Argentina Day 7; Martial Glacier & Estancia Tunel

   For our final day in the Ushuaia area we spent the morning on the Martial Glacier and the afternoon exploring for the Magellanic Woodpecker. The weather was not on our side for the first hours of the morning, with heavy rain taking us back down the mountain before the glacier hike had even opened. However after a couple of hours back in Ushuaia the weather cleared and we reascended the mountain ready to hike the trails. 

  Despite the weather clearing we still had to endure some windy conditions and even a short burst of heavy snowfall. It was still worth the hike however, with some stunning scenery both looking at the mountain in front of us and down the valley to Ushuaia behind us. The area we could explore had been wrapped up by 13:00 so we decended back to the city for lunch, before continuing with the day. Birding was slow up on the trails, but it was nice to see a few Yellow-bridled Finch again, as well as a flyby Andean Condor. 

  For the afternoon, and the last hours with the car, we headed north of Ushuaia to an area of forest where I hoped to finally settle the score with the Magellanic Woodpecker. The wind had not subsided but once we were away from the coast and more in the forest it was much improved. Despite this, it still took over an hour before we managed to finally find a Woodpecker, when a female flew onto a nearby tree. Shortly after she was joined by the male, and we had phenomenal walk away  views of the birds, my last major target in the area.

  After this we returned the car to the airport and settled in to our hostal, getting ready for the big day tomorrow, when we would embark on our ship down to Antarctia. 

Argentina & Chile Day 6; Porvenir, Reserva Natural Pinguino Rei & Rio Grande

   Our second day in Chile started with a return to the Porvenir headland to try find the dolphins again, but once again we struck out with nothing being observed. There was a nice and confiding Short-billed Miner on the clifftop so that got some photos taken, but otherwise it was a short stop and then onwards.

  It was a two hour drive to the King Penguin colony, the only one on the mainland and the only one in Chile. We anticipated that the birds would be distant and have to view only with optics, but in the end they were only about 20 metres away on the other side of a small channel. We got some great looks at the birds including an attempted copulation. In the end we could only stay an hour due to the way the site is managed, but it was a worthwhile visit.

   In addition to the penguins, there were a few other birds to enjoy. Three Chiloe Wigeon landed on the side of the path and I had the first Correndera Pipits of this trip. Otherwise it was the usual species from this southern region of the Patagonian desert. When we returned to the park office there was also a young mouse hopping about, which we were told was an Olivaceous Field Mouse. It did not look well, so it wasn’t a happy sight. 

  The drive back to Ushuaia then consumed the rest of the day, taking the best part of five hours with the various stops for fuel. Fortunately the return border crossing was very smooth, taking very little time at all. We arrived in Ushuaia at 18:00 and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Argentina & Chile Day 5; Porvenir

   It was simultaneously a very eventful and very uneventful day out in Chile today. We set off early, at 06:00, in order to be at the border nice and early, only to discover that it would not open until 08:00. Since we arrived at 07:00 this left us at a loose end for an hour, either waiting in the queue or maybe driving down the beach road to see if anything was around. We opted for the latter and were rewarded with finding Double-banded Plover and Small-billed Miner. 

  It took an hour to cross the border due to the cars building up during the early hours, and the various stations required to get the vehicle through. That said, it passed by without too much incident, and we were soon on our way. This is when we discovered the King Penguin colony we wanted to visit was in fact closed on Mondays (we had originally planned on visiting on a Sunday in the original itinerary) and this meant that our rushed day trying to complete everything we wanted in Chile and returning before the border closed, suddenly became much more relaxed. We did decide to stay in Chile for the night and then see the Penguins in the morning. 

  As such we continued driving on the road to Porvenir where there were a few things to see. We started by checking out a spot I had marked for Peales Dolphin being regularly seen on the coast, but there was nothing doing despite an hour moving up and down the coast. But it was a relief to find my first Patagonian Yellow Finches here, as well as having excellent views of Double-banded Plover and Bairds Sandpiper.

  With no sign of the dolphins, we continued to the next destination, the Laguna Verde which I had marked for Magellanic Plover. We spent about an hour searching along the beach, seeing many Guanacos and a Culpeo, as well as a few birds, but no sign of the plover. In the end we were exploring the wrong area of the beach, and not long after we started searching the right area Jonah spotted once nestled among a flock of Bairds Sandpipers. With some crawling I was able to get some very nice views of one of my most wanted birds for the trip. Smaller than I was expecting, but all the sweeter for it.

  After another unsuccessful trip to try for the dolphins, we found a hostel in town and crashed to relax, after a pleasant, if not rather logistically challenged, day.

Argentina Day 4; Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, Garribaldi Pass & Rio Grande

   We started the morning at the Tierra del Fuego National Park, where we had hoped to have another chance at the Magellanic Woodpecker. However, after a bollocking from the park staff for being off the trail and for having a speak on display, not even in use, I opted not to try any playback. We birded the area at the end of the road and here we had a few nice Fuegian Steamer Ducks at last and a distant Kelp Goose, as well as a few seabirds and a flyover Andean Condor. Not a bad morning in the end given the circumstances, and it got better again as we were leaving, when Jonah spotted a sleeping Bronze-winged Duck in a roadside pond. Sadly it was distant and never awoke despite our best efforts, but still great to see this potentially tricky species. 

  At 11:00 we changed the car to one which could cross the border into Chile, which we wanted to do for a day. With this we set off up the road through the Andes towards the border and the towns beyond. Originally our plan was to make it to Chile tonight, but since the weather through our drive was very pleasant, we instead opted to attempt the hike at Garribaldi Pass to find the tricky White-bellied Seedsnipe. 

  There is no trail up the mountain, but it was not bad walking. There were some scree slopes at the top but with care we managed to navigate them. The problem was finding the Seedsnipe, and after two hours we had no sign. That said, it was not a disappointing walk, with incredible views of Yellow-bridled Finch that almost landed on my foot, and flyovers of both Andean Condor and White-bellied Caracara.

  As we were walking back however, anticipating another hike to try the Seedsnipe again, one of the birds moved on the rocks in front of me as I walked. It was quite the relief. The bird showed very very well, allowing us to maouver, around and get great photos and views of the surprisingly nice plumage. A victory from the jaws of defeat.

  After that there was only enough time to reach the city of Rio Grande, so that was where we crashed at night, ready for a day out in Chile tomorrow. 

Argentina Day 3; Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego & Ushuaia

     For the first day in Ushuaia we had something of a delayed start, as we had to collect the car from the airport at 08:00. It was only a half hour walk from our hotel, and along the beach, so we took that route there and along the way saw a few interesting birds, like Austral Negrito and a life tick with Buff-winged Cinclodes. 

  Once we had the car, we headed for the Tierra del Fuego National Park. Since it was already 09:00 and it was Saturday we anticipated the park to busy but fortunately it was not, although it picked up by the time we left at 14:00. We decided to walk the eight kilometre trail along the side of a lake to the Chilean border, which was through excellent forest.  

  There were a few nice birds that I had not seen for some time, such as incredible views of Thorny-tailed Rayadito and Patagonian Sierra Finch. But it was frustrating that on two occasions we heard a Magellanic Woodpecker but never got anything on the bird itself, never responding to the limited playback I had and only calling once on each occasion.

  Upon leaving the park we drove across town to the local dump, where I had information indicating that it was a good place to see the White-throated Caracara. And this paid off, with around five individuals knocking around the area, albeit looking rather scruffy. A bigger surprise perhaps was a Chilean Skua that was also bombing around the throngs of gulls causing chaos. 

  In the afternoon we walked downtown in Ushuaia. The town was busy it being a Saturday, but there were still a few nice birds to see. There is a lake in the area and here we had lots of Dolphin Gulls, Crested Ducks and Flying Steamer Ducks. Out on the seaward side of the harbour there were several Giant Petrels feeding away on the edge of the harbour, which was great to see up close! 

Argentina Day 1; Buenos Aires

   I left Asuncion early in the morning on a small flight to Buenos Aires. The plane was only small and was almost empty, so it was quite a pleasant flight in the end. This was as I moved to Argentina to begin the next phase of this extended trip. Once arrived, I checked in to the hotel and after a short rest tried to bird a park nearby, my very reason for choosing a hotel in this section of the city. Sadly thanks to an approaching storm, I was informed that the park was closed. And with that, I had to return to the hotel room and spend the afternoon organizing photos from Paraguay. 

Paraguay Day 27; Asuncion

   For our final morning birding in Paraguay we took a taxi across Asuncion to bird a small area of wetland on the edge of the river. Here there were a few interesting records of good species, but sadly we were unable to find any of the key targets. We had a new bird in Black Skimmer, and also our final new bird as we were leaving the site with Golden Green Woodpecker. But sadly the site was very disappointing with far more recorded than we were able to find.

  For the rest of the day we packed and prepared for the next stage of our respective adventures. We did spend a couple of hours in the Asuncion downtown but there was not too much to see and after a bite to eat we returned to the hotel. 

Paraguay Day 26; Arroyos y Esteros & Asuncion

   We had a very enjoyable morning birding the grasslands near the town of Arroyos y Esteros. The start was nice and early, so we had chance to drive to the Juan de Mena road just in time for first light. As expected the morning acitivity was very good, but within a few hours the day had gotten warm and the acitivty had died down. In those few hours we managed to find almost all of our main targets!

  It started a little slowly, but within half an hour I managed to find the most important species, the Strange-tailed Tyrant, with a male performing in the road, even sitting on the tarmac. Sadly it was not especially approachable, and that proved to be the case of the other 11 individuals that we found during the morning, with only a female showing nicely for photos.

   In addition, we had a very nice performance from at least four Crested Doraditos, including a single male. Another Ibera Seedeater put in an appearance, but it did not show especially well. Additionally, we saw Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Unicolored Blackbird, a late Spectacled Tyrant and a host of other nice wetland birds. It was extremely enjoyable.

  Once it got hot, we made a short stop at the area I had birded on the first day, where we found Tawny-bellied Seedeater again, as well as another Ibera Seedeater, but the day was already getting hot and so we headed back to Asuncion.

  Once in Asuncion we sorted out some logistics, and spent the afternoon get ourselves sorted. Sadly we did have to pay a parking fine after our car was clamped for apparently parking in the wrong location, but otherwise all went smoothly. One more day to go in Paraguay! 

Paraguay Day 25; PRO COSARA, Moises Bertoni & Arroyos y Esteros

   For our final morning at PRO COSARA we returned to the short stretch of road through the forest that we had visited the previous morning, to do a short walk before we departed. This turned into a very productive decision, with a few more species seen and activity quite good after the previous days storm. 

  We started with brief but acceptable views of an Atlantic Black-throated Trogon, which flew across the road before being coaxed back. The highlight species of the morning was a female Purple-crowned Plovercrest, but it was brief and always on the move, hardly the encounter we were looking for. Finally we added Buff-browed Foliage-Gleaner to our trip lists, although it took some effort to find the bird as it sat still.

  After this we departed, at around 09:30. We were cautious about the state of the road due to the previous days rainfall, but we managed to drive the 10 kilometres of dirt road back to tarmac without too much issue. However, the 10 kilometres to our midday destination, the grasslands of Moises Bertoni was a different story. This road was in a shocking state and it was quite scary at times that we might get stuck, compounded on the return journey by rainfall. But we managed it without too many issues. 

  The birding at Moises Bertoni was not bad, but in the end we missed our main target the Cock-tailed Tyrant, although we were able to find the other main target with Ochre-breasted Pipit. Sadly our views were limited to a single flyover and a distant displaying individual, despite hearing song frequently. The best of the rest was a nice but distant Sharp-tailed Grass-Tyrant.

  And with that we completed the rest of the day driving, finishing in the small town of Arroyos y Esteros close to Asuncion, from where we would be birding in the morning. 

Paraguay Day 24; PRO COSARA

   With another full day at PRO COSARA we hoped to rack up a good species total and improve our overall trip list with a few good speices. For the first part of the morning Adolpho, the Paraguayan birder remained with us, before he left at around 08:30 when the sky started to look suspiciously dark and he was afraid his bike might not make the road. Before he left he showed us where to find the Blackish Rail at the site, but sadly they would not come out of the reeds despite calling seemingly very close.

  We continued birding and decided to visit the short stretch of road that passes through the forest to the east of the Estancia, where we had found the previous evenings owls. Despite the windy weather we managed a few good species, including Olive Spinetail which was a very good target to find and Spixs Spinetail which was my 400^th species in Paraguay. A flyover Rufous-thighed Hawk was another nice addition to our trip.

  After birding there we returned to the estancia and spent the rest of the morning birding the short trail in the forest just to the south of the Estancia. This was a lively forest and we added Plain-winged Woodcreeper to our Paraguayan lists, but most other species were common. There was an enjoyable performance from a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl and a small group of Hooded Capuchins passed by.

  In the afternoon we decided to walk the medium length trail but about halfway through it became clear that the weather was about to turn in some style. Despite rushing back we only just made it before the heavens well and truly opened. It knocked out the power, and WiFi, leaving us in the dark with little to do but try smash the mosquitos also taking refuge here. It goes without saying that thanks to this storm, it was an early night!