July 18, 2022
It had been a busy few days with too much driving and so Laura and I slept in until 7 AM before commencing the day's activities. Previously, we had explored the lower and mid elevations of the Santa Eulalia Valley but today's plan would be to put on our rubber boots and seek out some of the region's hardiest birds - those which eke out an existence at 4500 m.
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| Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
As we navigated the long lines of slow trucks up the road towards Paso Marcopomacocha (try saying that five times fast), we noticed some sleet in the air. Fortunately, it had cleared up when we arrived.
Before reaching the bog that is home to many of our target species, I stopped the car periodically for any sign of life. Bird diversity is low at these elevations, and the vast majority of species are clad in drab grays and browns to blend in well to their rocky, bunch-grass vegetated environs. We noticed four species of ground-tyrants: Cinereous, Taczanowski's, Puna and White-fronted. The latter two were new for me, while all four were lifers for Laura since it was her first visit to the Andes south of the Equator.
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| Cinereous Ground-Tyrant - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
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| White-fronted Ground-Tyrant - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
I stopped the car when a Dark-winged Miner flew over. This localized species is relatively common at Paso Marcopomacocha, but its global range only includes the high alpine habitats of central Peru. While the miner did not reappear, I startled a pair of Streak-throated Canasteros. Given their colouration, it is no surprise that they vanish almost completely when they skulk into a tuft of bunchgrass.
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Streak-throated Canastero - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru
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We paused to eat our peanut butter and banana sandwiches next to a small creek which was draining water from a glacier somewhere upslope. I wandered off and heard a Junin Canastero singing, but it would not come any closer or show itself. Hopefully, we will be able to obtain views of this localized endemic when we visit Lake Junin in upcoming days. Some of the other birds next to the watercourse included several sierra-finches, a pair of handsome Glacier Finches, and the ubiquitous Cream-winged Cinclodes.
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| Plumbeous Sierra-Finch - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
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| Glacier Finches - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
This little rodent was busy chowing down on the seed heads of grasses outside of its little cave. I still need to figure out exactly what it is. I do know this - it was super cute.
Feeling a little nicer with food in our stomachs, we drove the remaining distance up to the bog. The landscapes are just incredible at this elevation. Some may find the scenes bleak, but I can't get enough of them.
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| Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
Herds of alpaca graze the level areas, preventing the bunchgrass from growing more than an inch or two in height. Few birds are found here, since the bunch-grass denizens stick to the slopes where the alpacas do not forage.
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| Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
Excitement was in the air as we donned our toques and rubber boots and headed out into the bog. These nutrient rich wetlands are home to several unique or rare species. One that we were hoping to see was the Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, or DSP. This odd shorebird looks vaguely snipe-like, but it is actually more closely related to plovers. It resides in high alpine bogs and creeks in the Andes, from central Peru south to central Chile and Argentina. The other main target bird we were seeking was the White-bellied Cinclodes, a beautiful and critically endangered bird that numbers in the hundreds, and only lives in certain bogs in central Peru.
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| Bog at Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
Laura wasted no time at all in spotted the DSPs! A pair kept an eye on us as they went about their business. We enjoyed them for a few minutes but took care not to approach too closely, as this is the main bog that birders visit.
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| Diademed Sandpiper-Plover - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
Mere seconds after Laura noticed the DSP, I caught a glimpse of a dark hummingbird blast past. Fortunately, it remained in the area which allowed us to observe our first Olivaceous Thornbill!
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| Olivaceous Thornbill - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
It seems incredible that a hummingbird species can survive at these elevations, considering that the temperatures plummet below freezing every night of the year, reaching 10 degrees Celsius during the warmest afternoons. It has a close relationship with a type of pink flower that grows in these bogs called Gentianella carneorubra. It seemed to feed exclusively on this type of gentian.
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| Olivaceous Thornbill and Gentianella carneorubra - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
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| Olivaceous Thornbill and Gentianella carneorubra - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
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| Gentianella carneorubra - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
Despite its drab appearance, the hummingbird showed an elaborate, colourful gorget when the light hit it just right.
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| Olivaceous Thornbill - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
As we walked the perimeter of the bog, we occasionally ran into other birds. Most were White-fronted Ground-Tyrants and Cream-winged Cinclodes, but we also noted our first Puna Snipes, a Slender-billed Miner, some Andean Geese, Andean Lapwings and more.
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| Andean Lapwing - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
We had been seeing Cream-winged Cinclodes everywhere but the very similar White-winged Cinclodes was being elusive. Finally, we found one at the edge of a boggy area.
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| White-winged Cinclodes - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
The Puna Snipes had, in typical snipe fashion, remained completely invisible before exploding upwards beneath our feet. Finally, one decided to walk away from us instead of blasting off, allowing me to take a few photos that I was happy with.
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| Puna Snipe - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
One would be forgiven for assuming that there are no woodpeckers in this habitat given, you know, the lack of trees. But the Andean Flicker does well up here, searching for insects on the ground.
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| Andean Flicker - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
Two species of seedsnipe reside here as well. In the Andes, these birds occupy a similar niche that ptarmigans fill in the northern hemisphere, but this is a good example of convergent evolution since seedsnipes are actually a type of shorebird. We struck out with Rufous-bellied though we found a small group of very skittish Gray-breasted Seedsnipes. They did not allow us to approach too closely for better looks. Can you spot the seedsnipe in this photo?
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| Gray-breasted Seednsipe - Paso Marcopomacocha, Lima, Peru |
Our other main target was not cooperating and so we had to cut our losses with the White-bellied Cinclodes. We drove straight to the nearby Ticlio Bog for our last shot at this species.
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| Pantano Ticlio, Lima, Peru |
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| Pantano Ticlio, Lima, Peru |
The Ticlio lake and surrounding boggy environs ar not as scenic as the bog we had just explored, simply because it is located next to a highway. In Peru (and indeed, all around the world) humans take it upon themselves to dump their garbage into bogs, down forested slopes, and into any other natural areas adjacent to highways. We really are a lovely species.
With enough walking we were able to get away from the discarded plastic, diapers, and construction waste. I headed towards a tight group of alpacas. Perhaps the White-bellied Cinclodes were hanging out near them?
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| Alpacas - Pantano Ticlio, Lima, Peru |
As I scanned off in the distance with my binoculars, I noticed a bird with a gleaming white belly contrasting with a chestnut back. The cinclodes! We were thinking of giving up soon, too!
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| White-bellied Cinclodes - Pantano Ticlio, Lima, Peru |
We watched the pair for a while as they worked the edge of a boggy area. Light sleet was falling and they were not in the least bit perturbed. They truly are beautiful, not quite what you would expect for a cinclodes.
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| White-bellied Cinclodes - Pantano Ticlio, Lima, Peru |
The White-bellied Cinclodes is listed as Critically Endangered by Birdlife International, with an estimated population of less than 250 mature individuals. They are only found in a small group of bogs found high in the central Peruvian Andes, and are absent from large swaths of seemingly suitable habitat. Their habitat requirements appear to be rather precise: mineral-rich wetlands between 4430 m - 5000 m in elevation with a high number of cushion plants (including
Distichia sp.).
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| White-bellied Cinclodes - Pantano Ticlio, Lima, Peru |
Threats to this species are varied, and all result in degradation of their boggy habitats. Removal of peat for use in mushroom farming and for private gardens; the draining of wetlands; overgrazing by sheep, llamas and alpacas; and contamination by mining companies appear to be some of the biggest threats. There is a very real chance that this species will be extinct in several decades. It was a little bittersweet to spend time with this pair, knowing how close to the brink they are.
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| White-bellied Cinclodes - Pantano Ticlio, Lima, Peru |
That afternoon we made the long drive over to the town of Concepción, located in the inter-Andean valley and close to the eastern slope of the Andes. We broke up the drive by taking a few minutes to stretch our legs near the Río Mantaro. Dozens of swallows were hawking insects over the river; our first Andean Swallows.
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| Río Mantaro, Junín, Peru |
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| Andean Swallow - Río Mantaro, Junín, Peru |
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| Andean Swallow - Río Mantaro, Junín, Peru |
Of course, nothing ever seems to go to plan when we travel in Latin America. Today's adventure was that the road to Concepción was not passable since a roadblock had been enacted.by the locals. We later found out that this was happening across the country, in protest of the high fuel prices. Luckily, we were able to find a hotel on our side of the roadblock. The next day we had plans to travel east over the mountains, along the Satipo Road. We were hoping to spend a few days birding the incredible forests on the humid east side of the Andes, along with the dry Andamarca Valley. Fingers crossed that the roadblocks do not impede our progress.
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