Another sunny morning in this 6th day of the trip. Today, we went birding around lake Paron, a beautiful, calm place, with very few visitors. A hidden gem of the Huascaran National Park. As usual, we started early in the morning driving up the mountains of the Cordillera Blanca.
Birding the Rio Lullán
As soon as we entered the park, we were surrounded by a beautiful humid forest. Driving up along the Lullán river, we noticed that the forest here was more humid than the ones we visited in the previous days.
We found some interesting birds while gaining elevation. First, we had several very active Red-crested Cotingas trying to establish their breeding territories. They were moving up and down the hill, chasing each other, competing to get the best spot on top of the trees.
As we got higher, we had more interesting birds like Black Metaltail, Rusty-crowned Tit-spinetail, Andean Flicker, and Jelski’s Chat-tyrant.
Lake Paron
We reached lake Paron at around 11:00 am. The lake is at an elevation of 13,800 feet, surrounded by impressive glaciers, as high as 18,400 feet.
The lake itself has not birds at all, but the surrounding Polylepis forest was full of bird activity. The first birds to welcome us were Stripe-headed Antpitta, Streak-throated Canastero, Taczanowski’s Ground-Tyrant, and a lot of Tit-like Dacnis.
There is an old trail that goes along the northern shore of the lake. We expected to have great birding here since this trail is not regularly visited by tourists. And we were not wrong !! we just walked less than 3 miles (the way round) and had superb views of three endemic species: White-cheeked Cotinga, Ancash Tapaculo, and Rufous-eared Brushfinch. World class birding and magnificent scenery !!!!
As a bonus, we had more great birds before leaving the lake: a couple of beautiful Thick-billed Siskins.
The way back to Caraz
We started our drive back to the hotel at around 04:00 pm. Several stops along the Lullán river added more species for the day: flocks of Band-tailed Pigeons, Mountain Parakeets and Brown-bellied Swallows; also, a Plain-tailed Warbling Finch posed for us for several minutes. We also had good views of Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant and Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant.
There was still sunlight when we arrived to the hotel, so we spent some time birding around the garden. The common garden birds today were Croaking Ground-dove, Spot-throated Hummingbird, White-crested Elaenia, Hooded Siskin, Golden Grosbeak, and Band-tailed Seedeater,
After a spectacular dinner at the lodge, we got ready for tomorrow’s birding adventure. Lake Paron is a great destination for birding and landscape photography, a place anyone visiting the Cordillera Blanca can’t miss.
Tomorrow we are going back to lake Llanganuco, but this time to higher elevations, beyond the lake, looking for more Polylepis birds.
You can start reading this trip report from day one by visiting https://greentours.com.pe/birding-huascaran-national-park-scouting-trip-report-day-1/
Or read the latest post here: https://greentours.com.pe/back-to-lake-llanganuco-day-7/
Wilson Diaz
