Trip Report
Buenos Aires is a pretty long plane flight from just about anywhere but with a day’s rest before the official start of the tour we were ready to walk around Costanera Sur- BA’s local nature reserve. Our local guide, Miguel, was very knowledgeable about the birds and their habitats, and on this tour we were going from the cold snowy regions of Patagonia to the heat and humidity of Iguazu. Having heard that it had been dry at Costanera Sur for several years we were not expecting a lot of water birds, but were pleasantly surprised to find a nice selection of birds including a pair of the uncommon Ringed Teal- quite rare along the coast. Other highlights included a Checkered Woodpecker excavating its nest and a spectacular view of the new high-rise apartments along the waterfront.
Ushuaia was cold and windy and snowy and did I say that it was windy? Despite the fact that it snowed most days the birding was pretty good (for Southern Patagonia) with flocks of migrant Ground-Tyrants on the front lawn of the hotel every day and a flock of beautiful Yellow-bridled Finches in some rough ground along the waterfront. The snowy mountains of Tierra del Fuego towered above the town giving it one of the most attractive settings of any town I have been to, let alone birded in. Waterfowl crowded the muddy fringes of the waterfront giving us a daily selection to enjoy and test our duck identification skills. Both Flying and Flightless Steamer-Ducks were there, along with Chiloe Wigeon, Yellow-billed Pintail and Crested Duck. Magellanic and Blackish Oystercatchers were everyday birds and a daytrip to the National Park was snowy but beautiful culminating in a stunning Great Horned (Magellanic Horned) Owl as well as a pair of Magellanic Woodpeckers feeding in full view of a campsite full of people. It should not surprise me that the birding is better in campsites but after a long walk in the forest, it was just rewards for us to find the birds and then to see them so well!
Boat trips are always enjoyable and our trip on the Beagle Channel was no exception. Of course the chance of seeing a few penguins made for an exciting day and yes, maybe we would even see the handful of Gentoos that were cohabiting with the Magellanic Penguins. We did and yes, I did see a flipper move to disprove those who said that they were stuffed! The boat did cruise very close to several colonies of King Shags allowing us excellent views. We searched for the very elusive Blackish Cinclodes on the rocks, and had to be happy with great views of the (Dark-bellied) not Blackish, Cinclodes. Apparently these birds have occurred on islands in the Beagle Channel, but are very rare now, if they even still exist in the area. Black-browed Albatrosses were cleaving the wind and hundreds of Southern Fulmars were surprisingly still in the channel and had not moved south for the summer. Lunch was at the Harberton Ranch where the birders slowed down the walk and had great views of a female Magellanic Woodpecker at her nest cavity. At least we had good birding before our long drive back to Ushuaia via the very bizarre sled-dog ranch!
El Calafate is THE place to see the very rare Hooded Grebe but the conditions were not that great. Wind, dust and choppy waves on the lake, coupled with the fact that they were diving and mixed in with other grebes, coots, and ducks made for very difficult viewing. All in all somewhat frustrating as the lakes are drying up in the very arid conditions. Other good birds seen that day included Lesser Rhea, Patagonian Yellow-Finch and the unusual Chocolate-vented Tyrant. El Calafate is also the starting point for many of the boat tours that visit the glaciers. While not really a birding excursion, (and our woodland walk being blocked by ice), it was hard to not be impressed by the glaciers, icebergs and even the roosting Andean Condors. It was back to full time birding the next day with outstanding views of the unusual Magellanic Plover at Laguna Nimes that afternoon, before we left for Trelew.
The Valdes Peninsula has always been an outstanding place for wildlife observation with the following highlights: Magellanic Penguins at their colony being harassed by Brown Skuas; a colony of Burrowing Parrots; Elegant Crested Tinamou feeding behind the visitor center and the very wonderful and bizarre Mara. While we did not see (thankfully?) the Orcas that take seal pups off the beach, we had outstanding views of Southern Right Whales on our boat trip from Puerto Piramides.
From our downtown hotel in Buenos Aires it was a spectacular day trip to the Ceibas area near the border with Uruguay. This maze of farmland, ranches, marshes and wetlands was very rich in birdlife. It was in these pastures that we found our first Greater Rheas, along with a Tinamou that was easier to see than most- Spotted Nothura. Whistling-Ducks, Ringed Teal and Brazilian Teal were in the wetlands while Southern Screamers soared overhead. Our Jabiru (alas) turned out to be a Wood Stork, but there were plenty of birds to go around. A small flock of Nacunda Nighthawks flew up from a pasture, a Scimitar-billed Woodcreeper explored the tree line and a pair of Lark-like Brushrunners was on their sticklike nest. Otamendi Reserve produced Giant Wood-Rail, Curve-billed Reedhaunter and the unusual Spectacled Tyrant. We returned to BA tired but with a great list for the day.
From Buenos Aires we drove
to the unusual seaside town of San Clemente del Tuyu, a rather decrepit town,
but with some quite good seafood.
Aside from looking at the local birds, it was time to enjoy some of the
wintering shorebirds- Red Knot, Sanderling, Hudsonian Godwit and Pectoral
Sandpiper, as well as the local specialty- Olrog’s Gull. We were lucky enough to
see at least 20 of these strange gulls along the beachfront.
The nearby ranches were beautiful and full of a mix of marshland and
open-country birds. Icterids were numerous
including the amazing looking Scarlet-headed Blackbird and both Yellow-winged
Blackbird and Brown-and-yellow Marshbird. Quite a few American Golden Plovers
were wintering on the short grasslands amongst the cattle and horses- some
flocks being quite large.
Then it was the longish drive back to BA and a 2 hour plane ride up to Iguazu on
the Brazilian border
Iguazu Falls, in one word,
were awesome! The water literally
thundered over the falls; the spray filling the air over our heads-
wonderful stuff. Apparently the
rain in Brazil had been heavy this year and consequently the water levels down
stream were very high. So high that the Black-collared Swallows had gone
elsewhere. Miguel was in his element here knowing every chip note and call in
the forest; highlights were many including the beautiful Spot-backed Antshrike.
Our visit to Urugua-I Reserve was pretty good with Toco Toucan, Black-fronted
Piping-Guan and Swallow-tailed Manakin. Miguel’s talk about botflies
landing in our scalps was sobering, so down came
our hats over our hair! So when one
of us reported 2 botfly larvae buried in their ankle; that was quite a
revelation!
Thunderous skies and rain
accompanied our departure from Iguazu but the flight back to BA was uneventful.
Argentina is a surprisingly large country that is predominantly Patagonia with
only a little tropical/subtropical forest in the far north. We finished the tour
with about 375 species of birds from penguins to hummingbirds, plus glaciers and
thundering waterfalls- overall a great trip.