PEACHFRONT SPEAKS

Recent entries bald eagles are circling - 2024-12-02 nuthatch - 2024-11-27 Peru Photo Workshop Trip Diary - 2024-11-25 Peru Photo Workshop Bird List - 2024-11-24 you will be standing amazed very soon - 2024-11-19 Read my new book, The 10 Best Things You Can Do For Your Bird at Amazon or at many other fine distributors like Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and more. By public demand, and after a delay of an embarrassing number of years, I've finally put my notorious essay, Ender and Hitler: Sympathy for the Superman, free on the fabulous internets. A bibliography of my published books and stories. Here's a simple card-counting FAQ to get you up to speed on the basics. Here's the true story of the notorious DD' blackjack team, told for the first time on the fabulous internets. No other team went from a starting investor's bankroll of zero to winning millions of dollars. A Sadean take on Asimov's classic Three Laws of Robotics can be found in Roger Williams' NOW REVIEWED ON SLASHDOT!!! The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. Adult readers only please -- explicit sex and violence. For updates on the "Dead Tree Project" and other topics, you may visit the official fan site, Passages in the Void.. My Bird Lists -- My Louisiana State Life List, My Yard List and, tah dah, My World Life List. HEY! What happened to the Peachfront Conure Files? The world's only OFFICIAL Peachfront Conure site now features free peachfront conure coverage, including a magazine length Intro to Conures previously published in American Cage-Bird Magazine, now free on the web. I offer the best free Peachfront Conure information on the internet. If you have great Peachfront Conure info, stories, or photos to share, contact me so I can publicize your pet, your breeding success, your great photograph, etc. on my site. Thanks.

Peru Photo Workshop Trip Diary 2024-11-25 - 4:46 p.m. Note: Bird list including my 41 new lifers can be found right here Tuesday, November 5. Some of this travel report includes comments of interest mainly to myself. Skip ahead to November 7 to start reading the birding and bird photography information that may help you plan your trip. DH dropped me off before his work at the airport. There is almost no one working the counters now, and I had to kind of wave my arms frantically for several minutes before an American Airlines employee propped up to scan my passport. (The kiosks unkindly refused to let me do it myself. Machine intelligence is not a thing, and I doubt it will be ever be a thing as long as Peachfront's electric fingers are on the job. Be that as it may...) The Admiral Club for lunch. Bloody Mary and a pretty good chicken dish over rice. The flight to Lima was not exactly world class as far as first class travel goes. The seats did not fully recline. However, the blankets were fluffy and the meal was the whole complete service nuts to ice cream sundae that American Airlines is known for, and we got there reasonably on time. My only real complaint was that my bag's priority tags were completely ignored, and I honestly believe my bag was the last one out. The airport was an echoing void by the time I could leave round about midnight. The hotel was right across the street so how do you muff that up? I dunno, but some "helpful" guy grabbed my bag to roll it around the building the long way around. Eventually we did reach the front door but he didn't take the bag in but instead fearfully hovered in the last scrap of darkness to hustle for a tip. Like I hadn't already figured out where this was going. I gave him three bucks and he still complained but c'mon. It's not actually he performed the service of, you know, taking my bag into the freaking hotel. But at last the adventure was over and I was snug in my bed.... Wednesday, November 6 Since this a tour that hits the ground running, I had arranged to arrive a day early with a separate reservation for the night of November 5. In that way, if Hurricane Rafael or whatever blew me in late, I'd still be able to pick up the tour. But, being right on time, and an airport hotel not being a terribly interesting place to be (unless you want spa services, I guess), then I asked the concierge to hire me a local guide for the day. That worked out shockingly well. I was on the road and on my way to meet a local woman guide in less than an hour. Good thing I tossed in my 26mm street photography pancake lens at the last minute. I regretted not having the bird kit in a couple of places but it just wasn't practical for the kind of tour we were doing of the Lima city center and more colorful neighborhoods. At one point, there was a Pisco Sour tasting, so the mood was cheerful as we wandered around the ancient historical buildings and neighborhoods. The final stop was the lover's park where the guide told me about the famous statue of couples kissing where people meet up for romance and marriages and... well... okay. I pictured a nice couple embracing-- you know, on their feet-- so I cracked up laughing when I saw the actual statue where the couple were well on their way to doing a whole lot more than kissing... New life birds of the day: West Peruvian Dove, Croaking Ground-Dove, Amazilia Hummingbird, Long-tailed Mockingbird. The Long-tailed Mockingbird was special because he flew right at me before he continued onto a light post overlooking the sea where he could sing to me. I couldn't help but think of my sweet Jan. The Amazilia Hummingbirds were also special-- I spotted first one and then many on a green overlook to the water where they fought energetically over the flowers tumbling down the steep banks. The Croaking Ground-Doves scrabbled at my feet in one of the public parks, and I suspect people of feeding them. All in all, it was a good day for birding without effort. In the evening, I enjoyed the free Welcome Cocktail (yep, a Pisco Sour) and a very good arroz con mariscos dish that I believed they described as criollo. I think I had something like this in Puerto Rico? In any case, it was extremely excellent. Thursday, November 7 An early day. I recognized the guide, probably because I googled his photo but also his tour T-shirt was a pretty big hint. After breakfast, we rolled back across the street to the airport. The domestic departures was in complete chaos-- a distinct contrast from the echoing void on my arrivals night. I had asked the (what is she? secretary? manager? anyway, the person who takes the money for arranging the tour) to see if she could request aisle seats for me on the internal flights. She said she would try, and she succeeded. Whew. No one weighed any carry-on bags either. So it was pretty stress-free. I was imagining something horrible like Air Mad 2007... We had a bit of a drive from Tarapota to our lodge in Moyobamba near Waqanki. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant overlooking Laguna Ricuricocha. Our very first photo session featured a cooperative flock of Yellow-tufted Woodpeckers. I also photographed a new lifer, the Chestnut-bellied Seedeater. I observed both males & females, but it was a good-looking male who posed for me.. You know how the birding trip is never over until you see the Osprey? Well, oops, we saw the Osprey the very first day. Also the Amazon Kingfisher and some other typical lakeside birds. Farther down the road, we stopped at an overlook which turned out to be a deep canyon full of Oilbirds. It was dark in there but once my eyes adjusted, I could see pairs of Oilbirds snuggling and preening each others. I'm not sure my photos are any good though. The ISO was sky high down there in the dark... At our lodge, I heard but did not see my good buddy the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Friday, November 8 It was a full day of birding at the beautiful grounds of Waqanki. Flowers and hummingbirds everywhere. New hummingbirds, and lots of opportunity to practice my photography, came in thick and fast. Rufous-crested Coquettes were everything, although the cutest sighting involved an adult female who appeared to be "dancing" with her young one. Was she teaching him to display? Was he pestering her to feed him when he was plenty big enough to feed himself? I don't know but the dance continued for some time, and I even photographed the action, although the light was extremely challenging. Other good birds included Sapphire-Spangled Emerald, Black-bellied Tanager, Amethyst Woodstar, Grey-breasted Sabrewing, Golden-tailed Sapphire, Great Billed Hermit, and White-chinned Sapphire. I feel like I wanted a better view of the highly backlit Paradise Tanager though. We also had our first lessons in multiflash. For me, that first day felt a bit confusing with a lot of settings needing to be changed but-- spoiler alert-- I think I had a better understanding of what-all needed to be done by the time the trip was over. And it was greatly encouraging that, with the help of our guide, we could achieve a few first-class images almost from the beginning. Saturday, November 9 Another session, including multiflash practice at Waqanki in the morning. I also picked up some new lifers in the trees, including Yellow-crested Tanager and Lafresnaye's Piculet. A bit of a drive toward Owlet Lodge. In the evening, we met with the manager (owner?) of Alta Nieva, who led us on a night hike in search of the extremely rare Long-whiskered Owlet. The trail was uneven, it was dark, and walking with a long lens kept me a bit unbalanced, and if I had to do it over again, I would have left the gear in the van and just tagged along to SEE the owl. It was very vocal and responded to playback, and in fact there seemed to be two owlets present at times, but the one who flew in perched only briefly, as in a couple of seconds on each occasion. At my level of skill, there was no way I could get on the bird with my camera in focus fast enough before it flew-- while there would have been plenty of time for me to take in details through my trusty binoculars. As it was, I heard the bird, and I saw the bird, but what I mostly saw was an uncooperative little ball of huff & fluff rather than fine detail-- and, no, I did not get the photo. But you live & you learn. Sunday, November 10 We spent the morning at Alto Nieva. While waiting for the rare Royal Sunangel, we got lots of handheld practice with other amazing hummingbirds including Greenish Puffleg and Peruvian Rackettail. The afternoon was spent on the grounds of Owlet Lodge itself, which had a fantastic area where we could set up the multiflash gear and take turns practicing on amazing critters like the Amethyst-throated Sunangel and (my favorite!) the tiny but aggressive Emerald-bellied Puffbird. A Sword-billed Hummingbird flew by to scout out the scene a couple of times but I don't think any of us managed to capture a photo... Monday, November 11 We got up super early to check out the antpitta blinds this morning. The Chestnut Antpitta was eager, active, and all but ran over my feet. It even flew a little. The other Antpitta -- I forgot its name because it never called or showed -- was radio silent. But at least the show we got was a good one... We got lots of multiflash and non-flash hummingbird practice today. We also experimented with using multiflash on hummingbirds coming to a Japanese lantern flower since we observed that many species like that particular flower. Whew. I took a LOT of pictures. Side note: I think it's the only day I observed-- & I'm almost 90% sure it's the only day I photographed -- a female Long-tailed Sylph. The males do come to the feeder but they are noticeably less aggressively than many other hummingbird species, and even little guys like Speckled Hummingbirds and Emerald-bellied Pufflegs felt free to shove them around. I have a theory that females prefer to avoid the fray altogether. Tuesday, November 12 In the morning, we spent some time at La Llanteria where we quickly picked up the unusual Ecuadorian Piedtail and some other interesting birds like Violet-headed Hummingbird and Green Hermit. Then, sadly, it was time for our farewell lunch at Owlet Lodge. Just as we were leaving, a huge black rodent appeared-- Black Agouti. Yikes! We drove to Huembo, arriving maybe an hour before sundown. Now, I don't want to be that lady who fell out of the van and immediately claimed to see a Green-tailed Trainbearer and a Marvelous Spatuletail, so I didn't squeak too loudly. The driver also saw the Spatuletail, and I got a photo of the Trainbearer that I showed to our guide. So I knew the site was going to be good right away. However, I'm not sure the other guys on the tour had any idea of the excitement to come... Wednesday, November 13 We spent the day at Cocachimba, described as "Refugio del Colibri Cola de Espatula." Once we were there, we were there, since the road repairs meant we were stuck in for the day. Fine by us. I had barely stepped foot under the canopy when an adult male Marvelous Spatuletail began to display for us, and within minutes I had an exceptional photo of the bird flashing his face and throat feathers while displaying his "marvelous" tail streamers. There were also any number of young birds. I noticed an area behind the trees where two birds (and, on occasion, three juveniles) would gather to practice displaying and dancing with each other. It was all too cute for words! We also added many other fine birds, including Maranon Thrush, Grey-chinned Hermit, and the tasteful Buff-bellied Tanager. A note: While the Grey-chinned Hermit was easy to see, there was something about the way it darted around that made it hard for me to predict its flight, and I really struggled to get a decent photo. Whereas the Marvelous Spatuletail made photography look easy. I don't know the name of the village where we had lunch, but it had a fine view of Gocta Falls, and-- ha!-- the restaurant sold wine by the glass so I could drink a toast to the Marvelous Spatuletail and the marvelous show it put on. They finally stopped laying down asphalt so we could head back to Huembo around 5:30 -- not that anyone was in a hurry to leave. But the sun was going to set, so, sadly, we had to say farewell to a remarkable and dare I say "marvelous" experience. Thursday, November 14 Nobody believed they could top our Marvelous Spatuletail photos from the day before, but we had another whole day, so we practiced shooting the Spatuletails around the gardens of Huembo as well as pursuing better photos of other birds. I got a rather moody shot of an adult male Spatuletail "hiding" in the forest. It was also an opportunity to practice on some different subjects. I kept an eye out for the Green-tailed Trainbearer and finally got something I liked. I also got a second look-- and a really good photo-- of a small flycatcher I'd seen on the first day. I thought it was something teeny like a Southern Beardless Tyrannulet but size is deceiving, and we ultimately all got on the bird and identified it as somewhat larger bird known as the Sierra Elaenia-- and that's the call it answered to. Whew. Friday, November 15 In the morning, we were off to Arena Blanca, where we were soon to encounter the Wire-crested Thorntail as well as an assortment of other busy hummingbirds. I also *finally* got two very good looks at the Long-billed Starthroat but I was too slow to get the photo. However, the big event of the day was... wait for it... a Cock of the Rock lek! Yes, a Cock of the Rock lek that didn't involve getting up and hiking a steep canyon at oh-dark-thirty. This subspecies of Cock of the Rock has light eyes, is more orange than red, and-- best of all -- leks in the afternoon. Oh, frabjous day! Unlike in Ecuador, when we sort of hiked along the narrow rim of a canyon to a blind that let us look down into a lek, we had to climb up the steep side of a mountain. But it was all worth it because, at the top, the birds were cackling and flying at each other and putting on a wonderful display. Saturday, November 16 In the morning, we tried for the Little Tinamou, which did not appear, and more photos of the Wire-crested Thorntail & Rufous-crested Coquette, who cooperated wonderfully. Then, alas, it was time to head off for Moyobamba. But the adventure wasn't completely over, since we had time to visit Morro El Cerrado where we picked up last-minutes thrills like the Black-throated Hermit, Rufous-sided Crake, and the charming Bluish-Fronted Jacamar. Sunday, November 17 Our flights to Lima were moved up to depart early, and roadwork was slowing traffic all over northern Peru, so we couldn't do much in the morning other than drive directly to Tarapota to be sure we were within reach of the airport. Once we got there, we were able to enjoy a leisurely brunch while we considered all of our successes-- and the amazing lack of rainy days that allowed us to get in those extra goodies like the Cocks of the Rock or just those extra hours of practice. The flight was funny. As I mentioned at the beginning, I requested an aisle seat. When I got to my seat, a claim jumper was sitting in my row but in the window and middle. Not my problem, I didn't even know they weren't supposed to be there until the actual person holding the window seat ticket showed up. Then they had to get up. Fine. Still not my problem. A little while later, the flight attendant came by and asked if I would trade my seat, 15C (an aisle) for 20A (a window that is farther back). I said no. Would anybody in their right mind say yes? She tried a few more ways to ask me, and I just kept saying, it was too hard for me to change seats once I was settled in. Finally, she gave up. Later, I saw the claim jumpers being walked toward the front. Did these people even have a ticket at all? How did they get on the plane? What kind of mess would I be in if I'd agreed to swap my seat with somebody who didn't have the right to that seat? Questions, questions. In Lima, we settled into the bar for the Pisco Sours (well, two of us did, the rest were a little more abstemious) and later we moved to the restaurant for the final dinner and a well-deserved celebration. Sunday, November 18 The less said about American Airlines so-called business class product to LIM-MIA, the better. It was terrible. At least on the MIA-LIM, they had fluffy blankets. On this flight, they had skinny blankets. Why, I ask you? Getting through customs was a nightmare. For some reason, I got tagged to follow the green dots, which is a line of... well... green dots that seems to wander about half a mile beneath Miami airport before you come to a place where they figure out they wanted to sterilize my shoes. I'm a little old lady. They couldn't take my shoes & sterilize them without making me walk for half an hour wondering wtaf was going on? Some lady was making avocado toast in the clubroom, so I ate some. Eventually, it was time to catch my flight to New Orleans and my ride home. Wheeeeee. Now I've got 12,000 photos to cull, inspect, and develop to arrive at the spectacular chosen few... It's going to take awhile but the Peru photo album will be here. At the time of writing, I already have 7 photos posted but more will be coming for quite some time. back - next All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2002-2024 by Elaine Radford