May
24th,
2018
Sunny
in the morning and hot. Cloud in the afternoon making it feel cool in
a t-shirt. Windless
Up
at six and packed by half past, I start the day with a four mile push
that takes me over a thousand feet higher. Usual problem with dogs
including one pack of five that bark and snarl much to the amusement
of their owner, not to mine.
Reaching
Chincheros at last, I quickly find a hotel for thirty five Soles,
around £7.50 for a double room en suite. Nine a.m. off to explore
the village, I find a shopping mall! It has two shops, some fruit and
veg sellers and two cafes upstairs. I choose the one that has tables
and chairs on a terrace overlooking the mountain scenery and order
the usual breakfast, rice, chicken and yucca. Add on to that a large
cup of milky coffee and the cost of six Soles, around £1.50, is as
expected. The tip I give of two Soles is not.
Exploring
further, I find just beyond the beautiful village Plaza, an internet
shop. Going inside there are around twenty old box computers in two
rooms. I am placed at computer number eighteen and away I go,
catching up with news, emails and the Test match, England versus
Pakistan. In the UK it is half way through the afternoon and yet
already England have been bowled out! Ouch!
Midday
I leave the cricket and head back to hotel to collect my binoculars
and camera to go birding for the afternoon. This is the first time
since Izcuchaca, thirteen days ago, that I can go proper birding
instead of just seeing what birds I find along route. There is a
large white statue of the Virgin Mary holding a baby Jesus atop a
hill behind the hotel and there are scrubby bushes and tall
Eucalyptus trees. Surely there are birds. I set off to find out.
After
some steps take me to a dirt road, and after being disgusted at a
beautiful mural which sadly shows the evil that is bullfighting with
the added twist of an Andean Condor being tied to the bull's back,
there are plenty of butterflies but precious few birds. After
climbing to the statue I still haven't seen more than a handful;
Chiguanca Thrushes - three, Sparkling Violetears – also three and a
single White-bellied Hummingbird. Past the statue two workers are
building a wall and it looks from the sign of the derelict wooden
buildings and a couple of empty and dilapidated swimming pools, most
likely for baptism ceremonies by the looks of them, that a new cafe
or similar is being built to replace the broken down ones.
From
here I have the choice of two paths; one goes straight on at the same
height along the valley and through the trees, the other goes up
higher. I take the first. After half an hour of bird glimpses I feel
that I have seen the feathers of five bird families but not
identified one of them to species. I sit down on a Eucalyptus plank,
there has been a lot of tree felling and plank making here, and
watch. There has been a tit-tyrant species, a woodpecker species, a
hummingbird species that I haven't seen before, a cotinga likewise
and a really frustrating warm brown spinetail, probably Azara's, that
just dives from one piece of cover to another. Did I see a rufous cap
on it? I take my time and sit and watch. A bird allows a view higher
up on a branch. Rufous-collared Sparrow, I might have known. I
remember reading a trip report where the writers had joked that
rufous-collared Sparrows were rare. They're not. They are very common
and everywhere.
After
sitting for twenty minutes or so and not seeing a lot, I decide to
walk back and take the path that goes higher. A Cinnamon Flycatcher agrees with me and shows itself nicely, hunting from a
nearby branch. The smart looking bird keeps returning to the same
branch and shows both sides, front and back. Having it's wings spread
a little I can see a small square pale yellow rump just below the
olive green mantle. Cinnamon Flycatcher is a beauty of a bord. The tit-tyrant is on the other side of the path and
shows itself as well, a Yellow-billed. It's crest isn't as large as I
would have expected but everything else fits. Things are looking up
so I do. There is another Cinnamon Flycatcher on a high branch
of a very tall Eucalyptus. A Black-throated Flowerpiercer is doing
just that, piercing the yellow flowers of a Broome species.
Along
the new path I reach the end of the tall trees and sit on a plank and
watch the valley. A blue, speckled breasted hummingbird lands very
close by my very still form. Now why didn't I put on a less
conspicuous t-shirt? Bright white just isn't suitable! The bird spots
my binocular movement and is off. A Lesser Violetear
goes onto the list. (This bird was previously known as a Green Violetear but was split into two species - 2020)
At last a new bird for the Green Year list. I
haven't had a new one for nine days! Another hummingbird lands on a
bush about thirty feet away. This one has a split and body length
long tail. Green and white, another new bird for the Green Year list,
a Black-tailed
Trainbearer.
I
move to another area and immediately see the Cotinga species but this
time it is sitting still on a dead branch instead of hiding in thick
undergrowth. Now that I can see it I know it to be a Red-crested
Cotinga,
yet another new bird for the growing list. This is beginning to be a
fabulous afternoon. I hope it doesn't stop.
The
Sun that allowed the butterflies to be so common on the way up here
has by now gone behind some thick cloud that has developed around the
mountain tops. This has made things feel cool and I sit wishing that
I had brought a jumper with me. There is no way I can stop birding
though as new birds are appearing regularly. Two more Cinnamon Flycatchers sit together on a branch. A White-winged Black Tyrant
sits on another nearby. Then a large Tinamou flies past, the whoosh
of it going past my head is impressive.
Four
p.m. I start my way back to the hotel. A tit-tyrant stops me but
before I can reach for my binoculars, a loud woodpecker-like call
turns my head in the opposite direction. The woodpecker lands on a
bush and I can only say that it is the most wonderfully coloured
woodpecker I have ever seen. It isn't far away from me and I watch as
it moves around on a couple of branches before settling on a dead
tree stump to root for insects. What a bird! Scarlet-red head, mantle
and back, well spotted breast over yellow underparts with a black
throat and white face mask, it is just a bit larger than the European
Great-spotted Woodpecker and far more spectacular. A Crimson-mantled
Woodpecker
goes onto the Green Year list and my life list. Black on the crown
tells me she is a female. It is a real thrill to see such a
magnificent bird. The warm brown skulker shows and immediately
disappears. One that got away.
Back
by the statue, I take the dirt road down the hill instead of the zig
zag path that I took to get up here. Immediately there are birds,
lots of them and the panic is to see them all before they skedaddle.
In quick order I see more Rufous-collared Sparrows and a flock of ten
or so Hooded Siskins. Blue & Yellow Tanagers, a House Wren and a
Streak-throated Bush Tyrant. Taking more time to view, there is a
bird in the high canopy of the Eucalyptus. I eventually decide that
it is an immature or female Yellow and Blue Tanager.
Coming
down to the shrub layer once more three bright yellow birds draw my
attention. One has a cinnamon-coloured head whereas the other two
don't. These two completely lack any supercilia, have a uniform
yellow-green colouration and have grey legs. Their overall colour has
me confused but if they are immatures then they would be the
offspring of the Rust
& Yellow Tanager,
a final new Green Year list bird and lifer once more.
The
flock passes and a gentle walk down to the village is interrupted by
a friendly shopkeeper who wants to give me a bottle of pop for free.
Down at a local Primary school they are having a festival and I watch
from the outside as a line of five year olds dance with a little help
from their teacher.
Green
Year list : 201 birds average new birds to list per day : 3.72
birds
Distance
walked, pushed and cycled : 4.03 miles (not including afternoon walk)
elevation
: up 1,381 feet, down 355 feet
altitude
: 9,196 feet
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