Paraguay Day 4; Fortin Toledo & Laguna Capitain

   For our final morning at Fortin Toledo we decided to walk south along the road from our lodging and see what birds we would encounter, with nothing particular on our agenda. It was another overcast day with but activity was good and we recorded a great variety of species once again. The only new species for the trip were Stripe-crowned Spinetail and Chaco Puffbird, but we enjoyed nice views of Aplomado Falcon and the Brushland Tinamou was once again in the garden although it scuttled off before we were able to improve on our previous photos.

  At around 09:00 we set off for Filadelfia, before spending until midday organizing ourselves for our venture into the deeper Chaco. Shopping and lunch were completed around midday, so we set off for the Laguna Capitan campsite, half an hour west of the town. This was supposed to be a half hour drive but various birding stops halted our progress, with highlights including a pond containing eight Masked Duck and three Spotted Nothura at the side of the road. The local race of Spotted Nothura is a potential split, so it was good to get the species seen and nice that it required only minimal effort.

   Before Laguna Capitan we stopped off at another lake that had a good selection of birds. We had several wading birds for the first time here, including a nice flock of Stilt Sandpipers and other commoner species. Ringed Teal was common here, which is always a delightful species to see, and there were three Chilean Flamingos and a pair of Coscoroba Swans.

  We finally reached Laguna Capitan at 15:20, and settled ourselves in. We decided last minute to take a room rather than camp, to help ease our knackered bodies. The Chaco here was pretty quiet, but we had a very responsive Tucuman Pygmy Owl which we had prolonged views of even if it did not sit still.

  But the standout birding here was on the lagoons. The first lagoon was decent, with 27 Roseate Spoonbills seen, but the second lagoon was spectacular. We counted 137 Stilt Sandpipers and 17 Wilsons Phalaropes as the highlights, but a backup cast included an estimated 125 White-rumped Sandpipers, 50 Lesser Yellowlegs and 45 Pectoral Sandpipers. It was an incredible scene, and we ended up covered in mud as we crawled for photos. A nest of Scimitar-billed Woodcreeper was also a nice find here, with the adult bringing in food for a well grown chick.

  At night we returned to the lagoon hoping to catch a Tapir crossing but sadly we did not have any joy. We did see a couple of Pampas Foxes scuttling about, although too fast for photos, and had quite the performance from a pair of Scissor-tailed Nightjars, but otherwise quiet. Since we have a few long nights searching for mammals in the subsequent days.