My name is
Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl. I am 12
years old and live in Somerset, in the UK. I am obsessed with birds, passionate about
conservation and love writing. This is
the second part of my South American Wader Quest...
Next, was another six week trip to
Bolivia, again chasing endemics. Here,
we added Andean Lapwing and Puna Plover in the first few days, two very lovely
birds.
.JPG) |
| Andean Lapwing Vanellus resplendens: © Elis Simpson |
 |
| Puna Plover Charadrius alticola: © Elis Simpson |
Heading from the Paraguay border back towards Santa Cruz, we stopped at a lake in the Andes
Foothills. Sandro, our guide saw a wader
a long way off. He knew it was new for
him but had no idea what it was. We went
down to the edge of the water and Dad immediately identified the bird as a
Least Sandpiper but then started shouting “ow, ow, ow!”. Sandro then started pointing at Dad’s
trousers and shouting “chiwowa!” and we realised Dad was covered up to his
knees in hundreds of red ants and was accidently standing on an ants’ nest. Dad and Sandro tried to swipe the ants off
Dad, but then they both got covered. Mum
and I stayed well away as we weren’t going to risk getting ants on us. When we then ran back to the van, Herman our
driver couldn’t help but laugh at Dad and Sandro, as they tried to get the ants
out of their pants.
 |
| Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla; © Trevor Ellery |
After this, there were four more
waders that we would be trying to search for.
They were special birds. The sort
that you take a huge diversion to see and then spend the day searching
for. The sort that you also feel
devastated if you miss.
From La Paz
we drove up to La Cumbre, at 5,000 metres, which is at the top of the World’s Most Dangerous Road
and enters Cotopata
National Park. I had already felt the effects of high
altitude and so had to make sure that I walked really slowly. This was also the place that I found out that
water boils at a lower temperature at high altitude, so doesn’t really get
hot. I’m not going to forget that bit of
science in a hurry. After we spent some
time searching in the ice, we had fab views of our two target species,
Rufous-bellied and Grey-breasted Seedsnipe.
That was fantastic, as they can be quite tricky to see in other places.
.JPG) |
| Grey-brestaed Seedsnipe Thinocorusorbignyianus; © Elis Simpson |
 |
| Mya-Rose at La Cumbre; © Helena Criag |
Another place that we visited at 5,000
metres was Sajama National Park, on the border with Chile. At this altitude, it was hard to breathe and
walk and I felt headachy. This was
where I tried my first cup of tea, which was coca tea. I also chewed coca leaf, which I didn’t like
at all. It does really help you cope
with altitude sickness, though I think it made me a bit chatty. Sandro was from the Amazon and he was really
affected by altitude even after taking altitude tablets. His body just wasn’t made to be at altitude,
which kinda makes sense.
 |
| The famous Coca Tea; © Helena Criag |
 |
| Mya-Rose and Chris Craig at Sajama; © Helena Criag |
As soon as the sun set, it got really
cold and we had to sleep with our thermals on and lots of blankets. There was no way I was having a cold shower,
no matter how long we were here. It was
bad enough even washing my hands, so I tried not to! It was here that we saw our last target
seedsnipe, which was Least Seedsnipe and brilliant to see.
 |
| Least Seedsnipe Thinocorus rumicivorus; © Alejandro Tello |
The other
target wader here was Diadamed Sandpiper-Plover which we heard but just could not
find. That was really disappointing
after five hours of searching. I was
still looking for my most magical wader.
Mya-Rose’s
Wader Quest continues in Part Three.
 |
| © Helena Craig |
Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig is a young birder, writer and conservationist, her South American wader quest continues in Part Two.
Please like her Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/myarosebirdgirlcraig?ref=hl
.JPG)
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment