Little time between tour at the moment. After a brief respite in south-west Scotland (nothing much of note, just a nice break with Mrs. B.), I was back in Peru again. This time I was in the central Andes in search of endemic species. We started on the coast at Lomas de Lachay in thick fog. We still managed to see Cactus Canastero, Coastal and Thick-billed Miners despite the less than favourable conditions before moving on to the Santa Eulalia Valley. Start birds in the valley the next morning included Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch, Canyon Canastero, Black Metaltail, Bronze-tailed Comet, Peruvian Pygmy-Owl, Rusty-bellied Brush-finch and Great Inca-Finch. Magellanic Horned Owl found by Kraig Kemper while searching for the pygmy-owl was a long overdue "Peru tick" for me too.The following day we made our way from the west slope to the cloud forests of Pampa Hermosa by way of Marcopomacocha where we saw this handsome Diademed Sandpiper-Plover in thick snow. Once again despite the seemingly unfavourable conditions we did very well seeing Dark-winged Miner, Junin Canastero, Black-breasted Hillstar and most importantly the rare White-bellied Cinclodes. Andean Condor was one of the last birds we saw before heading over the pass and down the east slope to Pampa Hermosa where amongst many other good birds (Lanceolated Monklet for example) we saw yet another Peruvian endemic in the form of Creamy-bellied Antwren.
A great start to the trip ..........
