This was not the trip it was meant to be. I had got myself to Mar del Plata, on the eastern coast of Argentina, with a pocketful of Dramamine and all intent on doing a pelagic trip – 50km into open sea, with dreams of albatrosses and other exotics. But as the day dawned the harbour master decided that the weather was too unreliable, and the trip was cancelled.
So with time to kill, I wandered around the nearby Natural Reserve Mar del Plata Port. It was a couple of kms from the port area and quite hard to find the entrance; it was also in a very isolated area and several of the people I asked for directions cautioned me about entering the Reserve alone for fear of muggings or worse. So I stayed on the edges and peered in, feeling safe but silly.
A male pico de plata (Spectacled Tyrant), Hymenops perspicillatus
First up, as I entered, I saw this pair of Spectacled Tyrants, male above and female below.
And the female pico de plata (Spectacled Tyrant), Hymenops perspicillatus
In fact, I didn’t really see much in the way of birds at this Reserve, but then again I didn’t really penetrate it either. I find from the photos I took I saw mainly common species such as the Chimango Caracara (chimango), Milvago chimango; the Rufous-collared Sparrow (chingolo), Zonotrichia capensis and the House Wren (ratonera común), Troglodytes aedon.
House Wren (ratonera común), Troglodytes aedon.
Rufous-collared Sparrow (chingolo), Zonotrichia capensis
Chimango Caracara (chimango), Milvago chimango
I returned to the Port area to see what might be on the water front. Here I saw many gulls, including an Olrog’s Gull (gaviota cangrejera) Larus atlanticus; Snowy Sheathbill (paloma antartica) Chionis albus; and Southern Giant Petrel (Petrel Gigante Comun) Macronectes giantess.
Olrog’s Gull (gaviota cangrejera) Larus atlanticus
The Olrog’s Gull is known in Spanish as the crab gull, and this is what they eat:
Neohelice granulata, staple for the Olrog’s Gull
Snowy Sheathbill (paloma antartica (Chionis albus
Southern Giant Petrel (Petrel Gigante Comun) Macronectes giantess.
Marine mammals were in evidence too; here are a few sea lions.
Male sea lion in Mar del Plata harbour
Part of a small colony of sea lions in Mar del Plata harbour
As I started by saying, this was not the day it was intended to be but it was a pleasant enough day all the same, even if a little light on wildlife sightings.