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The national bird of
Peru is the Gallo de la Roca or Cock-of-the-Rock. There are only a handful
of leks or mating grounds where one can see there mating display. Our first
night's stay was a ten minute stay from one of these leks. We left the
truck about a half hours walk before arriving at the lodge so that our
guide could show us some of the local flora and fauna, and we could perhaps
get a glimpse of this rare endangered bird. Below our guide Fabiana points
out birds to Karen. Fabiana was very knowledgeable about all aspects of
the jungle, but was especially well versed in ornithology. We were lucky
to be the only ones on this tour, so the guide and driver were at our disposal
exclusively.
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Although Fabi was always
able to answer our questions, we didn't always have a notebook, so if anyone
knows what these are let us know. We did see one male Cock-of-the-Rock
on the way in but it was too far to photograph. The next morning we were
supposed to get up at 5:00 to go to the lek, but we over slept. We got
up at 5:40 and rushed over. It was already late in the season for females
to be present, so there would be little chance of seeing the males do there
elaborate dance. We were able to get a little closer to 2 males, but they
left shortly after we arrived. The foto below is as close as we could get.
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We were a little disappointed,
and I was about to go on ahead to the room when I heard Karen frantically
calling to me in a loud whisper. A family of capuchin monkeys were casually
playing in the trees near the road. The baby (top) was oblivious to us.
Pop (bottom) stayed a little higher up and kept a watchful eye. Fabi says
it is rare to see them at this elevation, and speculates that they were
fleeing hunters further down who hunt them for food or to sell as pets.
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NEXT
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