Argentina; Saavedra & Las Grutas - Day 2

  The Pampas is the most threatened ecosystem within Argentina, as much of its area had been converted to pasture or crop fields. As such, some of its inhabitants are now considered endangered, and it was one of these species that we would be trying to find during the morning today; the Pampas Meadowlark.

  For the most part the birding revolved around driving through remote farmland tracks in the search for Meadowlarks. We would then have to wait for these birds to fly so that we could check the colour of their underwings; black being the rare Pampas Meadowlark and white being the common Long-tailed Meadowlark. During the morning we checked hundreds of Meadowlarks and all had white underwings. At this point it was not looking promising, but Giselle and Facundo knew a location near where we would end our search where they felt we had our best chance, this being where some birds had been studied by a PhD student, investigating why the species had declined so markedly. As soon as we arrived at this point a large flock of maybe 100 Pampas Meadowlarks took off from the middle of the road. Frustratingly they all landed distantly in the adjacent field, and we never managed such good views again, often restricted to flybys. Still, we had managed to find our number one target and we had seen it well.

  This was obviously not the only species we saw during the morning, as we managed many Pampas species as we cruised around the fields. Some commoner species we found that were new for me included Bearded Tachuri, Firewood Gatherer, Short-billed Pipit, and the rare Pampas Pipit. At one point we found a small wetland and while birding there we found a few birds, including Yellow-shouldered Blackbird and Wren-like Rushbird, as well as a very relaxed Coypu. A pair of Chiloe Wigeon flew over as well. We found a few Greater Rhea during the drive as well, but they typically made a break for it as soon as we stopped to look at them. And finally, as we were admiring the Meadowlarks, a Spotted Nothura ran out of the grass onto the road, allowing us to get fantastic views of this elusive species.

  So having achieved what we wanted in the Pampas here we began our long drive south to the town of Las Grutas where we would spend the night. We, fortunately, arrived just before dark and so had a short walk to the beach for a quick swim. Obviously, there were not many birds to go with this, but the town was rammed with Burrowing Parrots, hanging from the wires in loud, noisy groups, it was really something to behold.

Species List:
Saavedra: Greater Rhea, Spotted Nothura, Chiloe Wigeon, White-cheeked Pintail, Yellow-billed Pintail, Yellow-billed Teal, Lake Duck, Feral Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Spot-winged Pigeon, White-backed Stilt, Southern Lapwing, Lesser Yellowlegs, Brown-hooded Gull, Snowy Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Whistling Heron, White-faced Ibis, Bare-faced Ibis, Black-faced Ibis, Long-winged Harrier, Amazon Kingfisher, Green-barred Woodpecker, Campo Flicker, Chimango Caracara, Rufous Hornero, Firewood-gatherer, Bearded Tachuri, Sooty Tyrannulet, Scarlet Flycatcher, Austral Negrito, Spectacled Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Southern Martin, Brown-chested Martin, White-rumped Swallow, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, American Cliff Swallow, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Short-billed Pipit, Pampas Pipit, Hooded Siskin, Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, White-browed Blackbird, Pampas Meadowlark, Long-tailed Meadowlark, Shiny Cowbird, Greyish Baywing, Yellow-winged Blackbird, Brown-and-yellow Marshbird, Grassland Yellow Finch, Pampa Finch, Brown Hare, Coypu,
Las Grutas: Southern Lapwing, Brown-hooded Gull, Black-crowned Night Heron, Burrowing Parrot,