Short-winged (Titicaca) Grebes, Bolivia 27 August 2006.

We finished our Bolivia trip at Lake Titicaca with a speciality trout lunch overlooking a bay where I have regularly seen the flightless Short-winged Grebe in the past. We were also able to watch White-tufted Grebes, Yellow-shouldered Blackbirds, Wren-like Rushbirds and Many-coloured Rush-tyrants nearby as we waited for the grebes to appear from behind banks of reeds.

Next trip: Manu, Peru starting October 10th 2006.

Ochre-naped Ground-tyrant & Andean Ibis, Bolivia 27 August 2006.

A stop for Giant Coot between the Sorata Valley and Titicaca proved productive with Ochre-naped Ground-tyrant, Andean Ibis, Grey-breasted Seedsnipe and a good selection of waterfowl on the pool too.

Rusty-vented (Berlepsch's) Canastero, Bolivia 27 August 2006.

Since leaving Cochabamba we've visited Oruro on the Altiplano for flamingos, Inquisivi for Bolivian Spinetail, Sud Yungas near Chulumani for Scimitar-winged Piha and Nor Yungas near Coroico for Yungas Tody-tyrant and Upland Antshrike. We've made our way up to La Paz for the final day of the tour visiting the Sorata Valley and Lake Titicaca. This morning we've had another look at the Black-hooded Sunbeam (a crippling hummingbird endemic to Bolivia) in the Sorata Valley before heading back toward the pass and stopping in a likely-looking area for canasteros. The Berlepsch's Canastero is restricted Mt Illampu near La Paz and the Sorata Valley is one of the best sites to see this taxon. Some authorities do not accept its species status and it certainly is similar to the Rusty-vented Canastero, indeed it responded immediately to a recording of that species here.
The top image is of one of the Berlepsch's seen this morning and the rufous outer two retrices can be noted with the third partly so. Below this image is a photo of Rusty-vebnted Canastero taken above Pojo between Comarapa and Cochabamba. These appear to show less rufous in the tail (tail appears mainly black) and apparently more rufous in the wing.

Crested Quetzal, Bolivia 21 August 2006.

The lower stretches of the Chapare (Cochabamba - Villa Tunari) Road are a little disappointing in my opinion. There are few opportunities to get away from the road on trails, and where there are trails the forest tends to be heavily impacted by human activities. The "Substation Trail" produced a few goodies though, including this fine Crested Quetzal. Joe spotted a pair in this fruiting tree and this male was the least obscured by branches. A rare opportunity to study these striking birds from above as our trail passed by the subcanopy of the huge tree below us. Straw-backed Tanager, Versicoloured Barbet and Blue-banded Toucanets attended another fruiting tree further along the trail.

Peruvian Chat-tyrant & Chestnut-crested Cotinga, Bolivia 21 August 2006.

Travelling out from our base in Cochabamba, we visited the Chapare Road today. Our first stop was KM 70 near the turn-off to Tablas Monte. This has been a reliable site for Chestnut-crested Cotinga on my previous visits and it didn't fail us today. From the main road you get a pretty good view over the canopy of what forest there is left here and it wasn't too long before Simon Fogg found this bird. White-eared Solitaires and this roadside Peruvian Chat-tyrant were noted here too.
A trail uphill on the other side of the road produced great views of the near endemic Hooded Mountain-toucan before we descended to the Miguelito area around KM99.

Grey-hooded Parakeet & Giant Hummingbird, Bolivia 20 August 2006.

Another couple of pics for our day on Cerro Tunari near Cochabamba: The Grey-hooded Parakeet is restricted to montane valleys in Bolivia and N. Argentina but is certainly easy to see here near Cochabamba. The Giant Hummingbird is more widespread but a welcome diversion from searching for Maquis Canastero (which we saw).

Short-tailed Finch, Bolivia 20 August 2006.

We spent today on Cerro Tunari, only an hour out of Cochabamba. We started well with Bolivian Blackbirds and Bolivian Warbling-finches seen before breakfast and then Rufous-bellied Saltator, Striped Woodpecker and eventually a superb Cochabamba Mountain-finch before lunch. We spent most of our time on the arid bushy slopes today but also made it to the puna zone for some high altitude birding. One of the highlights up here were a couple of Short-tailed Finches. We had searched a promising area of boulder-strewn valley before spotting two birds in a less-likely area where we had seen the similar Plumbeous Sierra-finches only an hour or so earlier. Through the 'scope the red eye of the Short-tailed Finch, bordered below by a whitish crescent could be noted as well as the structural differences between the two similar birds. We had them side-by-side for comparison at one time.

Rock Earthcreeper, Bolivia 19 August 2006.

Birds seen in the Comarapa area after the Red-fronted Macaws included Olive-crowned Crescentchest, Red-tailed Comet, Rusty-browed Warling-finch, Bolivian Warbling-finch, Bolivian Earthcreeper, Bolivian Blackbird and Giant Antshrike.
Today it was time to move on to Cochabamba (a long journey) stopping in the cloud forests of Cerro Siberia and tree-line for Black-throated Thistletail before passing onto the more arid valleys near Cochababa. This Rock Earthcreeper was found in a likely spot (deep ravines with earthy banks for nesting) above Pojo at lunctime with Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer and Citron-headed Yellow-finch seen in the late afternoon.

Red-fronted Macaws, Bolivia 17 August 2006.

Leaving Santa Cruz we found some Military Macaws, Ochre-cheeked Spinetails and Dot-fronted Woodpecker near Samaipata before moving on to Comarapa.

The endemic Red-fronted Macaw is naturally a "must-see" species on any trip to Bolivia. On my previous three visits this bird has been quite easily found in the Rio Misque valley near Saipina. We were in place pre-dawn but the expected fly-by of birds coming out of roost did not materialise so wandered around the fields hoping to hear their raucous calls. No joy. We found the endemic Cliff Parakeet and the hoped-for Black & Chestnut Warbling-finch but things were looking grim for the macaws (and us!). Asking some locals we discovered that the macaws were particularly thin on the ground at the moment in the area so I hired a local as a guide who knew of a nesting area. This excursion involved about an hour's walk along the valley to some high cliffs and sure enough there they were!

Checkered Woodpecker, Bolivia 11 August 2006.

Checkered Woodpecker is another species characteristic of dry thorny woodlands intermixed with savannah in South America. I have also seen this species in "cerrado" (Chaco-like habitat on the central tablelands) near Chapada dos Guimaraes in Brazil. Leaving the Chaco and heading north to Santa Cruz we saw a couple of Golden Collared Macaws before reaching the city in a strong gusting wind. The next couple of days birding nearby were difficult indeed in the blustery conditions and we were glad to leave the lowlands for the hills of Samaipata on 15th August.

Many-coloured Chaco-finch, Bolivia 11 August 2006.

We left Camiri early this morning and headed to Boyuibe and east into the Chaco where we saw a variety of birds typical of the thorny woodlands there. One of the first to appear was this handsome Many-coloured Chaco-finch - shame the Black-legged Seriemas heard calling on and off all day didn't decide to venture out on the roads though. Chaco Earthcreeper, Lark-like Brushrunner, Little Thornbird, Crested Gallito, Short-billed Canastero and Brushland Tinamou were welcome too in a hot and dusty day in the Chaco.

Spot-backed Puffbird, Santa Cruz 10 August 2006.

The Bolivia group met up in Santa Cruz on 9th and a couple of us saw a pair of Red-legged Seriemas before leaving the airport! The following day we headed south out of Santa Cruz towards the Chaco. We stopped en route at some savannah and light Chaco woodlands. One of the first birds to start the dawn chorus was this Spot-backed Puffbird but he took some finding in the end. Notable species between Santa Cruz and Camiri (where we stayed for two nights on the edge of the Chaco) included Stripe-backed Antbird, Greater Rhea, Bolivian Slaty-Antshrike, Rufous Casiornis, Ringed Teal and White Monjita.

BOLIVIA August 10 - 28 2006.

The latest trip was to Bolivia and the photo shows a view across La Paz, the highest capital in the world. El Alto, where the airport is situated is at 4,100 m above sea-level, whereas the official "centre" sits at 3,600 m. We began our tour of South America's poorest country in the lowlands near Santa Cruz de la Sierra, steadily gaining altitude after an excursion into the Chaco through Samaipata, Comarapa, on up to Cochabamba, Oruro, Inquisivi, the Sud Yungas near Chulumani, Nor Yungas of Coroico and finishing with excursions out of La Paz.