NE Bolivia

THE REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA

THE ISOLATED NORTH EAST

NOEL KEMPFF MERCADO NATIONAL PARK AND THE ENDEMIC BLUE-THROATED MACAWS

17 DAYS

The 1.5 million acre Noel Kempff Mercado Park is one of the great conservation units of South America. Consisting of woodland and savanna, cerrado, tierra firme and semi-deciduous woodlands, the area is so isolated we will be dependant on light aircraft to get us around this spectacular park. The bird list for the park is well over 700 species and the startling scenery and variety of habitats, makes this a birding trip of a lifetime. This coupled with the wet savannas and gallery forests of the Beni department outside the town of Trinidad makes for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We can expect to record 400 plus species on this trip, many of which are difficult to see elsewhere.

Day 01 : International flights arrive at Viru-Viru airport in Santa Cruz early in the morning so we'll head out birding just north of the airport to some open grasslands and gallery woodland. We'll be looking for some of the following : White-bellied Northura, Red-winged Tinamou, Long-winged Harrier, Golden-collared Macaw, Bicolored Seedeater, White Woodpecker, and Greater Rhea amongst others. The afternoon we'll spend at a locality where we have had luck in the past with the strange Red-legged Seriema Here the birds we'll be looking for as well as the Seriema include Blue-crowned and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, Picazuro Pigeon, Epaulet Oriole, Straight billed and Narrow-billed Woodcreepers, Spot-backed Puffbird. Night at our comfortable air conditioned hotel in Santa Cruz.

Day 02 – A full day to explore the Lomas de Arena regional park. This small municipal park protects some very good habitat. In the morning we’ll work the chaco type scrub for birds which include, White-eared Puffbird, Pale-breasted and Chotoy Spinetails, Common and Greater Thornbirds, Plush-crested and Purplish Jays, White-rumped Monjita, Chaco Suriri, White-crested Elaenia, Southern Lapwing, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Campo Flicker, Great Antshrike, Mouse-colored Tyrannulet, Pearly-vented Tody-Flycatcher. After lunch and a short break at the hotel we’ll visit an area of woodland more reminiscent of Brazilian cerrado habitat where we’ll be looking for Stripe-backed Antbird, Plumbeous Seedeater, Chalk-browed and White-banded Mockingbirds and more. Night at our hotel in Santa Cruz.

Day 03: Morning flight from Santa Cruz to the bustling town of Trinidad situated in the flooded savannas of Beni. On arrival at the airport we'll bird the road to Loma Suarez with a picnic lunch. This area is full of birds. Concentrating on a dry riverine gallery woodland, possibilities include Mato Grosso Antbird, Plain Softail, Undulated Tinamou, Straight-billed and Buff-throated Woodcreepers, White-eyed Attila, Short-tailed Pygmy-tyrant, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Golden-collared Macaw, White-tailed Goldenthroat, Golden-tailed Sapphire, Rufous Casiornis, Long-winged Harrier, Velvet-fronted Grackle and Hooded Tanager. Night at our air conditioned hotel in Trinidad

Day 04: We'll drive to El Cutal Ranch to-day concentrating on open flooded fields and scrubby pasture. Possibilities include Plumbeous, Green, Buff-necked, Plumbeous and Bare-faced Ibis, Comb Duck, Roseate Spoonbill, Maguari Stork, Jabiru, Southern Screamer, Muscovy Duck, Scarlet-hooded and Unicolored Blackbirds, Greater Thornbird, 3 species of Monjita, Bicolored Seedeater, Toco Toucan, Great Rufous and Narrow-billed Woodcreeper,Rusty-margined Flycatcher, various Whistling Ducks, Little Cuckoo, Orange-winged Parrot, Azure Gallinule, Slender-billed kite, Black-collared Hawk , Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Chotoy , Cinereous-breasted , Plain-crowned and Yellow-chinned Spinetails, Rufous Chachalote and Fawn-breasted Wren. We’ll look for Blue-throated Macaw coming into roost this evening. Night at El Cutal Ranch.

Day 05 : Another morning to look for the Blue-throated Macaws should we have missed them the previous afternoon. This large and spectacular Macaw was thought extinct until this small remnant population was discovered a few years ago. Birding here is dynamite with Rheas, Pale-crested Woodpecker, Gray-lined Hawk, Hoatzin, Turquoise-fronted Parrot, Gilded and Swallow-tailed Hummingbirds, Green-barred and Spot-breasted Woodpeckers and much, much more. Night at El Cutal ranch

Day 06 We'll return to Trinidad birding en route and catch the afternoon flight to Santa Cruz. Night in Santa Cruz.

Day 07 : To-day we'll take an aircraft charter to the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, specifically Los Fierros which is the main park ranger station within this vast untouched park. This is a two and half hour flight, initially over small farms and cleared areas, but the second half of the flight over pristine savanna and untouched rainforest. This area is wetter than Flor de Oro and supports true rainforest and savanna. After lunch, afternoon birding at Los Fierros. Night at Los Fierros Lodge. The accommodations are simple but all rooms are provided with mosquito nets and all the necessary commodities. As for the rest of this trip in the park, the food is exceptional with a Brazilian touch. Indeed the cooks are from just across the border in Brazil.

Days 08-11 : Four full days birding near Los Fierros to explore the isolated rainforest and savannas. This area is rich in birds and mammals and we will be concentrating on large tracts of wet forest and two types of savanna habitat, one reminiscent of the better know Brazilian cerrado. We’ll be on the lookout for birds such as : Brazilian Tinamou, White browed Hawk, Gray-bellied Goshawk, Pompadour and Spangled Cotingas, Crimson-bellied Parakeet, 3 species of Potoo, Scissor-tailed and Little Nightjar, Razor-billed Currasow, Rufous-necked Puffbird, Red-necked Aracari, White-chinned, Red-billed and Concolor Woodcreeper, Saturnine Antshrike, Snethlage's and Zimmer's Tody-tyrants, Viloaceous Trogon, White-necked Puffbird, Spot-billed Toucanet, Sclaters and pygmy Antwrens, Fiery-capped and Snow-capped Manakins, Buff-chested and Ashy-headed Greenlets, the beautiful Horned Sungem, Collared Crescentchest, Tooth-billed Wren, Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch and White-rumped Tanagers and a variety of Seedeaters and Flycatchers. Amazonian Antshrikes abound and Spectacled Owls call in the lodge clearing. This a place for mammals too and last trip we had ‘scope looks at both Jaguar and Jaguarundi. A night-birding excursion to the savannas gives us a chance of seeing the little known Maned Wolf. All nights at Los Fierros Lodge.

Day 12 :Early morning birding at Los Fierros and afternoon flight Flor de Oro. The Serrania de Huanchaca dominates the horizon, with it's red cliffs and sparkling waterfalls and we’ll make a spectacular over-flight of this sandstone plateau which was first described by English explorer Sir Percy Fawcett and gave Sir Arthur Conan Doyle his idea for his story about the Lost World of Dinosaurs. Spectacular waterfalls rush below us before we arrive at our destination -the Flor de Oro lodge, a very comfortable place to stay on the banks of the Rio Itanez which forms the boundary with Brazil. In fact Brazil is so close you will add species to your Brazil list from the screened porch. Night Flor de Oro Lodge.

Days 13-15 : Three full days birding the Flor de Oro area. Birding starts right outside the door of your room and the snorts of the rare Giant Otter and the splashing of Amazonian River Dolphins can be heard from your en suite room. In this locality we will divide our time between forest trails and open grasslands. Habitats here include dry and semi deciduous woodlands, gallery forest and some wetter forest near Lago Caiman.. Some of the special birds we will be looking for include : Southern Screamer, Black-collared Hawk, Blue-tufted Startthroat, Lettered Aracari, Long-billed and Striped Woodcreeper, Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant, Cinnamon Attila, Burnished-Buff Tanager, Red-throated Piping-guan, Sungrebe, Sunbittern, several species of Macaw including Hyacinth, Painted and Crimson-bellied Parakeets, Pied Pufffbird, Rufous-capped Nunlet, Channel-billed and Toco Toucans, Cream-colored Woodpecker, Rusty-backed Spinetail,, White-fringed and Rusty-backed Antwrens, Black-spotted Bare-eye, Plain-crested Elaenia, Flavescent Wabler, Flame-crowned and Band-tailed Manakins, Gray-chested Greenlet, and the rare Black-and-Tawny Seedeater which is basically restricted to this locality. One day we’ll make a full day trip upriver with a packed lunch to Lago Caiman and walk a trail that leads to the Huanchaca plateau. Here our target birds will include Zimmers Tody-Tyrant and Natterer’s Slaty Antshrike. Other birds include Amazonian Antpitta, White-backed Fire-eye and Rufous-winged Antwren. The ox-bow lake should produce and abundance of Macaws, Green Ibis, a variety of Herons, Muscovy Duck and much more Nights Flor de Oro Lodge.

Day 16 : Morning birding around Flor de Oro and in the late morning we'll fly back to Santa Cruz for lunch. If time permits we’ll bird the Santa Cruz Botanical Garden and it’s extensive grounds for local chaco birds we may have missed. Night at our comfortable hotel in Santa Cruz and farewell dinner in a nearby restaurant.

Day 17 Transfer to Viru-Viru international airport to connect with morning international flights home.

Editor's Note: Sherri LaBar wrote an excellent report on the 1996 trip with Bird Bonanzas. It's very detailed and worth getting- be sure to reimburse GMF for printing & postage.