2005 Tour Narrative
A last-minute change in the departure time of our flight to Rurrenabaque gave us an unexpected three hours at the La Paz airport. Our most accommodating local guide and driver, originally there only to greet us at the airport and help us check in for the flight, offered to drive us to Lake Titicaca to pass the time. We did see the lake, but only from a distance, as birds along the way became a distraction. Andean Lapwings, Andean Gulls, and Andean Flicker, Puna Ibis, and Black Siskin are just a few examples of the species that were write-ins on the checklist. Arriving in tropical Rurrenabaque after the short flight, we were whisked off for a slow bureaucratic process that made for a late lunch at our hotel. A bit of afternoon birding outside the hotel was productive, with Yellowish Pipit, Sapphire-spangled Emerald, and Chestnut-bellied Seedeater.
On the next day we broke up the easy but long boat ride to our lodge with a couple birding stops, resisting the temptation to make more. The low overcast kept it relatively cool, and bird activity was high all day. A large flock of Chestnut-fronted Macaws was the largest we saw all week—seeing them every day but one. Red-and-green and Blue-and-yellow Macaws flew over during the ride as well, but we eventually saw these species on every day. A surprising flock of Sand-colored Nighthawks were probably migrants, just arriving to the river islands exposed by the slowly dropping river levels. An Orinoco Goose was an excellent find, not common anywhere and particularly uncommon so far upriver. Greater Yellow-headed Vulture, Pied Lapwings, Spotted Sandpipers, and White-banded Swallows provided constant scenery. One short island stop provided our only Gray-capped Flycatcher and Dusky-headed Parakeet. On the walk to the lodge from the boat landing we lucked into a Blue-throated Piping-Guan, and while I played tape of its song, the very similar sounding Scale-backed Antbird responded. Both members of that pair eventually came in very close while the guan slipped away.
Weather during most of the week was tolerably hot (this is probably the coolest time of year), except our first day, with the ideally comfortable temperatures countered by the nearly constant rain—the first cold front of the season in the Amazon Basin. It did a number on the bird list for the day, but we saw many Chestnut-collared Swifts, otherwise rare at this low elevation. The afternoon break did give a chance to bird in the forest, where a nice mixed flock contained Red-headed Manakins, three antshrikes, three antbirds and an antwren. It was also on this day that we saw the White-throated Antbird, normally with the army ants that were apparently in a non-swarming mode all week.
Each day we enjoyed a rather relaxed schedule, with quite a bit of time off at the lodge. This is not to say we didn’t get our share of exercise, walking quite a distance each day, at times up some nice slopes to get the heart beating. But without the uphill effort on the first non-rain day, we wouldn’t have had eye-level views of a Curl-crested Aracari in the forest understory or seen White-bellied Spider Monkeys shaking the branches at us. It was nearly two miles to the forest swamp called Tapacaré, and had we not made that hike we would have never seen the pair of Horned Screamers that flew in to trolled tape. Later they began vocalizing, a bizarre series of honks and contorted, deep piping sounds audible at least a kilometer away, even through the sound-dampening rain forest understory. We also had good views of Rufous-sided Crake and Black-capped Donacobius here and nowhere else.
Other hikes took us to microhabitats in the rainforest where birds occurred more locally. A pair of Plumbeous Antbird held territory only in one swampy spot, another spot offered the nectar that White-chinned Sapphires needed, and another held a veritable troop of Black-tailed Trogons chorusing in the canopy. We came across the occasionally mixed flock, and we did our best to see the rapidly-moving groups, sometimes mostly invisible in the canopy. Still, we managed to get great views of Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, White-winged Shrike-Tanager, Gilded Barbet, Scale-breasted and Cream-colored Woodpeckers, Elegant Woodcreeper, and White-flanked Antwren in such flocks. But much of the time we spent bumping into one territorial bird after the other and digging out the skulkers from the understory. Our patience paid off with spotting-scope views of a singing Scaly-breasted Wren, a Thrush-like Antpitta (seen by all), a Flammulated Pygmy-Tyrant, a stunning Golden-collared Toucanet, a pair of Red-necked Woodpeckers, Cinnamon-throated Woodcreeper, White-crested Spadebill, Royal Flycatcher, Chestnut-winged Hookbill (two different birds), and Rufous-tailed Flatbill. The Screaming Piha lek down the Silvador Trail could be heard from the lodge, but we actually saw at least two of these drab birds. On the other hand, with all the tinamous (five species, including Bartlett’s), Lined Forest-Falcon, and Amazonian Pygmy-Owl we would have to be happy just hearing them. We actually had quite a bit of success with night birds, including Ladder-tailed Nightjar, Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, Crested Owl, Silky-tailed Nightjar, Great Potoo and day-roosting Common Pauraque and Common Potoo.
Our day trip to San Jose de Uchupiamonas was enriching if not a stellar highlight, but several things we saw this day certainly ranked high upon the list, for example Gray-headed Kite along the river, a nest of White-shouldered Antshrike, and Razor-billed Curassow disappearing into the forest. Most incredible was Giant Anteater scrambling up the steep river bank, apparently after having just crossed the river. Being much rarer than even Jaguar, this was new for the whole boat crew except for our guide, who had seen only one in his life. We had great views of a Red Howler on the first day, only a few minutes after witnessing a giant troop of mixed squirrel monkeys and capuchins across the river. On our very last day, on our way to the boat for the ride to Rurrenabaque, we heard a pair of titi monkeys, a species which had only recently been discovered. It turns out that the online casino GoldenPalace.com had won the auction for the rights to name the monkey (narrowly outbidding Ellen DeGeneres), with proceeds going to conservation projects in Madidi National Park.
We spent a fair amount of time near the lodge and on the lake where the view of the canopy trees was best, and our time here paid off. The large tree right behind the kitchen never looked the same, with Bare-necked Fruitcrows one morning, a roost of Greater Yellow-headed Vultures the next, a Red-and-green Macaw pair on another day, and a Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher on yet another. And in a mixed flock of tanagers here we caught up with at least seven species. One day our return to the lodge coincided with a roaming troop of Lettered Aracaris, and twice we saw small hummingbirds darting in the canopy, which on further consideration could only have been Festive Coquettes rather than Black-bellied Thorntails. The most memorable presence on the grounds of the lodge are the Hoatzins, by day skulking in the vegetation overhanging the lake (though sometimes clumsily flopping about out in the open), while by night uttering their heavy breathing sounds over our cabins on their way to the forest canopy to forage.
The weather held up for us through the end. Happily we boarded our return flight to La Paz on time, arriving light-headed as expected, with extra time to see the sights in town.
Rich Hoyer