June 2nd, 2018
Rain overnight, rainbows early morning, cloudy
with occasional light rain, cool
Off
early to get to Ampay nature sanctuary. The roads are steep and the four mile
walk to the reception buildings pass quickly. Sierran Eleanias and Rusty-bellied
Brushfinch are in bushes as I arrive. Immediate embarrassment, there is an
unexpected thirty Soles, around £7.50, entrance fee and I have thirteen Soles
on me!
They
let me in. The forest trees are low with lichen, moss and large airplants on
the trees. Birds are sparse and mostly silent. Sierran Eleanias are the most
obvious with a gentle sweet call. Sparkling Violetears are perched prominently
on Eucalyptus twigs and a couple of
Tufted Tit-tyrants show themselves. Birding is hard. An Apurimac Spinetail
is in a bush very close to the path but getting good views of the bird are
difficult. Easier to see is a Crowned Chat-tyrant that is hopping by the
side of the path and is too close to photograph! It disappears down the slope
amongst the vegetation by the time I have altered the ISO of the camera to cope
with the gloom. Such a tame bird, surprised me by it's behaviour. It just
wasn't concerned about me at all.
Walking
ever higher, step by step on this well maintained steep pathway, a small hawk
suddenly glides through the canopy and lands on a branch close by. I carefully,
quietly lift my binoculars and get a full eye view of a Sharp-shinned Hawk!
A superb looking bird, it just turns it's head around and once again, as with
the Chat-tyrant, seems totally unconcerned by my presence. It must have seen me
but it doesn't fly away. A British Sparrowhawk would have been off immediately
on seeing me. I do remember one bird, a large female bird of prey, that didn't
fly off on my approach. That occasion was back in 2010 whilst on my first ever
Biking Birder adventure. I was walking up Aber Valley in North Wales, making my
way up to the waterfall there. There was very low cloud and as I came around a
corner there was what I thought to be a Buzzard in a tree. Lifting my
binoculars, I realised that I was looking at and being looked at in return by a
female Goshawk. A goosebumps moment, the Gos' just stared at me before slowly
lifting herself into the air to disappear in the cloud. The coincidence of that
bird was not lost on me as I saw my first ever Goshawks in the same valley back
in 1978.
The
Sharp-shinned Hawk eventually moves to another nearby branch and I carry on the
climb.
Other
birds call in the trees and either give the briefest of glimpses or no view at
all. I reach a bench and a viewpoint and a superb, iridescent blue hummingbird
sits on the top-most twig of a nearby bush, a Purple-backed Thornbill, a well named bird. Actually I identified this bird incorrectly and was promptly corrected by none other than the world famous mega-year lister, Arjan Dwarhuis. Thanks Arjan.
Sitting
on the bench I suddenly have some extremely sharp pains in my lower abdomen. I
crouch down and hold onto a rail as they get worse. Sorry to say this but I
fart and the pain lessens. Maybe that's all I required. Two or three farts and
the pain recedes. Alarm over the suddenness of the pain fades and I carry on.
There
are birds but I feel as though I should be seeing more. In fact I am kicking
myself at my lack of success here. The forest is mostly silent with just the
occasional utterance, usually from a Sierran Eleania. I have had three new
birds for the Green Year list but I surely should be seeing or hearing more.
Maybe it's the cool weather and light rain. Maybe it's the season. Early June
is winter and the dry season after all. I think it's me and I get a bit
concerned. We all have off days when we think we should be doing better but
there really aren't any birds around to identify and list.
I
reach a small glacial lagoon, Laguna Angasqocha. The lake is surrounded by
vertiginous cliffs covered in low bushes and shrubs. Still the area is silent
and I sit on a rock to watch for avian appearances and am disappointed not to
see one bird in twenty minutes. Moving on to go higher I find a break in the
canopy and can see the tops of some trees. A long tailed hummingbird flies by
but I don't have a prayer in identifying it. A small conebill species lands on
a twig at the top of a tree but looking into the light I can't get much of its
details, probably a Cinereous.
My
ascent of the trail has been slow and quiet and the hours have passed by. It is
two o'clock in the afternoon and I decide to slowly descend and stop for sit
and wait moments at various spots I have found on the way up that I feel might
produce birds. A small group of Peruvians, with one young German girl from
Aachen, stop and chat. One of the Peruvian girls insists on giving me a chunk
of meat and some corn. They leave and almost immediately a mangy-looking dog
appears. He is mostly white with a black mask over his left eye and I share the
meat with him. A friend for life, Spot follows me for the next hour or so.
On
the way up I had seen a rarely used path that went horizontally across the
hillside and I take this to find a spot where I can sit and see what passes.
Almost immediately a Cinnamon Flycatcher lands on a branch close to.
A
gorgeous alert, small bird, it looks like a bright version of a Bran-coloured
Flycatcher. There are around fifteen or so Band-tailed Pigeons perched
on some tall Eucalyptus trees and at least another fifty fly past in a flock.
In a bush to my left a small bird with a bright chestnut head appears, an Apurimac
Brushfinch. It soon dives into the dense foliage on realising that I am
sitting quietly there.
Returning
to the reception centre and then down to the city as darkness falls, a consider
the fact that I have had seven new birds for the Green Year list. Seven, should
I have had more? The average new birds to list per day figure at 3.35 is just
below the target Dorian Anderson set of 3.39. I should be happy with that but
somehow I feel I have missed a chance of some really good birds. Maybe I will
return to the reserve tomorrow and go higher.
Green Year list : 211 birds average
new birds to list per day : 3.35 birds
altitude : 7,504 feet
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