Saturday, March 17

The goal today was to pick up as many birds as possible on my last day around Lima. I took a taxi to Villa Marshes south of Lima. Not knowing precisely where I should be, I asked the driver to stop at some ponds holding shorebirds. This offered wonderful birding, but I really should not have done this alone. As luck would have it, a group of 4 girls were also strolling around the trail, so I figured they offered some protection from trouble. The first set of marshes offered Greater Yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpiper, Long-tailed Mockingbird, Striated Heron, Grey-headed Gull, a dark-morph of Vermillion Flycatcher, Andean Coot, Common Moorhen, and a furtive Many-colored Rush-Tyrant.

Grey-headed Gull

Walking towards the actual reserve, another set of ponds yielded White-faced Pintail. An Osprey was perched, while Harris’s and Swainson’s Hawks circled. The ponds at the reserve offered additional looks at Comorant, Pied-billed Grebe and Andean Grebe, along with a better shot of the Rush-bird.

White-cheeked Pintail

I walked along the highway waiting for a bus with a sign for Pucusana. This is a small fishing village along the Pacific. I eventually found a bus that would take me to the bus that would get me to Pucusana. Along the way, we passed a large collection of Incan ruins.

Unlike the Pacific Northwest, where a warm current from the ocean hits the cooler air created by the Cascades producing ceaseless rain, Peru is subject to a cold ocean current that moves up the west coast of South America and crosses warm, equatorial land. The cold air is able to absorb very little moisture from the water, which is easily absorbed over the continent, creating a seaside desert. Arriving in town, I wandered hoping to find Humbolt Penguins from shore. This only produced more Pacific Pelicans.

After lunch, I decided to swallow my wallet and hire a boat to take me to the penguins. It only cost a reasonable $30 for an hour, but it nearly cost me my lunch. This small wooden boat with an outboard motor that barely wanted to turn over noisily made its way through the harbor, disturbing the peace of every other vacationer (this seems a popular destination for well-to-do Limenos). I added Red-legged Comorant and Guanay Comorant, though I was unable to photograph Peruvian Tern.

Guanay Comorant

Red-legged Comorant

All was well until we left the safety of the harbor. The waves from the Pacific weren’t terribly big, but the resonant effect of inbound waves meeting rebounding waves from the cliffs generated uncomfortably rough water as we approached a group of sea lions. I became increasingly worried that the captain of my dingy would catch a wave wrong, sending me (and the camera) overboard. Actually, the camera would have been the least of my concerns, since I think in that water I would have quickly been slammed against the cliff-side. While I tried to put my faith in the captain and his recommissioned lawnmower motor, I somehow was able to get a good shot of a Peruvian Booby, my first of that group. Nonetheless, I was ready to head to calmer water, penguins or no penguins.

Pacific Pelican

Peruvian Booby