Beach with a Twitch

Stretch of beach south of the point
(Punta Negra)

South of Lima, Peru you’ll find some holiday communities spread out along miles and miles of lovely beaches, interspersed only with large rock outcrops and points. Although some beaches are a higher risk for swimmers, it’s extremely tranquil albeit if out of season. I visited this area during mid-October 2014, in particular the beaches of Punta Negra. During this visit I got the opportunity to see this area  from San Bartolo (further south - some gardens here where we found Amazilia Hummingbird) to Punta Negra from the air during a flight with an ultra-light. This gave me an even better view of how expansive the beaches really are, over and above finding where 100’s of Peruvian Pelicans and Grey Gulls roost - at times probably well over a 1,000 birds.

Day roost: Peruvian Pelicans in the foreground &
Grey Gulls further back.

Without much difficulty it’s possible to pick up around 25-30 species of birds in a day including the town “locals” like Long-tailed Mockingbird, West Peruvian Dove, House Sparrow (the default sparrow here) and then the ever present Scrub Blackbirds. Not overly common here, the Vermillion Flycatcher also showed itself a couple of times. The beaches teem with birdlife though; seeing Grey Gulls relaxing on a remote part of beach in their 100’s is not uncommon.

Gulls and terns at the southern beach of Punta Negra.

They are usually joined by Belcher’s Gulls and the odd tern like Royal and/or Elegant Terns.  Whilst there are many Inca Terns, (probably one of the most beautiful terns!), the more uncommon Peruvian Tern also graced us with its presence for a few minutes the one day, just enough to get a record shot to confirm for ID. 

Elegant Terns in flight over beach; some Grey Gulls in the background.

Photogenic Grey Gulls

The beaches north of Punta Negra town stretch out far and this where early morning I found some large groups of waders dominated by Black-bellied Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones. Between them there might be some Sanderlings on occasion with the lonely Whimbrel passing by. One morning though there were about 6 Whimbrel on this stretch. Along here is where the Red-legged  and Neotropical Cormorants seem to prefer fishing with Peruvian Boobies and Pelicans flying and in the water further offshore. One day we had a massive continuous flock of Guaynay Cormorants flying south very low above the water - at times it was almost like clouds of birds as they came around the point north of Punta Negra.

Blackish Oystercatcher

The large point at Punta Negra is where the Peruvian Boobies, Neotropical and Red-legged Cormorants have their roost. My friend showed me that contrary to what some sources may say about Red-legged Cormorants being solitary, here it’s possible to find them roosting in groups of 10 or more. The American Oystercatchers are very common here with fair numbers of Blackish Oystercatchers at times but don’t seem to reach the numbers of the American species. Keep a lookout for the Peruvian Surf Cinclodes which will very likely be hopping around on some beachside rocks.

American Oystercatcher

All in all some good birding to be had along the beach and in the area plus then if you prefer, some relaxing time along deserted beaches and catching some sun if you’re so inclined. Sunset is a must along this beach with breath-taking colours as the birds settle in for their roost.

For more photos from Punta Negra, view my album on Flickr here.

For more about my travels, also see my main blog EXPEDEVAC

Sunset over the rocks at Punta Negra

Beach Birding in Mozambique

Mozambique is an incredible country with a very long coastline which is also renowned for its beaches, marine fauna and scuba diving. Over the years it has also come to the fore on the birding front with many specials and endemics/near-endemics occurring. During my stay in Praia do Tofo so far, I haven't really had much birding time but when I do get the chance, I'm out with the camera and seeing what I can find.

Whimbrel 

I won't bore the reader with long lists of birds without any descriptions and/or photos, so I'll be posting some of the photos I've managed to capture over the last 2-3months (out of the 6 I've been here so far).

Wire-tailed Swallow

White-fronted Plover

Greater Frigatebird (record shot)

NW Tanzania - Bukoba & the Lake Victoria beach

The campsite in Bukoba was on the beach and had 3 traditional huts as bandas - going inside was a pleasant surprise as there was a huge double bed with mosquito net, the works. This reminded me that I was in mozzie heaven again and needed to take some precautions i.e. tons of repellant.

Bukoba Harbour

Musila Island just east of Bukoba beach

The birds were numerous beyond my wildest expectations and although my island trip was off due to very strong winds, I could hardly be bored. Pied Kingfishers were in excess of 100 birds, well I stopped counting then, as were the Little Egrets. A few Open-billed Storks were around, couple of Fish Eagles and many Sacred Ibis.

Little Egret

Open-billed Stork

Pied Kingfisher

Other birds around the afternoon included Spur-winged Lapwing, Woodland Kingfisher, Lesser Striped Swallow, Yellow White-eye, Marabou Stork, Cattle Egret in breeding plumage (stacks of them as well), cracking sighting of Shikra in the campsite, Hamerkop, MORE Rueppell's Long-tailed Starling and a few Long-tailed Cormorants.

The evening was relaxing next to a fire on the beach and a full moon

The next morning early produced a huge surprise, 2x Abdim's Storks arriving at the beach! Due to the light I only managed a record shot unfortunately.

After my sighting of the Abdim's Storks I sat around watching waking and arriving birds while I waited for our Tanzanian guide to arrive who'd be with us for the next days. The plan was to set off early to the Uganda border (80km) slowly and do some birding along the way. I was craving some coffee first and the campsite cook was off duty hence I had to wait for the guide and then find something in town.

Meanwhile a group of 16 Great Cormorants flew over and all the above species started arriving in great numbers again, with Pied Kingfishers taking the lead again. Eventually the guide arrived and we went to town where we joined the traditional morning coffee stops where one gets a double tot measure of some strong Bukoba coffee - after 5 of these and 300 Tz Shillings (1,400 = $1), 15+ Hooded Vultures including a juvenile, 3x Grey Plantain-eaters and 2x Palm-nut Vultures, we set off for Mutukula (Uganda border post) via Kyaka.