THE BIRDING JAUNT TO THE SOUTH: PART TWO

When the alarm wakes me up on any given setting, I know I’ve slept well.  I’m usually awake beforehand, anticipating whatever it was that I set the alarm for.  We were off by 5:45, and it was just getting light.  A good sign was seeing Common Pauraques in the road.  We did not have to go far, just a short distance to a road that went up one of the hillsides which surrounded the town.  

THE TOWN OF PALANDA, WAY BELOW

We went uphill about a half mile, parked, and began to walk back down, listening for the avifauna.  The chorus began in earnest the lighter it got.  I think in about 30 minutes we had tallied some 50 species, including a male Cock-of-the-Rock (you should really look that one up!), Western Striated Puffbird (a long hoped for lifer), Little Tinamou, White-winged, Spotted, Silvery, White-lined and Swallow Tanagers, Blue Dacnis, Bluish-gray Saltator, White-necked Thrush, Andean Solitare, and Red-billed Parrots, to name some of them.  Due to the many birds to sort through, it was slow going, and I think it took us 90 minutes or so to return to the car, where we ate breakfast.

Standing around the car watching birds made it a drawn out meal.  A pair of Green-backed Becards finally posed for the camera, and here is a decent shot of a male.

GREEN-BACKED BECARD

The rest of the morning would be a series of stops heading up the mountain.  At the next stop, maybe in another half mile, was where Christian was going see his long awaited and hoped for lifer - a Chestnut-headed Cotinga.  

CHESTNUT-HEADED COTINGA

Diego knew just where to stop, where he used playback to entice one to come.  It took about 5 minutes, but Christian was on him, taking pics while oo-hing and ahh-ing.  I think we stayed on him for some 30 minutes.

The next stop, another half mile along, turned out to be difficult to break away from, as the birds kept coming and going, so we were there at least an hour seeing the likes of a Greenish Puffleg, Bronzy Inca, Lesser Violetear (Hummingbirds), Speckled Hummingbird, Rufous-winged Tyranulet (rare), Black-and-White Becard (rare), Slate-colored Grosbeak, Red-headed Barbet, Streak-headed Antbird, Streaked Xenops, Olivaceous Greenlet, and Golden-eared Tanager. Here are some of the ones we saw here.

CINNAMON FLYCATCHER

BLACK AND WHITE BECARD

GREENISH PUFFLEG

BLUE-WINGED MOUNTAIN TANAGER

SLATE-COLORED GROSBEAK

Break away we finally did.  But by now the road had become steep enough to need to use 4WD with my “new” 2004 Grand Vitara.  No more spinning the back wheels.  Another half mile or so, and we pulled over for our next and last stop.  As soon as we got out, they could hear White-capped Tanagers, a species usually congregated in small groups.  Diego said there was a group to one side of us and another to the other side….somewhere.  I never did hear them even after turning up my hearing aids, but they kept using playback to entice some to come our way, which did not happen….yet.

In short order another 3 Chestnut-headed Cotingas were found, so Christian’s and my camera returned to life with one posing nicely not too far away.  Just afterward a White-winged Brushfinch made an appearance, which turned out to be a lifer for Christian. (Hard to imagine I had one on my life list which he didn’t).  He was thrilled as it is getting harder to add lifers the longer he birds.  

ANOTHER VIEW OF PALANDA WITH THE SURROUNDING HILLSIDES

GOLDEN-FACED TANAGER

BLACK-MASKED DACNIS

We ended up walking uphill, rather slowly, adding Green-and-Black Fruiteaters, Speckle-breasted Wren, Tropical Parula, Buff-browed Foliage Gleaner, Smoky-brown Woodpecker and White-bellied Woodstar, Metallic-green and Saffron-headed Tanagers.  Then they began hearing the White-capped Tanagers again, so we walked farther uphill to where a wider clearing allowed us better visibility.  Using playback it took about 10 minutes for one to finally fly by.  They must be the largest tanager in that family, as big as a Robin.  The white cap stands out and one can see it a long ways away.  The back is blackish and the undersides are reddish.  After a few minutes another came by and landed on a palm snag, but this was against the bright sky, so here is my pic of a silhouette. Amazingly you can still see his white cap.

WHITE-CAPPED TANAGER

One the way back to the car we encountered a Peruvian Rackettail, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Long-tailed Sylph, and Violet-fronted Brilliant (Hummingbirds).  The male Rackettail was a cool lifer! Seeing pictures of this bird was inspiring such that it was very meaningful when I finally saw one.   So we tallied 9 species each of hummers and tanagers this morning.

It was after noon by now, and time to called it quits.  We found a restaurant in town which was not overly crowded on this Sunday afternoon.  Christian decided to celebrate his 2 lifers with 2 bottles of beer.  He suggested I tip Diego for his guidance, which I was happy to do.  As I did not even know he was going to be part of the weekend, it was puzzling to know just how this was to work out.  

Leaving Diego at his pad, Christian and I began the 2 hour drive to Vilcabamba.  En route back we stopped to look for the Rufous-capped Thornbill which did not show when coming south.  He obliged us in about a minute.  My last lifer of the trip!   7 new hummers was fun!

RUFOUS-CAPPED THORNBILL

THE SAME BIRD WHEN HE TOOK OFF.  ACROBATIC LITTLE GUY

We would have birded at the reserve for a bit, but the gate was locked and no one seemingly around.  So we drove on and got to my place around 3:00.  Christian needed some coffee, so I made him a large cup.  He did not want to take the cup so drank it while he chatted with Rosie and me.  We ended up showing him our house and talking about life in Oregon and etc.  We even made temporary plans to go birding again, of which I will no doubt write a blog for.  

So I ended the jaunt adding 28 lifers!  There is still plenty of great birding to be experienced within a few hours drive from where I live, and more so farther afield.  One good birding friend is likely to come down next Jan-Feb for a much needed birding vacation. It would be good if one or two other birders were along for the jaunt.  I will take him locally, to the places described in this blog, and also over to the other side of the Andes.  At minimum, at least 300 species should be tallied, and likely more.  When in my home area, lodging and meals will be free at my house, and the same is rather inexpensive elsewhere, for the most part.  Guide service by the aforementioned birders is very reasonable.  Splitting up the costs of gas, entrance fees, guide service and etc brings the cost per person down some as well.  So if this is something that appeals to you, contact me for more info.  And if per chance you may know of some mutual birding friends who may be interested in this, feel free to share it with them.