Peru Day 18; Huancayo & Bosque Unchog

 We had only a short stop planned for the morning, to try and find the Rufous-backed Inca Finch in the dry valleys just south of the town of Huancayo. Our progress the previous day meant that we had not so much distance to cover, and hopefully once we had seen the bird we could be on our way. Sadly our first site did not produce any Inca Finches but we were able to find Brown-flanked Tanager, which is another regional endemic. Fortunately at our next site we had three Rufous-backed Inca Finches which performed well, but remained distant, with only one bird stealthily approaching.

Having wrapped up our morning, we drove to area near to Bosque Unchog where we would spend the next few days. This was the most anticipated site on our itinerary, but we had much to organise logisitically before we could make the two hour ascent up to the mountain. It took some time, but we managed to find a hotel, fill the car and then grab some lunch, meaning we eventually set off up the mountain at around 12:00, finally arriving at Bosque Unchog at around 14:00.

The birding up the mountain was surprisingly slow, much less than I was anticipating. We encountered only one small flock of tanagers, and many of our target species remained quiet and difficult to locate. This was not a huge problem as we still have two more full days at the site, at least, but it was not the most awe-inspiring of starts that we had hoped for.

Still, there were a number of good birds and it was good to have the superb Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager seen on our first afternoon, even if the group of four that we found were quite distant. It was also good to spot a Bay-vented Cotinga in the early evening just as the last light was fading. Other goodies included excellent but brief views of Neblina Tapaculo and a pair of extremely elusive White-chinned Thistletails. In the end we had a decent species list, but on our next visits there will hopefully be much, much more on offer. 

-Brown-flanked Tanager

-Rufous-backed Inca Finch

-Coppery Metaltail

-White-chinned Thistletail

-Golden-backed Mountain Tanager

-Bay-vented Cotinga

Species List:
Bsoque Unchog: Coppery Metaltail, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Andean Lapwing, Andean Gull, Stripe-headed Antpitta, Neblina Tapaculo, White-chinned Thistletail, Bay-vented Cotinga, Red-crested Cotinga, White-throated Tyrannulet, Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, Great Thrush, Paramo Pipit, Pardusco, Golden-backed Mountain Tanager, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Masked Flowerpiercer,