Pale legged Warbler, Carretera a Manú--Túneles Pillahuata, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 3, 2024
Cuzco Warbler, Carretera a Manú--Thousand-meter Bridge a Chontachacra, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 4, 2024
Two banded Warbler, Cock of the Rock Lodge, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 5, 2024
THERE ARE MANY MORE PHOTOS TO COME...having issue with uploading photos right now.
Pale legged Warbler, Carretera a Manú--Túneles Pillahuata, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 3, 2024
Pale legged Warbler, Carretera a Manú--Túneles Pillahuata, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 3, 2024
Spectacled Redstart, Carretera a Manú--Túneles Pillahuata, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 3, 2024
We started the long drive toward Cock of the Rock Lodge with a few stops along the way. Initially the drive was not too bad but the roads got progressively more twisty and I had some serious motion sickness on the way (probably a combo of lack of sleep, lack of food and the roads). Once we got up into the cloud forest I had my first warbler in Peru with a Spectacled Redstart. After a lunch break at Wayqecha Lodge we pressed on with some stops along the way and one of these stops produced my first target species with a Pale legged Warbler. Got some great looks at it as it worked its way through the tangles. Happy to get one of the targets early on. The final warbler for the day was a Blackburnian Warbler. We arrived at Cock of the Rock Lodge around sundown, had dinner and then off to bed.
Two banded Warbler, Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 4, 2024
Slate throated Redstart, Carretera a Manú--Tanager Corner a Thousand-meter Bridge, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 4, 2024
Cuzco Warbler, Carretera a Manú--Thousand-meter Bridge a Chontachacra, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 4, 2024
Cuzco Warbler, Carretera a Manú--Thousand-meter Bridge a Chontachacra, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 4, 2024
On our first full day around Cock of the Rock Lodge unfortunately started off with rain and thunder (a continuation from overnight). We stayed around the lodge longer than originally intended due to the heavy rain. Thankfully the time around the lodge rewarded me with a couple of Two banded Warblers I found before breakfast. They continued on and off through the rest of the morning with lots of singing when they were around. Second target down to start the day! This species looks a lot like my remaining target species (Cuzco Warbler) with some subtle physical differences (like eye arcs) but thankfully sings a totally different song. The only other warbler around was a Slate throated Redstart. We finally got a break in the rain a bit after ten and then we headed out to explore further down the road. After lots of looking before lunch we didn’t find the remaining target. We had a late lunch at the lodge and went back out again early in the afternoon and this time we had better luck and found a very vocal pair of Cuzco Warblers. Trying to get looks was tough and getting any photos was even harder. Nonetheless I got a few photos when the bird popped into the open ever so briefly. Very happy to have all three targets for the Peru part of the trip wrapped up early on. It was a low diversity day with just three species but when two are lifers that is not bad at all (other warbler for the day was Slate throated Redstart).
Two banded Warbler, Cock of the Rock Lodge, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 5, 2024
Two banded Warbler, Cock of the Rock Lodge, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 5, 2024
Blackburnian Warbler, Carretera a Manú, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 5, 2024
Three striped Warbler, Carretera a Manú, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 5, 2024
Three striped Warbler, Carretera a Manú, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 5, 2024
Russet crowned Warbler, Carretera a Manú, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 5, 2024
The last full day in the area of Cock of the Rock Lodge I explored around the lodge early on before breakfast in a successful attempt to get better photos of Two banded Warblers. During my time around the lodge I also turned up my first Tropical Parula of the trip as well as more Slate throated Redstarts. After breakfast we headed up the road and ran into rain right away which persisted in varying intensity the rest of the morning. At times we were stuck in the vehicle due to the rain and other times got soaked trying to find stuff. In one of the lighter periods of rain we ran across a nice mixed flock that contained Three striped Warblers and Russet Crowned Warblers. Other new warblers for the day seen in various flocks included Blackburnian Warbler and Spectacled Redstart. By the end of the morning I had found seven species of warblers. After lunch and a little break we headed out in the middle of the afternoon to a cock of the rock lek and then did more roadside birding. No new warbler species for the afternoon but we did see a few species. By the end of the day I had seen a total of seven species of warbler.
Slate throated Redstart, Cock of the Rock Lodge, Cuzco, Peru, Dec 6, 2024
After a final night at Cock of the Rock Lodge we had an early breakfast and started the twisty drive back up the mountain with our destination for the day being Wayqecha Lodge (the same spot we stopped for lunch on our way a few days prior). We had an early breakfast and then started the drive up the with frequent stops for roadside birding on the way. Warblers were scattered around in various locations with no new species seen. We had lunch on the road and made it to the lodge a little after two, got settled in and then headed out for another long walk before dinner (no warblers on that walk). I finished the day with six species of warblers.
We started Saturday with a look for another antpitta species before having breakfast. After breakfast we started the very, very long drive to Ipal which involved driving down the mountain we were on and then going back up another mountain range to the other side via a pass in the mountain at over 4100 meters. We did some birding along the way with a few stops but a lot of the day was driving to our destination at the Ipal Ecolodge in Ipal. The only species of warbler for the day was Slate throated Redstart. We arrived at our new lodging around five. The lodge was a bit too rustic for my tastes with no windows and just screens that didn’t keep the bugs out. Thankfully it was only one night.
After a rather restless night of attempted sleep we birded a bit around the small property which produced a Slate throated Redstart as the first warbler of the day. Unfortunately I started to get cold symptoms and appeared to have caught the cold the guide had since the first full day of the trip despite my best efforts to avoid catching it. The weather was again overcast with occasional rain which made being out a bit uncomfortable. After leaving our lodging we headed to a nearby area that featured a nice feeder set up allowing great looks and photo opportunities for a variety of species (mainly tanagers and hummingbirds). As we watched the activity for hours there would also be species moving past in the trees nearby and this included a Tropical Parula and I got some distant photos. We then started the long drive back up over the mountains through the Abra Malaga Pass. The weather continued rainy and cool and we only made a few roadside stops along the way. One stop did produce a new warbler species for the trip with a couple Citrine Warbler in the area of a mixed flock. We arrived at our lodging for the night in a town that is the jump off point for those visiting Machu Picchu so a busy place. My cold symptoms continued and it was a bit tough to sleep. With a noontime flight from Cusco to La Paz scheduled for the next day the guide decided we did not have the time to get any birding in before making the two hour ride to the airport. Initially we were going to have breakfast at the hotel just after six and then leave around seven but for reasons not fully explained we left around this time with a bagged breakfast to have along the way so I ended up at the airport around 8:30AM and had a long wait for my flight. As I was not feeling well I toyed with the idea of canceling the Bolivia trip and heading for home but decided to press on.
Total warbler species for this portion of my trip came to ten species. Although this might not seem like a lot, it was quality and not the quantity for this trip with a total of three new warbler species for me including Pale legged Warbler, Two Banded Warbler and Cuzco Warbler. The other species seen during this portion of the trip included Tropical Parula, Blackburnian Warbler, Three striped Warbler, Citrine Warbler, Russet crowned Warbler, Slate throated Redstart and Spectacled Redstart.
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