Bolivia Day 12; Apa Apa

  Having failed the previous night, we awoke at 04:15 to spend two hours in the dark trying again for the Cloud Forest Screech Owl around Apa Apa. Although we heard at least two individuals, they would not budge from their distance singing perches, and no other owls that we tried worked, meaning we spent two hours in the dark seeing nothing. Even the Swallow-tailed Nightjar which we heard did not come into the tape.

  And it did not get much better with first light. We began walking south along the road but found very little activity despite the conditions being fine. The best birds we were able to track down were a pair of Striped Treehunters, which were the best of less than 20 species that we were able to muster on this walk. After the owl debacle, this really was a bummer.

  Fortunately, it then began to liven up. A walk north along the road on the other side from our campground brought us into contact with a mixed-species flock, and it was an incredible flock to witness, with around 20 species alone tagging along. The best of these were obviously the two new species for me; Slaty Finch and Buff-thighed Puffleg, the latter being a rare species and a good one to have got. Additionally, there was Rust-and-yellow Tanager, Versicolored Barbet and a Yungas Pygmy Owl that brought with it a few hummingbirds including Violet-fronted Brilliant and Rufous-booted Raquet-tail.

  After a short lunch we tried again walking the road south, and encountered an even more impressive flock, which may have contained even more species than the first. There was a lot of overlap between the flocks, but a male Slaty Tanager was a nice contrast to the female I saw in the morning. There was an immature Plushcap and Black-eared Hemispingus, as well as a host of commoner species. It kept us busy for an hour before we had to leave. In addition, we also had a White-throated Quail Dove cross the road in front of us.

  We then drove three-and-a-half hours to our next destination, the small town of Coroico. After such a slow start it was great to finish the day on 60 species, thanks largely due to the incredible flocks that we encountered. 

Species List:
Apa Apa: Brown Tinamou, Andean Guan, Plumbeous Pigeon, White-throated Quail-Dove, Lesser Violetear, Speckled Hummingbird, Long-tailed Sylph, Buff-thighed Puffleg, Bronzy Inca, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Rufous-booted Racket-tail, Violet-fronted Brilliant, Black Vulture, Yungas Pygmy Owl, Masked Trogon, Versicolored Barbet, Blue-banded Toucanet, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Red-billed Parrot, Green-cheeked Parakeet, Mitred Parakeet, Variable Antshrike, Rufous-faced Antpitta, Bolivian Tapaculo, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Montane Woodcreeper, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner, Striped Treehunter, Pearled Treerunner, Azara's Spinetail, White-winged Becard, Streak-necked Flycatcher, Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet, Cinnamon Flycatcher, White-throated Tyrannulet, Smoke-colored Pewee, Brown-capped Vireo, Mountain Wren, Andean Solitaire, White-eared Solitaire, Orange-bellied Euphonia, Common Chlorospingus, Bolivian Brushfinch, Yungas Warbler, Pale-legged Warbler, Slate-throated Whitestart, Spectacled Whitestart, Slaty Tanager, Black-eared Hemispingus, Rust-and-yellow Tanager, Blue-capped Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Blue-and-black Tanager, Saffron-crowned Tanager, Capped Conebill, Rusty Flowerpiercer, Masked Flowerpiercer, Plushcap,