After returning to Lima from the mountains we decided to head south to see a little more of the Peruvian desert. We based ourselves at Las Dunas in Ica and while the rest of the family got down to some intense relaxation I explored. The best spot seemed to be in the farmland around the Rio Inca. Nothing particularly startling, the river consisted of a series of small pools, some of them with reedbeds around them. Best birds included;
Black-throated Woodpecker, Least Bittern, Plumbeous Rail, Peruvian Meadowlark, Chilean Flamingo, Andean Swift, Groove-billed Ani, Purple-collared Woodstar, Peruvian Sheartail, as well as some desert specialists such as
Coastal Miner, Greyish Miner and
Short-tailed Field Tyrant. The pools on the river had a few migrant waders (
Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Semipalmated Sandpiper)
There were also several flocks of parrots/ parakeets. Peru seems to have a particular issue with feral populations of various parrot species and it can be very difficult deciding whether what you've seen is plastic or not. A small flock of
Mountain Parakeets did not seem out of place at the Rio Inca, though the larger flock of
Scarlet-fronted Parakeets (with one lonely
Dusky-headed Parakeet associating with them) at the lodge certainly were. I saw several small groups of
Pacific Parrotlets, also apparently way out of range so presumably escapes/ feral.
Andean Swift
Amazilia Hummingbird
Peruvian Sheartail
Purple-collared Woodstar
Black-throated Woodpecker
Groove-billed Ani
Scarlet-fronted Parakeet
Pacific Parrotlet
Croaking Ground-Dove
Short-tailed Field Tyrant
Coastal Miner
Greyish Miner
Peruvian Meadowlark
Saffron Finch
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