The trail leads the visitor from the valley floor to the higher Andean plains with their lakes and grasslands, through a series of landscapes of exceptional beauty,. The diversity of the topography of Cajamarca has created a great variety of habitats, which together have become the home of over 120 different species of birds, including various raptors, hummingbirds, doves, gulls, ducks and flycatchers. Some species are abundant and easy to see, like the many egrets, and others are rare and more difficult to find, like the Grey-bellied Comet, an endemic hummingbird that has been declared in danger of extinction. |
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Many start out in the historical city of Cajamarca, where excursions can be made to nearby sites for Grey-bellied Comet and, a little further afield, Great Spinetail, before setting out for the canyon itself. The first part of the journey takes you across a high plateau where much of the original habitat has been cleared over the years for agriculture but in amongst the fields are patches of forest and scrub where lucky birders may find White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant, Plain-tailed and Rufous-breasted (rare) Warbling-Finches and the cajamarcae race of Rufous Antpitta.
The pleasant town of Celendin with its garish blue church in the Plaza de Armas is the last stop off point before the approach to the canyon rim and the long, dusty and winding road that leads down over 2000 metres to the small village of Balsas at the valley bottom. Humid shrubbery clinging to the upper slopes gradually gives way to arid desert with cacti, and then orchards along the river. Hacienda Limon is a good site for Grey-backed Inca-Finch and Chestnut-backed Thornbird, two highly localised endemics, whilst the desert scrub holds Buff-bridled Inca-Finch, Black-necked Woodpecker and the lovely Yellow-faced Parrotlet. Camping down at Balsas is a memorable experience, and a morning in the riverine forest will allow birders to add Peruvian Pigeon and the striking Marañon Thrush.
Climbing out of the canyon in the direction of Leimeibamba requires a tiring and time-consuming drive, but the views back down to the river and across to the other side of the valley are outstanding, allowing you to see the extraordinary road on which you have already travelled snaking its way down the steep slopes. But the Marañon drainage is not just dry desert scrub, and adjacent to the valley lies the rich eastern slope of the Andes. Out of the valley, be sure to stop at the humid forest patches beyond Black Mud pass, where the rare Russet-mantled Softtail occurs, before dropping down into the valley of the Utcubamba river and along to greater riches beyond the town of Pedro Ruiz. One can find the near-mythical Marvellous Spatuletail along the road near the town of Pomacochas, whilst beyond here a paved road leads through some of the most exciting areas for birds in the Andes. The famous Abra Patricia area holds a wide range of cloud forest species, amongst them many specialities, and the stunted ridge top forests a little lower down are home to such little-known birds as Royal Sunangel, Bar-winged Wood-Wren, Cinnamon-breasted Tody-Tyrant and the enigmatic Long-whiskered Owlet. As the road winds down, upper tropical species can be found around Afluentes, including the endemic Ash-throated Antwren and Speckle-chested Piculet, whilst continuing further still to Tarapoto gives a good variety of lowland species more typical of Amazonia.
For the very adventurous, the trip down into the Marañon further upstream at remote Chagual, and particularly over onto the east slope from the highland town of Buldibuyo is a fantastic wilderness experience. Access is difficult and distances great on poor roads, but above Chagual is the village of El Molino, one of the only known sites for the endemic Purple-backed Sunbeam. Half an hour or so from Buldibuyo, a road goes off to the east towards La Montañita, climbing through Polylepis woods and past a high altitude lake over a pass and down through a mosaic of boggy paramo and elfin forest to untouched cloud forest.
I will never forget the three days I spent there in 2000, as part of the first group of birders to visit the area, especially the moment that I got out of the vehicle to find a Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager perched in the open in a bare tree below me down a little slope. For me this experience will always be the defining moment of my birding in Peru, and stands as a constant reminder of the wonders of the great Marañon river valley and the forests which its drainage sustain.
* SIMON ALLEN
has birded all over Peru, including exploring remote sites in the Marañón Valley. He is the author of "A Birder's Guide to Explorer's Inn", written while he was a resident naturalist there. He is currently a Spanish teacher in England. |
