The day started early as I hired a taxi to take me to the San Miguel Polyepsis forest (see map under location). We first stopped at the turn off for Liriuni where a Giant Hummingbird was active and a White-browed Chat-Tyrant skulked through the brush. A second stop a few kilometers further up offered a Chiguanco Thrush, a nosiy Grey-headed Parakeet and a female Red-tailed Comet. At the bridge (KM 461), I found Ash-breasted Sierra Finch, Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer, White-winged Black-Tyrant (female), Tufted Tit-Tyrant, Greenish Yellow-Finch, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Bar-winged Cinclodes, White-winged Cinclodes, and Baywing,
Admittedly, this was a frustrating day of birding that seemed much worse than it was. I was having trouble with every aspect: locating birds, focusing, and metering correctly. Given the notoriety of the site, I expected to load up my lifer list, but the warnings that both abundance and diversity are low should have lowered my expectations. I also was not a particularly happy renting a taxi for the day. When we stopped, the driver would amp up his music, which I am sure was not good for the birding. In addition, his taste in music was awful. More importantly, having a driver waiting for me made me feel rushed. I really enjoying birding at a slow pace, but the knowledge that I was paying by the minute ruined the experience.
The most interesting part of the day had nothing to do with birds. Pushing on past the bridge, we came upon a Feria for a small Indian village of maybe 10 stone huts at roughly 4000 meters. The setting was beautiful. The women all wear traditional clothing with wide-brimmed hats to block out the sun (I wonder why men are not similarly capped?). I had not eaten breakfast and asked a women if I could buy some of her food. I ended up with a plate of roadside llama meat that had been smoked dry. While I ate under a blue tarp, an older woman pulled llama cuts from a plastic sack and went about reducing the legs and hind-quarters to edible size for her stew.
After a nap, I met up with BK for dinner at La Estancia, then watched the last 5 minutes of the Mavs-Heat game.
Bird Tally: 11 new, 11 lifers.
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