29/10/2024
Toucan Birding Guides
Bolivia 2024
This year's "Highlands to Lowlands" Bolivia trip with Viviana, Steve and George, included some new destinations like the recently-opened Jucumari Lodge, and the trip was slightly longer in duration than previous years. Our goal was to get 500 species.
Using La Paz as a hub, we made trips out to Copacabana, La Cumbre and the Upper Coroico road, Madidi National Park and La Pampa, Coroico, Jucumari Lodge, Santa Cruz Botanical Gardens, Los Volcanes and Samaipata.
Highlights were - finding a new locality in Bolivia for Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant in Polylepis forest near Copacabana, hearing calls and getting fleeting views of Bolivian Recurvebill, a species I had a hand in rediscovering with Ted Parker up at my study site in Amboro back in 1989; amazing views of Golden-collared Tanager in a mixed flock on the Death Road, being surrounded by Hooded Sumbeams and Chestnut-crested Cotingas up in the high elevation forest, and a Black-winged Parrot that entered a nesting cavity in a tree right beside the path. But, even though it's not a bird, most memorable of all would have to be when we saw, and Steve got some great shots of, not 15m from the road, a Spectacled Bear by the trail at Jucumari Lodge.
On the last afternoon it began to rain and as we headed back to Santa Cruz in the taxi we totted up our totals. We had seen 495 species. Not to be bested, Viviana scouted out an extra locality for us called Laguna Guapilo, an urban lake within the Santa Cruz city limits which looked promising. With less than an hour before dark and with the rain holding off, an abundance of waterfowl and the scope took us up to a total we were all proud of - 505 species.
Photos : Steve Hunter lodge