Article written detailing my Peruvian Biking Birder adventure of 2018 - part 2 May
Birding
in Peru, could it be simpler? Well since the last time you heard from
me, my choice of bicycle and packraft, kayak to you and me, as my
means of travel, have made life anything but easy. I may choose to
Go Green but it has definitely made the challenge harder and maybe
more worthwhile!
May
has been all downhill, literally with the daily elevation figures
showing that descent outdid the ascent figures, unlike in April and
the scenery has been spectacular and in many places unexpected. One
incident I didn't report to you, that occurred in April, may be of
note for any naïve traveller. One fine morning I was leaving the
small, high altitude village of Huanza by pushing the laden bike
along a small rocky track.
I was hoping that this track, just about
wide enough to allow passage for a donkey or a Biking Birder with
bike, would lead the road deep down in the claustrophobic valley and
save a round trip of a few kilometres. The fact that it eventually
did may not make up for the fact that I was lucky to escape with my
life because of a huge angry mound of beefsteak that attacked,
luckily, the bike. A bull, an immense brown and horned bull, came out
of close by dense bushes and hit the front of the bike, knocking both
me and the bike backwards a couple of metres! The bike landed on me
and as the bull continued his attack I was trapped underneath it. The
next few seconds may be a blur but the fact that I survived was due
to two things. The bull was fixated on destroying the back panniers,
one of which got stuck on one of his horns. The other thing that
saved me was the arrival of two Peruvian men, who could see the
commotion and came running. Their distraction of the beast allowed me
to crawl from beneath the bike and make my escape by jumping into the
bushes. An hour later I was back to pushing the bike uphill on the
dirt track, rocky road, watching birds once more and trying to forget
that the bull's head had been inches from mine. My left arm, which
had been hit by one of the bulls horns, was badly bruised and
extremely sore. My coat had a huge rip from his other horn but at
least I was back birding. Expect the unexpected!
May
started with a long day of cycling and pushing as I made my way away
from the wonderful lagoon at Marcapomacocha. Shallow lagoons with
Chilean Flamingos and various species of duck distracted the birder
in me and one small pool with a dozen or some of the former also had
a surprise when a Solitary Sandpiper appeared within the poolside
vegetation. Later trying to photograph flushed Puna Snipe proved a
challenge beyond me, as did photographing a flying Ornate Tinamou.
Two Aplomado Falcons proved easier as they perched on top of
telegraph poles and eyed me as I passed. Camping that night was a
cold experience, as was shaking off the ice from the tent in the
morning!
Up
and over once more, the landscape, with views of snow-capped
mountains all around me, spread out before me with grasslands
dominated by three Llama species. The two domestic varieties, Llama
and Alpaca were in herds sometimes approaching a hundred in number.
The size of Llamas, such large long-necked camel like creatures and
the combination of colours with whites, browns and creams, made
passing them an exciting pleasure. The smaller Alpacas were usually
white. The third species were wild and on my approach an alert male
would emit a strange warbling alarm call, Vicunias. Delicate, warm
buff-coloured and small, Vicunias would be in groups of half a dozen
or so and would watch me carefully as I would cycle past. The two
days of cycling through their land gave me so many opportunities to
stop and appreciate the beauty of these wonderful sensitive animals.
A
road, a busy tarmac road appeared like a heaven sent apparition in
front of me one day. After weeks of dirt track, after weeks of
uncyclable rocky pathways a tarmac road and even better, it went
downhill. Twenty two miles of fast cycling descent, through limestone
gorges that in Europe would be a major tourist attraction but here
was just another route, led me to the first city, La Oroya. The steep
sided, stunningly beautiful scenery led me south to Juanza and and
then Huancayo, large cities, noisy, dusty and busy.
The
contrast of the next week's cycling was marked. White-collared
Swifts, large impressive fast flying swifts, maybe my favourite
family of birds, had made their way onto the Green Year list, bird
number 185 but additions to that list would be irregular and few. I
knew they would be. I had entered a phase where distance travelled
was important. I needed to get across to the next area where large
numbers of birds were to be seen. I need to get to Machu Picchu,
another four hundred miles away.
South
of Huancayo the road eventually followed a beautiful river, the
Mortago River. The road had a thin veneer of tarmac that was potholed
and in places the tarmac had completely disappeared, leaving a very
dusty, bumpy rocky surface to negotiate. There were new birds to see
and hear. Streaked Tit-spinetails, White-bellied Hummingbirds,
White-winged Black Tyrants, Black-backed Grosbeaks and Blue-capped
Tanagers made notebook writing expansive with such names but at least
they expanded the Green Year list. The further south the road went
the drier and dustier it became. Thunderstorms on one afternoon left
their mark as I negotiated muddy slurries where flash floods had
brought down masses of material covering the road. One coach driver
had made the mistake of trying to drive over a large area of such
stuff and paid with his life. I sadly passed the upside down wreck of
the coach the day after the accident. It had fallen hundreds of feet
to the river below and lay smashed in the turbulent water.
The
valley in places had alluvial plains where avocado orchards dominated
and here flocks of parakeets of two species were seen but more often
heard. Scarlet-faced and Mitred Parakeets were listed and
photographed. Flocks of up to fifty birds noisily flew overhead but
trying to see them when they were feeding or preening in the thick
foliage of tall trees was difficult. Passerines became fewer with
each passing miles and so two Red-eyed Vireos and a single
Bran-coloured Flycatcher were appreciated.
Thunderstorms
one day meant that the road was difficult to pass along as numerous
mudslides covered it. One mudslide claimed the life of a coach
driver. I came across the wreck of a new looking yellow coach, upside
down in a large, white water river. The day before, during the
storms, the driver had come across a large mudslide and decided to
try and get across it. He had told the passengers to get off and
attempted to do so with fatal consequences.
At
Mayocc the long, deep river valley stretched out into a cowboy film
landscape of tall cacti covered hills and mudstone erosions that made
the area look like a small version of Monument Valley! Birds became
very sparse. Occasional American kestrels on telegraph wires, small
compared to our own Common Kestrel, behaved similarly in watching for
a meal. White-winged Black Tyrants used tall cacti plants for their
lookout perches. A Cinereous Harrier used a cliff face.
The
large and beautiful city of Ayacucho was visited over a festival
weekend. Festivities were enjoyed and the small problem of buying a
pair of new boots was sorted. My last boots had worn away so badly
because of the nature of the Andean roads that the soles had worn
right off and I had had to put a thick wadding of cardboard inside
each boot to protect my feet! Getting boots of a large enough size
proved a problem. Peruvians are small people and size 11 boots are
not available. A hot shower, something unavailable in the village
hostels, meant that a promise to my mother back in Worcestershire, to
shave my growing beard was kept.
The
shoes caused major problems over the next few days with blisters and
a bad cut on the toe joint of my right foot. Antiseptic creams and
plasters, cotton wool wadding and cutting away sections of the front
of the shoe, just as fast bowling cricketers do, allowed me to walk a
little. In Chincheros and Uripa I could only walk a few miles each
day as my feet were so painful. That aside though I did manage to see
some new birds for the Green Birding Year list. A slow walk up a very
steep hillside, past a large white statue of the Virgin Mary and
child, found me sitting on a log staring down into a beautiful valley
covered with natural tree and bush species, unlike the usual forest
of Australian Eucalyptus. Eucalyptus is everywhere in The Andes due
to it being such good firewood! As I sat there a number of new birds
passed through. Two hummingbird species came close; Black-tailed
Trainbearer and Green Violetear. Red-crested Cotinga was new, as was
the fabulous looking Crimson-mantled Woodpecker. Walking slowly down
a flock came through the canopy containing a group of Rust &
Yellow Tanagers.
Camping
a few days later I sat against a rock admiring the spectacular views
of snow-capped mountains and having Rufous-webbed Bush Tyrant and
Rusty-fronted Canestero come close. The best though was the constant
stream of raptors such as Variable Hawk and Black-breasted Buzzard
Eagle go over. The final highlight of the camp was the pair of
Aplomado Falcons that landed nearby and mated as the female perched
on the top most branch of a nearby fir tree. The ice on the tent in
the morning was a small price to pay for such avian delights.
May
finished with a bird total of 204, only 24 birds this month but the
priority was getting the distance towards Amazonia covered and the
598 miles cycled was crucial. Peak after peak was followed by
plummeting cycle runs and the overall elevation chart for the month
shows that I haven't been below six thousand feet all month and have
been over thirteen thousand feet on five occasions and over fourteen
thousand feet once. The average altitude at the end of each day of
the month was eleven thousand, four hundred and twenty feet! A tough
month of cycling, pushing and walking.
Four
months to go, my route has taken along the Andean range so that I now
approach the famous Machu Picchu and from there it will take me down
the equally famous in birding terms, Manu Road. More adventures to
come, more landscapes to take my breath away and best of all, more
incredible birds to see.
If
you would like to follow my cycling and birding adventures then
please take a look at my blog at :-
If
you would like to see the photographs of each day then please go to
my Facebook page :
I
would like to say that I am asking for donations to Birdlife
International and I really would appreciate your support. Donations
keeps my legs peddling and my arms lifting my Opticron binoculars.
Links to Justgiving page can be found on the blog.
I
am also supporting a wonderful project that enables indigenous
children to get an education and therefore fight the destruction in
their area. It is called Chaskwasi-Manu I would really appreciate it
if you could donate something to help them. Once more the link can be
found on my blog.
Thanks
everybody. Isn't it wonderful where Brummie birders get to . . . and
how?
Gary,
The Biking Birder
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