Abra Patricia Reserve

Abra Patricia is a pass at around 2,300 metres where the highway crosses a ridge of dense, dripping cloud forest, and it is on the itinerary of serious birders worldwide because of one species. The long-whiskered owlet is a tiny owl, described from a single specimen in 1976, then not seen alive for thirty years until it was found again in this forest in 2007; the reserve was created partly to protect it, and the lodge runs night walks with a real if modest chance of seeing one. Beyond the owlet the list is exceptional - Johnson's tody-tyrant, royal sunangel, yellow-scarfed tanager, ochre-fronted antpitta, all range-restricted species of this narrow band of forest - and the hummingbird feeders at the lodge draw a dozen species at a time. It is run by ECOAN, a Peruvian conservation organisation, with trails through the reserve and a lodge on the highway itself.

What you actually see

• The long-whiskered owlet - lost for thirty years, refound here in 2007.
• The bird list - range-restricted species found in this narrow forest band and almost nowhere else.
• The feeders - a dozen hummingbird species at the lodge at once.
• The forest - dense, mossy and permanently wet at around 2,300 metres.

When to go

May to September has less rain, but this is cloud forest and wet weather is normal. Dawn and dusk for birding, night walks for the owlet. Two to four days for a serious list.

Honest expectations

Seeing the owlet is genuinely unlikely on any single visit - it is small, nocturnal and scarce. Cold, wet and muddy trails. Basic lodge facilities on a working highway with truck noise. Birds here demand patience and a guide who knows the calls.

Nearby

Huembo is towards Pomacochas; Alto Mayo is east down the same highway.