Having spent the night in Filadelfia, due to the weather, and with said weather having not improved but still being overcast and drizzly, we decided to skip birding early morning around the town and instead drive the three hours to our next destination; the Enisco National Park. This did mean skipping the traditionally best part of the day but with the weather, that did not really matter. And we found a pair of Black-legged Seriema on the road as we were driving, a species that had somehow eluded us until that point.
We arrived at the park offices at 10:00, and
after checking in and organizing ourselves we decided to set straight off out
onto the road to find some birds. Our visit started well, with a Great Rufous
Woodcreeper in the garden, my first new species for the day. The first sections
of the road we stopped and had some success with good species like Rufous Casiornis
and Plain Inezia.
After a bit of research, we got the
impression that our main target, the Black-crested Finch was further along the
road, so we drove the 38 kilometer dirt road to the location where we hoped to
find it. We had heard this road was sandy and difficult to drive, but we had no
such problem, probably helped in large part by the weather and the drive was relatively
straightforward, although we do have a big 4x4. The only bird of note we saw
during this drive was a presumably stunned Chaco Owl sat by the side of the
road, which we picked up and moved to a safe location.
Once we arrived in the area, we could tell
the birdlife was a little different when we immediately found Dull-coloured
Grassquit, whilst listening to Small-billed Tinamou calling. It was enjoyable
birding and it paid off after half an hour when we found a flock of around
eight Black-crested Finch. Sadly they were not especially approachable, but
since this was one of my main targets for the whole trip, I was glad to have connected.
The drive back was also lively with birdlife.
On the road we saw two different Crested Gallito, although always distant, and
had a surprise bonus bird with a Chaco Earthcreeper. Not a species I had marked
for this location. Other birds included an impressive number of Dark-billed
Cuckoos in the roadside bushes, as well as commoner species. We arrived back at
the campground at 17:00 and settled ourselves in before heading out again.
The first
few hours of our night drive were uneventful, as we drove 20 kilometres to try
find a Striped Owl, which never gave us a response. Still, we were able to find
Common Potoo and Little Nightjar in the same area, so it was not a complete
loss. However, the night escalated quickly right at the end. We wanted to check
an area near the campsite for Plains Viscacha, but just before we arrived there
we heard some rustling in the vegetation. The torch revealed a Tapir feeding in
the roadside vegetation! It showed well, but moved off before any photos could
be taken. The Viscacha were easy to find and showed well, although the nearby
farms dog came to join us and understandably caused a few problems.
Back at the
camp, a Rufous Nightjar was calling so we tried to find it. We managed one view
of the bird close overhead as it passed, but whilst doing this we had brief views
of another Tapir and a Three-banded Armadillo! It was a phenomenal end to the
night!
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