South America: Where? (1 Viewer)

[Jon.Bryant]

Forgot to mention, that if birding around the Bella Vista area, there seem to be quite a few good private 'reserves', where I think you would need to 'book' in advance (and then pay for entry), so a bit of logistics (and potentially language issues) if you do it by yourself. Arranging a tour cuts out a lot of the red tape of co-ordinating visits to these private reserves.

The places we visited were fantastic - after first light bird watching, coffee and breakfast would is normally provided! Places that spring to mind are

• An amazing Oilbird site (not sure of the site name) - you have to arrange to meet the owner (Antonio) who will unlock the gate leading to the gorge
• A stunning Cock-of-the-Rock lek (again not sure of the site name), which is on a finca - dawn at the lek then back to the farmhouse for breakfast and coffee. This is not the site below, where you can see the Cock-of-the-Rock, but generally fewer number and with not so good photographic opportunities.
• Refugio Paz de Aves - this is actually not one place! The guides (Angel Paz and family), take you to 4 different spots in the area (I say take, but our driver followed their lead). At each spot they try for Ant Pittas (2 at one spot), which they feed and hence are reasonably showy. There are other good birds to see, and again the 'excursion' includes breakfast and coffee.
• Recinto 23 de Junio (Long-wattled Umbrellabird lek) - The site is on private farmland and I think would be tricky (and mean) to try and find without arranging access. The owner of the land escorted us up the 30 minute walk, and he was a great source of knowledge about the behaviour of the birds.
• Amagusa - probably more accessible than the above without pre-booking, as I think Sergio and Doris live there, but you basically stand on their back veranda at dawn and watch the amazing garden and bird feeders. I think they are up with the lark, so probably no chance of scaring the whits out of them when they wake up, drawn the curtains and you are stood outside!
• Zuroloma - Great feeders for three Antpittas and lots of Hummingbirds, in a very tiny reserve. Again you pay for access and they bring you breakfast, and you will probably need the owner to take you to try and see White-throated Screech-Owl.

There are also lots of hummingbird feeders at restaurants that you need to know about (and patronage), if you want to maximise the number of species seen.

Finally, even at Bella Vista itself, some of the birds seem quite local, so using a guide is very helpful - Tanager Finch and Streak-headed Antbird spring to mind.

 

[temmie]

Jon, thank you so much for the incredibly detailed reply - much appreciated. We're moving house today, so I'll have to process all of that information at some point in the next few days!
It sounds like an incredible area with fantastic birding opportunities, and I will have to brave altitude sickness to attempt Royal Cincloides - your advice re. acclimatisation is helpful, something I didn't bother with (and ultimately regretted) in Ethiopia.

Remember that each and everyone on this topic said you won't see everything / there are too many birds / the altitude is a factor.
You need time, stamina and you would need to organize some things beforehand. I understand the combination of landscapes, cultural sites and birds is irresistible, but this is an overwhelming trip to do with 2 weeks around Cuzco.

We are not that fit, but by acclimatizing first, we felt fine on the trail (and had enough energy to get Vilcambamba Tapaculo at the high pass).

This got me thinking; I was pretty convinced I heard (and saw) Vilcabamba Tapaculo at the lower end of the Polylepis valley below Nevado Veronica (around here: 13°09'13.0"S 72°17'11.7"W · -13.153611, -72.286583 ) but later (back home), I read / heard someone saying that it shouldn't occur there, and I concluded it must have been Puna Tapaculo, which is the default Tapaculo in the valley. I don't know though if both could occur together. In any way, I see very few points in ebird around Abra Malaga with Vilcabamba Tapaculo records, and the only one with a picture (https://ebird.org/checklist/S209342224) is imho not Vilcabamba (the marker is too low for either Vilcabamba or Puna. The tapaculos occurring around the marker are Diademed and Trilling, and I actually think that's a Trilling on the picture).
Also, the area is chock-full of observations of Puna Tapaculo. So if I remember well, I concluded there was no Vilcabamba Tapaculo at Abra Malaga, and even though I would have very much liked to be (one of) the first to have a sighting of that bird over there, I think I was simply confusing Vilcabamba with Puna and so have others.

 

[Jon.Bryant]

Also, the area is chock-full of observations of Puna Tapaculo. So if I remember well, I concluded there was no Vilcabamba Tapaculo at Abra Malaga, and even though I would have very much liked to be (one of) the first to have a sighting of that bird over there, I think I was simply confusing Vilcabamba with Puna and so have others.

Sorry, should have made it clearer - yes we saw Puna at Abra Malaga, but we tape lured in a very showy Vilcabamba Tapaculo near Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail. The reason I mentioned this bird, is that it is probably the main bird to see on the trail, as as you say, it is not at Abra Malaga - and to point out that by doing a bit of acclimatization, we were not completely shattered (and beyond looking for Tapaculos) on the highest parts of the trail.

 

[temmie]

Sorry, should have made it clearer - yes we saw Puna at Abra Malaga, but we tape lured in a very showy Vilcabamba Tapaculo near Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail. The reason I mentioned this bird, is that it is probably the main bird to see on the trail, as as you say, it is not at Abra Malaga - and to point out that by doing a bit of acclimatization, we were not completely shattered (and beyond looking for Tapaculos) on the highest parts of the trail.

Thanks, I got confused indeed!
If one wants to see the full set of Vilcabamba birds, I'd recommend doing the Salkantay trekking to Macchu Pichu, or at least visit the valley over there. The Salkantay trekking itself is quite spectacular (if the weather cooperates), but it goes to somewhere around 5000 MASL so not for those with altitude sickness issues.

 

[Jon.Bryant]

so not for those with altitude sickness issues

I think altitude sickness is rather unpredictable.

We did Er La Pass, China (c4300m) - very poorly, but with no real acclimatization, Abra Malaga and the Inca trail, Ecuador (c4300m) - fine even on our first day at Abra Malaga, when we hadn't really acclimatized (but I suppose we had stayed a few days in Cuzco beforehand), and then recently Wild Yak Valley, China (5000m+) - fine but only after spending over a week at 3000-4000m, acclimatizing (and bird-watching).

I know others who have also suffered 'randomly' - fine one time and awful on another occasion.

I think best to assume you need to acclimatize, and when at altitude take it easy and slow - which is my default bird watching pace in any case!

The good thing with Abra Malaga is that you can descend easily if you start to get a headache or feel nauseous, so I think a reasonable place to get used to the thin air. We used Ollantaytambo town as a base to explore the area, which is about 2,800m so a nice base to sleep.

 

[temmie]

I agree about all of that, but the Salkantay goes over a 4900 (or 5100, can't remember) pass that's quite steep and demanding, with nothing around if things go bad. I got over the pass fine but my wife was breathing like a fish on dry land.

 

[sneil]

‘I think altitude sickness is rather unpredictable.’……..

‘Happy Tea’ helps 😉…….

 

[Jon.Bryant]

‘I think altitude sickness is rather unpredictable.’……..

‘Happy Tea’ helps 😉…….

I must admit the hotel we stayed at at Ollantaytambo had the coca candies, which of course we tried ... perhaps this was why we felt fine at Abra Malaga!

 

[James Lowther]

I think altitude sickness is rather unpredictable.

We did Er La Pass, China (c4300m) - very poorly, but with no real acclimatization, Abra Malaga and the Inca trail, Ecuador (c4300m) - fine even on our first day at Abra Malaga, when we hadn't really acclimatized (but I suppose we had stayed a few days in Cuzco beforehand), and then recently Wild Yak Valley, China (5000m+) - fine but only after spending over a week at 3000-4000m, acclimatizing (and bird-watching).

Cuzco is at ~3450m, i think a few days acclimatisation there will be enough to enable many people to get up to 4300m during the day without too many problems.

cheers,
James

 

[Jon.Bryant]

Cuzco is at ~3450m

I must admit this is higher than I thought, but saying that, we saw plenty of people feeling awful on the Inca trail, plus a birder with bad altitude sickness at Abra Malaga, so I think it can be more difficult to acclimatise for some.

General advice is that once over 3000m you should only ascend (and sleep) 300-400m higher each day, which is often not that practical or possible. Anyway, we convinced ourselves that Abra Malaga before the exertion of the Inca Trail helped.

 

[Jon.Bryant]

4300m during the day

Sorry, missed the last bit. I think the problem with the Inca trail could be that once you do the highest pass, you stay (and camp) relatively high. I recall the main descent was on the last full day and on the final early morning walk to the ruins.

 

[James Lowther]

Sorry, missed the last bit. I think the problem with the Inca trail could be that once you do the highest pass, you stay (and camp) relatively high. I recall the main descent was on the last full day and on the final early morning walk to the ruins.

I don’t think the campsites are that high compared with Cuzco see e.g. Inca Trail Elevation Gain Day by Day and the Total

I think the main issue is people starting the trail without spending time acclimatising in Cuzco beforehand which is very risky. Obviously exertion at that high altitude is risky in itself also.

Cheers
James