PERU 2019 - DAY 8
WAYQECHA BIOLOGICAL STATION
DAY 1 | DAYS 2,3,4 | DAYS 5,6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAYS 9-10 | DAYS 11,12,13 | DAYS 14,15,16.17
We left Cusco early in the morning and stopped for breakfast in the town of Paucartambo. There was a market where the locals buy their fresh fruits and vegetables each morning and here we loaded up with fruit to take with us to our next destinations in and around
Manu National Park.
We were headed next to the Waycecha Cloud Forest Biological Station, which is a 1,450 acre field research station located in the Kosñipata Valley right at the edge of Manu National Park. It contains nine miles (15 km) of trails, but we would be concentrating on the hummingbird feeders placed on the property. We stopped for a photo op at the nearby entrance to Manu.
The birding lodge here was very comfortable, but in this part of the world (including all of Manu National Park)
there is no electricity other than solar power. Forget hair dryers, as using one will blow out their whole system. When the power runs out, which it usually does around 9pm, that's it. Flashlights are a necessity.
Since this place is in the cloud forest at an elevation of 9880 feet (3011 meters) they are kind enough to keep a jar of coca leaves right next to the coffee and teabags.
Steve and William are trying to photograph that rainbow. It looks to me like the bathroom is at the end of it!
This Hooded Mountain Tanager is for all of you who think I can't photograph any bird that isn't a hummer!
The wonderful hummingbirds I was able to photograph in this location are the male Tyrian Metaltail, both the male and female Amethyst-throated Sunangel, the stunning Gould's Inca and a male Violet-throated Starfrontlet. Click on the name to see more of this bird in the gallery.