birding never sleeps: Southern Argentina part 2: Bahia Blanca to Puerto Madryn (17-19 November)

Southern Argentina part 2: Bahia Blanca to Puerto Madryn (17-19 November)

This is the second or five blogs covering an Ornis tour to Southern Argentina I did with Nick Preston. Led by Chris Venetz with top Argentinian Guide Hector Slongo and driver extraordinaire Pedro Chiesa the other participants Magnus Aurivillius, Lyn Capalad, Gordon Beck and Eric Shaw made for an excellent group and a very enjoyable trip. We were about to start our first full day on the tour ... Photos are mine (with a Sony RX10iv) unless stated otherwise, new birds for me are in red.

Sunday 17 November 2024. After a good night’s sleep we had breakfast at 05:30 and left soon after 08:00, driving northwest on RN35 making several roadside stops and tried a few tracks around Chasico and Berraondo. It was mostly very flat agricultural land with huge fields looking much the same for km after km. We concentrated on spots Hector knew, eBird sites Chris had downloaded and impromptu stops when something was spotted from the van. This strategy proved very successful with most targets being found, although barbed wire fences prevented closer approach to some species leaving something to be desired regarding photography. Scope views were usually more than adequate although some species were rather underwhelming, bring variants of something more widespread. Highlights were Elegant Crested Tinamou, Dark-billed Cuckoo, 2 Aplomado Falcons, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, 2 Firewood Gatherers, Short-billed Canastero, Chaco Earthcreeper, 3 Straneck’s Tyrannulets, 2 Greater Wagtail Tyrants, Bearded Tachuri, 2 Short-billed and 2 Pampas Pipits and 2 Pampas Meadowlarks. Mid afternoon we returned to General David Cirre finding a not so co-operative Crested Gallito in the same area as Nick and I had yesterday. We then drove out to the end of the track at Puerto Cuatreros. There I noted 5 American Oystercatchers, 4 Semipalmated Plovers, 400+ White-rumped Sandpipers, a very distant Snowy-crowned Tern, 10 Olrog’s and 20 Kelp Gulls and a superb male Long-winged Harrier. We were back at Paradores Austral at 19:00 and returned to the same shopping centre to eat. A long but very successful day although without any real standout sightings. Other birds seen during the day were 30 Greater Rheas, Spotted Nothura, 2 Chiloe Wigeon, 2 Yellow-billed Teal, 2 Picazuro and 10 Spot-winged Pigeons, 19 Picui Ground Doves, 50 Eared Doves, 20 Southern Lapwings, 5 Lesser and a Greater Yellowlegs, 4 Brown-hooded and 20 Kelp Gulls, 10 Neotropic Cormorants, 4 Snowy and 40 Western Cattle Egrets, 3 Turkey Vultures, 3 Burrowing Owls, 2 Golden-breasted Woodpeckers, 2 Campo Flickers, 2 Crested and 20 Chimango Caracaras, 10 Monk Parakeets, 15 Burrowing Parrots, 2 Common Miners, 4 Rufous Horneros, Tufted Tit-Spinetail, 2 Sharp-billed Canastero, Stripe-crowned and Pale-breasted Spinetails, 2 Brown Chacalotes, Small-billed Elaenia, Suiuri, Southern Scrub and 6 Scarlet Flycatchers, 2 Tufted Tit Tyrants, 3 Spectacled Tyrants, 2 White Monjitas, a Crowned Slaty, 15 Fork-tailed and a Swainson’s Flycatcher, 3 White-tipped Plantcutters, White-rumped, Blue and White and 20 Barn Swallows, Southern Martin, 4 Chalk-browed and 4 White-banded Mockingbirds, 4 Grassland and 15 Rufous-collared Sparrows, 2 White-browed and 20 Long-tailed Meadowlarks, 2 Shiny Cowbirds, Greyish Baywing, Brown and Yellow Marshbird, Pampa Finch and 2 Grassland Yellow Finches. I also saw a Pampas Fox and 2 Patagonian Mara.

Bearded Tachuri NW of Bahia Blanca

Short-billed Pipit NW of Bahia Blanca

Pampas Pipit NW of Bahia Blanca (photo: Chris Venetz)

Elegant Crested Tinamou NW of Bahia Blanca

Straneck's Tyrannulet NW of Bahia Blanca

Greater Wagtail Tyrant NW of Bahia Blanca

Swainson's Flycatcher NW of Bahia Blanca

female Scarlet Flycatcher NW of Bahia Blanca

male Scarlet Flycatcher NW of Bahia Blanca

White-tipped Plantcutter NW of Bahia Blanca

Pale-breasted Spinetail NW of Bahia Blanca

Chaco Earthcreeper NW of Bahia Blanca

White-banded Mockingbird along the Puerto Cuatreros track

Crested Gallito along the Puerto Cuatreros track

Olrog's Gull at Puerto Cuatreros

Kelp Gull at Puerto Cuatreros

American Oystercatcher at Puerto Cuatreros

Semipalmated Plover at Puerto Cuatreros

male pale morph Long-winged Harrier from the Puerto Cuatreros track

perhaps the best of all the harriers

Monday 18 November 2024. We left our hotel at 06:15 and returned NW along the NR35 to Chasico and Barraondo spending the morning in similar areas to yesterday. On one occasion we tried to follow up a calling Red-winged Tinamou and were getting quite close when we realised it was on the opposite side of an uncrossable river. Disappointing as I had only heard one before, distantly in Bolivia in 2019. A Brushland Tinamou was some compensation as were Dark-billed Cuckoo, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Checkered Woodpecker, 2 Sooty Tyrannulets (nicer than their name suggests), male Hudson’s Black Tyrant, better views of Bearded Tachuri and 4 Pampas Meadowlarks. We stopped in a patch of woodland where Pedro made us sandwiches before driving back to Bahia Blanca. From there it was 430km to our destination, west along NR22 and south on NR231 to San Antonio Oeste and Las Grutas. We made several brief stops as we headed south where we concentrating on finding Yellow Cardinal. They didn’t perform as well as we’d hoped with the male and female seen vanishing within a few minutes of being found. A Black-crowned Monjita was hardly more obliging. Las Grutas is at about the same latitude as Tasmania and had a Southern Oceans feel to it with a cold, strong onshore wind. A brief seawatch from outside our hotel (Hotel Portovenere) revealed distant seabirds flying past, although I was only able to identify an Arctic Skua and 4 Manx Shearwaters with two larger all dark petrels possibly White-chinned. Other birds seen during the day were 20 Greater Rheas, 2 Picazuro and 2 Spot-winged Pigeons, 2 Picui Ground Doves, 10 Eared Doves, 10 Southern Lapwings, 10 Brown-hooded Gulls, 2 Neotropic Cormorants, 40 White-faced Ibis, Whistling Heron, 2 Black and 4 Turkey Vultures, Cinereous Harrier, Variable Hawk, 2 Burrowing Owls, Campo Flicker, 2 Crested and 10 Chimango Caracaras, American Kestrel, 2 Aplomado Falcons, 50 Burrowing Parrots, 4 Rufous Horneros, Tufted Tit-Spinetail, Firewood Gatherer, Short-billed and Cordilleran Canasteros, Stripe-crowned and Pale-breasted Spinetails, Suiuri and 4 Scarlet Flycatchers, 2 Sooty and 2 Straneck’s Tyrannulets, male Spectacled Tyrant, 4 Crowned Slaty and 30 Fork-tailed Flycatchers, 7 White-tipped Plantcutters, 15 Barn Swallows, 2 Chalk-browed and 3 White-banded Mockingbirds, Short-billed Pipit, 3 Hooded Siskins, 6 Rufous-collared Sparrows, a White-browed and 10 Long-tailed Meadowlarks, 2 Screaming and 6 Shiny Cowbirds, 2 Greyish Baywings, male Mourning Sierra Finch, 2 Grassland Yellow Finches and 2 Diuca Finches. I also saw 2 Pampas Foxes and 3 European Hares.

another Bearded Tachuri NW of Bahia Blanca

this one was a bit more approachable

Sooty Tyrannulets NW of Bahia Blanca

Brown and Yellow Marshbird NW of Bahia Blanca

Tarantula NW of Bahia Blanca

Pampas Meadowlark NW of Bahia Blanca

Pampas Meadowlark (photo: Chris Venetz)

Firewood Gatherer NW of Bahia Blanca

White-tipped Plantcutter NW of Bahia Blanca

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl NW of Bahia Blanca

Yellow Cardinal N of San Antonio Oeste

nice through a telescope while it was briefly on view but we'd hoped for better views

Yellow Cardinal (photo: Chris Venetz)

Tuesday 19 November 2024. We were out at 06:15 for the short drive to a large gulley on the edge of Las Grutas. We spent several hours here concentrating first on finding Sandy Gallito, a major target. The gulley was wide enough to walk down with few obstructions and we followed it inland for several hundred metres until Hector heard one calling intermittently some distance further down the gulley. We continued more slowly, me increasingly anxiously, until we tracked it down to an area where the gulley opened out with thick bushes all around. Some of us climbed up onto the opposite side of the gulley for a better view of where it was calling from and after a bit of playback the Sandy Gallito appeared in the top of a distant bush opposite us. There it remained for 15 minutes before dropping down out of site. For me relief at having seen one of my top targets tinged with disappointment that the views hadn’t been better. You win some you loose some. The other specialities were more obliging with Elegant Crested Tinamou, 3 Burrowing Owls, Steinbach’s Canastero, 2 White-throated Chacalotes, 2 Yellow-billed Tit Tyrants, a male Carbonated Sierra Finch, 2 Golden-billed Saltators and a Chaco Ringed and 3 Cinnamon Warbling Finches. We returned to Las Grutas late morning and while the others were having lunch I wandered along the beach for an hour or so seeing 8 Great Grebes on the sea, American Oystercatcher, 20 roosting Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Snowy-crowed and 2 Cabot’s Terns, 2 Arctic Skuas offshore and 680 Manx Shearwaters (most sat on the sea at some distance). After lunch it was a 260km drive south to Puerto Madryn where, after a few stops, we checked into the Hotel Bahia Nueva. A walk out onto the pier opposite produced 65 Great Grebes in two rafts on the sea. Other species seen during the day were another 2 Elegant Crested Tinamous, 2 Yellow-billed Pintail, 6 Eared Doves, 2 Southern Lapwings, 100 Brown-hooded Gulls, 6 Neotropic Cormorants, Black-crowned Night Heron, 2 Turkey Vultures, Variable Hawk, 8 Chimango Caracaras, 80 Burrowing Parrots, Band-tailed Earthcreeper, Rufous Horneros, Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, Sharp-billed and Patagonian Canasteros, Chilean Elaenia, 2 Yellow-bellied Tit Tyrants, 3 Greater Wagtail Tyrants, 2 White-winged and 2 Hudson’s Black Tyrants, 10 Fork-tailed Flycatchers, 2 White-tipped Plantcutters, 3 Southern Martins, 2 Blue and White and 6 Barn Swallows, a Chalk-browed , 6 Patagonian and 4 White-banded Mockingbirds, single Austral and Chiguanco Thrushes, 10 Rufous-collared Sparrows, 2 Shiny Cowbirds, 2 Mourning Sierra Finches and 3 Diuca Finches. Also our first 2 Guanacos.