Birding from Huaraz, Peru

So this post is going to be a bit different from my usual post. Put simply, there will be no good bird photos in this post as I was primarily hiking in this region so didn’t carry my heavy camera! All the photos in this post were taken with an iPhone.

We have just taken two hikes from Huaraz. The primary purpose was trekking and acclimatising to higher altitude before I attempt some higher peaks. On both days we went to over 4,500m. However, I did carry a pair of binoculars and it was great to see some very different birds to where we have been further north.

Day 1 – Laguna Churup

We saw a pair of Mountain Caracara flying alongside the collectivo we were using to get to the starting point. Setting off from the Trailhead at 3,800m we saw the usual Rufous Collared Sparrow, Plumbeous Sierra Finch and Cinerous Conebill. As we gained altitude we added the lovely Green Headed Hillstar, Ash-breasted Sierra Finch and several sightings of Variable Hawk (told by its white tail with black band).

Reaching the laguna we were delighted to see several new birds including Andean Goose (distant), a total of 8 Crested Ducks, a pair of Silvery Grebe and a single Pied-Billed Grebe. I explored the river coming out of the lagoon and quickly added a Long-Tailed Mockingbird, White-Throated Tyrannulet and d’Orbigny’s Chat Tyrant. On the way down we added Tit-like Dacnis and Black-Throated Flowerpiecer. Altogether we saw 19 species of which 10 were new for me. I ended the day on 994 for the trip so far.

Since there are no photos of the birds. Here are some pictures of the wonderful scenery.

Day 2 – Laguna 69

The next day we set off on the longer and higher hike to Laguna 69. Before even arriving at the trailhead (a three hour mini-bus ride from Huaraz) I was seeing some great birds. As we past Lagunas Llanganuco we saw several pairs of Andean Goose but also Andean Lapwing, Puna Ibis and Slate-Coloured Coot.

Starting the hike we passed a gentle river and several Cream-Winged Cinclodes and a couple of White-Winged Cinclodes were present. With 5 lifers on the morning I noted with interest that I was now on 999 for the trip/year. A milestone was pending!

As the focused moved on to huffing and puffing up 600m of ascent to get to the famous Laguna, the bird watching took a secondary priority. I was keen to have a good sighting for my 1,000 (not a half sighting or unreliable ID). Besides the vegetation and scenery was really interesting too. We made the Laguna 69 and enjoyed our lunch.

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On the way back down a couple of birds were singing from nearby shrub and I thought this could be it. Sure enough before long we were confident of an ID and even had a terribly dodgy iPhone picture to mark the occasion.

My 1,000 bird of the trip was… a Rusty-Crowned Tit-Spinetail.

This was a special moment I had dreamed of before leaving home when I set the target to see 1,000 species of birds in one continuous journey.

It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of many wonderful guides during this trip – Rafa, Joel and Eddy in Mexico, Julio in Belize, Alfredo in Guatemala, Esteban, Santiago, Nestor and Octavio in Costa Rica, Stacey and Luis in Panama, Cristian, Luz, Pablo and Freddy in Colombia, Danny in Ecuador. Thank you all! You have great local knowledge, birding skill and passion.

But I want to dedicate this moment to my good friend Rick Goater. Rick has taught me more about birding than anyone. I had always enjoyed wildlife and photography but Rick has turned me into a “proper birder”. With days raptor watching in the highlands, sea watching from Fife and learning to listen to birds and identify them by sound, I am happy to call Rick my mentor and even more so my good friend. Thank you Rick!

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On the way down we added three more lifers Andean Flicker, Chiguanco Thrush and Rufous-Eared Brushfinch.

On the drive out we added Yellow-Billed Teal and Andean Gull (both lifers) and then a Black-Crowned Night Heron in the Lagunas.

Summary of Trip so far

At the end of the day my trip total was 1,005 birds. Of these 40 are heard only (not seen). A remarkable 975 of the birds seen were lifers (not too surprising as I have never birded in the America’s before this trip).

Country totals are as follows (with links to eBird trip reports)

	Country Total	Lifers	Photo Lifers	Total to date
Mexico	255	233	70	255
Belize	185	72	34	328
Guatemala	175	63	16	391
Honduras	52	7	6	398
El Salvador	9	1	0	399
Nicaragua	47	5	0	404
Costa Rica	342	182	98	584
Panama	183	69	31	656
Colombia	356	241	150	898
Ecuador	198	85	67	983
Peru	31*	22*	0*	1005*

*Obviously there is more birding to come so I expect these total to be added to.

There is still more to the trip – I plan to do birding in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil too! With this in mind, I am not sure what my final trip total will be, but one target is to have photographed 1,000 species of bird (I am on 845 currently) and perhaps getting to 2,000 on my life list (currently 1,591) or 1,500 for the trip. I will enjoy trying anyway.

Thanks you following my journey.