Bolivia Day 9; Corani Dam & Tawa Cruz

  We made a decision the previous evening to not return to the Substation Road where we had birded yesterday, since we had missed only a couple of difficult targets, but instead to continue with our plan to bird the area of upland habitat next to the Corani Dam, just an hour up the road. Here we would hopefully find our targets quickly, so we could continue with our day and make progress at our next site; Cerro Tunari.

  The dam was very successful. No sooner had we got out of the car did we find our main target, the endemic Black-hooded Sunbeam. We got brilliant views of several individuals, but sadly none came especially close for photos. The other target however performed excellently; Puna Tapaculo. This was my last Tapaculo in Bolivia, and it showed very nicely singing away in the open and providing an opportunity for brilliant photos, with a bit of work of course. In addition, I had my best views of both Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer and Bolivian Brushfinch so far, both of which are endemic to Bolivia.

  With our morning nearly wrapped up by 09:30 we tried to drive back to the road and head to the city of Cochabamba, but we discovered the road was now closed for construction, and we had to drive an hour detour all the way around the reservoir. While this was only a minor inconvenience, we were able to use it to pick up some common species on the water, including Andean Duck, Silvery Grebe, White-tufted Grebe and Puna Ibis, all nice species for our trip list.

  It was just after midday when we reached Cochabamaba and found ourselves a hotel for the night. Once we had organised ourselves, we drove an hour and a half up the mountain to 4500 metres to an area of Altiplano called Tawa Cruz. Here we wanted to find the high-altitude Boulder Finch, but after two hours of searching we failed to find any. Still, we had a few nice birds up here for our efforts, including a new species for me with Cinnamon-bellied Ground-Tyrant which was quite abundant. Andean Condor was also present, and it was fun to watch Glacier Finch being chased by an Aplomado Falcon, being chased by a Mountain Caracara.

  On our drive down, with the mountains already in shadow from the sunset, we added Andean Swallow to our trip list, and for me to my life list, a long overdue species. Although a less birding and more driving day, we still had a few birds, and we were ideally positioned for birding the next day. 

Species List:
Corani Dam: Crested Duck, Cinnamon Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, Yellow-billed Teal, Andean Duck, White-tufted Grebe, Silvery Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Sparkling Violetear, Tyrian Metaltail, Black-hooded Sunbeam, Great Sapphirewing, Andean Coot, White-backed Stilt, Andean Lapwing, Greater Yellowlegs, Andean Gull, Western Cattle Egret, Puna Ibis, Roadside Hawk, Variable Hawk, Mountain Caracara, American Kestrel, Puna Tapaculo, Rufous Hornero, Cream-winged Cinclodes, Red-crested Cotinga, Chiguanco Thrush, House Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Bolivian Brushfinch, Greyish Baywing, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer, Pampa Finch, Golden-billed Saltator,
Tawa Cruz: Andean Goose, Yellow-billed Teal, White-tufted Grebe, Andean Lapwing, Grey-breasted Seedsnipe, Puna Ibis, Andean Condor, Mountain Caracara, Aplomado Falcon, Slender-billed Miner, Common Miner, Cream-winged Cinclodes, Cordilleran Canastero, Ochre-naped Ground Tyrant, Cinnamon-bellied Ground Tyrant, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant, Glacier Finch, Plumbeous Sierra Finch, Ash-breasted Sierra Finch, Bright-rumped Yellow Finch,