Hi Katie & others possibly interested in Peru. I'm also planning a
trip to Peru in April for birding and Castilleja work & have done a
bit of research. You may already know the following, but here's a few
tips:

There is a list-serve specifically about birding in Peru, with, it
seems, a fairly responsive membership willing to help neophytes to
the region. Here's the address:

Birdingperu at yahoogroups.com

You have to join Yahoo Groups to sign up, but that's fairly painless.
I've had some rather detailed, site-specific questions answered
quickly with inquiries to this group.

Secondly, there is a new, privately published site guide, "Where to
Watch Birds in Peru", apparently available only by mail in the US. I
recently sent a check for mine, but I haven't received it yet (it's
only been a few days...). Here's the note I received from the folks
handling the book for the author, who lives in Peru.

"Hi Mark,

Thank you for your query.

Yes, we have copies available now, at $29.00 plus $3.00 shipping &
handling within the US. At the moment we can only accept personal
checks, made out to Widdowson.

Please send that to...
Widdowson
PO Box 1114
Woodland, CA
95776

Please include your mailing address. As soon as we get your check,
we'll mail you the book, so it should only take a few days.

Regards,

Bud & Margaret Widdowson
Sacramento,CA"


My favorite map so far is "The Rough Guide Map of Peru", probably
about as detailed as you can get short of the topo sets.

Finally, you probably know about the thoroughly illustrated "A Field
Guide to the Birds of Peru" by Clements & Shany, available from our
buddies at Flora & Fauna and/or (I think) the Audubon Society
Bookstore in Wallingford. It's very condensed (to cover 1800 species
in one soft-bound book!) and has little info on locations, but it is
invaluable as a field guide and has very nice plates.

Have fun, and send us a trip report when you return!

Mark






>Hello Tweeters,
>
>Anyone have any advice for birding in Peru in January? This is a
>rather sudden trip, and it looks like it'll be during the height of
>rainy season. We'll definitely be in the Cuzco/Machu Picchu area,
>and are considering some of the jungle spots, but by one estimate
>Manu is likely to get something on the order of 150 inches of rain
>in January (or was it cm?) We also don't have the kind of money that
>the internet makes it sound like it takes to get to a number of
>these spots. Anyhow, if anyone has knowledge or experiences to
>share, I'd love to hear them.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Katie
>
>Katie Sauter Messick
>King County DNRP, Water and Land Resources
>201 S. Jackson St., Suite 600
>Seattle, WA 98104
>(206) 263-5086
>katie.messick at metrokc.gov
>Lakes:
><http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/smlakes/index.htm>http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/smlakes/index.htm
>Salmon Watcher:
><http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/salmon/index.htm>http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/salmon/index.htm