On Sunday 19 October 2014 my good friend Scarlett Eastman and I set off on the DESAFÍO 12 HORAS EN BUSCA DEL AVE ESCONDIDA, a 12 hour birding challenge in search of ‘hidden’ species. The rules were a bit complicated, but there were bonus points for rarer (read ‘endangered’ or ‘vulnerable’) species and penalties for having the misfortune to spot ‘exotic’ species (read ‘foreign imports, like the Sparrow or Californian Quail).

With Scarlett, in planning mode

This was not a serious competition, rather a way of ending up the three day long Fiesta de la Bandurria, a local birding event in San Martín de los Andes. Even if Scarlett and I were a little hazy about the rules we were determined to enjoy ourselves and in the end we did spot one or two rarer species, including three or four first time sightings for me so I was thrilled at that.

Apart from seeing male or female of species where I had previously only seen the other sex my new life list sightings were:

– Playerito Unicolor (Calidris bairdii) Baird’s Sandpiper
– Espartillero Austral (Asthenes anthoides) Austral Canastero
– Canastero Coludo (Asthenes pyrrholeuca) Lesser Canastero
– Colilargo (Sylviorthorhynchus desmursii) Des Murs’s Wiretail
– Misto (Sicalis luteola) Grassland Yellow-Finch

I wasn’t carrying a camera (we were moving fast) so this blog will have no bird pictures.

We left San Martín de los Andes at about seven am and forged a route, starting with nearby Laguna Rosales; Calle GinGens/Torres (skirting wetlands); the Quilquilhue bridge on the San Martín-Junín road, the riverside in Junín; lagunas just outside Junín on the way to La Rinconada; the land by the bridge at La Rinconada; two ‘bajadas’ to the river Collón Curá; a short way up the ‘intransitable‘ Ruta 50 to Sañico; and of course countless stops to investigate some flying or hopping bird. I should have liked to try to get a bit further up the road to Sañico but Scarlett was not very enthusiastic, and probably with good reason.

Chero on the old Ruta 50 up to Sañico, marked as ‘transitable’ – I wonder?

We submitted 73 species – the full list below is for the record (and for those valiant enough to struggle through). The taxonomy used is that used by our local birding association and other names are also in use – we had to submit in this format. I have eliminated the number of birds and places sighted as this is of local interest only.