Did you know that Peru has wild, ostrich-like birds? They are called 'rheas' or 'suris' or 'ñandus'. All kids in Peru have heard of the word "ñandu' because it is always the picture they put on ABC charts as it is about the only word that starts with an "Ñ". Last year, for Mary Beth's birthday, I took her on a drive to try and see rheas. We didn't have any luck (or 'providence' for those of us who don't believe in 'luck'!). But we had a really good time and Mary Beth has been looking forward to trying to find them again this year.
Sunday, after we cleaned up everything from church, we went to Moquegua and were disappointed that the Cerro Baul was closed. It is a really cool-looking mountain near Moquegua that usually is open to hiking, but has been closed since February 18th due to too much rain (see last post). So we camped nearby and got up at 5 am the next morning to look for rheas.
It was about a 2-hour drive to get to the location where eBird told us most of the sightings of rheas have been in the last 5 years. This is a pretty wild area with few roads but lots of trails where people have driven before us.
We drove towards a rhea hotspot and on the way there saw rhea tracks! They've been here! When we arrived at what can best be described as a swampy, high-altitude (4500m) lake we could see alpacas, vicuñas and llamas and some funny looking alpacas! They weren't alpacas! They were rheas! It was a big male with 12 juveniles. (The males sit on the eggs and take care of the young) We were thrilled to check 'Lesser Rhea' off of the list!
