Arrival in Lima. We will arrive in Lima in the early evening and make our transfer to a hotel nearby.

Morning flight to Chiclayo. We'll head straight out on the road to Batan Grande. Here we'll bird the protected Algorrobo woodland for Tumbes Swallow, Rufous Flycatcher, Necklaced Spinetail, Peruvian Plantcutter, Supercilliaried Wren, Coastal Miner, and more. At about 10:00am as the desert sun becomes too hot, we'll head out for the dry deciduous forest north of Naupe. We'll bird the scrub and some of the possibilities include: Tumbes Tyrant (endemic), Tumbes Sparrow, Sulphur-throated Finch, Scarlet-backed Woodpecker, Gray-breasted Flycatcher (endemic), Gray and Gold Warbler, Sooty-capped Flycatcher, Gray and White Tyrannulet etc. We'll head to Olmos in the late afternoon and eventually to our camp in the White-winged Guan canyons. In the evening we’ll look for West Peruvian Screech Owl and Scrub Nightjar. Common Potoo is here too. Night in camp. B:L:D

Here we will meet our local guides who will have been scouting the side canyons for the last two days, and we should have some pretty precise information on the whereabouts of the bird we have come to see - the recently re-discovered White-Winged Guan. We'll get the up to date information as our cook team prepare coffee and breakfast, then off onto a maze of tracks into the canyons. We hope to see Guans of course and we will give them priority. Other species we are likely to see in the canyons are: White-winged and White-headed Brush-finch, Elegant Crescentchest, Tumbes Hummingbird (endemic) Red-masked Parakeet, Long-billed Starthroat, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Baird's Flycatcher, Plumbeous-backed Thrush, Cinereous Finch (endemic), Short-tailed Woodstar and Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner. After a picnic lunch we’ll head for Abra Porculla. Making selected stops along the way, we will pay particular attention to a side trail where we have seen Piura Chat-tyrant, a very rare and local endemic. Other birds we may see include: Black-cowled Saltator, Andean Tinamou, Elegant Crescentchest, Three-banded Warbler, White-winged and Bay crowned Brush-Finch’s Chapman’s Antshrike, Rufous-necked and Henna-hooded Foliage-Gleaners, Yellow-bellied and Black and White Seedeaters. Dropping over the east side of the pass for lunch, we'll drive straight through to our hotel. Arriving in the bustling town of Jaen on the lip of the Maranon canyon we'll transfer to our hotel. Night Hotel El Bosque in Jaen B:L:D

Pre-dawn start and breakfast in the field at first light. We'll drive to a side road where we have had spectacular success with the endemic Maranon Crescentchest. Here we will see other Maranon endemics including- Chinchipe Spinetail, Marañon Slaty Antshrike, Marañon Spinetail, Marañon Thrush and Yellow-cheeked Becard. The distinct Maranon races of Speckle-breasted Wren and Black-capped Sparrows are here too as well as Tataupa Tinamou and, surprisingly, Miltary Macaw. After lunch in the afternoon as it cools down, we'll bird the arid desert north of Jaen. Our target bird here is the Little Inca-finch (endemic), fairly common in the scrub. Here also are : Crimson Finch, Dull colored Grassquit, Drab Seedeater, Spot-throated Hummingbird(endemic), Purple-throated Euphonia, Brown-crested Flycatcher. In the evening the sky fills with Lesser Nighthawks. We’ll drive on to Bagua Chica in the late afternoon. Night Hotel Wilson in Bagua. B:L:D

Pre-dawn start to our camp near Nuevo Salem in the little known upper tropical forest of the lower Marañon. We’ll set up our Safari Camp in the rolling foothills of the Cordillera del Condor. Our target is the little known monotypic Orange-throated Tanager. We’ll stop along the way for general forest birding. Night in Camp B:L:D.

Full day to search for the Tanager. Other birds we have seen here on previous trips includ Black Bushbird, Undulated Antshrike, Pavonine Quetzal, Dusky-chested Flycatcher, Golden-winged and Black and White Tody-Flycatchers, Golden-winged Manakin, Golden-headed Manakin, Scarlet-breasted Fruiteater, Many-banded Aracari, Golden-faced, Sooty-crowned and Red-billed Tyrranulets, Bicolored Antbird, Short-billed and Pygmy Antwrens, Pied and Striolated Puffbirds, Ecuadorian Cacique, Dusky-cheeked and Buff-throated Foliage-gleaners, Berlepsche’s Parakeet, Fiery-throated Fruiteater, White-bearded Manakin and a host of Flycatchers and other Tanagers. Night in Camp. B:L:D

Full mornings birding to pick up what we may have missed and then head out along the road to Saramariza. This is complete exploration but we know there are white sand forest along the way and who knows what we will encounter. Night in camp B:L:D

We’ll bird the area around the Cordillera Campaniquiz and explore this foothill forest. Arrive in Saramariza CAMP B:LD

Boarding our boats we’ll travel down the Maranon River and then up the Morona river to Tierra Blanca arriving in the fternoon. Camp B:L:D

Two days to search for the White-masked Antbird. This is an antswarm specialists and is never found away from them and our quest will be to find an Antswarm. We will work trails originally made by researchers from Lousiana State University who rediscovered the White-masked Antbird in July 2001. This bird was known from only one specimen for almost a century and thought to perhaps be a hybrid. It is known to-day only from this locality. We will work the trails with the help of local guides from the native community. This white sand forest known as Varillal also hosts several other special birds and we’ll be looking for the recently described to science Allpahauyo Antbird (common here) and Ancient Antwren. Other possibilities include Yellow-browed Antbird, bicolored and Lunulated Antbird, Reddish-winged Bare-eye, Orange-eyed Flycatcher, Citron-bellied and Cinnamon Attilas, Pompadour Cotinga and a host of other Antbirds, Woodcreepers, Flyctachers and more. One morning we’ll visit some varzea foresta cross the river to look for the endemic Black-tailed Antbird and White-lored Antpitta. CAMP

Back by speedboat to Saramariza - bus to Bagua Arrive in Bagua Chica and the Hotel Wilson B:L:D

Breakfast in a particularly pretty patch of desert. If we have not seen Little Inca Finch yet we’ll for sure see it here. Then on to an area of rice fields to look for Spotted Rail and Paint-billed Crake. We'll drive during the heat of the day with a brief stop along the Maranon river where we can see some Amazonian species such as Yellow-billed Tern and Pied Lapwing. The riverine scrub should hold White-lined Tanager. We continue up the Utcubamba river, keeping an eye out for Fasciated Tiger-heron and Torrent Duck passing through Pedro Ruiz and onto Florida. Late afternoon birding. Here we will be looking for the rare and spectacular Marvelous Spatulatail, perhaps the classiest of all Hummingbirds - last trip here the first bird we saw on leaving the bus was an incredible male! Night at Hotel Puerto Pumas. B:L:D

Two full days at Abra Patricia. This famous collecting site is home of some of the least known Peruvian birds. We'll camp at about 1000 meters at Oso Perdido for 2 more nights and commute to various elevations from here. One night we’ll spend at the Puerto Pumas Hotel. We may bump into mixed flocks with Blue-browed, Metallic-green and other Tanagers. Exploring side trails we may see the new Lulu’s Tody-tyrant, Tyrranine Woodcreeper, Spotted and Rusty-winged Barbtails. During the three full days we have here, we'll bird varous altitudinal zones between 1000 and 2200 meters. We have recently located Ash-throated Antwren here. Target birds - some very rare -we hope to see include; Cinnamon-breasted Tody-Tyrant, Bar-winged Wood-wren (endemic), Royal Sunangel (endemic), Equatorial Graytail, White-capped and Scaly-naped Parrots, Straw-backed, Metallic-green and Blue-browed Tanagers, White-capped Tanager, Wedge-billed Hummingbird, Crimson- mantled Woodpecker, Montane Woodcreeper. We may hear or see if we are lucky Ochre-fronted (endemic) or Rusty-tinged Antpittas (endemic). Long-tailed Antbird, Large-footed Tapaculo, Golden-faced Tyranulet, Sulphur-bellied Tyrannulet, Ecuadorian Tyrannulet, Fiery-throated and Scaled Fruiteaters, Cock of the Rock, Lanceolated Monklet., Fine-barred Piculet (endemic), Barred Becard , Sharpe’s Wren, Black-crested Warbler and more. We’ll also look for anew Antvireo related to Bicolored and Ochre-fronted Antpita. Night birding should be good here with Rufous-banded Owl, Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Rufous-bellied Nighthawk, Cinnamon Screech Owl. This is also the type locality for Long-whiskered Owlet and we will certainly be on the alert at night. Nights Hotel Puerto Pumas and Hotel Bonbonaje in Rioja

Pre –dawn start for a nearby dry forest locality where we have had luck in the past with Rufous and Spot-tailed Nightjars, plus Tropical Screech Owl. Dawn should be active. This is the only Place in Peru where Pale-breasted Thrush is found. Here also is the recently described Mishana Tyrannulet, Sooty-crowned Tyrannulet, Lesser Elaenia, Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant , Poiint-tailed Palmcreeper, Swallowing, Gilded Barbet, Common Thornbird, Golden-headed Manakin, Forest Elania, Olive-chested Flycatcher, and many commoner species. In the pm we’ll head for Tarapoto for the night

Pre-dawn start for the foothill forest on the Tarapoto – Yurimaguas road. We’ll look for Band-bellied Owl and Blackish Nightjar before first light. Other birds here include Scaled Fruiteater, the rare Dotted Tanager, Wattled Guan, Maroon-tailed Parakeet, a colony of White-tipped Swifts, Kepckes Hermit, Bluyish-fronted Jacamar, Golden-collared Toucanet, Black-faced Antbird, Wing-barred Piprites, Peruvian Tyrannulet and more. We’ll return to our hotel for lunch and a shower before catching the afternoon jet flight to Lima and connectings international flights.