Hi tweets,

I just got back on Thursday from a Birdbanding Workshop put on by Daniel Froehlich and Ursula Valdez's new organization CECCOT (Centro de Educacion, Ciencia y Conservacion - Tambopata. Website: www.ceccot.org). They had started with two years of banding in the fall and this was their first time for spring. And a great spring banding it was!

We were not able to get the numbers hoped for, mostly due to the first few mornings being rained out, and afternoon banding being much slower. The last couple of mornings were very nice though, and we got some really good stuff.

Personally, I got to handle and process 6 birds at the banding station: Gilded Barbet; Grayish Saltator; Solitary Black Cacique; a White-bearded Hermit hummingbird; Band-tailed Manakin; and to my utter joy, a Blue-crowned Motmot! I also performed a number of extractions (which is my best skill in banding), including such birds as Olivaceous Flatbill; Chestnut-tailed Antbird; Green-and-rufous Kingfisher; Fiery-capped Manakin; Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher; and the money bird of the trip, a Swainson's Thrush (called a money bird by me because by capturing this neotropical migrant, with bulging fat no less, that could make CECCOT eligible for research dollars from the US). Other great birds banded/processed while there by others included: Chestnut-capped Puffbird; Black-fronted Nunbird; Russet-backed Oropendola; Plumbeous Antbird; and Black-spotted Bare-eye.

This being my first journey south of the Equator, I got 113 life birds. Some of the best included Hoatzin (at Lago de Sandoval); Bluish-fronted Jacamar; Capped Heron; Pale-legged Hornero (an absolutely lovely orange bird); White-browed Antbird; Ladder-tailed Nightjar; Pied Lapwing; and a wonderful "good bye" bird just minutes before we hopped on the motorcycle taxis to leave, a juvenile King Vulture that circled overhead!

This was a great trip, hosted by great people. Dan is local to Seattle (he is also the President and founder of the new Puget Sound Bird Observatory, www.pugetsoundbirds.org), and Ursula is a very knowledgeable birder with years of experience, originally from Peru and living here in Seattle attending the UW. If you have interest, check out both PSBO and the CECCOT websites. These are great research organizations and could use your interest and donations. And maybe you could even join Dan & Ursula on their next trip to Peru next September. It is a trip well worth the time and the cost is definitely affordable.

Cheers and good birding!

Brett A. Wolfe
Seattle, WA
m_lincolnii at yahoo.com or bushtit at u.washington.edu