Pachacamac

I went to Pachacamac with Mel's mother and two aunts that were visiting from Argentina. The earliest parts of this archaeological site are believed to hail from between 1400 and 1800 years ago. The main construction followed with the Huari culture, and post-Huari it became a place of religious significance before becoming incorporated into the Incan Empire.

The highest point of the site,
with vast areas still to be discovered...

Unfortunately, lack of funding means that most of the site remains under sand, and it doesn't look as though that will change any time soon...

With some funding, this could be one
of Lima's greatest attractions

With the area being mostly desert, wildlife was minimal. At the entrance to the site they keep a llama. It seems this one didn't want to pose for a photo, so to save you from looking at said llama's rear-end, I found a 'gorgeous' canine instead - this is the breed that was offered to Barack Obama because of his dog allergies. I give you the Peruvian Hairless Dog...

Perro peruano sin pelo, ranked in the top five
in Tommy's Ugliest Dog Breeds '09

Hopefully that didn't put off anyone from visiting Lima... Just in case, here's the only birds I saw at Pachacamac...

Croaking Ground-Dove (Columbina cruziana)

Long-tailed Mockingbird (Mimus longicaudatus)

Time to go. Don't have nightmares about ugly dogs - I mean, it's not as if I posted this one!

Not Moving So Fast Now...

The last time I was here, there was one bird that tortmented me endlessly, darting and diving day after day around 'La Laguna' (the local lake). These Blue-and-White Swallows (Pygochelidon cyanoleuca) moved so fast I found it almost impossible to focus with my eyes, never mind about with a camera!

So, within a week of returning to these shores, I was extremely pleased to find around 20 of them sat on a wire right outside the front door! Obviously, I raced back to get the camera and took a few shots...

Adult

A spot of grooming...

Juveniles?

I've now made it my [impossible?] mission to get some in flight - wish me luck!

Tommy

Tommy's Back!

I have returned to Sudamérica once more! (With a new address for the blog too...)

And what better way to announce my return than with a Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus)?? Here's a beautiful female sat out the front of the house :)


Got to go, time to turn everything off for Earth Hour :)

Tommy

Perfect place to raise the family?

Bird's nest in San Miguel, Lima.
27th July, 2008

Imagine you're a bird...

...looking to raise a family, you need to find a safe place for you and your partner to bring up the little ones...

...but where?

In these towns and cities an elevated position is essential - to keep out of the reaches of those whose taste-buds are a touch partial to poor winged creatures.

They'll never find us here...

"Sleeping with the enemy"

Any other ideas for captions?

Random Picture Time

Thought I'd share some of the more interesting photos I've taken this year - although that could be read as 'the ones I took that didn't make it to Mel's blog'! That said, there's some lovely 'hummingbirds' (you'll understand the quotations when you see them) that I think she should have posted.

I'll start with the flowers:




They are all flowers of the Asteraceae family, and although the daisy of the last picture dwarfs the others above (shown in background of photo), it is truly a giant compared to those that I grew up seeing in the UK. If my memory serves correctly, height of 1 to 1.5 centimetres compared to this one of about 1.5 feet! [tommydisclaimer]I may be wrong of course, I've not spent any real amount of time in the UK for nearly three years now.[/endtommydisclaimer]

Now for a few birdies :)

Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis)
Tacna, Perú

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Arica, Chile

Incidentally, this picture wasn't a split-second capture of the bird spreading it's wings. It actually sat there in that exact position, wings held wide, for at least a few minutes! I don't know the reason for this, unless it was just catching some of the sun's rays! (It was very hot that day) Maybe somebody else could offer a better theory though?

Harris's Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)
Lima, Perú

We saw this hawk stalking a group of around fifteen smaller birds (I think they were finches), though I'm not sure if it was for food or just for it's own amusement. Don't think the smaller ones enjoyed it either way :s

Now, the bugs... What?! No hummingbirds?! Not yet...

A random red spider found in the street
Tacna, Perú

This creature (is it a cricket or related?) decided to sneak up and 'tickle' my arm with it's antennae while I was playing around on my laptop. Yes, I jumped rather quickly, as although I don't mind insects, I don't particularly like them if they're around the size of half of my hand or more. Or if they look intent on feeding on any part of me.

Finally, these little beauties:

At first we thought this was a type of hummingbird - it's behaviour is very similar, fast wings, hovering and darting around the flowers - but it's not. It is a moth called the White-Lined Sphinx, also known as Striped Morning Sphinx, and it seems some do know it as the hummingbird moth! The main difference I realise now but didn't know then, is that while hummingbirds fly away when you approach them, these moths didn't seem to mind me standing mere inches away from them. The third picture is a little blurred, but really shows it feeding perfectly!

Well, that's about it. Maybe it's time now for a BIG sandwi's'ch from this place we found in Tacna:


All pics copyright of Tommy (jajaja)
Byeeeeeeee
Tommy

I Think I'm In Love...

...with a book!!

This arrived today - a month early!

Yours truly with his new companion.

So, while I've managed to get extremely lazy already with posting updates on here, I still couldn't resist showing this beauty off before Mel arrives home! (Of course I'm talking about the artistic masterpiece in my humble paws and not myself) I take my invisible hat off to Amazon (US) - I ordered online in the early hours of June 26th and the estimated arrival date they gave was 6th August - so international delivery in just 11 days was both fantastic and unexpected.

First impressions? WOW
Well, when you receive a book containing 1,792 illustrations of birds for the country you're living in, and with 45 years in the making of it, would you start from the beginning and read what the authors have to say? Out of respect the answer should be yes, but I couldn't help myself and jumped right in looking for some of the local species that I know and love. The drawings are superb, and I think both those and the accompanying descriptions will help no end in the identifications for this pair of new birders.

One thing I'm really not sure about though, is the descriptions of bird's calls. For example, for the bananaquit is: 'VOICE Song a variable series of high, thin, sizzling phrases, for example: "szzzzewy-szewy-szewy szzz." Calls high, thin "tsit" and "tseep" notes.' I can connect to everything but the "szzz" parts, which have me somewhat confused! I'll have to go and listen again to them asap. Identifying birds via sounds is my weakest point.

One thing's for sure - it's going to be fun increasing my knowledge of Peruvian birds with this travelling companion!

Until next time - the part time blogger
(aka Tommy)

A Fruity Bird...

A fruit-lovers paradise.

This post is a little late (sorry!), I was meant to publish these pics and comments around the same time as Mel's post, but have been putting things off. However, it should go some way to explaining why she mentioned "the most popular tree we've ever seen", yet only had pictures of the Amazilia hummingbird. Yes, the truth is that Tommy had the rest of the pics... and 'eventually'... they do get uploaded... zzzzZZZZ...

A note for Lynne: I'm sure that you will like the name of this little bird! I was looking through the Yellowthroats at first when trying to id it, as it bears some striking similarities, but apparently it is the only member of it's own family (Coerebidae). It's the Bananaquit! I laughed so much when I found out that!

Who named this bird Bananaquit?!?

Found throughout the Caribbean [except Cuba] and on the mainland from Mexico to Peru, Paraguay, North-eastern Argentina and Southern Brazil. Scientific name is Coereba flaveola, with the sub-species found here being Coereba flaveola pacifica.

Acrobatics? No problem!

They feed mainly on nectar, but also fruits and insects - they even hang upside down to eat! They are very sociable (you know when they're around!) and energetic (no sitting and posing for photos), and gather in large numbers where there is a regular supply of sugar or fruits. So I guess this tree must have been the avian equivalent of a gold mine! There must have been at least 20-30 Bananaquits hopping, shouting and feeding on this one tree!

Plenty of berries for all!

No more for me, thanks!

Hopefully I won't take as long to post next time...

Tommy.