Argentina; Nechochea & Tornquist - Day 1

  We had landed the previous day and taken an overnight bus to meet up with our friends Giselle and Facundo in the south of Buenos Aires province. By this point we were pretty knackered but with so much potential good birding on offer we were given an adrenaline boost and off we went. At first, we only birded the river near the town where we had a few new species but mostly birds we were familiar with from Brazil. Chief among the new species was the obviously non-native Crested Myna, with at least two individuals sitting by the side of the road as we departed the site. Otherwise, it was nice to see Lesser Yellowlegs and spot our first Yellow-billed Pintail.

  After some shopping and packing, we headed out for a late morning’s birding in the Pampas. Despite it already being quite hot, we found a few of the pampa’s endemics quite easily. At our first location, we had nice views of Brown-and-yellow Marshbird and eventually good views of our key target, the elusive Hudson’s Canastero. We then moved on to a new location where we found Bay-capped Wren-Spinetail and Correndera Pipit, but by this point, the heat had ground activity to almost a complete standstill, so we started with our huge trip south.

  It was not until early evening that we arrived at our Campsite, near where we planned to bird the following day. Although for the most part, the landscape had been flat with fields, in this area it was truly stunning with beautiful hillsides and forested valleys. There was some good birding as well, with our first Burrowing Parrots of the trip flying across the road here. At the campsite itself there were more new birds for us, although these were common birds that we would get used to over the next few days; Spot-winged Pigeon, Screaming Cowbird and Stripe-crowned Spinetail. There were also some very spectacular Monk Parakeet nests around the site. As night was falling a Striped Owl appeared briefly on the edge of the campsite, but it departed too quickly for photos.

Species List:
Nechochea: Red-winged Tinamou, Spotted Nothura, White-faced Whistling Duck, Yellow-billed Pintail, Great Grebe, Rock Dove, Picazuro Pigeon, Picui Ground Dove, Eared Dove, White-backed Stilt, Southern Lapwing, Lesser Yellowlegs, Brown-hooded Gull, Grey-headed Gull, Neotropic Cormorant, Bare-faced Ibis, Burrowing Owl, Green-barred Woodpecker, Campo Flicker, Crested Caracara, Chimango Caracara, Monk Parakeet, Rufous Hornero, Hudson's Canastero, Bay-capped Wren-Spinetail, Scarlet Flycatcher, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, White-rumped Swallow, Barn Swallow, House Wren, Grass Wren, Common Starling, Crested Myna, House Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Long-tailed Meadowlark, Shiny Cowbird, Brown-and-yellow Marshbird, Grassland Yellow Finch, Pampa Finch, Double-collared Seedeater,
Tornquist department: Spotted Nothura, Feral Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Spot-winged Pigeon, Picui Ground Dove, Eared Dove, Southern Lapwing, Neotropic Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Green-barred Woodpecker, Chimango Caracara, Monk Parakeet, Burrowing Parrot, Rufous Hornero, Stripe-crowned Spinetail, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Southern Martin, Barn Swallow, House Wren, Common Starling, Austral Thrush, House Sparrow, Hooded Siskin, Screaming Cowbird, Saffron Finch, Double-collared Seedeater,