Birding from Buenos Aires

As our big trip nears the end we are mainly managing single days birding around more touristy destinations. First up is a day birding from Buenos Aires. We chose to go to Ceibas a birding rich area north of the city. We also chose to go with Diego of Buenos Aires Birding. Another great guide and very happy to recommend.

We started at Camino 92km and our first two birds of the day could not have been more different. First the Giant Wood-Rail in a water channel and then a bit later crossing the dirt track. Second the colourful and tuneful Scarlet-Headed Blackbird.

Soon we followed up with lots of small birds identified first on sound before we found them. This is one of the ways a strong guide quickly proves their worth and this was true with Diego as he “magically” pulled birds from the reeds by name before we could even see them. Yellow-Winged Blackbird, Freckle-Breasted Thornbird, Great Pampa Finch, Long-Tailed Reed-Finch, Rufous-Capped Antshrike were all lifers along with Sooty Tyranulet which I had already seen the previous day.

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We moved further towards Ceibas we stopped at some flooded fields and added Southern Screamer and Maguari Stork.

The field was covered with Southern Lapwing, Black-Necked Stilt, Ringed and Silver Teal, Cosboroba Swan and others. We had scope only views of Austral Negrito (close relative to the Andean Negrito we had seen in Peru) and also Spix’s Spinetail and fantastically named Warbling Dorado too.

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As we arrived at Ceibas proper a Maguari Stork flew over which allowed better pictures than I had previously captured. A kind local saw us with our binoculars and wanted us to go with him to see some owls. 5 minutes later and we were looking at a pair of Great Horned Owl chicks in a tree. Lovely interactions with locals like this are one of the highlights of birding.

After saying our warm goodbye and thanks we continued looking for and finding new birds nearby. White-Tipped Plantcutter (male and female), Chestnut-Capped Blackbird, White-Crested Tyranulet (told by sound) and Suiriri Flycatcher. We also saw, but didn’t photograph, White-Barred Piculet, Tufted Tit-Spinetail, Short-Billed Canastero, Stripe-Crowned Spinetail and Chotoy Spinetail.

This location had one last lifer to offer and it was a good one – Savannah Hawk. I had looked for this bird as far north as Panama City but not seen it before now.

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Driving a bit further down the Ceibas road we came across a wet patch. I was photographing some Ringed Teal when Diego called Tinamou and sure enough a Spotted Nothura (a type of Tinamou) was scurrying away allowing a quick photo. A Brown Chacholote sat in the nearby scrub too.

This was a great location for birding and there was a lot of activity. Two birds offered sustained views as they worked the patch. First a White-Fronted Woodpecker which seemed to be picking insects from the underside of leaves. Second a Narrow-Billed Woodcreeper which seemed as interested in the fence posts as the nearby trees.

A distant Green-Barred Woodpecker allowed a record shot as it picked at the ground like a Flicker. Another Savannah Hawk allowed shots in the warm light. A Chalk-Browed Mockingbird was confiding as it flew from posts close to the car to the ground when it saw food. A Chotoy Spinetail allowed poor record shots too.

Another lifer was the stunning White Monjita. It may sound like a cocktail but this little bird with its simple white with black plumage was one of my favourite birds of the day. Talking of striking plumage, the Red-Crested Cardinal males were stunning too. And another lifer was the surprisingly confiding Guira Cuckoo which we went from not seeing at all to being everywhere and in good numbers when we entered the right habitat.

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Moving further down the road Diego spotted a Spectacled Tyrant in a nearby channel. After we all got out of the car there was no sign of the bird but instead lots of other things showed themselves including a Lark-Like Brushrunner, Yellow-Browed Tyrant (one of a few birds with a yellow stripe above the eye) and the breeding endemic Black-Crowned Monjita. Before we left the fantastically named (and eye-ringed) Spectacled Tyrant did show too.

I noted afterwards that the Lark-Like Brushrunner was the 1,000th species of bird I had photographed!

Many water birds were present too – Spot-Flanked Gallinule was a lifer to add to White-Winged Coot and White-Tufted Grebe.

A Snail Kite was keeping an eye on the lagoon too.

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Our day was drawing to a close. Whilst I was taking a few photos of Monk’s Parakeets which as always were making lots of noise, Diego was scooping a distant pool. Here we added Pantanal Snipe and Rufous-Chested Dotterel, a bird normally found further south where it would no doubt soon return for it was in breeding plumage.

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Altogether we saw an impressive 99 species with Diego of which 41 were lifers. A great day taking my trip/year to date total to 1,319. Next we head to Iguazu.