Bolivia Day 8; Miguelito Substation Road

  The previous evening we had driven half an hour down the main road to a small restaurant and hotel just ten minutes from our birding destination for the day; the Miguelito Substation Road, far enough down the valley for a range of different species to occur there. We had planned to spend the full day birding here, before returning to the hotel, and although we only had a few targets to find on the road, we hoped for some excellent birding.

  The morning started brilliantly, when our main target; the uninspiring Yungas Tody Tyrant, started calling right next to the car. We were able to see it quite easily in the end. Birding continued with pace, with our next target being the Bolivian race of Blue-winged Mountain Tanager feeding on Ceropia fruits, followed up by Bolivian Tyrannulet and Yungas Warbler. Dusky-green Oropendola were flying across the valley throughout the morning, and mixed species flocks provided plenty of entertainment. Additionally, it was good to see Bolivian Tapaculo again, this time showing better but still mobile and continued to be a tricky customer for us to actually see.

  Around mid-morning, we were exploring one of the side trails from the road, when we heard a distinctive song echo around us. I knew I had heard it before, but it took a moment for me to realise what I was hearing; Pavonine Cuckoo. The bird sounded far, but not far enough that it couldn’t be found. With playback we had no response, so decided to go into the forest in search of it. The sound came closer and closer, and when I used playback again, the bird came immediately. Sadly though, it also flushed very quickly, meaning views were frustratingly brief. This happened a second time, before the bird stopped responding to playback. Despite this, it continued to sing and we decided to track it down ourselves. After some time, we finally managed to spot the bird on its perch, where it was singing and doing its ‘tiny hands’ display. Absolutely incredible bird, and a brilliant encounter.

  By this point it was already lunchtime, so after a sandwich, we drove down the road some more, and began to encounter more mixed-species flocks. Although everything within them was common, it was good to see a nice range of Tanagers, Foliage Gleaners and Woodcreepers. Our main reason for descending the mountain was to try to find the Upland Antshrike, and in the end we managed to locate a couple of different territories, although the birds never showed particularly well.

  With that target now also seen, we decided to check out a location we had researched where there had been a territory of Scaled Antpitta. Although at first it looked like we had got nothing, it then began to respond, but after a frustrating half an hour with the bird singing at us, we were not able to locate it. Still, this time was not a complete loss, as we had a nice flock of White-tipped Swift and a pair of Torrent Ducks on the river there. By now it was already the end of the afternoon, so we decided to call it a day and headed back to our hotel, very happy with a brilliant days birding. 

Species List:
Miguelito Substation Road: Torrent Duck, Andean Guan, Plumbeous Pigeon, Smooth-billed Ani, Pavonine Cuckoo, Squirrel Cuckoo, White-tipped Swift, Lesser Violetear, Speckled Hummingbird, Rufous-booted Racket-tail, Turkey Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite, Roadside Hawk, Versicolored Barbet, Blue-banded Toucanet, Channel-billed Toucan, Lineated Woodpecker, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Barred Forest Falcon, Scaly-naped Amazon, Variable Antshrike, Upland Antshrike, Bolivian Tapaculo, Short-tailed Antthrush, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Olive-backed Woodcreeper, Streaked Xenops, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner, Azara's Spinetail, Band-tailed Fruiteater, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Yungas Tody-Tyrant, Buff-banded Tyrannulet, Bolivian Tyrannulet, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Yellow-browed Tyrant, Long-tailed Tyrant, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Inca Jay, Purplish Jay, Blue-and-white Swallow, House Wren, Black-billed Thrush, Blue-naped Chlorophonia, Bronze-green Euphonia, Olivaceous Siskin, Common Chlorospingus, Dusky-green Oropendola, Tropical Parula, Yungas Warbler, Slate-throated Whitestart, White-winged Tanager, Magpie Tanager, Silver-beaked Tanager, Blue-capped Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Palm Tanager, Yellow-bellied Tanager, Spotted Tanager, Blue-necked Tanager, Blue-browed Tanager, Saffron-crowned Tanager, Golden Tanager,