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It had been seven years, I think, since I'd led an Iquitos-area tour, and it was GREAT to get back -- especially so with a highly congenial and interested group of amigo-birders to share it all with! We got out of the blocks birding the ancient white-sand forests just outside town, at the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve (hereafter AMR). It took a couple of days to dig out the rarities out there (large on the list being good views of the recently described Allpahuayo Antbird, Ancient Antwren, and Mishana Tyrannulet), but Iquitos Gnatcatcher slipped through the net (it's been real tough to come up with in recent years and is one of the rarest birds in all of Amazonia).

Then it was down the Amazon to the lodges, with an overnight and productive birding around Yanamono on the north bank followed by a week on the Napo, based out of two lodges. The ACTS lodge provided easy access to the famous canopy walkway. The near section of it was under repair, but we were able to go up and bird the far end, coming back most of the way to cover the best trees. We also undertook an adventurous, suspenseful, and spiritually challenging hunt for Nocturnal Curassow that, I'm delighted to report, had a very, very happy ending! Diurnal flock activity was good but ant swarms were not very active.

Among the wonderful experiences on this tour is birding the several distinct habitats close to the lodges, especially the high terra firme (including the walkway area), streamside forests (remember the Black Bushbirds!), the canoe trip through the flooded forest and other varzea-forest birding walks, and, of course, the islands which ranged from new-born, grassy sandbars to old-growth forest and those choked with caña brava and cecropias. There were distinctive species in all of them, great stuff to look for every day.

OK, I'll take a shot at listing some highlights, plug in some memorable photos and videos from our thour, then get this list off to the webman so you can relive good times at home. I mentioned some of the best from the AMR above, but should add Black-bellied Cuckoo, Brown-banded Puffbird (gracias, Pedro!), Yellow-billed Nunbird, Ivory-billed Aracari, scope studies of Lined Forest-Falcon, Pearly Antshrike, Yellow-browed Antbird, Zimmer's Antbird, Long-tailed and Ocellated woodcreepers, Point-tailed Palmcreeper (in the rain!), Zimmer's Tody-Tyrant, Yellow-browed Tody-Fycatcher, Campinarana/Varillal Flycatcher, Citron-bellied Attila, Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin, Orange-crowned Manakin, a family of White-browed Purpletufts very low and close!, and a good number of Short-billed Honeycreepers. A couple of fantastic primates seen well at AMR were Pygmy Marmoset and Yellow-handed Titi Monkey.

Just a handful of the many Amazon/Napo best included a scoped Tiny Hawk, Slate-colored Hawk, unbelievable views of a Black-banded Crake, Fiery Topaz for some (from the walkway), Collared Puffbird (nice, Romney!), Lanceolated Monklet (gracias, Dios!), an active nest of Rusty-breasted Nunlet, crazy White-eared Jacamars, Gilded and Scarlet-crowned barbets, Plain-breasted Piculet, Cream-colored and Ringed woodpeckers, a stunning, perched Orange-breasted Falcon (glad I turned the boat around), lots of antbirds including Castelnau's Antshrike, Dugand's Antwren, Slate-colored Antbird, and singles of White-plumed and Hairy-crested antbirds at the one good antswarm we hit (both were tough to see well); Chestnut-belted Gnateater a couple of times, Rusty-belted Tapaculo, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, the recently split (from Lineated) Duida Woodcreeper, Pale-billed and Lesser horneros, amazing views of Chestnut-winged Hookbill from the walkway, Orange-fronted Plushcrowns, Parker's, Ruddy, and Red-and-white spinetails, Brownish Elaenia, Johannes's and Black-and-white tody-tyrants, Orange-eyed Flycatcher, a dynamite male Purple-throated Cotinga, whipping male Wire-tailed Manakins, Varzea Schiffornis (at last, Romney!), a superb Scaly-breasted Wren, the recently described Varzea Thrush, glowing Masked Crimson Tanagers, and several close encounters with both species of river dolphins.

It was lots of fun to bird Iquitos with all of you, thanks for coming on this tour! Abrazos para todos, hasta la proxima, Bret

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Just a couple of additional sightings/experiences to mention were Suellen's monster spider in her room (ugh, bed) at ACTS (and the one in my bag at Explornapo, some heard the scream), and that colubrid snake that swam so neatly across the dock area at Explornapo one afternoon as we were readying to take off for birding. We also saw a number of large Green Iguanas, and a variety of large and small bats, mostly over the rivers at dusk. Butterfly diversity was quite good, and Don's video is the best evidence of that!! We also saw an enormous robber fly on a walkway at Yanamono, the likes of which I had never seen before.

Totals for the tour: 406 bird taxa and 12 mammal taxa