Download Full Tour Report 1202kb - Birdquest

The next day we visited the nearby oxbow lake of Cocha Camungo where the first activity was to
climb up one of the most impressive canopy towers in all of Amazonia. The tower itself is rigid
thanks to its cement foundation which is reassuring as you climb 50 metres up into a truly massive
kapok tree. We spent a couple of hours here watching the forest wake up. Eastern Sirystes,
Swainson’s Flycatcher and a White-browed Purpletuft perching in our tree were especially nice as
were our views of Pale-rumped Swift. We were quite surprised when a pair of Orange-backed
Troupials arrived in our tree crown and proceeded to attack a colony of Yellow-rumped Caciques.
The colony nests were quite close to our platform so we could see in detail everything that happened
including the yolks dripping from the nests as the troupials eventually succeeded in breaking the eggs
of nearly all the nests in the cacique colony much to their dismay. No doubt the alpha-male cacique
of the colony had to step down from his position in disgrace, some defender he was! By midmorning
we descended for a ride around the oxbow on the catamaran thanks to the strong paddling of Elias
and Justino. Short-tailed Hawk and a Grey-headed Kite in low soaring flight were admired; both
Rufous-sided and Grey-breasted Crakes were seen (“no, not that crake, the other one!”); and oxbow
specialties such as Pale-eyed Blackbird and Black-billed Seed-Finch showed well. That afternoon we
walked out to the lodge’s mammal clay lick hoping to see a tapir as well as any nightbirds we could
find. Our walk featured such terra firme birds as White-fronted Nunbird, Gilded Barbet, Goldencollared
Toucanet, Pink-throated Becard and Sooty Antbird. Once at the mammal clay lick we settled
into our individual mosquito net covered mattresses with several of us drifting off to the sounds of the
rainforest as night descended. The moon was quite bright this evening which usually deters the tapirs
from venturing into the clay lick so we eventually called it quits and tried instead to see the calling
Silky-tailed Nightjar. We gave it a good effort; even going off trail in the dark, but the forest
understorey was impenetrable, preventing us from approaching the nightjar. However, all was not in
vain as our torch light settled onto a White-throated Tinamou on its night roost! On the way back we
saw our second Long-tailed Potoo of the tour, and eventually we got our spotlight on a singing male
Ocellated Poorwill. We were also successful in calling in a Crested Owl to a high perch to conclude
an overall successful night walk.
Over the next two days we mostly concentrated on the forest trails at Manu Wildlife Centre. A return
visit to the canopy tower was again slow with Turquoise, Opal-crowned and Green-and-gold
Tanagers providing the most entertainment. Meanwhile Gill and Gwen who had opted out shared an
intimate encounter with a Pale-winged Trumpeter feeding on fallen figs. In the floodplain forest we
continued to add new birds with Eastern Woodhaunter, White-throated Antbird, Euler’s and Ruddytailed
Flycatchers and Screaming Piha (finally seen well). We spent most of our last day in the terra
firme where we had excellent views of Dusky-billed Parrotlet and Black-capped Parakeet visiting the
mammal lick. Other good birds included Needle-billed Hermit, Great Jacamar, Semicollared
Puffbird, a superb group of Curl-crested Aracari, Red-stained and Golden-green Woodpeckers,
Chestnut-winged Hookbill and Blue-backed Manakin (here of the yellow-crowned regina race). One
of the tour highlights was our visit to Cocha Blanco where we saw an amazing collection of
waterbirds in only a couple of hours. One moment we shall not soon forget was seeing Agami Heron,
Sungrebe and Sunbittern all within a span of about 20 minutes! We had good views of lots of other
birds we had already seen like Limpkin, Horned Screamer, Green Ibis, White-throated and Channelbilled
Toucans, Red-capped Cardinal, Lesser Kiskadee and others. The afternoon light on the forest
was superb particularly when perfectly illuminated White-bellied Parrots arched across our view. All
too quickly our time in Manu drew to a close as we looked forward to the hustle-and-bustle of
civilization on the morrow.
With the high price of gold causing a gold rush in Peru, rich local miners flush with cash occupy
most charter flights out of the Peruvian rainforest these days, not ecotourists. Thankfully our local
operator had a well-devised transfer planned for us that began with a three hour boat trip downriver
to the town of Boca Colorado where we transferred to a caravan of 4x4 taxis which took us to the Rio
Inambari. There a speedboat took us to the other side where an air-conditioned bus was waiting for
8 Birdquest: The Manu 20011