We had a few different sites to fit in today, so we needed to try and be as efficient as possible, in order to maximize our chances of finding all the birds we wanted. From our campsite on the Death Road, where I had managed to sleep an impressive 12 hours thanks to a cold that had developed, we got to enjoy half an hour of the forests morning chorus before we needed to be on our way.
Our first stop was an alpine valley above the village on
Pongo. This trail is popular with birders who want to find high-alpine species.
For us, there were just a few species and we hoped to find them quickly. The
valley was in shade, and a thick frost covered the ground, but we soon managed
to find both Scribble-tailed Canastero and Puna Tapaculo, two of the birds we
wanted to see here. After an hour of searching though, we were still unable to
find the Line-fronted Canastero, so decided to give it up and continue with our
day. Still, luck was on our side and as we descended we bumped into a very
responsive Line-fronted Canastero, although the cold had condensed my camera so
photos were not an option. Additionally, it was good to pick up White-browed
Conebill here, another new species for me.
We then drove four hours, with a couple of stops, including
one to pick up Giant Coot for our trip list, to our next site, which was the
impressive Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. Here we hoped
to find the Titicaca Flightless Grebe, and it was easy enough, but sadly the
birds were always distant. Fortunately with a bit of patience we had some luck
and a bird swam much closer, even coming into the nearby reeds and calling,
giving us an awesome opportunity to see the species up close.
With an hour spent at Titicaca, we then drove an additional
45 minutes with a fuel stop to the town of Achacachi. Here we did a few errands
and tried to find a hotel, yet somehow struggled. After searching for a while,
we decided to call it quits and go to our birding site, 40 minutes away, see
our target and then return.
Once at the birding site it did not take long to find the
Berlpschs Canastero, which can only be found just up the valley from the town
of Sorata. The bird was easy enough to locate but extremely difficult to get a
photo of, as it simply would not show, not one of the five individuals we
found. Although this was frustrating, there were a few other birds we could
appreciate at the same time, including another Black-hooded Sunbeam. And to
finish it off there were also some Montane Guinea Pigs feeding on the edge of the
agricultural land.
With that wrapped up, we headed back to Achacachi at around
five in the evening, satisfied with a busy day but lots of good birds seen and
no targets missed. It was nice to finish the evening with a Short-eared Owl
hunting over the Puna. Finding a hotel was much simpler in the evening, and we
were able to get some much-needed rest.
Pongo — Choquetanga Valley: Mountain Caracara, Puna Tapaculo, Cream-winged Cinclodes, Line-fronted Canastero, Scribble-tailed Canastero, Grass Wren, Chiguanco Thrush, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Blue-and-yellow Tanager, White-browed Conebill, Cinereous Conebill, Plain-colored Seedeater,
Lake Titicaca: Yellow-billed Teal, Andean Duck, Titicaca Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Spot-winged Pigeon, Common Gallinule, Andean Coot, Andean Lapwing, Andean Gull, Puna Ibis, American Kestrel, Wren-like Rushbird, Black Siskin, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Yellow-winged Blackbird,
Sorata: Spot-winged Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Lesser Violetear, Black-hooded Sunbeam, White-bellied Hummingbird, Turkey Vulture, Mountain Caracara, American Kestrel, Berlepsch's Canastero, White-winged Black Tyrant, House Wren, Chiguanco Thrush, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Black-throated Flowerpiercer, Band-tailed Seedeater,
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