Oct 1, 2018. Big Day – sort of, on the Road to Hell.
Some days things do not go to plan. This was such a day. A Zig Zag Heron had been calling practically all night but when we stood on the wooden bridge over the dry swamp at 00.02 hrs, it was completely silent. How long were we going to give this enigmatic species to get onto the list for the Big Day and the Big Month?

Two potoos and several owls and tinamous responded one after the other, but after 45 minutes it was time to move on. 
After a qiick coffee, at EcoAventuras Lodge and getting our gear together we were off along the Cachuela road. Here I have always been able to get three different nightjars, but not this night. 
A great view of Striped Owl was great compensation. 

Yesterday, I mentioned I may change plan. In the end there was no guide who could show us the nesting tree of the Crested Eagle, so we reverted back to the original plan, except for the part of Tres Chimbadas Lake. Simply too far to go.  

Next. Night birding on Infierno Road. Yes, Infierno means Hell. Apparently so named by the locals because of the immense number of mosquitos. In reality we did not see many mosquitos, but the road was a hell, full of potholes and bumps. Additionally, we already know it was there was hell of chiggers. For two days, Juha and I had walked the trails of Saona and the access trail there, and we both got our fair share of chiggers. Juha even more than normal. We really should have worn wellies from the first day here. 

But we got some good night birds, and managed to get some bits of micro sleep in the van in spite of the bumps.

Saona is owned by the Durand’s, brothers and sisters of our legendary guide Alex Durand. I have been there a few times over the years and always impressed by such complete ecosystem so close to the big city of Puerto Maldonado. It should be ideal to combine in a big day, had it not been for the horrendous condition of the road. It is also quite wild. We saw Red Howler Monkey, Large-headed Capuchin and Tippin’s Titi-Monkey on our short visit

I had long planned for the perfect Big Day with Saona Lodge and trails being the core, combining with La Pastora and EcoAdventuras, and finally a flight to Cusco to add birds of the highlands.  

Big Day planning is not easy. There are so many things that can go wrong and today they did.
We missed three nightjars and the Zigzag Heron. We did pick up a bonus in the observation of a Silky-tailed Nightjar and we heard Pheasant Cuckoo.

It looked at just before dawn that it was going be an overcast day which would be the ideal, but the clouds took off the wrong direction and soon the whole forest was under the blearing sun.S sun is the Big Day’s biggest enemy. There was not as much vocal response and by 7 o clock we only had some 80 species, with Great Jacamar and Black-capped Parakeet as the best birds. 

 
Then back at La Cachuela, the promised Purus and White-throated Jacamars did not appear, before we had to get Trevor back to the airport with his checked in luggage. 

As the rest of us travelled light we had a later departure and had another hour to bird. Things picked up when we birded the Tilapia farm at the beginning of La Chachuela. We got Southern Lapwing and Brazilian Teal which likely will not be seen again in the month, so those were important. Also an out of place Wilson’s Phalarope, which seems to be very unusual for Puerto Maldonado and a Horned Screamer. 

Just as we were about to leave, Juha approached the little creek to photograph the turtles that were sunbathing, a large dog charged at him at bit him on the arm. Yet another thing going fantastically wrong! Now we had to get Juha to a hospital for rabies shots.

Off towards the airport with a stop at La Pastora, where we could not see Purus Jacamar, but hearing it made it countable for the Big Month, only to find that both our flights were delayed. 

We ended up in Cusco one hour behind schedule. Having to fit in a visit to Huacarpay and some more birding, and make a visit to the hospital we saw no other way than cancel our reservation at Wayqecha, and stay overnight in Cuzco. Tomorrow it shall be a new day, and it starts at 3 am with driving to Manu on famous Manu road. 

I have been using iGoTerra to log my sightings, but being a bit of a newbie on the system and somewhat sleep deprived, I screwed up, and may have deleted the data. In any case, Trevor has a backup. 

For a big day, it was a bit of disaster. Only 144 species overall.  Having said that, we did get a fair number of birds that shall be difficult or impossible elsewhere, so all may not be at loss. There are still 30 days to go. 

More to come

Regards

Gunnar