Yanayacu & Pucate Rivers
We started our first full day of our expedition on the upper Amazon aboard Delfin II with very high expectations and dreams. On this day we explored a couple of small tributaries of the Marañon, Yanayacu and Pucate Rivers. The mouth of the black waters of the Yanayacu River was the place where our ship was tied. Since early in the morning we had the joy of observing many pink river dolphins directly from the ship. Once on the skiffs we spotted several Amazon bird species like Oriole Blackbirds, a White-throated Toucan, and Yellow-hooded Blackbirds, among others.
The most special sightings were a couple of rarely seen bird species: a Grayish Saltator (Saltator coerulescens) and a Spotted Tody-Flycatcher (Todirostrum maculatum). The saltator is a large long-tailed heavy billed kind of arboreal amazon finch that is frequently heard but not seen. His melodic voice is beautiful. The flycatcher is not uncommon but frequently overlooked, for it is relatively very small and lives predominantly at the edge of grassy areas. Later in the morning, after breakfast, we went back again to the Yanayacu but this time we went farther in exploring some of the many smaller creeks that are found along the river. There were many different kinds of herons that were seen. One species in particular, the Capped Heron (Pilherodius pileatus) was a favorite for its beautiful plumage. This bird has a strikingly blue face and base to bill and a characteristic black cap.
In the afternoon we went on a skiff ride to explore another black water tributary, the Pucate River. Upon our departure it seemed that it would rain for it was overcast in the horizon. The rain never came and we had a wonderful sunny afternoon. During the skiff ride we had some highlights, a Black collared Hawk, Wattled Jacanas and some few Saddle-backed Tamarin monkeys. After the ride we visited the “20 de Enero” community. In the Reserve there are many “ribereños,” local name given to the people that live along the riverbanks. We had a great time in town for we went around it observing how the people in this community live.
At around sunset it was time to return to the ship. Our first full day of our expedition in the Upper Peruvian Amazon has come to an end but it is just the beginning of a fascinating journey that will go over a week in these remote locations.
