gryllosblog   Gryllo's (aka Ian Lewis') blog. All things to do with travel, wildlife especially birds, history, architecture and anything else that interests me.

After leaving the Huanaco  we explored areas near Huariaca, notably this steep-sided canyon.

It was a bit of a slog climbing up the steep sides but we were getting used to the altitude.

Meanwhile our ever helpful drivers prepared lunch. Note how the use of a telephoto lens has altered perspective, the front of the bus appearing wider than the back. This ‘size illusion’ can be critical if you are comparing the size of one bird in a photo (say a peep) with another species (say a Dunlin) that is a little way behind it.

Some of the species we encountered well familiar to us like Band-tailed Pigeon ….

…. but eventually we found our target, the rare Rufous-backed Inca-finch.

The following morning we stopped at an area of polylepis forest in the upper Huariaca valley.

We encountered a number of localised species such as this Giant Conebill ….

…. as well as widespread ones like Cream-winged Cinclodes.

One of our main targets was Stripe-headed Antpitta which had eluded us up to now. We eventually caught up with it in this grove of gnarled polylepis trees.

Much of the polylepis forest has been felled, either for firewood or to replace it with alien and wildlife unfriendly eucalyptus which is preferred as its fast growing straight trunks can be used in construction and as windbreaks. However as this photo shows if coppiced polylepis can grow straight and quite quickly.

By the afternoon we arrived in rocky basin that holds the enormous Lake Junin, the second largest lake in Peru (after Lake Titicaca)

Surrounding areas held a good range of species including Burrowing Owl ….

…. Puna Ibis ….

…. this lovely pair of Aplomado Falcons ….

…. the now familiar Black-billed Shrike Tyrant ….

…. Ornate Tinamou (photo by my friend and trip participant Steve Lowe)

Buff-breasted Earthcreepers showed nicely.

In general there is less variation in English from one field guide/checklist to  another the Neotropics than in any faunal region yet the field guide confusingly calls this Plain-breasted Earthcreeper.

This rodent was eventually identified as an Ashy Chinchilla Rat

We could look out on the expansive waters of Lake Junin ….

…. and the many lagoons that fringed its shores.

Photography (for example of this Andean Avocet) was difficult as we would have flushed the birds if we had disembarked, so it had to be done through the single opening window which resulted in several of the group performing strange contortions.

One of the stars of the show were these Chilean Flamingos ….

…. but although Chileans were common we didn’t see James’ or Andean Flamingos, species that mainly occur on the salt flats further south.

One of the highlight of this trip was seeing the normally invisible Black Rail. Although I have heard this species in the USA it is very rarely seen. Patiently waiting with our eyes fixed on this gap in the reeds we waited for one to respond to a tape, in the end we saw a pair but they was too quick for photos. The Lake Junin form differs vocally from other populations and probably should be split as Junin Rail.

With storm clouds gathering ….

…. it was time to head to the town of Junin for our overnight stop

There was time for some birding on the outskirts of the town …,

…. avoiding the gaze of a local knitter ….

…. we searched for species like D’Orbigny’s Chat-tyrant and ….

…. Andean Flicker

The following morning we met up with a boatman who took us along a channel and out into the middle of the lake.

The boat was at its mooring but the outboard was safely stowed elsewhere. The boatman slung the 80kg engine over his shoulder and ran towards us; all this at an altitude of 4100m !

Many birds were seen on our way out such as this Great Egret

Andean Gulls were breeding on the margins of the lake ….

…. and were are constant companions until we were far from shore.

The many ducks included Yellow-billed Teal ….

…. Puna Teal ….

…. and Andean Duck, a species that is sometimes lumped with the North American Ruddy Duck

White-tufted Grebes were easy to find but they were not our main target ….

Far out in the middle of the lake we came across four Junin Grebes, a flightless species endemic to this one lake. Official estimates give a population size of over 400, but our boatman, a local warden and others who know the area well think it could be as low as 40. The species is threatened by pollution from local mines and the introduction of Rainbow Trout.

Until the 70s there were 23 species of grebe in the world but in a short space of time three went extinct, one each in Madagascar, Guatamala and Colombia. In each case it was due to a change in water use, usually the introduction of predatory fish which ate all their food or the pollution from agriculture. It now looks like two more species will join them in the near future, Junin Grebe and the Hooded Grebe of Patagonia. Junin Grebe was the last of the 20 extant grebes for my world list but my joy in seeing it was tempered by the thought that we could be some of the last birders to do so.

Whilst the outboard and boatman were delivered to their rightful destinations we birded around the nearby buildings seeing many Bright-rumped Yellow-finches

…. some living up to their name.

Also there were good numbers of the beautiful Black Siskin.

The male Black Siskin in particular is quite a stunner.

We had good views of this Andean Cavy, the wild ancestor of the Guinea Pig.

Our time at Lake Junin ended with a search for a hummer called Black-breasted Hillstar, whilst we did see it well, it was nesting inside a barn and the photos were poor. However this Magellanic Horned Owl that was found nearby posed nicely.