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A Report from birdtours.co.uk

Northern Peru and Rio Napo area (Ecuadorian Amazonia),

Author

Photos from the trip:

Photo 1. Rio Chonta. Site of the Grey-bellied Comet. We also observed Black Metaltail, Black- crested and Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant, White- browed Chat-tyrant, Rusty and Black-throated Flowerpiercers.
Photo 2. Location of the Great Spinetail near San Marcos. Other interesting species Spot-throated Hummingbird, Rainbow Starfrontlet, Purple-collared Woodstar, White-winged Black-Tyrant, Maraņon Gnatcatcher and Highland Hepatic Tanager.
Photo 3. Start of the descend from the pass near Celendin into the Maraņon Valley. Interesting species along the way were Spot-throated Hummingbird, Black-necked Woodpecker, White-chinned Thistletail, Baron's Spinetail and Chestnut-backed Thornbird.
Photo 4. Down in the Maraņon valley, a very dry habitat with some limited riverine vegetation and cacti and scrub on the hills. Birdlife is scarce but some very nice endemics like Peruvian Pigeon and Maraņon Gnatcatcher were seen.
Photo 5. On the black mud pass (Abra barra negro) towards Leimebamba. Very little interesting vegetation and the habitat towards the pass out of the Maraņon valley looked much more interesting but we lacked time to stop there.
Photo 6. Cloud forest seen from the Royal Sungel track near Abra Patricia.  The whole road from Abra Patricia towards Afluente was good for birds with distinct changes in species depending on the altitude. The lower area around Afluente was already severely deforested in some parts.
Photo 7. Morro de Calzade national park. A nice area for lowland and hill forest birds. Good birding along the track that goes up the isolated hill with species like Blue-chinned Sapphire, Spot-breasted Spinetail, Striped Mannikin, White-throated Spadebill, Huallaga , Turquoise, Green-and-Gold, Yellow-bellied and Masked Tanager.
Photo 8. Rio Maraņon valley between Bagua Chica and Jaen. The valley has become much wider that between Celendin and Leimebamba. We did not observe many birdspecies. Most interesting were Short-tailed and Black Hawk-eagle, Collared Antshrike and White-winged Black-tyrant.
Photo 9. Habitat along the road to Coipa (Jaen) and near site 7.4. from Th. Valqui. Good species that were common Maraņon and Chinchipe Spinetail, Peruvian Slaty Antshrike, Maraņon Crescentcrest and Black-and-white Becard.
Photo 10. Quebrade Limon about 45 minutes uphill from the village. To see the White-winged Guans be there either in the early morning or late afternoon. According to Mr Lino Rico the afternoon was slightly better than the morning if you know the pool where the birds come to drink.




Photo's 11a and b. White-winged Guan at Quebrada Limon and Elegant Crescentcrest along the El Tocto trail.
Photo 12. The '1000' year old tree in Batan Grande National Park.  Characteristic species such Amazilia Hummingbird, Short-tailed Woodstar, Peruvian Plantcutter, Mouse-colored and Grey-and-White Tyrannulet, Rufous Flycatcher, White-tailed Jay, Collared Warbling Finch and White-edged Oriole were seen here.
Photo 13. Rio Napo between Yarina and Yuturi Lodges with approaching thunderstorm.  From the middle of the river very few birds can be seen nearby. Some interesting species are:Yellow and Large-billed tern, Black Skimmer and on occasion Amazonian Umbrella bird on islands (early morning and late afternoon).
Photo 14. Yarina lodge, about one hour by boat from Coca and in the middle of the primary rainforest. The area is a private wildlife reserve with abundant birdlife and monkeys.
Photo15. Laguna Yarina not far from the lodge and good place to observe bird species in the higher canopy from a canoe
Photo 16. Next to the Yarina lodge is a ridge overgrown with primary forest. On the other side of the ridge is an extensive swamp with interesting species like Orange-cheeked Parrot and Red-rumped Cacique.
Photo 17. Mouth of the Rio Yuturi where it joins the Rio Napo about 5-6 hours with motorized canoe from Coca. Along the river birdwatching can be very rewarding as both species from the higher canopy can seen as well as those living in the lower parts of the primary forests such as antbirds and treecreepers. See trip on January 16th.
Photo 18. Inside primary rainforest with high numbers of antbirds, treecreepers, manakins etc.  To get an indication of the species observed see the trips made on the Limon and Sandy trails on 11th,14th and 15th of January. The Black-necked Red Cotinga is an absolute specialty of the Yuturi area.
Photo 19. Oxbow lake near the Yuturi lodge with adjacent palms and varzea forest. Shortly after dawn and before dusk excellent place to observe e.g. parrots. macaws, hoatzins and Greater Anis. The Yuturi lodge overlooks such a lake with at some times of the year Agami and Zigzag Herons nearby. Sand colored Nighthawks leave their roosting spots around 6.15 pm each day.
Figure 20. River island in the Rio Napo with relative young vegetation. On these island specialists like Lesser Hornero, Dark-breasted, Parkers, and White-bellied Spinetail,  Castelnau's Antshrike, Black and White Antbird, Lesser Wagtail Tyrant, Spotted Tody Flycatcher and Orange-headed Tanager could easily be found.
Trip report:
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