About Martin Eayrs

San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén, Argentina This blog is an occasional dumping/sharing ground for random thoughts and ideas, mainly relating to birding, photography, travel, the English language and the teaching thereof and assorted verse and doggerel. I am a retired teacher/lecturer and now work as a language and education consultant with an interest in evaluation and testing, quality assessment and moderation. I divide my time between homes and families in San Martín de los Andes, Patagonia and Manchester, UK.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 30

Date: Saturday 17 September 2022

Trajectory:  Don Luis

Distance covered: ±10 km

Woken up by howler monkeys – a pleasant change (or, thinking about it, perhaps not all that pleasant) …

and presented with the best breakfast of the trip so far – scrambled eggs, orange juice, fruit, chipa and decent coffee!

We set off early for a very productive drive/walk, with caiman …

… capybara …..

and cuis (a guinea pig sort of creature) everywhere … 

… and a truly amazing collection of birds, including a huge variety of seedeaters I had never even heard of. But my bird of the day simply has to be the strange-tailed tyrant, a bird that so many people come to this part of the world to see (and often dip on).

The heat was getting up and I took some down time in my little home to try out a new [to me] kind of hammock and catch up with this diary. There’s no wifi but I’ll catch up later.

The house is called Tyto alba and has its own owl box, which I kept checking …

I finally did see the barn owl, but at night, so no photograph. But there were boxes all over the site – here’s one for the campo flicker, with occupant emerging.

And here’s one of several that Cepi, an amazingly competent carpenter/mechanic/builder sort of guy, made for the endangered red macaw, focus of the local rewilding efforts.

We then had a great lunch with Ale’s family and friends – fish (boga), meat and salad, washed down [in my case] with Fernet and Brahma beer. Then a siesta, and a second birding outing that segued into drinks and dinner.

Ale and husband Cepi like cooking with the circular ‘disk’ (top right of photo) and all their cooking is done outdoors. Good wholesome food, too. More beer, and to bed for an early start. Tomorrow we go on the water again at nearby Bahía Caraya.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 29

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.


Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 28

Date: Thursday 15 September 2022

Trajectory:  Ituzaingo – Isla Apipé

Distance covered: 15 km (on foot)

Up early and took the 07.00 launch to Apipé Island, an Argentine territory in Paraguayan waters.  My watch and iPhone were confused with this and kept switching between Argentine and Paraguayan time which was a little disconcerting.

We arrived safely on the big island …

… where my guide, Anibal, was waiting for me with his tractor – the ravaages of Covid having obliged him to decommission his other vehicles.

During the day we walked through different kinds of terrain and saw large numbers of flowers …

… buterflies …

… mammals (in this case a male howler monkey) …

… and of course lots of birds, including my bird of the day, the always comical burrowing owl.

Anibal gave me a great lunch, washed down with a herbal drink made with cocú (aka chal-chal) leaves left to steep overnight in cold water. Very refreshing.

After which a snooze was necessary – in a hammock for a change

More walking after lunch, and I arrived back to my casa bonita (and a proper bed) in Ituzaingo, tired and happy.

Not sure yet what tomorrow will bring, but the uncertainty doesn’t bother me at all.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 27

Date: Wednesday 14 September 2022

Trajectory:  Loreto – Ituzaingo

Distance covered: 120 km (with diversions)

Spent morning in Loreto, firstly visiting the Jesuit museum, containing valuable pieces rescued by families fleeing persecution and two previous incarnations of Loreto. Many valuable pieces are still kept in family homes but some are on display in the museum`:

And certainly worth a look at:

This crown of thorns particularly caught my eye:

Then on to Horacio Matarrasso’s new ecolodge project just outside Loreto, coming on very nicely. He’s decided to name the central lake (seen here filling slowly) ‘`Lake Appleton’, after our mutual friend Tim Appleton.

Here I shot my bird of the day, a green-winged saltator, in the feeding area. I’m not a fan of birds on feeders, but it was a lifer!

From there to the new ‘portal’ San Antonio on the other side of Loreto, in search of the black-and-white monjita, a bird that has eluded me for many years. Despite the efforts of local guide Ariel it continued to do so, so I cut my losses and drove on to Ituzaingó where Alejandra Boloqui had arranged accommodation for me at ‘Casa Bonita’. 

I found the plaque at top right of the door fascinating: it seems like a multi-use  facility for the elderly, a hotel for adults and a nursery for infants all rolled into one.  

Whatever, it looks very comfortable, even if the wifi is not very wonderful. 

Tomorrow I take a launch to Apipé Island. 

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 26

Date: Tuesday 13 September 2022

Trajectory:  Mburucuyá – Loreto

Distance covered: 130 km

Left my cabin home at Mburucuyá after two comfortable nights …

… at about 08.00 and had a very leisurely drive to Loreto. I was a bit birded out today and decided on a quiet day and a novel to relax with. Thank goodness for the KIndle Mimi gave me to replace the one I left in a BA remise. 

Although today was to be a non-birding day I did need a bird of the day, so snapped this great egret as I was leaving Mburucuyá.

On arrival in Loreto I went to the Tourist Information to locate my new cabaña (the electricity was down in the whole town). I found a little wildlife park there:

… and statues through the town to this guitar hero.

I never researched his story, because it was time for a beer …

… which kimd of segued into a great lunch of chicken and green pasta. I like the polystyrene coolers for the beer and bought myself one as a souvenir.

Then to my new cabaña, not at all unlike the other one but much cheaper, although without cooking facilities.

Tomorrow I hope to meet my friend Horacio who is starting up an eco-lodge near here.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 25

Date: Monday 12 September 2022

Trajectory:  Mburucuyá

Distance covered: 60 km

Early breakfast of coffee and biscuits and off to the Mburucuyá National Park, some 22 miles away. The last part was eleven kilometres of sandy track, and I remembered on my previous stormy visit how lucky I was to get away through the mud.

I had a choice of paths and chose the Yatay Trail, a seven kilometre walk through different kinds of vegetation.

I was completely alone in the park (it isn’t easy to get to) and had a great sense of space …

… seeing the odd deer …

… and learning about animal tracks

There were a number of black vultures at the end of the trail, which for some irreverent reason reminded my of Disney’s ‘Jungle Book’.

But my bird of the day was the masked gnatcatcher, whom I watched as they performed their courtship rituals.

Then back to my new home for two nights, where I cooked for the first time in weeks.

Spent the rest of the day reading and catching up with emails. Tomorrow I return to Iberá on the western side, from the Loreto Portal, where I’m meeting an old friend from San Martín de los Andes.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 24

Date: Sunday 11 September 2022

Trajectory:  Mercedes – Mburucuyá

Distance covered: 220 km (with side trips)

Left Mercedes hotel after miserable breakfast and undrinkable coffee – for what I paid I expected better. Hotel curious for staircase (no lift) with steps whose height and spacing seem to have been designed to fail to meet human expectations, so going up and down was a most laborious and disconcerting affair.

First stop of the day was supposed to be the urban reserve Aka Pita, which took forever to find – Mercedes could work on its Tourist information. Or maybe the reason it was unsigned is that it was closed today, for no reason the custodian could give.

I drove on, and found a jewel – completely unmentioned by the Tourist Office. It seems that the Gaucho Gil, a C19th Century Robin Hood like religious folk hero was probably born near here and most definitely died and is buried here. More on my Facebook page. Here a statue:

…his place in the Mercedes City cemetery …

… and the entrance to his sanctuary/shrine, a few miles outside the city.

It was a shortish drive to Mburucuyú, shorter perhaps than the time it took for me to learn to say it. I was stopped by Gendarmes and asked where `I was going. I slobbered out Mumburoocooyoocoo a few times and finally had to spell it out for them. I then had a brief pronunciation lesson from three gendarme teachers and spend the next twenty minutes repeating over and over again

As I approached the town I saw crowds of people at another religious/folk festival, this one involving horsey activities. All of the gauchos, man and women, had put on their best finery: the older men, competing in gaucho skills and dressage …

… the younger men, sporting a mixture of traditional gaucho and modern style gear …

… and fine ladies on fine horses, in their best gaucho chic.

I stopped and watched for a while, impressed by the high level of horseriding skills, and finally entered Mburucuyá, the home of chamamé.

Almost forgot my bird of the day – cattle egrets, doing what they do:

Tomorrow I’ll visit the nearby Mburucuyá  National Park.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 23

Date: Saturday 10 September 2022

Trajectory:  Carlos Pelligrini – Mercedes

Distance covered: 180 km (with side trips)

Left Carlos Pelligrini still feeling under the weather to drive to Mercedes. I had been told to look out for Pampa Deer (a species I hadn’t seen) at a particular place on the way. I did find two deer in the right place but could only get a glimpse and a ghost photo. It could just as well be a female Marsh Deer. I guess the jury’s out on it.

Drove slowly from Pelligrini to Mercedes, looking for birds and other wildlife, and got to Mercedes at lunchtime to find it was the biggest party of the year, the Annual Agricultural Show. That explained why it had been so difficult to find a hotel on the Internet and it took about three hours to find a suitable place. 

I ended up at the Hotel Ivyra Pyta, in a room for five people – the last room available there and possibly in Mercedes. Pricy by local standards, bit in GBP easier to digest.

I then went for a drive to see a local geological phenomenon, a large stone formation called Itá Pucu (Guarani for ‘large stone’). I included a man in the picture to give some idea of the size.

The drive there was long and difficult terrain, and put the SW4 through its paces – it performed admirably.  On the way I passed a dead snake (no idea what kind) …

… and a dead cow (no vultures for once) – a very typical sight I am beginning to realise, and an explanation for so many cattle bones just lying around.

Also my bird of the day, a Greater Rhea (Rhea americana), not to be confused with the Lesser Rhea we see in Patagonia.

It was getting dark by now so I headed back to the hotel to write this entry and get some supper. Tomorrow to the Mburucuyá National Park.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 22

Date: Friday 9 September 2022

Trajectory:  Carlos Pelligrini

Distance covered: 40 km on foot and in car

A wet, windy, cold and overcast day, and still feeling rough from what I hope is a pollen allergy.

I had arranged to meet my guide, Roque, in the morning and made the effort but my heart wasn’t really in it. 

It did however produce my bird of the day, a yellow cardinal, quite a hard bird to find unless you know where to go. Roque did.

Back to the lodge for lunch and a lie down

And after lunch and snooze, to Leslie Cook’s Posada for tea and talk.

Then back again to the lodge to sit in front of a nice warm fire while I complete today’s entry and await my last cordon bleu dinner. Back to street food tomorrow.

Tomorrow I leave Carlos Pelligrini, heading for Mercedes. Hotels hard to book (it’s the weekend) so fingers crossed. There’s always the car.

I noted this welcome when I arrived here. No doubt there will be a corresponding farewell sign when I leave.

Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 21

Date: Thursday 8 September 2022

Trajectory:  Carlos Pelligrini

Distance covered: 15 km on foot and in car

On the whole not a great day as I have developed a nasty allergy to some local pollen and going out is not pleasant. But go out I did, in search of a pharmacy which I eventually found.

where a not very confidence-inducing attendant sold me a ‘remedy’

We’ll see what happens. I did have the camera with me and took a few bird photos on the way there and back, but my heart wasn’t really in it. But that’s all I really have for today.

Here’s a Chalk-browed Mockingbird

a campo flicker

a scarlet-headed blackbird in flight

a rufescent tiger heron

 a spotted Nothura

and an oven bird making its complicated nest.

My bird of the day involved a little amorous activity between black vultures

I have spent much of the day indoors with less access to pollen attacks, and have my own table.

The guy on reception didn’t think much of my medication, and prescribed me whisky instead (or as well) – let’s see how it works.

Tomorrow is an open book. I’d scheduled to go birding with a local park ranger and hope I feel well enough. We’ll see.