Peru Birding Trip Day 13 - July 20, 2018

If you want to catch up on previous posts about this trip, go to the following links:

Peru Trip Day 1            Peru Trip Day 6              Peru Trip Day 11
Peru Trip Day 2            Peru Trip Day 7              Peru Trip Day 12
Peru Trip Day 3            Peru Trip Day 8              Peru Trip Day 13
Peru Trip Day 4            Peru Trip Day 9              Peru Trip Day 14
Peru Trip Day 5            Peru Trip Day 10
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This morning, we were up early again and began our day in the high Andes by driving straight through the lower and upper Santa Eulalia Valley and Canyon, bypassing where we had seen the Torrent Ducks yesterday, taking a left turn and heading toward some snow-capped peaks in the distance. This uppermost part of the Valley was still quite dry.

Upper Santa Eulalia Valley

Upper Santa Eulalia Valley

Our first stop was at a small patch of Polylepis, which is a fairly widespread tree (multiple species?) that grows at high elevation, well above the "tree line". We were at 11,500 feet in elevation, and this patch was growing in a ravine coming down the mountainside. According to eBird, this ravine is known as Quebrada Yanac, but our guide Alexandro said that it was known locally as Quenual Apari. In Ecuador, I've seen Polylepis in more open flat areas, but always at high elevation.

Quebrada Yanac Polylepis area

Throughout the Andes, many bird species have become dependent on these patches of Polylepis, and more than a few species are almost entirely dependent on them. Unfortunately, because it is fairly accessible, and the only source of firewood for many high elevation human residents, Polylepis is disappearing rapidly and the birds that depend on it have become endangered or critically endangered. We explored along the road for a little while, as our driver Manuel made breakfast.

Quebrada Yanac Polylepis area

As we ate our freshly cooked scrambled eggs and toast, with the temperature in the mid-30s (Fahrenheit), various birds became more active as it warmed up, though not much. One of our first birds was a flyover Variable Hawk. As its name suggests, it is quite variable and recently it was lumped with what was called the Puna Hawk, making it even more variable! This one was a classic light morph individual.

Variable Hawk

Variable Hawk

Then, Thomas called out,  "condors!" At first there were 3 Andean Condors circling above the nearby ridge line.

Andean Condors

Then there were 6, 7, no 9...wait there are more. 14 in all.

Andean Condors (6)

They were mostly quite high, so it was difficult to get decent photos. The one highly cropped image below is perhaps the best one.

Andean Condor

A couple of them came lower, but were in the shadow of the mountains, so were not very well lit.

Andean Condor

Andean Condor

I had seen single Andean Condors only twice before in Ecuador, so this was quite a nice experience. After we finished breakfast, it had warmed up to maybe the upper 30s. One Peruvian endemic that occurs in Polylepis that we were hoping to see was the White-cheeked Cotinga. I presumed that we would just wait on the road for it to show itself in the ravine above. But I was wrong. Alexandro said "let's go", and began hiking up the side of the ravine! We followed, and I tried hard not to step on the cactus (yes, cactus at 11,500 feet!), which appeared like it was going to bloom soon.

Cactus sp.

Cactus sp.

About half way up the ravine, we saw a Peruvian endemic hummingbird, one not restricted to Polylepis, a Black Metaltail. While trying to maintain my balance on the uneven and steep terrain, I was only able to get one record shot.

Black Metaltail

Another Peruvian endemic popped out of the low vegetation onto a nearby boulder, again allowing me only a single photo. But I did better with this Striated Earthcreeper, though the wind was picking up and blowing its breast feathers into an odd configuration.

Striated Earthcreeper

At the top of the ravine, at least at the upper edge of the Polylepis grove, there was a small waterfall.

Quebrada Yanac Polylepis area

I looked back around, and noticed how high above the road we appeared to be, but also noticed that it was quite a long distance to the next grove of Polylepis. In fact, there is no Polylepis in this photo except the grove we were in, visible in the lower right corner of the photo. Across the road, and valley, there are only low, small shrubs amid the grassland.

Quebrada Yanac Polylepis area

And across the valley, the distant snow-capped mountains still beckoned us to go higher.

Quebrada Yanac Polylepis area

On the treacherous "walk" back down the ravine, a d'Orbigny's Chat-Tyrant made a brief appearance, against the sky, and of course it flew off quickly allowing me to get only two photos, one of which I'd call a record shot...the other much worse. There is a frustrating trend with these higher Andean birds. They're too quick for me! Other than being found in small areas of northern Chile and Bolivia, the d'Orbigny's Chat-Tyrant is mainly found in Peru.

dOrbigny's Chat-Tyrant

Unfortunately, the White-cheeked Cotinga was a no-show today. I had been pestering Alexandro about various birds we had not seen yet, and he kept saying that they were "more up", meaning higher in elevation than we were at the moment. So, we got into the van and went "more up"! As we approached the Lagunas de Milloc area, above 14,000 feet in elevation, the habitat was very rocky with short grass, taller tussock grass, and an occasional small shrub.

Lagunas de Milloc area

On one of those shrubs was a Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant, a common Andean species.

Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant

In this same area, I had a brief but good view of a Peruvian endemic hummingbird, Black-breasted Hillstar, but it didn't stick around for photos. In a rocky area there was a group of Peruvian Sierra-Finches, yet another species that occurs mainly in Peru but reaching just into northern Bolivia. The bird in the photos below seem to be intermediate between what an adult would look like, which has an all-gray head, and a more streaky immature, so perhaps it is a sub-adult?

Peruvian Sierra-Finch

Peruvian Sierra-Finch

In a large boulder field was a mammal that I was hoping to see, Viscachas. They are rodents the size of large rabbits and related to chinchillas, and they hop among the boulders. I was not aware that there is more than one species, with the southern ones in the Pampas of Argentina getting most of the attention on the nature shows. These were Northern Viscachas (Lagidium peruanum), one of 5 known species. There were only a few of them in this one spot, perhaps because this was the northern edge of their range.

Northern Viscacha (Ladidium peruanum)

Northern Viscacha (Ladidium peruanum)

Northern Viscacha (Ladidium peruanum)

Northern Viscacha (Ladidium peruanum)

A bit more up, the tussocks and shrubs were no longer evident, just shorter grass and mossy boggy patches. We saw two species of Cinclodes, which are terrestrial species related to Horneros, Spinetails, Canasteros, and a bunch of others that are collectively called Ovenbirds (Furnariidae). The lifer was White-winged Cinclodes, but we weren't able to stop where we saw them. The other was the Cream-winged Cinclodes which I've seen in Ecuador when it used to be called Bar-winged Cinclodes.

Cream-winged Cinclodes

Cream-winged Cinclodes

Cream-winged Cinclodes

The Cream-winged Cinclodes (below) has whitish patches in its wings, but not as large or bright as the White-winged Cinclodes.

Cream-winged Cinclodes

There were also several species of Ground-Tyrant here, including Taczanowski's, Puna, Cinereous, White-fronted, Ochre-naped, and Rufous-naped, all of them lifers. Unfortunately, we had to identify most of them from the moving vehicle as we had a lot on our agenda for today, and Thomas was in a single-minded pursuit of shorebirds. So we saw no species of Miner today either, which could have included up to 5 lifers for me of which 2 were Peruvian endemics. As we approached the actual Lagunas de Milloc, we were able to see some waterbirds far down on the lakes, which included Giant Coots, Spectacled Ducks, and Silvery Grebes, but they were so far away (the landscape up here is vast) that it would have taken quite a while to hike down to the lakes and back, not to mention that we were now around 15,000 feet in elevation so it would have been exhausting too. Closer to the road, we were seeing pairs and small groups of Andean Geese.

Andean Geese

Andean Geese

Andean Goose

We drove for several miles through spectacular scenery and around several of these high Andean lakes.

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

We stopped at one rocky area with some tussock grass, moss, and small ponds, and Thomas was able to see one of his shorebirds, a Puna Snipe that flushed a couple times before flying off. It was a lifer for me too, and was smaller than I was expecting. Another species, also briefly seen, was the Peruvian endemic Puna Canastero. But the bird that hopped out onto the rocks and moss, seemingly begging to be photographed, was a pair of Stripe-headed Antpittas.

Stripe-headed Antpitta

Stripe-headed Antpitta

Stripe-headed Antpitta

The Stripe-headed Antpitta is yet another one of those species that is found mainly in Peru, with its range extending only slightly into Bolivia, so it is considered a Peruvian near-endemic.

Stripe-headed Antpitta

Stripe-headed Antpitta

Stripe-headed Antpitta

We continued through a lot more mountains and lakes, and I was really enjoying all this scenery.

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

It seemed like every few minutes there was a new vista, and yet another lake.

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Lagunas de Milloc area

Near one rocky area we saw a large raptor flying across the road...a Mountain Caracara.

Mountain Caracara

This boldly-patterned relative of the falcons, which was a life bird for me, swooped around us a few times before flying off into the distance.

Mountain Caracara

Mountain Caracara

Mountain Caracara

We walked along the road for a little ways in this area, and saw a few other birds including Andean Lapwings, and a few Gray-breasted Seedsnipe which flew off at our approach. The Seedsnipe are in their own family (Thinocoridae), and are dove-like birds related to shorebirds. These were the first of this family I've ever seen. We then came to the Milloc Bog area to search for a rare, and weird shorebird.

Milloc Bog area

If you look carefully in the photos above and below, you can see two white dots in the lower right of the image, which is a pair of Andean Geese. They really give an idea of the immense scale of the Andes.

Milloc Bog area

We continued a short distance past this well-known spot for the Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, and stopped at Pampa Curicocha to begin our search for the species. Alexandro, Thomas, and I split up and began walking across the bog to find one. The bog was more like a peat bog, with lots of sponge-like moss with small puddles and ponds. The footing was a little difficult, so we were going slowly. At one point, I got distracted by, of all things, a hummingbird. We were at 15,400 feet in elevation, with no plants taller than an inch or so as far as the eye could see. But there it was, an Olivaceous Thornbill.

Olivaceous Thornbill

This fairly large, olive-gray hummingbird came flitting in, and promptly landed on the ground, where it fed on a previously unseen inch-tall pink flower.

Olivaceous Thornbill

It soon took off, flitting a few yards to another flower, this time hovering to feed, but very low to the ground.

Olivaceous Thornbill

I had seen this kind of feeding behavior before, by a Blue-mantled Thornbill at 14,000 feet in elevation in Ecuador. But the Olivaceous Thornbill is mainly found in a few patches of Peru, and one area of northern Bolivia.

Olivaceous Thornbill

Olivaceous Thornbill

Olivaceous Thornbill

Olivaceous Thornbill

At one point, the hummingbird landed near two of the pink flowers, and was able to reach both of them without repositioning itself. It was really working hard to conserve energy in this harsh environment, where the temperature was now in the low 30s (Fahrenheit), and there was a pretty good wind too.

Olivaceous Thornbill

I knew that the only color on this bird was a narrow strip of green and pink outlined with black on its throat. Since it was so tame and cooperative, I tried to get a photo showing this color when it perched nearby.

Olivaceous Thornbill

Olivaceous Thornbill

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the best photo showing the throat color was one of my flight shots.

Olivaceous Thornbill

Then, Thomas called out that he had found a Diademed Sandpiper-Plover.

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

This shorebird is rather widely distributed in the high Andes from central Peru through southern Chile and Argentina, breeding in bogs like this one, but with many similar bogs apparently uninhabited. So, their world population is thought to be less than 10,000 individuals. Soon we saw that there was an adult (above) as well as an immature (below). It was good to see evidence of breeding here.

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

Although its bill is very much shaped like a sandpiper, genetic studies have confirmed that it is very definitely a plover, thus the name Sandpiper-Plover.

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover

After spending too-short a time here, and getting tired following these birds around in its high-elevation bog, we got back in the van and headed for our last destination for the day, Ticlio Bog, to look for a very rare Peruvian endemic, the White-bellied Cinclodes with an estimated world population of about 250 individuals. This is normally an easy bird to see at this spot, but by the time we arrived the temperature was around freezing, and the wind had picked up to about 40 miles per hour which was driving the heavy snow sideways! Thomas decided to stay at the van, while Alexandro and I trudged around the bog looking for the bird, at 15,600 feet, the higheste elevation I've ever been on foot.

Ticlio Bog

Despite the great rarity of this bird, its habitat is subjected to the harvesting of peat moss, which is cut out from the bog in large blocks, and hauled away. The photo above shows snow filling one of these hollowed out areas in the bog. We walked completely around the bog, about 1/2 mile, while the snow and wind continued. At one point, Alexandro put his scope on something he was pretty sure was a Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe. When I looked into the scope, it moved its head, confirming that it wasn't just another rock! Just before we got back to the van, the snow stopped and the sky cleared fairly quickly, giving us good views of the surrounding scenery.

Ticlio Bog area

Ticlio Bog (foreground)

Ticlio Bog area

We did start seeing a few birds, which included a fleeting look at a life bird, Streak-throated Canastero, in the somewhat blurry photo below.

Streak-throated Canastero

Finally, two White-bellied Cinclodes came into view not too far away from where the van was parked, feeding right in the open on the ground. Where had they been? Maybe hunkered down in one of the depressions created by the peat harvesters?

White-bellied Cinclodes

White-bellied Cinclodes

White-bellied Cinclodes

They are noticeably larger than any other Cinclodes, and behave more like a mockingbird.

White-bellied Cinclodes

White-bellied Cinclodes

White-bellied Cinclodes

White-bellied Cinclodes

White-bellied Cinclodes

After this great success, we started heading back to Lima, stopping for dinner along the way. We ended up in rush-hour traffic and it took about 3 hours to get from the outskirts of Lima to our hotel. I was very happy that I did as well as I did with the high altitude, better than I have previously even though I am older now. I had taken Diamox to mitigate some of the effects of the altitude, and I think that really helped.

Tomorrow is the last day of the trip, visiting coastal areas near Lima. It was a very productive day with several hundred photos taken, so it will take a little while longer to go through all these photos before this last day is posted here.