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Sixteen new birds. We flew from Lima to Cusco in the Andes.  Our first birding day was with our friend Fabrice Schmitt visting Huacarpay Lake about half an hour by taxi from Cusco. A beautiful day, clear blue sky and calm, just  one thing missing: oxygen! We were gasping for breath just walking to the car.
We made good time out of Cusco and were soon at the lake, large, mill pond-still with plenty of reeds and rushes – looked good. Our first new bird came immediately as Andean Gulls flew low over the surface. Next a pair of Puna Teal floating majestically mirrored in the still water, complete with bright blue bills. A raucous call drew attention to a pair of Andean Lapwings on a grassy bank of the lake. These lovely waders even posed for a photo in the warm sun.
Near the lake was an area of scrub on a hillside which held plenty of birds, mostly our old friend the Rufous-collared Sparrow but with a little patience we soon added more new birds. A Giant Hummingbird was feeding below a small cliff and then showed off perched on a small bush, a species we looked for but missed in Ecuador so great to get it back. Fabrice suddenly called one of our most wanted birds here, Bearded Mountaineer, a rare hummingbird and a speciality of this site. A real good-looking hummer with white in the tail and indeed a beard, well, a colourful throat, very nice. No sooner had the hummer zapped off when we heard a Rusty-fronted Canestero singing.  It gave us the run-around for a while but eventually surrendered and showed pretty well.   In stark contrast to the Mountaineer, next came a very common and widespread  bird, Chiguanco Thrush.  Quickly following on from this came both Rufous-naped and Spot-billed Ground-tyrants feeding on a rough grassland area below the road.  While scanning the edge of the reedbed we picked out the Puna Snipe quietly feeding in the shadows.  While watching this diminutive wader, an Andean Negrito popped up on a rock nearby.  Moving even further around the lake, a rocky escarpment gave us White-browed Ground-tyrant.  The same rocky slope also gave us our first good look at Greenish Yellowfinch, as our earlier sightings had been too brief to really see properly.  Our last new bird of the day was a Green-tailed Trainbearer which we enjoyed watching while sipping a well-deserved cold drink overlooking the lake.  Many thanks to Fabrice for his expert local knowledge and good company.
Bird species total: 2788
Posted 21st July, Cusco, Peru

Having birded the best sites just south of Lima, today was mostly a driving day as we headed to a new area north of the capital city.  It looked so simple on the map, just follow the Pan-American Highway across town and out the other side.  So how did we manage to find ourselves driving completely the wrong way down a crazy street, full of fast traffic, fruit stalls, tuk-tuk taxis and enormous potholes?  At least we knew exactly where we were on the map but that didn’t help much as we tried to turn round and head back the way we had come.  Amazingly, there were no cross words between us though the tension was high as Alan sought to keep our little car intact despite all attempts to ram us or drive us off the road while Ruth struggled to follow our erratic route and get us onto the right road again with no recognisable place or street names.  At last we succeeded and found ourselves driving once more across wide open desert with Lima safely behind us.

Our destination was the Reserva Nacional de Lachay, an area of mist forest which promised new birds for our list.  We arrived too late to explore thoroughly today but we birded the entrance road with the intention of returning early tomorrow morning.  Even this short drive in proved productive as we picked up a new Miner for our list on the way, this time Thick-billed Miner.  But the short drive out again was even better as we caught sight of first one, then a second and then a third male Least Seedsnipe.  This cautious little skulker seems a cross between a dove, a grouse and a wader, but however you want to classify it, it is a pretty little bird and we were lucky to see three males at fairly close range.

We continued on to Huacho for accommodation where we picked a hotel down a quiet side street, only to find the garden behind the high stone wall was full of young people in national dress practising for their traditional dance session this evening – what a bonus to experience some Peruvian culture and all such friendly people.

Bird species total: 2765
Posted 18th July, Huacho, Peru

The whole day was spent birding in and around the coastal town of Paracas.  First priority was to find a petrol station that stocked our particular brew.  Luckily just north of Paracas in the town of Pisco (of ‘Pisco Sour’ fame) we found such a station and thankfully filled up with fuel.  Now more relaxed about our options, we continued north to the Pisco marshes, a narrow strip of swamp between the beach and a rambling shanty town.  We found a spot to park and walked out onto a wooden jetty, this time keeping the car well within view.  The area held plenty of birds: large numbers of Great and Snowy Egrets, Neotropic Cormorants, hundreds of Common Moorhens and with search we picked out a few other bits and pieces, best of which was a small gang of Andean Ducks including a couple of fine males.  Some enthusiastic pishing brought forth a very confiding Wren-like Rushbird, which hopped around in the short reeds just below us.  We were just beginning to really enjoy birding here, when two local ladies approached us.  After some initial confusion when we thought they were admiring our dress sense, tugging their shirts and pointing at us, the penny finally dropped and we realised that they were in fact warning us that the area was very dangerous and we were likely to be robbed.  Enough said, we legged it.
We then headed further south into the desert on the Pan-American Highway, stopping to check any remnant patches of mesquite bushes and agricultural fields.  Amazing the effort people were going to, to transport water into the parched desert sand in a bid to raise crops.  The birds appreciated the efforts though, as the few brave species in this area congregated around the fading fields.  The undoubted highlight was a flock of fourteen Tawny-throated Dotterel, a stunning plover with a particularly upright stance, vermiculated wings, a black belly patch on the male and a gorgeous rufous throat patch set off by a broad off-white supercilium and black eyestripe, and an unusually long thin bill for a plover.  Unfortunately they were not as confiding as the Dotterel we’re used to in Europe so no photograph to show how handsome they are.  The other new birds that we found in this area were Slender-billed Finch, Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant and the aptly named Parrot-billed Seedeater.  In a patch of scrub nearer to the coast we found a male Peruvian Sheartail, a tiny hummingbird with a ridiculously long tail, longer than the length of its body.
Bird species total: 2763
Posted 17th July, Paracas, Peru

Peruvian Thick-Knee and Tern amongst today’s highlights.  We left Pucusana and made an early roadside stop, picking up Amazilia Hummingbird and Croaking Ground-Dove.  Hard to watch for birds when you had to check every footstep – the dry earth had cracked into dry mud pillars with deep fissures inbetween, perfect for twisting an ankle if you didn’t pay attention.  Continuing south on the Pan-American Highway, the scenery was stark: sea on the one side and desert on the other.  At San Antonio the desert was punctuated by a much-reduced river which allowed some cultivation and gave us the opportunity to bird along the riverbanks.  A pair of Peruvian Thick-knees stood motionless on the dry gravel of the riverbed – great to see these Stone Curlew-like waders.  The same area also gave us Short-tailed Field-Tyrant and Puna Ibis.  Continuing south, we made a brief stop at a gently shelving beach near the road where we saw some 300 Gray Gulls roosting on the beach, and another Humboldt Penguin offshore.  Also both Blackish and American Oystercatchers fed at the surf edge.  On again until we reached a large pool alongside the road.  With water being so scarce in the area, we couldn’t pass this by and had to stop to check it out.  It proved to be a good move as we added White-cheeked Pintail and also enjoyed more views of Great Grebe and Slate-coloured Coot.  A very late breakfast stop, eating a cheese and ham roll bought at yet another petrol station we’d checked, provided us with another new species for the list with a pair of Coastal Miners.  This is a pale pipit-like bird which fed in the arid desert scrub.  We eventually reached Paracas mid-afternoon and were impressed with the number of seabirds feeding in the shallow waters: hundreds of Peruvian Boobies hurled themselves into the water like darts and we encountered our first Peruvian Terns, a tiny creature very similar to our familiar Little Tern in the UK. 
Of course given our luck at the moment, it’ll be no surprise to read that the hotel we were aiming for is in fact closed all this year, and is undergoing a major rebuild ready for 2009.  So instead we spent more time looking for an alternative, and are listening to the sounds of heavy trucks passing outside our bedroom window as we write this!  But at least the food is good, so we’ve something right.  The rest of the day was spent birding in the Paracas National Park, a vast area of spectacular desert where the dunes meet the dramatic cliffs over a turbulent sea.  Impressive scenery but sadly no new birds for our list. 
Somewhere in the middle of all this, we also made time to visit an internet café where we again continued our efforts to fix up the rest of the Peru leg of our trip.  At present it seems that whatever we try to arrange, we come unstuck at every turn.  Just when we think we’ve got something sorted, circumstances beyond our control unravel our plans and it’s back to square one again.  Very frustrating, and worrying too as we need a really big score here. 
Bird species total: 2757
Posted 16th July, Paracas, Peru

Peru gets off to a frustrating start!  We arrived at Lima airport in good time, and full of anticipation went to pick up our hire car.  And immediately ground to a halt.  Despite us being able to show the man at the National Car Hire counter the confirmation email we’d received from National with the correct date, time and type of car we’d booked, he denied all knowledge of our booking and refused us any help.  An angry phone call to the head office in Lima resulted in them offering us a 4×4 pick-up truck later in the day, totally unsuitable for keeping our luggage secure, an issue we’re probably paranoid about now, given our previous experience in Canada.  So much for customer service, the whole reason we’d booked with National in the first place since they’d been so helpful in New York. Instead we were passed over to the next-door Budget counter, who did at least have a car available for us to take straight away.  But it was smaller than we’d booked, had two partially flat tyres, has an intermittent fault in the electrics which means the engine conks out on an impromptu basis and refuses to re-start, though we didn’t realise this until we were firmly stuck in the traffic in the centre of downtown Lima.  And if that wasn’t enough, it runs on a kind of fuel that doesn’t seem to be stocked by any of the petrol stations, so it looks like we’ll be pushing it back to Lima soon.  Or maybe pushing it over a cliff in frustration!

Much later than anticipated we finally chugged into Pucusana, a small fishing port south of Lima, and at last saw some Peruvian birds.  As the fishermen threw scraps into the water, birds fought to pick up the pieces: Inca Terns, Peruvian Boobies, Peruvian Pelicans, Guanay Cormorants, Red-legged Cormorants and Belcher’s Gulls, all new for the year.  With so little time and so much to see, we dashed around the corner to a secluded cove splashed by sea spray as the waves forced their way through a narrow fissure in the cliff.  Pottering about on the rocks, dodging the waves with ease, was a Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes behaving more like a Surfbird than any passerine – a brown Thrush-sized bird complete with wingbars, a long tail, and a pale throat.  Next we jumped in a tuk-tuk taxi for a very bumpy uphill ride, pursued by a gaggle of barking dogs to a viewpoint overlooking the town and down into the next cove along.  With light beginning to fail, we hurridly scanned the sea for our target species, Humboldt’s Penguin.  We were in luck and picked out just one bird bobbing about in the swell.  We enjoyed good if distant scope views of our first penguin of the year, though it was incredibly how long the bird could remain underwater.
Bird species total: 2748
Posted 16th July, Paracas, Peru

Surfbird joins the list and the rain stops! We awoke to pouring rain and the mountains still shrouded in low cloud.  We took the chance to finish off filling in our insurance claims and made a late start for the ferry to Vancouver Island.  Only a few days ago, we swore never to take another boat trip but here we were on the dockside once again looking at a rough sea and about to embark on a boat.  This time the boat was pretty big, a roll-on roll-off car ferry which would make the crossing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay in an hour and a half.  The crossing went remarkably smoothly as the huge boat hardly rolled at all.  We were only a few minutes out of the dock when we got our first new bird for the day, three Harlequin Ducks flying past the stern a long way off so not great views  but unmistakeable nonetheless.  Halfway across, a second-winter Glaucous Gull followed in the wake for about five minutes giving us fantastic views and allowing comparison with nearby Glaucous-winged Gulls.  We passed through the scenic Active Pass with pine woods closing in on both sides of the huge ferry.  We saw our first Rhinoceros Auklets, usually in pairs, some allowing close views as they sat on the water. 

We docked and headed straight south to Victoria and birded along the seafront between Ogden Point and Oak Bay.  As we parked the car at the first stop, a superb drake Harlequin Duck popped up right in front of us.  We jumped out quickly to see this striking bird at close range but there was no need to rush as a group of six Harlequins, three males and three females, were feeding just offshore.  Other highlights along this stretch of coast included Marbled Murrelets which bobbed around offshore, often keeping loose company with Rhinoceros Auklets and Pigeon Guillemots, which dwarfed the Murrelets.  Four Red-necked Grebes were seen, moulting into their stunning breeding plumage and a pair of Long-tailed Ducks flew east past the promenade.  But the bird of the day was without doubt a group of three Surfbirds which we came across at Clover Point.  These charismatic waders were feeding on the rocks just below us.  We had been scanning out to sea for some time enjoying the Marbled Murrelets when suddenly we noticed the Surfbirds almost at our feet.  Our mammal highlight of the day was not a whale as we’d hoped for, but instead an incredible encounter with an Otter.  This beautiful animal swam so close to us that we could actually see it the beneath the clear water as it searched for fish, and had a breathtaking view as he surfaced munching on his meal.
Posted 10pm, 3rd May, View Royal, Vancouver Island
Bird species total: 2168

We left the rolling plains of Belchite and headed North West for the mountains of the Picos de Europa. The weather was on the change with grey sky and temperatures as low as 4C in the mountains! This was a real shock after all the glorious sunshine we had experienced so far in Spain. It was very long drive, heavy rain showers did nothing for our seen from the car list, which served to make the journey seem even longer. Some crazy Spanish driving was interesting, they do have speed limits but it seemed we were the only ones taking any notice.

At last we reached the Picos and marvelled at the magnificent mountain scenery, how much better will it be if the clouds lift completely?  It felt like going back in time driving up into the Picos as the scene was more reminiscent of winter, especially at 1300m, compared to the wonderful warm spring conditions we had experienced in the Coto de Donana.  Not long after we entered the tortuous twisting roads of the Picos, we came across a feeding flock of Yellowhammers on the roadside.  We enjoyed great views of these beautiful buntings, made even better by the fact that this was a new bird for our 2008 year list. 

It was early evening by the time we reached our accommodation, Apartments Olmares in the tiny village of Basieda, not far from Potes.  A beautifully appointed apartment in a converted traditional stone farmhouse, this will be our base for the next few days.  The view from the balcony alone is fantastic (check out www.olmares.com for a taster), and the garden list as the light was fading included male Black Redstart, Blackcap and Chiffchaff so it was good to see that a few migrants have made it this high into the hills. 

Species list: 1907
Posted 7th April, Basieda, Spain  

Two new birds for the year. On the road at 5.30am we headed for the plains near Belchite.  In the pitch dark we found the dirt road we were looking for.  Continuing along the dirt road with the windows open we listened for the distinctive song of Dupont’s Lark.  It wasn’t long before we heard the unmistakeable melancholy whistle of a Dupont’s.  Slamming on the brakes we jumped out and realised just how cold it was.  It must have been near freezing.  However, despite the cold, the Dupont’s Larks were in full song.  As we stood in the pitch black, we could hear four individuals singing away but of course could see nothing.  Other larks joined the pre-dawn chorus with Greater Short-toed, Lesser Short-toed and Calandra Larks all performing somewhere out in the darkness.  Our hands became numb and we were forced to retreat to the relative warmth of the car as we waited for dawn.  With the first light creeping over the eastern horizon we ventured out again and attempted to spot a singing Dupont’s against the lightening sky.  They were up there somewhere but we just could not see a single bird.  Incredibly frustrating scanning the sky over and over again, hearing the birds singing but seeing nothing.  We enjoyed good views of Calandra and both the Short-toed Larks but still Dupont’s eluded us.  With reasonable light we decided to change tactic and walk along the dirt track scanning the ground in the hope of picking up a bird.  With the singing now much less, restricted to just the occasional burst, we were beginning to panic.  Had we missed seeing this incredibly rare bird?  Frantically scanning the desert scrub, we at last had our bird.  A Dupont’s Lark sitting up in full view, and still singing!  Mad panic to get the scope on the bird, then we were able to enjoy great views in the early morning light.  Our camera work doesn’t do the bird justice as light just wasn’t good enough for digiscoping.  The photos we did manage to get do at least show it was without doubt a Dupont’s, so another new bird joined the year list.  This was also Alan’s first life tick in Spain, and a bird he had long wanted to see.

Back to a bar for a celebratory coffee, we took a quick detour to look at the curious ruined town at Belchite.  A good move, as positioning ourselves in the best place for a photo, we first heard and then saw a pair of Firecrests inspecting a tamarisk bush – another new bird for the year list.

We returned to the plains again;  what a difference a few hours made as it was now incredibly hot and there was no more sight or sound of the Dupont’s Larks.  Plenty of Calandra Larks gave great views at close range and we were treated to the entertaining spectacle of two Great Spotted Cuckoos chasing each other around some scrub right in front of us.  We staked out a small pool surrounded by thin bushes, and located some grounded migrants feeding here including Common Redstart, Greater Whitethroat, Subalpine Warbler, Robin, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff.  First one, and then later two more, Black-bellied Sandgrouse circled overhead calling but sadly did not come down to drink.  A Peregrine Falcon treated us to some incredible flying as it chased a Wood Pigeon low over the desert.

Tomorrow we head for the Picos de Europa in search of mountain birds.  However the weather forecast is for heavy snow so we’re not sure how far we’ll get!
Bird species list: 1907
Posted 6th March, Lecera, Spain 

Birding in Kakum and Mole National Parks in Ghana as well as the north of the country near the Burkina Faso Border has boosted our bird list further.  Our species total for the year now stands at 1803.

Posted 6pm, 13th March, Kumasi, Ghana

Having had enough of emails and relaxing, and having exhausted the possibilities of the three species in the hotel grounds, we went birding yesterday morning.  Accompanied by a local guide, Kalu, arranged by Ashanti Tours, we headed east out of town to some shallow lagoons just north of the main coast road.  The area was full of birds with plenty of familiar waders, large numbers of Great Egrets and Grey Herons.  Wildfowl included White-faced Whistling Ducks, Pintail and Garganey.  We carefully checked through the flocks of busily feeding waders; the majority proved to be Little Stints and Ringed Plover, with smaller numbers of Wood, Common, Curlew and Marsh Sandpipers, Greenshanks, Spotted Redshanks, Ruff, Whimbrel, and Kittlitz’s Plovers.  As we reached the south end of the lagoon, we were thinking of heading back when two waders caught our attention as being something different.  We moved closer and were very surprised to find not just one but two Pectoral Sandpipers.  The ‘Birds of West Africa’ shows just one documented record of this
species for Ghana, so to have found two on our very first outing was very pleasing indeed, and a new bird for our guide Kalu.
Species Total 1628
Posted  Accra Ghana 1st March