June
10th,
2018
Cool,
frequent heavy rain, very occasional drier periods. Rain stops late
afternoon.
Up
early, I am packed and ready for the long walk to Aguas Calientes.
Through the village of Ollantaytambo at 7:00 a.m. I follow the dirt
track road until it comes to the tarmacked main road that goes up
high, over Abra Malaga before descending to St Theresa. I won't be
going that way. The recent cold and very wet period of days here have
left Abra Malaga under deep snow. I had hoped to be going there from
the direction of Quillabamba and maybe I am lucky that the advice not
to go that way because of bandits has prevented me from having to
negotiate the freezing temperatures and snow.
I
leave the road when a dirt track goes in the direction that I need to
walk. It follows closely the river and for the next ten miles or so I
walk with my head down as the rain falls heavily. The river has
hundreds of Brown-bellied Swallows flying low over it and other birds
include a single Great Egret, dozens of Rufous-collared Sparrows,
Band-tailed Seedeaters and Olivaceous and Hooded Siskins and a few
Yellow-billed Teal.
The
day goes by with heavy rain falling and the brief periods when it
stops allows the low cloud to lift and show the amazing hill slopes
that descend from mountainous tops. The vegetation starts to change
as the pathway descends down the long, winding and extremely deep
river valley. The Urubamba river has moments of cacophonous fast
water and Torrent Ducks start to appear, usually in pairs, on
protruding rocks.
Despite
the bad weather I still manage to see some new birds for the Green
Birding year list. Highland
Eleania,
Slate-throated
Redstart
and a single Slaty-backed
Chat Tyrant
go onto the list and as I get within ten miles of Aguas Calientes,
the hot water springs associated with the town giving it it's name, I
start to count the numerous and spectacular, incredibly long-tailed
Andean
Motmot.
A few Andean
Guans
are high in the tree canopy at one place and two Roadside
Hawks
take advantage of the cessation of the rain around 4:00 p.m. and sit
on prominent perches. The first is on an overhanging branch whilst
the second uses a telegraph pole. One flock that passes contains a
number of Rust & Yellow Tanagers but best is a Grey-Mantled
Wren
that crawls along a branch not too far in front of me. It's long
barred tail stands out. As does the contrast between the white
underparts and the dark grey mantle. A well named bird.
As
the light starts to fade a female Andean
Cock of the Rock
flies over me, closely followed by the fabulous looking, bright
scarlet male. The Peruvian national bird perches close to me and does
all of his famous head contortions for me.
Reaching
Aguas Calientes in the dark I find a Bed & Breakfast adjacent to
the central stream that comes down from the hot springs and have a
large meal in a restaurant before collapsing onto my bed. Sleep comes
quickly despite horribly painful thighs.
Green
Year list : 228 birds average new birds to list per day : 3.21
birds
altitude
: 7,504 feet
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