Not quite
recovered from the late night arrival in Lima the night before, our
group set off to bird the Lima coast. The first stop was the Pantanos
de Ville, where among the birds we saw was this Pacific Dove.
The marshes
here had a lot of interesting birds, among which were several Great
Grebes.
Several species
of gulls were present in the marsh proper. One of them was this adult
Kelp Gull, watching a Band-tailed Gull that in turn was watching something
under the water.
These marshes
were also the only site where we observed Gray-headed Gull. Here is
one perched up right where our bus first parked at the site.
Although Neotropic
Cormorants were everywhere, this one, also right at the parking
lot, was the only one I photographed.
Our guide,
Jay vanderGaast, informed us that we should be looking for Peruvain
Thick-knees as we walked into the south part of the site. We hadn't
gone 20 yards before Jay spotted several. They were right in front
of us, but were amazingly camoflauged for such large birds.
Before we
left Pantanos de Ville, we hopped over to the beach, where Peruvian
Pelican, Peruvain Booby, Inca Terns, and other birds were working
the surf. On the beach proper were more gulls, including these Band-tailed
and Gray Gulls.
The Gray Gulls
were among my favorites.
We then headed
down the coast, making a brief stop at Puente Lurin. Here we spotted
several more birds, including this Long-tailed Mockingbird.
We reached
Pucusana and lunched by the harbor side. Nearby were the cliffs where
we watched nesting Inca Terns. Here is a pair displaying to one another
as their chick wonders who is going to provide the next meal.
It was also
here at the cliffs by Pucusana that our group spotted Humboldt Penguins,
Red-legged Cormorant, and this Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes.
Birders can't
pass up a good garbage dump; the dump at Pucusana is where we ticked
Coastal Miner.
Our last stop
was at Playa san Pedro, where I took this photo of a Peruvian Meadowlark
just moments before we were informed that photography was forbidden
here, as the Peruvian military was exercising at the nearby beach.
On
to Day 2: Cusco, Lake Huacarpay,
Ollantaytambo
Back
to Peru 2006 Trip Home
This
page was last updated on 13 July 2006.
Contact Geoff Williamson
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