Paraguay Day 7; Enciso National Park

  For our first full day in Enciso National Park we set off back up the road to the Bolivian border, this time aiming to reach further than we had the previous afternoon and with no stops, with the park and only birding beyond the furthest border where the Chaco ended. It was a long drive on often sandy roads but we had an enjoyable time with all our targets seen.

  In the same area where we had found the Black-crested Finch the previous day we found several more individuals, sometimes showing better than they had yesterday. That said they were still elusive and did not perform incredibly well. Continuing along the road we picked up Yellow-browed Tyrant for the trip list and a Paraguaian rarity with a White-tipped Plantcutter, an unexpected bird for our trip. As we reached the community of Nuevo Asuncion, there was a very showy Roseate Spoonbill in a roadside puddle and we were able to get some nice pictures.

  Not far after the community we parked up and began to walk. In this area we wanted to find the Spot-winged Falconet but did not know exactly where to look. A few eBird pins were dotted along the road, with two about six kilometres ahead of us, so that is where we struck for. Sadly we only decided to make this move halfway through the walk, and by then the cool cloud had thinned out and it was getting warm, leaving us out in the sun completely unprepared.

  Once we reached the located we found a desolated farmhouse, but more importantly we immediately found a pair of the Spot-winged Falconets! They gave us an incredible show flying over our heads and singing from the treetops. Relieved our walk had been worthwhile, we marched back to the car to refresh ourselves and relax a bit.

  The drive back to the camp was significantly less eventful, although we had a nice showy Pampas Fox and added Pearl Kite to our trip list. We made a short stop at a location we thought might be good for Giant Antshrike, but sadly the bird responded deep in the Chaco and we did not see it. We arrived back mid afternoon elated but tired, and rested before our night drive.  

  Even the campground was lively, with a Black-legged Seriema hanging around throughout the afternoon and even a few mammal species, with Chaco Mara and a new species; Thirteen-banded Armadillo both paid us a visit. The latter was very impressive being the largest Armadillo we had seen on the trip until this point.

  At night the drive was phenomenal. Although there were no new species, we had six Tapirs at various points! Two were drinking together in a roadside ditch, we saw one cross the road far away in the thermal, one ran away from the road on the edge of the National Park, one ran in front of the car in front of the campground and finally one was in the campground just after! And to top it all off, we had a lot of fun with the Plains Viscachas around the campground, including one that charged right at us when it was flushed by a dog whilst we were photographing it! Throw in a Potoo, a Little Nightjar and a Chaco Owl and it makes for quite the eventful evening!