Beardless Mountaineer...(PERU 1 Oct.)

...Our (myself, Rich Hoyer from WINGS and Daniel Hamuan of ACCA http://www.acca.org.pe/) main target for our short stop around Huacarpay Lakes, near Cusco, to break up our journey over onto the east slope of the Andes, and down the infamous Manu Road, was an endemic and stunning hummer  - Bearded Mountaineer. We were entertained by some classic high Andean birds utilizing the lake itself, such as Andean Gulls, Andean Lapwing, and Speckled Teal. On the fringes of the marsh Plumbeous Rails stomped around brazenly proving that here in the heart of their range they are distinctly easier than further north in Ecuador (where I live), and a concerted effort is required to see this handsome rail. We scoured the tobacco plants, decorated with handsome yellow blooms, as these are the very flowers said to be favored by the sought-after Bearded Mountaineer. Then, finally, when we on the point of leaving a buzzing sound among the tobacco led us to the mountaineer. Though sadly it seemed to lack a bear and I guess therefore was a female. Pushing on towards the Manu Road we went through dry inter Andean valleys which produced a further two endemics, and handsome ones at that: Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, and the remarkably attractive Creamy-crested Spinetail, which must be one of the most pretty of this group anywhere. Well worth seeing, though unfortunately its furtive behavior meant I failed to get the picture I wished to share with you. We ended the day at the Wayqecha Biological Station (run by ACCA, the Peruvian arm of ACA http://www.amazonconservation.org/), in the cloudforest of the east slope, slipping in a Rufous Antpitta (here with a shockingly different voice to the form I am used to in Ecuador justifying its upcoming split), Violet-throated Starfrontlet, and Golden-collared Tanager before dusk fell and the air chilled suddenly.it had been a varied and interesting day, sprinkled with Peru endemics, and yet we had only just begun.

More from Peru, and the Manu Road, to come very soon...