PEACHFRONT SPEAKS

bolivia trip report part 4: is white-tipped plantcutter the name of an insect or a bird? heck, only its hairdresser knows for sure

2009-10-30 - 11:54 a.m.

© 2009 by elaine radford

puna highland natural alpine garden with pinky-purple flowers all in bloom

Peachfront's note: This is part 4 of my Raptor (Bird of Prey) research tour of Bolivia. To start with Part 1, please click right here. If you missed Part 2, click right here. And you can find Part 3 right here. A bird list will be coming along one of these fine days.

October 20

No need to rise at the crack of dawn. That's the joy of a raptor tour, folks. However, at some point, I did crawl out of bed and lean out the window to inspect the tree-lined patio. Some sort of gray thrush I haven't identified. Eared Dove. Blue and White Swallow. Rufous-Collared Sparrow. Lots of coming and going of the flock(s) of Mitred Parakeets. The most unusual, for me, was the natty rose and gray White-Tipped Plantcutter. I never would have looked in the cotinga section to ID that bird, but fortunately it showed itself outside S. and D's window too, and S. was able to ID it for me when I began to describe it.

Into the highlands, which were not remotely as cool as I imagined. What did I imagine? Snow-tipped Andean peaks, no doubt. My jacket was an unnecessary joke. Heck, at times, it got rather warm as we explored the dry, high road to Oruru, without going all the way to Oruru.

Plegadis, and if you want me to guess whether it was Puna Ibis or White-Faced or what, well, at this point I'll have to say "or what," because I won't be able to figure out the species unless there is only one species that occurs at the elevation in question, just outside Cochabamba. In an overlook with several yellow-flowering cigar plant species, we encountered a most excellent Giant Hummingbird -- the bird even perched for one fleeting moment. A commonly encountered black thrush that looks pretty much like the European Blackbird to me, so I should be able to figure out what it was, but I haven't yet. Bay-Winged Cowbirds by the handful.

puna flowers close-up

As for raptors, we saw Mountain Caracaras perched on rocks on a rather red river. More views of Variable Hawks, which are indeed variable. A wonderful look at a soaring juvenile Black-Chested Buzzard-Eagle, showing well its wedge-shaped tail. Oddly enough, though, no more Andean Condors.

I learned something today. I thought a goat would eat anything, so when we encountered a herd of variously curly-headed and curly-coated goats at lunch time, I offered them some of the bread from my sandwich. They scorned to eat it. Really. The boldest of the goats, a black and white one which came and put two feet on my foot to encourage me to give up some food, actually tasted the bread and then dropped it. What crazy, cock-eyed manner of goats be these???

we curly-headed revolutionary politically correct goats of the puna are not gonna eat your freaking hand-outs, bunky

October 21

The road to Villa Tunari. While still in the dry highlands, we stopped for a half hour or so to scan the skies for more raptors. I photographed some lovely pink alpine flowers, and we counted a number of Mountain Caracaras and Variable Hawks, but found no evidence of migration. Back on the road, we passed through elfin forest and plenty of cloud forest. Peregrine Falcon (distant), plenty of Swallow-Tailed Kites, White-Rumped Hawk, a magnificently graphic black-and-white adult Mountain Caracara doing road patrol, and -- perhaps the most splendid bird of the trip -- a perched Black and Chestnut Eagle, a younger bird. We looked around and eventually also noted a flying adult. A pair of soaring Black Solitary Eagles. Many colorful butterflies. Giant Cowbird. Great Kiskadee. Band-Tailed Pigeon. Tropical Pewee. Near the town of Villa Tunari, we located our first Greater Yellow-Headed Vulture.

On the hotel grounds, I found the Amazonian version of the Blue-Gray Tanager, complete with its light-colored shoulder patch. I hiked a few trails and encountered a mystery woodcreeper, which I have photographed, although badly, since I was losing the light. The damn thing looks for all the world as if its tail were tipped in white. Otherwise, silly me, I might have thought it was identical in pretty much every way to Plain Brown Woodcreeper. Maybe it's a mutant. I shall have to blow up the photograph and investigate further. Stay tuned....

Later: I just reviewed the (admittedly dreadful) photo and it's a perfectly ordinary Plain-Brown Woodcreeper. No white tip on the tail. Maybe my eyes were tired?

waterfall in the cloud forest on the road to villa tunari

Oh, and they have a very tasty river fish in Bolivia called the surubi. Today wasn't the first time I'd tried it, but I might as well mention it here since it's a specialty of the Villa Tunari area. The resort failed to have wine by the glass, but since the whole bottle was only the equivalent of US $6, then we got one anyway, and I'm afraid that D. and I drank the whole bottle, since the quality of the wine wasn't up to S's standards. Hmm. On second thought, can I blame the wine for the non-existent white-tipped woodcreeper?

Whilst on the subject of food and wheeee! I might as well address the question that all of you are wondering about. Yes, legal coca is grown and sold openly, and the tea is available without comment along with the other typical choices of random cheap black tea and random cheap chamomile tea. At least some of it is shade-grown, and I will confess to being somewhat puzzled to see the leaves being dried out in the open in people's front yards in the cloud forest area. It wasn't New Orleans humid, but it was cloud forest humid, and I just couldn't quite figure out how it ever does get dry, but apparently coca runs between the drizzles and the rain drops and manages somehow. Did I drink it? I might as well admit that I did. And, not to be culturally insensitive or anything, but I found it completely ineffective either as a stimulant or as a stomach cure. In other words, to this woman's mind, it simply won't replace coffee for the one and a glass of wine for the other. No doubt it succeeds most brilliantly in its role as a high altitude medicine, but we didn't stay at altitude long enough to be plothered anyway, so we couldn't test it.

But there is always the theory that herb tea doesn't work so well on those who drink alcohol. And even the humble coca leaf is but an herb...so maybe the fault is not in the tea but in myself.

Because there is so much coca grown in the forest area, they have a checkpoint to stop people from bringing in the chemicals used for making full-blown cocaine. They kicked out the DEA and do their own checks. But it's like similar checkpoints in say Arizona. They didn't waste their time searching the SUV jam-packed full of Argentine tourists -- after all, as long as we in the back seat kept our mouths shut, we were all Argentines, right? Anyway, they were too busy dumping out an entire full-sized bus full of Bolivian peasants. I hope it is not too un-PC to say "peasant." since at the moment I'm blocking on any better word for "obviously rural poor agricultural person."

the old morpho flash, but this guy cooperatively poses with open wings so you can see the blue fire even when it's at rest

October 22

Before we headed out to search the forest for raptors, I noted my life Black-Fronted Nunbird on the grounds of the El Puente resort. Then we loaded up the SUV, and we were on our way. Our first Chestnut-Fronted Macaws. I think our first Ringed Kingfisher. The handsomely patterned and well-named Magpie Tanager. I'm pleased to report that I screamed "Umbrella Bird" loud enough to peel paint, and we backed up, and located a very fine male who threw his umbrella crest around and ate berries and otherwise showed himself in fine fashion.

We found a site that allowed for watching plenty of sky and spent some time there watching for raptors. Roadside Hawk, check. A young Black and Chestnut Eagle got chased off by some highly indignant Plumbeous Kites. Nice view of a perched Solitary Eagle.

Yellow-Ridged Toucan, Tropical Parula, and Yellow-Rumped Cacique joined the trip list, but the non-raptor stars of the day were undoubtedly the enormous variety and color of butterfly species. Words don't describe but, among other things, was a Morpho-style that posed with wings open to show the blue flash even when not in motion, and an exquisite butterfly that was a perfect shade of mandarin orange. I doubt I'll be able to ID all of these magnificent species, but I did manage to capture some very nice photos.

my favorite color

According to the lumpers, who seem to have gained ascendency in the Ramphastos world, Yellow-Ridged Toucan is also now Channel-Billed Toucan, but they look different enough to me. I think I will officially tear my hair.

Other life forms back at the resort -- a large lizard with lots of green on its back (but not an iguana) and some capuchin monkeys, including with baby. There was a three inch long THING with horns last night waiting to catch its hapless prey as it entered the restaurant, but I didn't see it again tonight. No forest falcons though. Brats. And we had to step over impressive armies of leaf-cutter ants to find out.

we didn't plan this well, d. is the tallest guy in the group and i'm the smallest, so here is his finger with the vicious insect, put my finger in the photo and it would look even ridiculously bigger than it already was

I think it was at this dinner where L. advised me on the evils of gambling, and I had to repress any number of rebuttals along the lines of, Well, I certainly don't advise it if you're lacking in your math skills. I have to say, one of the more unpleasant aspects of gambling for a living is telling people what you do. It never gets any easier. And it rarely if ever leads down a path where you can suddenly start doing something else for any kind of real money. I always wonder what those people who think "no one wins" think I really do. I'm a little too long in the tooth to be a porn star. Once someone asked if I was an actress on The Office, a program I had never seen at the time, but I've since seen it -- most recently on American Airlines Flight 922 Santa Cruz to Miami -- and I'm baffled to figure out which of the characters I could possibly be.

i highly enjoyed watching the ever-busy mitred aratinga/parakeets making their rounds of cochabamba

You have just finished part 4 of my Bolivia bird of prey trip report. Stay tuned for part 5.

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