Winter 2009 - Lima to Montevideo - Birding Trip Report - Part 2 of many - Paracas Home » Forums » Birding » Trip Reports

We descided to stop in Paracas because there was a national park on the map, and we met some tourists who were also headed in that direction. I hadn't done much research. We arrived at 7:00 in the morning, and were being rushed to get ready for the 8:00 AM boat trip to Islas Ballestas, some rocks in the Pacific which host a huge colony of sea lions, and sea birds including the Peruvian Booby, Peruvian Pelican and Guanay Cormorants. Of these three species thousands were seen, and seeing this many large birds in a small area is quite spectacular. Neotropic Cormorants, Belcher's Gulls, and Humboldt Penguins were also seen, but not in large numbers. The famous Inca Tern was seen on some rocks along the way. One the way back the boat passed some 'lines', making it unneccessary for us to stop in Nazca to see the famous Nazca lines. Lines are large drawings made in the sand which are visible from the air.

On the way out I saw a few pelagic birds which I could not identify, and had the idea of hiring a local fisherman to take me out in the morning looking for pelagic birds. A few dozen species could possibly be seen.

The next day we visited Paracas National Park. There are tours, but my wife and I hired a local taxi driver so we could set our own pace, for about the same price. Paracas National Park is a desert. There are no trees. The only life seen away from the water was an Osprey, standing in the middle of the desert. Near the beach we found two dead sea lions, obviously shot with a gun. The beach was full of gulls and terns, including the Grey Gull, Franklin's Gull, Belcher's Gull, and the Grey-hooded Gull. Inca Terns could be seen again from a distance on the rocks. The best location was the restaurant at the end, where I got some great shots of the Peruvian Pelican. Our taxi could not take us to one of the beaches, where a 4x4 was required.

The next morning I took some more gull shots at the beach, and we headed off to Cusco. Paracas is an essential stop in any birder's visit of Peru.