bamboo patches around Tres Chimbadas Lake. We will leave lake birding aside and focus on the bamboo specialists. We will look for the endemic White-cheeked Tody Tyrant, Peruvian Recurvebill, Red-billed Scythebill, Rufous-headed Woodpecker, Rufous-breasted Piculet, Brown-rumped Foliage Gleaner, Large- headed Flatbill, Dusky- tailed Flatbill, Dusky-cheeked Foliage-gleaner, Flammulated Bamboo-tyrant, Dot- winged and Ornate Antwren, White-lined Antbird, Rufous capped Nunlet, Pheasant Cuckoo and Striped Cuckoo.
Posada Amazonas to TRC. During the first three hours of the boat ride, as we enter the Tambopata National Reserve, we will focus on recapping and listing. Then the fun begins and it lasts for three more hours! Numerous egrets, Capped heron, Cocoi Heron, Large and Yellow-billed Tern, Black Skimmer, the classic Horned Screamer, Razor Billed Currasow, Blue-throated Piping Guan and Orinoco Goose and during the dry season months, migrant shorebirds, are all possibilities for this portion of the trip. Every now and then macaws, toucans and raptors will be spotted above.
**Boxed Lunch.
Orientation. Upon arrival, the lodge manager will welcome you and brief you with important navigation and security tips.
**Dinner.
Macaw Project Lectures: After dinner scientists will provide an in depth look at the biology of macaws, their feeding habits, the theories for clay lick use, their breeding and feeding ecology, population fluctuations and the threats to their conservation.
Overnight in Tambopata Research Center.
DAY 4
Macaw Clay Lick. At dawn we will cross the river and enjoy the world's largest macaw clay lick where hundreds of parrots and macaws of up to 15 species congregate daily. We can expect to see ten to twelve of the following members of the parrot family: Red-and-green, Blue-and-gold, Scarlet, Red-bellied, Chestnut-fronted and Blue-headed Macaws; Mealy and Yellow-crowned Amazons; Blue-headed, Orange-cheeked and White-bellied Parrots; Dusky-headed, White-eyed, Cobalt-winged and Tui Parakeets and Dusky-billed Parrotlets.
**Breakfast.
Floodplain and Terra Firme Forest. We will explore the quintessential rainforest on the 5 mile Ocelot Trail and the 5 mile Toucan Trail systems. The Ocelot Trail is in the floodplain with ponds and streams forming during the rainy season. The Toucan Trail on the other hand is tall rainforest that rarely or never floods. Both of these trails represent the most speciose habitats for birds. Too many possibilities to list, this is habitat for Starred Wood Quail, Pale-winged Trumpeter, several Trogons, Foliage-gleaners, Black-tailed Leaftosser, many Woodcreepers, Antbirds, Flycatchers, Manakins, and much more. Mixed species flocks are especially diverse with understory flocks led by Dusky-throated Antshrike and Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers. They often contain 30-40 species (or more!) including: Plain winged Antshrike, Bluish Slate Antshrike, White eyed Antwren, Plain breasted Antwren, Thrush-like Antpitta, White winged Shrike Tanager, Amazonian Barred Woodcreeper and Spix's Woodcreeper. The Ocelot trail also crosses some permanently flooded old ponds inhabited by Agami Heron, Rufescent Tiger-heron, Pygmy and Green-and-rufous Kingfishers, and Sunbittern.
**Boxed Lunch.
TRC Gardens. After long hikes we can continue to bird within the confines of TRC. Species possible on the TRC clearing include: eventual canopy flocks, Squirrel Cuckoo, Masked Crimson Tanager, Cinammon- throated Woodcreeper, Speckled Chachalaca and Yellow-tufted Woodpecker.
**Dinner.
Overnight in Tambopata Research Center.
DAY 5
**Breakfast.
Floodplain and Terra Firme.
**Lunch.
Overlooks. We will bird at the transitional forests above the clay lick. These were bamboo forests until they flowered and died out a few years ago. Now they are akin to riparian forests but will eventually grow into terra firme as they are not affected by yearly floods. Here we will spot White-throated Jacamar, Buff-throated Saltator, Grayish Saltator, Scarlet-hooded Barbet, Crested and Russet-backed Oropendolas, Piratic Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Nunbird and others. While birding these spots we will have extraordinary views of the Tambopata winding its way from the highlands.
**Dinner.
Overnight in Tambopata Research Center
DAY 6
**Breakfast
Riparian Habitat. We will explore older river created habitats at the pond five minutes upstream from TRC - forests of Cecropia and Balsa Wood with a bamboo understory. This is the habitat of the legendary Rufous-fronted Anthrush, and the Lemon-throated Barbet, Spot-breasted Woodpecker, Cabanis Spinetail, Amazonian Antpitta, Blackish Antbird, Fuscous Flycatcher, Guira Tanager and Troupial. As we exit the pond's forests, we will bird on grassy areas with Tessaria and young Cecropia trees. These are not very diverse for birds but are the main habitat for Plain-crowned and Dark-breasted Spinetails, Mottle-backed Elaenia, Spotted Tody-Flycatcher, Black-billed Thrush, Orange-headed Tanager, and Seedeater species among others.
**Lunch
Palm Swamp. A visit to the palm swamp may allow us to spot the Cinereous and Great Tinamou, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Silvered and Plumbeous Antbirds, White-eyed Attila, Sulphury Flycatcher, Fork-tailed Palm Swift and Pectoral Sparrow.
**Dinner.
Night Birding. After dinner, we will venture out near the lodge to spot-light Pauraque, Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, Great Potoo, Long tailed Potoo, Ocellated Poorwill and if we are lucky a Mottled Owl or Crested Owl. There is also the possibility of taking macro shoots of American Bullfrogs, Horned Frog, tree frogs and other creatures of the night.
Overnight at Tambopata Research Center.
DAY 7
**Breakfast
Tambopata Research Center to Refugio Amazonas. A three and a half hour boat ride brings us to Refugio Amazonas.
**Boxed Lunch.
Canopy tower: A thirty minute walk from Refugio Amazonas leads to the 25 meter scaffolding canopy tower. A bannistered staircase running through the middle provides safe access to the platforms above. The tower has been built upon high ground, therefore increasing your horizon of the continuous primary forest extending out towards the Tambopata National Reserve. From here views of mixed species canopy flocks as well as toucans, macaws and raptors are likely.
**Dinner.
Overnight at Refugio Amazonas
DAY 8
**Breakfast
Sachavacayoc Lake System. A long two hour hike from the lodge will take us to this oxbow lake, which has palm swamp and grassland vegetation as well. We will try to spot Pale-vented Pigeon, Azure Gallinule, Purple Gallinule, Slender-billed and Snail Kites, Rufescent Tiger-Herons, Sungrebe, Green Ibis, Gray breasted Crake, Rufous-sided Crake and two of the "must see" Amazonian classics: Horned Screamers and Hoatzin.
**Boxed Lunch.
Secondary Forest. Since Refugio Amazonas is built on land which was once part of a timber concession and cattle ranch the forest on parts of our trail system are secondary. This means we will focus on: Barred Antshrike, Short-tailed Pygmy Tyrant, Streaked Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Solitary Black Cacique, Gray-fronted Dove, Ruddy Ground Dove and others.
**Dinner.
Overnight at Refugio Amazonas
DAY 9
**Breakfast.
Transfer Boat - Refugio Amazonas to Tambopata River Port.
Transfer Tambopata River Port to Pto Maldonado Headquarters.
Transfer Pto Maldonado Headquarters - Airport. We retrace our river and road journey back to Puerto Maldonado, our office and the airport. Depending on airline schedules, this may require dawn departures.
Boat Transportation. All our boats are 20 foot long, roofed canoes with 55 hp outboard motors. Daily arrivals and departures from every port are scheduled to meet every airline´s arrival and departure with a maximum two hour wait.
All Puerto Maldonado Programs
Bird Watching
Posada Amazonas
Refugio Amazonas
Tambopata Research Center
Tambopata Jungle Lodge
Colpa Birds for Birdwatchers
Important
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