Date: Friday 16 September 2022

Trajectory:  Ituzaingo – Don Luis

Distance covered: ±60 km

Breakfast in Casa Bonita and then met Alejandra at 09.00. 

First we went to visit the bird centre she manages in Ituzaingo, an imaginative and well laid out project. There I saw lots of photos of birds I would like to see, but realistically knew I would only see a few. `With luck!

I spent some time with Ale at the Bird Centre, planning the next couple of days. She is high up in local tourism circles and set up a number of future stays and attendances for me.

I then went with Arturo, one of the guides at the centre, to Santa María – a nearby reserve with boardwalks and an observation tower. A nice visit and an informative guide, but sadly low on birds …

… as happens from time to time. I particularly liked the sentiments expressed on this sign: rough translation “although you may not see them these grasslands have many inhabitants’.

After lunch I met Alejandra again and [slowly] we drove out to her lodge San Luis (see the red dot in the map above). A 38 km drive through rough tracks, mainly sand and wetland embankments, eight separate barred gates and a lot of birds.

One of those was the Iberá seedeater, only recently discovered and endemic to the area. An obvious candidate for my bird of the day. 

The site of Don Luis is quite wonderful, with its buildings scattered wide across a large area. I was assigned to a cabin called Tyto alba 1, which fittingly had a nesting box inhabited by a barn owl.

As the sun was setting it was time for a cold beer and then supper ( a local fish called ‘boga’, as we planned tomorrow’s activities.

To bed, happy and with several lifers in the bag.