Day 9. 3 Dec 2022. Paron lake
Yes, Paron lake was great…… and we decided to spend another day birding in the area before leaving the Cordillera Blanca. We still needed to find the Black-winged Ground-doves, so our first stop was at the agricultural fields before entering the National Park. We found several Eared and Bared-faced Ground-doves, but any Black-winged. They’re supposed to be common, but we couldn’t find any !!! Instead, we found a lot of common birds like Plain-colored Seedeaters, a few Golden Grosbeaks, Hooded Siskins, and a Green-tailed Trainbearer.
Once we entered a more humid habitat the birds became more interesting. In the forest we found Black and Tyrian Metaltails, and flock of Mountain Parakeets. Also, the Tit-Spinetails also came into the scene with Rusty-crowned and Line-cheeked Tit-spinetails showing very well. We even found a Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant on top of the bushes.
The vegetation along the Llullán river is quite interesting, more humid than other close places. As we gained elevation, the bird activity became more fascinating. First, we had several common birds like Band-tailed Pigeon, Red-crested Cotinga, and Black-crested Warbler. But we also had some special ones: Ancash Tapaculo, Rufous-chested Tanager, and Plain-tailed Warbling Finch.
We were just below Paron lake at around 10:00 AM. The habitat was still humid, despite the 13,150 feet of elevation. Here, we left the road and got into the forest for a short walk. We were surrounded by a vegetation dominated by Lupine bushes. During the walk we added more birds to the day’s list: Variable Hawk, Stripe-headed Antpitta, Rufous-eared Brushfinch, among others.
At the Paron lake
We reached the lake shortly after noon. Today we walked along a short trail on the southern shore. We didn’t add more birds to the list, but we had the chance to take pictures of the Rufous-eared Brushfinch.
It was a tranquilo day, enjoying the whole experience, not just the birds. The weather was perfect, giving us a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape.
We drove back to Caraz early, wanting to take a rest after more than a week birding intensively. So far, the objectives of this scouting trip were being accomplished, the final and definitive itinerary was almost ready.
Tomorrow, we will leave the Cordillera Blanca behind and get back to the Pacific coast. We still can add more birds to the trip’s list, so the drive is going to be interesting.
Here you can find out what happened on day 10 of the trip: https://greentours.com.pe/san-luis-to-the-pacific-coast-day-10/
To follow this trip report from the begining please visit https://greentours.com.pe/birding-huascaran-national-park-scouting-trip-report-day-1/
Wilson Diaz
