We awoke early and set off to Cerro Leon
again for some morning birding. We had hoped to get there very early but as
expected the hour on the road produced some birds that slowed us down. It
started as soon as we got out of the hotel, with a Barred Forest Falcon
calling, although it never showed. And on the drive we picked up Greenish
Elaenia, Mouse-coloured Tyrannulet, Hooded Tanager, Great Black Hawk and a
Tucuman Pygmy Owl! An excellent selection for the morning drive. An Agouti was
the only mammal we saw, but it was the first of the trip.
The birding at Cerro Leon itself started at
around 08:00 but was excellent, with all the target species we had hoped to
find here being seen quickly. The Bolivian Slaty Antshrike was our main
omission from our visit the previous evening, and we had phenomenal views of
the pair this morning. Black-bellied Antwren and White-lored Spinetail both
showed better as well, and there was a nice backup cast of birds. The mornings
highlight was probably a Tortoise that we spotted on the side of the road as we
were leaving.
From the area called Cerro Leon to the next
area we wanted to stay called Agua Dulche, it took us five hours driving on the
dirt roads. For the most part the roads were not awful, but some stretches were
very slow. A Lesser Grison that scuttled across the road was nice, but it
didn’t slow down at all for proper views.
Once we arrived at Agua Dulche, we took an
hour for a nap before setting out for a afternoon/night drive looking for
mammals. There were not many birds to target in this area, but we managed a
couple of new species for the trip with White-eyed Parakeet and Laughing
Falcon. The best new birds came on the night drive itself, when we had a chance
encounter with a pair of Striped Owls close to the road, and taped in a Great
Horned Owl at a known territory.
The main hope for exploring this region was
to find some rare mammals. The drive in the late afternoon produced dozens of
Chaco Mara but little else until almost dark, when a dark shape we spotted
sitting by the side of the road turned out to be a Puma! We had really wanted
to see another cat species, and were thrilled! It sat and allowed us to slowly
approach with the car, until it decided it had enough and got up and slowly
walked into the scrub! The night drive itself could not match this thrill, but
we still had two Pampas Fox and two Crab-eating Fox, as well as a single Tapete
Rabbit! A brilliant start to our time in Agua Dulche.
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