Sunday at La Arenilla

Last Sunday I went to La Arenilla (Callao, Peru) I've been there once before a few months ago. I posted about that here.

This time I went with my sidekick Tommy and another friend hoping to find some nice seashore birds and at least find a lifer to add to our very poor list.

I tried some 'digibinning', as we were about 30 to 50 metres from the birds.


If you click on the next pic to enlarge it, you'll see a couple of Blackish Oystercatchers (lifer!) on top of the rocks. These birds were the furthest from where we were, and they were spotted by a couple of US birders that were there too. They were kind enough to share the finding with us.

Blackish Oystercatchers

We found a lot of Gulls, but not as many as we expected. The migrating season's peak passed some time ago, however, it was great to find lots of birds on reproductive plumage.

Franklin's Gulls and a very relaxed Kelp Gull

A couple of Kelp Gull's were sitting peacefully while a bunch of much smaller Franklin's Gulls were VERY loud.

A bit later, further down, we spotted a few Whimbrels and beautiful Terns. The Whimbrels were standing on one leg, head almost hidden, while the Terns stared at them.

Whimbrels and Terns

A few Peruvian Pelicans (HUGE - wingspan 228cm/90in!!!) came to visit too. I find the next picture a bit funny, as they all have different poses before landing on the water to join the ones already there.

Peruvian Pelicans

Some movement closer to us caught our eye... a few Semipalmated Plovers were walking around. They are so small and fast!

Semipalmated Plover

And just before we left, another lifer! A Spotted Sandpiper wobbling the tail up and down. Can you see the spots of its alternate plumage?

Spotted Sandpiper

It was a fine day after all. The birds seen:

- Peruvian Pelican (Pelecanus thagus)
- Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus)
- Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
- Blackish Oystercatcher - LIFER (Haematopus ater)
- Black-bellied Plover - LIFER (Pluvialis squatarola)
- Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
- Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
- Spotted Sandpiper - LIFER (Actitis macularius)
- Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus)
- Belcher's Gull/Band-tailed Gull (Larus belcheri)
- Franklin's Gull (Larus pipixcan)
- Gray-hooded Gull (Larus cirrocephalus)
- Elegant Tern (Thalasseus elegans)
- Sandwich Tern - LIFER (Thalasseus sandvicensis)
- Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

If you want to see a few more pictures of this birding morning, visit Tommy.

Marly's Pics

Last Sunday I went on my first birding trip. It was only for a few hours but it was AWESOME.

I met a few great people and, one of them, Marly Orrego, sent me some of the pictures she took that day to post here! All of these pictures were taken at La Arenilla (La Punta, Callao)

Selmipalmated Plover by Marly Orrego

I want to thank Marly for letting me post her photographs.

Whimbrels by Marly Orrego

I hope we are able to go on a birding excursion together soon, it was sooo much fun!

by Marly Orrego

These gulls started to fly all of the sudden. Turns out there was a Peregrine Falcon going around, it was really amazing to see; too bad we couldn't get a good shot of the action.

My first time!

Mr. Squirrel 'giving me the eye'

It was 7:45am.

Gunnar Engblom's Kolibri Expeditions, organized an excursion to La Arenilla, in La Punta, Callao. We were going to meet at 8:00am to learn about some birds at Parque Mariscal Castilla in Miraflores.

I've followed Gunnar for a while. At first, on INCASPIZA yahoo groups, and later on through Facebook and Twitter. It was via Facebook that I learned of today's trip.

To be honest, I was a little nervous. For me it was the first actual 'birding excursion' with a guide (person) - an expert - and not just my field guide, my camera, and my dear Tommy to enjoy the birds with me. I was a little nervous about the other people too, 'will I be THE ONE not knowing a thing???'... But after that, the excitement took over and after sleeping just two hours thanks to a neighbour's party, I woke up with the biggest smile I'd had for a couple of months.

Gunnar was great, fun and patient! He showed us some birds, explained about them, helped us find key facts to id them faster and let us borrow binoculars. Yes, it was my first experience with binoculars too. I'm 31, and I finally got to see the world through them!

This is the list of the first part of the excursion:

- Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus)
- Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata)
- West Peruvian Dove (Zenaida meloda)
- Croaking Ground Dove (Columbina cruziana)
- Red-Masked Parakeet (Aratinga erythrogenys)
- Canary-Winged Parakeet (Brotogeris Versicolurus)
- Scrub Blackbird (Dives warszewiczi)
- Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)
- Blue and Gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus)
- Long-Tailed Mockingbird (Mimus longicaudatus)
- Amazilia Hummingbird (Amazilia amazilia)
- Harris' Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)

The last one we were hoping to find, but we didn't expect it! It was awesome!! Gunnar took the next picture with my camera using his scope, not perfect as there were no adaptors or whatsoever, but it's much better than me trying to do it with my zoomless little camera.


After the park, Gunnar drove for about an hour to get to 'La Arenilla', where it has been changed in the past couple of years. Part of the beach has been recovered for birds! Now you can find big signs with details of the resident and visiting birds.


Yes, this next one is me, I haven't posted many pictures of myself here. But I had such a great morning, I just had to!


Once again, Gunnar used his scope. This Black Skimmer is a migrant from the Amazon! GREAT!! Never seen it before - cool!!


The list for the second part of the excursion:

- Peruvian Pelican (Pelecanus thagus)
- Peruvian Boobie (Sula variegata)
- Neotropical Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus)
- Little White Egret (Egretta thula)
- American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus)
- Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
- Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
- Sanderling (Calidris alba)
- Band-tailed Gull (Larus belcheri)
- Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus)
- Franklin's Gull (Larus pipixcan)
- Elegant Tern (Sterna elegans)
- Grey-hooded Gull (Larus cirrocephalus)
- Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)
- And a stunning Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)


A group photo before leaving: Marly, Zarela, Milagros, Gunnar and Mel.

I sooooooo want to do it again!!