2005 Tour Narrative
Timing is everything, and at first it seemed as if all was on our side. The recent protests over water prices in El Alto had calmed down over the weekend, and the early arriving participants had no problem traveling between La Paz and the airport (provided an early start, just to make sure). The rest of the participants arrived on time, and there were no delays as we hooked up smoothly with the short internal flight to Cochabamba, where our driver, Santiago Fernandez, was waiting for us. Our first full day of birding looked to be just as promising, with clear skies in the morning and no traffic. Little did we know that this was the day it was decided among the political parties representing the poorer citizens to intensify and expand roadblocks nationwide. But we found out soon enough on our own (there had been nothing in the news, and even the toll booth operator didn’t know) when we came across a row of boulders across the road. We were only some 20 minutes away from the cloud forest, but fate decided we should bird the higher, drier habitats on this side of the mountains instead. So back we went, then down a promising-looking side road, and birded happily and blissfully all day in some high-elevation scrub. We saw some excellent birds, including the scarce Rufous-bellied Saltator, the endemic Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, Rock Earthcreeper, and Brown-capped Tit-Spinetail. On the way back, we were met by the unpleasant surprise of even more extensive roadblocks—the local villagers had strewn rocks back up the main highway where we had come from. No fear, after some negotiations and a little “something” (probably not so little to them, however) they showed us a way out via a small dirt road that led us to some wonderful vistas and birds. It was along this road we saw an Aplomado Falcon, a family of Andean Tinamous (the best we saw the whole trip), and a Plain-breasted Earthcreeper!
The rest of our time in Cochabamba was put to good use. The long drive to the Río Caine was especially productive, the highlights being the near-endemic Citron-headed Yellow-Finch at breakfast (and an additional three species of yellow-finches), the endemic Bolivian Blackbird, Red-fronted Macaw, and “Cliff Parakeet” (still officially a subspecies of Monk Parakeet, but stay tuned). An additional endemic was the gorgeous coral snake crossing the road. Other highlights for the day were abundant Giant Hummingbirds, Masked Gnatcatchers, Brown-backed Mockingbird, many White-tipped Plantcutters (as if reeling a heavy fish with that unmistakable song), and an unexpected pair of Band-tailed Sierra-Finches. We had the luxury of two days on Cerro Tunari, so finding the very local Cochabamba Mountain-Finch wasn’t too difficult. We also saw some other great high Andean birds here, like Scribble-tailed and Cordilleran Canasteros, Andean Parakeet, Giant Conebill, White-winged Diuca-Finch, and Puna Tapaculo. We had simply fabulous views of Andean Condor here and we thoroughly enjoyed spending at least 15 minutes watching a pair of gorgeous Torrent Ducks feeding on the rapids below us (alongside a Bar-winged Cinclodes, looking more like a wren at that distance). One of the true prizes here was a lovely Olive-crowned Crescent-chest, well spotted at a fair distance on top of a bush, then skulking much closer as they more typically do. The abundance of beautiful flowers might have had something to do with the low numbers of hummingbirds, but we still saw more Giant Hummingbirds and a fancy male Red-tailed Comet.
Our side trip to Oruro was certainly an ornithological highlight, if not a cultural one (few people can claim to have fallen in love with this town). Before leaving Cochabamba, a check of Laguna Alalay in the morning was successful for Plumbeous Rail (walking out in the open), Wrenlike Rushbird, Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, and a pair of rare Rosy-billed Pochards. Outside of town we stopped by the shores of Lago Uru Uru, sometimes mostly a dry mud flat, but this time nearly full of water and teeming with the likes of Puna Teal, Andean Coots, and shorebirds including migrants from the Northern Hemisphere and a few locals like Andean Avocet and Puna Plover. Our only other water birding on the tour was a small lake off the main highway, nearly dry but still full of birds, mostly Wilson’s Phalaropes and a few Chilean Flamingos. This side trip was also good for a sampling of Altiplano land birds such as Common Miner, Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch, Short-billed Pipit, Andean Negrito, and Golden-spotted Ground-Dove (which showed the golden spots on the wing coverts quite nicely). The drive between the big cities also had some fine highlights, such as a Rufous-banded Miner that landed on the road shoulder, a pair of the scarce (and nearly endemic) Maquis Canasteros, the endemic subspecies of Mourning Sierra-Finch, and an amazing sighting of the little-known Andean Mountain Cat.
The long drive to the lower elevation Valle Zone from Cochabamba could be just another long drive, but this being Bolivia, it was a birdy day. We had a Puna Tapaculo singing from the top of a bush (fantastic digiscoping opportunity), Great Pampa-Finch carrying food to a nest, a record-high elevational sighting of Stripe-crowned Spinetail, excellent views of the very range-restricted Fulvous-headed Brush-Finch (alongside several Spot-breasted Thornbirds), a pair of Rufous-webbed Bush-Tyrants, and our best hummingbird of the trip, a spectacular Blue-capped Puffleg, just a few feet away and showing his cap sparkle. The birds that finished the day were noisy Scaly-naped Parrots in a loose feeding flock in the small trees right along the roadside.
Our days from Comarapa were productive. Since we had already seen the difficult Olive-crowned Crescent-chest, Red-fronted Macaw and “Cliff” Parakeet, we were also able to enjoy some afternoon time off. In just a couple hours we saw a slew of the dry-forest regulars, such as White-bellied Hummingbird, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Mouse-colored Tyrannulet, Bolivian Earthcreeper, and Spot-backed Puffbird. The Giant Antshrike above Comarapa took extra effort, well worth any view of this amazing bird, and most birds in the shockingly sunny could forests of Siberia also took a fair amount of effort, including Buff-banded Tyrannulet, Barred Becard, Light-crowned Spinetail, and Trilling Tapaculo (great views sitting out in the open). We would have to be happy just hearing Rufous-faced Antpitta, but we sure came close. A couple surprises in the area were Slaty Elaenia, perhaps a migrant, and a White-winged Becard.
Our stay at Refugio Los Volcanes was magical, as always. It was hard to concentrate on the birds while being mesmerized by the stunning vistas at every turn, but we still managed quite a few, with Slaty Gnateater showing well, a seen Bolivian Tapaculo, Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant, surprising Violet-fronted Brilliants, amazing views of both Red-necked and Crimson-crested Woodpeckers, and a very handsome Chestnut-backed Antshrike. Black-goggled Tanagers, Two-banded Warbler and Sclater’s Tyrannulet proved to be as reliable as ever here, but the Yungas Manakins were uncommonly shy. Seeing “our” Swainson’s Thrushes and Western Wood-Pewees so far away from home is always fun, while scanning the skies netted us more Andean Condors, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagles, a King Vulture, and a rare (for here) Sharp-shinned Hawk. The most surprising bird was a juvenile Spot-billed Ground-Tyrant, a bird that had dispersed well beyond its normal highland areas, and which we documented as a first local record. A distant heard Subtropical Pygmy-Owl (at the extreme southern edge of its range here) might have been the bird of the trip, had we been a bit closer.
We finished the tour birding just on the edge of the city of Santa Cruz with several bonus birds, including White-bellied Seedeater, Greater Thornbird, Capped Heron, and an exciting Yellow-billed Cuckoo, rarely seen on its winter grounds.
Rich Hoyer