Paracas National
Park
Peru 2005
2-16
July 2005
by
Henry Detwiler
We spent the last few days of our Peru adventure along the coast,
visiting Paracas National Park and the Ballestas Islands.
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized photos. 
We took a long bus ride from Lima to Paracas to spend
a couple of days along the Pacific coastline. Here the cold
Humboldt current provides nutrient-rich water, on which numerous
species of marine mammals and birds thrive. We stayed at the Hotel
Paracas--here's our group just before dinner.
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Dinner at Hotel Paracas |
Guanay Cormorants &
Peruvian Pelicans
Paracas National Park
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From the beachfront hotel we saw numerous birds--Guanay &
Neotropical Cormorants, Peruvian Pelicans, Gray & Kelp Gulls, a
variety of shorebirds, Amazilia Hummingbirds, and Smooth-billed Anis
on the well-manicured lawn.
Neotropical Cormorants -
Paracas
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| On Friday morning we took a boat trip out to the
Ballestas Islands. We saw the "Candelabra" on the shoreline of
Paracas National Park--a great intaglio gouged into the surface of the
desert. As we motored out to the Ballestas Islands, about 15
minutes off the coast, we saw Southern Sea Lions and scattered Sooty
Shearwaters. |
The Candelabra - Paracas National Park
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Humboldt Penguins - Ballestas
Islands
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One of the most sought-after birds of the Peru coast
is the Humboldt Penguin. We were fortunate to see quite a few
of these "tropical" penguins from our boat as we circled the
Ballestas Islands, about 15 minutes from shore. Perhaps the
most beautiful bird we saw, both on our boat trip and off the beach,
was the Inca Tern--a nice "flight" photo is a the top of the page.
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Blackish Oystercatchers - Paracas National Park
We took a guided tour of the Paracas National Park on Saturday
morning, and were happy to find a pair of Blackish Oystercatchers
among the dozens of wintering American Oystercatchers. |
American Oystercatchers - Paracas
Along the beach in front of the Hotel Paracas was this pair of
obliging American Oystercatchers. |
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Coastal Miner - Paracas
National Park |
Both along the coastline north of Paracas, and then again
next to the Paracas National Park museum we encountered several of
these drab Coastal Miners. They reminded me of worn pipits.
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There were three species of gulls
around the park and the beach, Gray, Band-tailed, & Kelp. The
prettiest (and the smallest) were the Gray Gulls, which were most
common along the shoreline of the national park.
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Gray Gull - Paracas National
Park
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Snowy Plover - Paracas
National Park
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During the Peruvian summer, the beaches teem with
northern shorebirds--during July there were breeding birds and
only a few very early migrants. One bird familiar to us was
this Snowy Plover--we saw only one pair as we drove around. |
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Peruvian Boobies vied with the Guanay Cormorants
as being the biggest colonizers of the Ballestas Islands.
Vast rookeries covered the rocky islands, and they all seemed to
be raising families. Many of them were still on eggs, but we
also saw lots of chicks. Another treat was Red-legged
Cormorant--we saw only a few of those. Our boat trip was
over far too soon, but I definitely want to return!
Peruvian Boobies - Ballestas Islands
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