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Written by Charles Hesse
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Aug 24, 2006 at 12:00 AM |
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MACHU PICCHU
PERU
AGUAS CALIENTES, CUZCO (Compass)
Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl
Protected/registered status
Best Time for visit (16th April, 2006)
Birding Site Guide
This is probably the most visited tourist site in Peru. The ruins are quite spectacular but ridiculously overpriced. They are accessed from the town of Aguas Calientes which is reached by train from Cuzco or Ollantaytambo. It can be done on a day trip from Cuzco, privately or as part of a tour, but the cheapest way is to buy tickets yourself in Ollantaytambo. The cheapest return fare for the 2 hour journey is a steep US$44. This train leaves Ollantaytambo at 8pm and the return train leaves Aguas Calientes at 5:45am meaning you have to spend at least 2 nights here. The cheapest option would be to camp down by the river but there is plenty of cheap accommodation. We stayed at a hotel by the station paying 30s for a double. The entrance ticket to the ruins is a further 80s (40s for students with a photo ID) which must be bought at the office in Aguas Calientes. The final nail in the coffin is an absurd US$12 return bus fare up to the ruins (less than 20 minutes). We walked the 6km steep trail up in 1 hour and 10 mins but would normally take 1 and a half to 2 hrs. Another option would be to take the bus up and walk back down.
We set off in the dark to get to the ruins early. The first bus up leaves at about 5:30am. Many bird were calling on our walk up including Sickle-winged Guan. Interesting birds around the ruins were Inca Wren (common and very vocal in the early morning in scrub and bamboo), White-tipped Swift (flying over the ruins) and Black-and-blue Tanager. At the top of the ruins there is a trail leading to the Inca Bridge. This was very birdy and I saw White-eared Solitaire, Green Violetear, Green-and-white Hummingbird, Tufted Tit-Tyrant and Azara�s Spinetail plus coatis.
On the walk back down to Aguas Calientes I saw Blue-necked and Saffron-crowned tanagers, Masked Fruit-eater, Sclater�s Tyrannulet, Pale-legged Warbler and Mitred Parakeet. White-capped Dipper on rocks in the river and Black Phoebe nearby. There is a famous Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek along the train tracks a few hundred metres from the old Puente Ruinas station. From the road, walk up the steps or access road and walk along the tracks o where they turn towards the right. Here there is a metal sign reading �113�. After this there are steep, natural walls and shady forest. Here is a good place to see the birds. I heard them and saw them briefly in flight in the evening. Early morning would probably be a better time to look for them. Andean Solitaire was also heard calling from here. On the train ride back to Ollantaytambo, I saw Torrent Duck on a river.
I saw 36 species including 7 lifers
Species seen
Torrent Duck Merganetta armata Seen from train to Aguas Calientes
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Sickle-winged Guan Chamaepetes goudotii
Rock Pigeon Columba livia Introduced species
Mitred Parakeet Aratinga mitrata
White-tipped Swift Aeronautes montivagus
Green Violet-ear Colibri thalassinus
Green-and-white Hummingbird Leucippus viridicauda Endemic
Andean Flicker Colaptes rupicola
Azara's Spinetail Synallaxis azarae
Masked Fruiteater Pipreola pulchra Endemic
Andean Cock-of-the-rock Rupicola peruviana
Sclater's Tyrannulet Phyllomyias sclateri
White-banded Tyrannulet Mecocerculus stictopterus
Tufted Tit-Tyrant Anairetes parulus
Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
Blue-and-white Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
White-capped Dipper Cinclus leucocephalus
Inca Wren Thryothorus eisenmanni Endemic
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Andean Solitaire Myadestes ralloides Heard
White-eared Solitaire Entomodestes leucotis
Tropical Parula Parula pitiayumi
Slate-throated Redstart Myioborus miniatus
Pale-legged Warbler Basileuterus signatus
Blue-gray Tanager Thraupis episcopus
Blue-capped Tanager Thraupis cyanocephala
Saffron-crowned Tanager Tangara xanthocephala
Blue-necked Tanager Tangara cyanicollis
Blue-and-black Tanager Tangara vassorii
Dull-colored Grassquit Tiaris obscura
Tricolored Brush-Finch Atlapetes tricolor
Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis
Golden-billed Saltator Saltator aurantiirostris
Hooded Siskin Carduelis magellanica
Other Fauna
A total of -- species of mammals.
There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles.
Flora
Author: Charles Hesse
www.birdingsiteguide.com |
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Last Updated ( Jul 20, 2008 at 05:48 PM )
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