Fiesta Tours Peru

Day 1:

International flights arrive at Viru-Viru airport in Santa Cruz early in the morning so we'll head out birding just north of the airport to some open grasslands and gallery woodland. (if you come in aday earlier then an extra night at the group hotel can be arranged) We'll be looking for some of the following: White-bellied Northura, Red-winged Tinamou, Long-winged Harrier, Golden-collared Macaw, Bicolored Seedeater, White Woodpecker, and Greater Rhea amongst others. The afternoon we’ll spend at a locality where we have had luck in the past with species such as Chestnut-capped, Unicolored and Scarlet-breasted Blackbirds, Blue-crowned and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, Picazuro Pigeon, Epaulet Oriole, Straight billed and Narrow-billed Woodcreepers, Spot-backed Puffbird and Golden-crowned Warbler. Night at our comfortable, air conditioned hotel in Santa Cruz. (L,D)

Day 2:

We’ll set out early for Camiri to-day. As we leave Santa Cruz the habitat changes as we enter vegetation more reminiscent of the Paraguayan Chaco. We’ll make frequent stops in suitable habitat with a picnic lunch. We’ll be on the lookout for Whistling Heron, White-faced Ibis , White-tailed Kite , Chaco Chachalaca , Golden-collared Macaw , Scaly-headed Parrot, Blue-fronted Parrot , Guira Cuckoo, Spot-backed Puffbird ,White-barred Piculet , Pale-crested Woodpecker , Ochre-cheeked Spinetail Sooty-fronted Spinetail , Narrow-billed Woodcreeper , Bolivian Slaty-Antshrike, Stripe-backed Antbird ,Black-bellied Antwren , White-bellied Tyrannulet , Chaco Suiriri Flycatcher , Greater Wagtail-Tyrant , Cinereous Tyrant, Hudson's Black-Tyrant, Rufous Casiornis , Plush-crested Jay , Fawn-breasted Wren, White-banded Mockingbird , Two-banded Warbler, Orange-headed Tanager, Guira Tanager Red-crested Finch , Black-capped Warbling-Finch Red-crested Cardinal, White-browed Blackbird and more. Night in Camiri. (B,L,D)

Day 3:

Full day east of Boyuibe close to the Paraguay border. This is our day to get some very special Chaco birds and we’ll be looking for Ringed Teal, Rufous-thighed Hawk , Bicolored Hawk , Crane Hawk , Spot-winged Falconet, Chaco Chachalaca Red-legged Seriema Black-legged Seriema (only to be seen here) Monk Parakeet , Ash-colored Cuckoo White Woodpecker , White-fronted Woodpecker , Checkered Woodpecker, Golden-green Woodpecker, Chaco Earthcreeper , Crested Hornero, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Stripe-crowned Spinetail, Short-billed Canastero , Little Thornbird, Lark-like Brushrunner , Brown Cacholote , Variable Antshrike, White-crested Tyrannulet , White-bellied Tyrannulet, Chaco Suiriri Flycatcher , Plain Tyrannulet , Black-crowned Monjita White Monjita , Lesser Shrike-Tyrant, Spectacled Tyrant, Purple-throated Euphonia, Many-colored Chaco-Finch. We’ll return to our hotel in Camiri. (B,L,D)

Day 4:

Morning again on the Chaco east of Boyuibe to pick up species we may have missed. We will make a stop as a wetland where in the past we have picked up species like Coscoroba Swan, Lake Duck, Black-headed Duck, Ringed Teal, Comb Duck, Rosybill and more. As the day heats up we’ll have an early lunch and retrace our steps to Santa Cruz, making a selected stop in the late afternoon. Night in Santa Cruz. (B,L,D)

Day 5:

Visit to the very birdy Botanical gardens. We'll pay particular attention to any Santa Cruz specialities we may have missed. First we’ll visit a small lake, which is home to Least Grebe, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Wattled Jacana, Rufous-sided Crake, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Yellow-chinned Spinetail and Red-capped Cardinal. The light forest around the lake is often noisy with Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, Blue-winged Parrotlets, Thrush-like Wrens and Rufous Horneros. Once in the tall Chiquitano dry forest we may see many birds including Green-cheeked Parakeet, Buff-bellied Hermit, White-wedged Piculet, Bolivian Slaty Antshrike and Fawn-breasted Wren, Pale-crested Woodpecker and White-backed Fire-eye With luck we may hear or see Brown Capuchin and Dusky Titi Monkeys or see a family of Silvery Marmosets. To the east of the botanic garden lies a patch of Chacoan thornscrub where we’ll look for Rufous-throated Sapphire, Red-billed Scythebill, White-bellied and White-crested Tyrannulets, Mato Grosso Antbird and the delightful Stripe-backed Antbird. In the afternoon we’ll head for the Andean foothills and bird the dry forest and canyons. This is a good area for Parrots and we may see any of the following - Mitred and Green-cheeked Parakeet, Scaly-naped and Red-billed Parrot. This is also an area where we have seen Military Macaw in the past. Other possibilities here include Plush-crested Jay, the rare Large-tailed Dove, Blue-crowned Trogon, Ocellated Piculet, Black-capped Antwren and Guira Tanager, White-backed Fire-eye. In the afternoon we'll arrive at the comfortable Refugio Los Volcanes and bird access road - Glittring-bellied Emerald, Chestnut-backed Antshrike, Tatauapa Tinamou, Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, Black-banded Woodcreeper, Two-banded Warbler. Night Los Volcanes. (B,L,D)

Day 6:

Full days birding around Refugio Los Volcanes in the dry semi-deiduous forest. Possibilities we will be looking for include Bolivian Tapaculo, Yungas Manakin, Slender-tailed Woodstar, Buff-bellied Hermit, Blue-browed Tanager, Southern Scrub Flycatcher, Bicolored Hawk, Military Macaw, Ochre-cheeked Spinetail, Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant, Slaty Gnateater and more. The endemic Bolivian Recurvebill has been seen here too. Night Refugio Los Volcanes. (B,L,D)

Day 7:

Morning birding around Refugio Los Volcanes and in the afternoon on to Samaipata for the night. (B,L,D)

Day 8:

Leaving Samaipata we’ll be at dawn at a locality for Alder Parrot. The rest of the morning may produce Spot-backed Puffbird, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Red-crested Finch, Black-capped Warbling-Finch, Sooty fronted and Stripe-crowned Spinetails, Ochre-faced Tody-Flycatcher, Giant Antshrike, Dot-fronted Woodpecker, White-barred Piculet, We’ll move on on a little known birding road to Vallegrande stopping and birding at suitable habitat along the way. Birds we may encounter include Spot-breasted Thornbird and Tawny-rumped Tyrannulet. We have seen the rare Crowned Eagle along this stretch. Night in Vallegrande. (B,L,D)

Day 9:

Morning to explore the Loma Larga area out of Vallegrande. We’ll be looking for special birds such as Red-faced Guan, Golden-winged Cacique, Alder Parrot, Buff-banded Tyrannulet, Shjort-tailed Anthrush, Variable and Rufous-capped Antshrikes and the local unbarred race of Black-banded Woodcreeper and more. We’ll move on to Comarapa in the afternoon with a stop in the arid scrub along the way. Night in Comarapa. (B,L,D)

Day 10:

Morning around the cultivated fields between Tambo and Saipina. Dawn will see us waiting for the dawn flyover of the rare and endemic Red-fronted Macaw. Regular birds to be seen include: the endemic Bolivian Earthcreeper, White-bellied Hummingbird, Stripe-crowned Spinetail, White-fronted Woodpecker, Chaco Suiriri Flycatcher, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Cream-backed Woodpecker, Streak-fronted Thornbird, Rufous-capped Antshrike, White-bellied Tyrannulet, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Bay-winged Cowbird, Ringed Warbling-Finch, Gray-crested Finch, Rusty-browed Warbling-Finch, and Saffron-billed Sparrow. In the afternoon we’ll head to Saipina and some agricultural areas along the Rio Misque - here Red-fronted Macaws (endemic), Blue-crowned Parakeets and Turquoise-fronted Amazons raid the crops. We should see Black and Rufous Warbling-finch here as well. Night in Comarapa. (B,L,D)

Day 11:

Early start for the humid temperate forest at Siberia. We'll spend all day with a picnic lunch exploring side roads and trails. This will be our first introduction to cloud forest birding with lot's more to come further north. Birds we are likely to see here include the - Giant Antshrike - largest of all Antbirds, Andean Guan, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Red-crested Cotinga, Tawny-rumped Tyrannulet, White-browed Conebill, Pale-footed Swallow, Pale-legged Warbler, Crested Quetzal and Blue-winged and Chestnut-bellied Mountain-tanagers. We'll look for Great Pampa-Finch and Red-tailed Comet on the way back to Comarapa. We may want to spend the afternoon in some dry semi deciduous habitat looking for Bolivian (endemic) and Rufous-sided Warbling-finches, Speckle-breasted Thornbird and Olive-crowned Crscentchest. Night in Comarapa. (B,L,D)

Day 12:

Very early start with a picnic breakfast. To-day we head for the pleasant city of Cochabamba. We'll stop for some early morning birding at Siberia looking for species we may have missed. Continuing on we pass some remnant scrub Polylepis woodland - here possibilities include Giant Conebill, Gray-hooded Parakeet, Rock Earthcreeper, Andean Swift, Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer (endemic), Rufous-bellied Saltator, Wedge-tailed Hillstar (endemic), Rufous-sided and Rufous-browed Warbling-finches. We may see the very pretty Olive-crowned Crescentchest here. We’ll stop on the high grasslands for Puna Canastero and a variety of Miners. Continuing on we'll spend the afternoon birding a cultivated stream area where we hope to see Citron-headed Yellow-finch (endemic), Red-tailed Comet, Giant Hummingbird, Golden-breasted Flicker, Brown-capped Tit-spinetail, Black-hooded Sierra-finch, Fulvous-headed Brush-finch, Rufous-bellied Saltator, Rusty-vented Canastero. Finally we descend into the fertile Cochabamba valley. Night at our hotel in Cochabamba. (B,L,D)

Day 13:

Early start for the temperate forest of the yungas (cloud forest) of Chapare. We'll start at treeline and hope to see some of the following: Undulated Antpitta, Andean Tapaculo, Great Sapphirewing, Cochabamba Thistletail (endemic), Black-eared and Black-crowned Parrot, Hooded-mountain Toucan, Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Light-crowned Spinetail and Crowned Chat-tyrant. We’ll spend the afternoon in the lower cliud forest looking specifically for Straw-backed Tanager and bird our way to our hotel in Vila Tunari. Night in Villa Tunari. (B,L,D)

Day 14:

We’ll retrace our teps to Cochamaba to-day looking for species we may have missed. (B,L,D)

Day 15:

As a complete contrast to the previous day we'll visit a dry Andean valley above Quillacolla where stands of mature Polylepis woodland still exist. This should be an exciting days birding. Endemics are the order of the day here and we will pay special attention to Cochabamba Mountain-finch (endemic), Wedge-tailed Hillstar (endemic), Bolivian Blackbird(endemic) and Bolivian Warbling-finch(endemic), Rufous-bellied Saltator, other possibities include: Black-winged Ground-dove, Andean Hillstar, White-winged Black-tyrant, Tufted Tit-tyrant, Tawny-Tit-tyrant, Andean Swallow, Cinereous and Giant Conebills. We'll head up to the high puna grasslands for the local Short-tailed Finch, Streak-throated Canastero, White-winged Diuca-finch and a variety of Ground-tyrants and Sierra-finches. We'll return to Cochabamba for the night. Hotel in Cochabamba. (B,L,D)

Day 16:

Morning flight to La Paz and connecting international flights our join the Bolivian Highlands extention. (B)