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!
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