Saturday, October 26, 2024

From Putre back to Arica

Putre Creek.  Not sure if the pampas grass is native or invasive but it sure looks pretty in the morning sun.

In the morning we walked from our hotel into the Putre Creek valley.


¼.


Creamy-breasted Castenero

That doesn't mean they aren't beautiful

Buff-breasted earthcreeper

 or adorable though.

White-browed chat-tyrant

We saw two kinds of ground Doves.

Bare-faced ground dove

We saw the variable hawk perched



And flying.



We found the giant hummingbird and it was really giant.  They don't buzz like other smaller hummingbirds; instead they flap their wings and fly like a swallow.


It is the largest hummingbird in the world at 20-23 cm.

We heard a Peruvian pygmy owl but we could not spot it.

Our driver Christian was waiting for us at the hotel.


Our next stop was the pueblo of Socoroma





Where they grow a famously prized oregano the traditional way in terraced fields.



Here we saw an Andean hillstar, a new hummingbird for our cobirder Nick (and us of course).



Lalo was bound and determined to find us a Peruvian pygmy owl.  Eventually he narrowed it down to one tree and Leo spotted it hiding g in the foliage so we all got a good look at it.

Don't know what this attractive bush is.


Checking for more birds further down the Lluta Valley.

We stopped for lunch in a traditional diner.  Leo and I just ordered soup as we were feeling quite stuffed with 3 full meals per day.


It was a full meal in itself, but it was very good.

We arrived back in Arica for another night at the  Hotel Apacheta.  We had an excellent dinner and I tried a pisco sour, the national drink.  Unfortunately after that we drove out to the Lluta River Estuary where I stumbled over river rocks in the dark.  We were successful in finding a Tschudi's nightjar, and using a flashlight we id'd it by the amber reflection of its eye.  But we couldn't coax it out of its bush.  And I lived to drink another pisco sour another day.

Total species today:  36  Lifers:  14












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