Took a postprandial walk around Mercedes after supper last night – a pleasant town.
I had decided to pamper myself by upgrading the hotel, which came with a rather grander breakfast than normal these days.
Got away at about 10.00 after getting the tyres checked – both rear tyres were a little low – and drove the short trip to Carlos Pelligrini – having a third morning coffee on the way, following instructions.
Soon we were entering Iberá Park.
As on my last trip here, the last forty kilometers of dirt road were highly productive for birds and also for deer. I saw a Pampas Deer in the distance, quite rare around here I’m told, but dipped on the photo. Three more days here so fingers crossed.
I also saw a lot of capybara – docile creatures, said to be the largest rodents in the world.
My bird of the day is the oven bird, alongside his oven. A very common bird, and the national bird of both Argentina and Uruguay, but always fun. Not the New World warbler but a South American bird in the Furnariidae family.
I found my friend Leslie Cook quite easily – he has a posada here in Carlos Pelligrini …
– and have arranged to go birding with him and a local guide on Friday. A Dutch couple staying at Leslie’s will make up the numbers and bring down the cost, though compared to the UK it’s cheap enough.
Leslie is planting an orchard (his whole venture is new) and is already benefitting from home produce.
The place I am staying at, Ñande Retá, is an upmarket ecolodge. More expensive than I usually allow myself, but it comes with tours built in and is very relaxing. After last week’s exhausting schedule it comes as a pleasant respite.
Iberá is a great centre for wildlife, and I’ll be here for three days. Tomorrow morning on the water again.
My days with my guide Ariel had in fact finished yesterday, but as he was going back to the place where he works as a park ranger and I was going the same way we shared the drive. It was a day of straightforward driving, but we did see a few birds along the way.
My bird of the day was a laughing falcon, only really seen in this part of the world. I only got a distant shot, but was happy as I had dipped on this bird earlier in the week.
I had also been hoping, somewhat optimistically, to see an Aguará Guazu, a maned wolf. Unfortunately although we did see one it was the victim of a hit and run accident. So sad; very recently killed, and its fur in beautiful condition. A previous passerby had snipped off one of its forepaws as a souvenir – I resisted the temptation to do the same.
We also saw this rhea at a service station, made entirely of welded scrap metal – an animal of another kind! This artwork style seems quite common in Northern Argentina.
From the Province of Formosa we drove straight through the Province of Chaco and entered the Province of Corrientes, where I shall be for the next few days. We drove over the huge bridge over the river Paraná that separates Chaco and Corrientes …
… where we had a tasty lunch of surubí, a local fish cooked in foil with cream, artichokes, peppers and a bunch of other stuff. Very tasty.
It was finally time to say goodbye to Ariel, pictured here at the seccional where he works as a park ranger. I owe him a lot, and have great respect for his knowledge, professionalism and energy levels – the last of which far outstripped mine.
Back on my own now for a day or so – tomorrow to Carlos Pelligrini, a small town on the edge of the Iberá wetlands. More about this tomorrow.
A short entry today – we have been driving all day and it is now late at night and I am exhausted!
We left our comfy hotel in Ingenio Juarez after breakfast and first drove back into the Formasa Natuaral Reserve, looking [unsuccessfully] for the quebracho crested tinamou.
We had breakfast on the road (Mate and chipá) and then started the long drive back to Formosa, stopping for lunch at Las Lomitas.
We had roast goat, which was appropriate as we had seen so many roadside goats in Western Formosa.
For the whole of our Formosa trip we had been hoping to see a giant anteater. Although possible to see in Formosa they are being re-introduced in Corrientes. Today we finally saw two, but sadly both roadkill.
Bird of the day – a turquoise fronted parrot. This is the ‘talking parrot’, and it was good to see one flying freely rather than in a cage.
Arrived safely in Formosa at 20.30. No supper and straight to bed after this reduced diary entry.
Tomorrow I drive to Mercedes, in Corrientes, dropping Ariel at a reserve on the way where he is working as a park ranger. I think (hope, even) I can bring things down to a less exhausting tempo next week – though have enjoyed and been impressed by Ariel’s skills and enthusiasm.
Trajectory: Las Lomitas – Ingenio Suarez – Reserva Natural Juarez
Distance covered: 180 km
Today we reached our furthest point west, not far from the border with the province of Salta.
This is an area where there were once a number of ‘fortines’, reminders today of past military involvements in many international conflicts. Here’s a reconstructed lookout tower in Las Lomitas.
We first travelled to the Laguna Yema, very dry at the moment. Here we were following the line of a old railway track, long abandoned, that once joined Formosa and Salta. The water levels in the lake were very low.
This is what remains of what was once a busy station.
A lot of dirt roads today, on one of which we saw my bird of the day, a black-legged seriema – a bird I had long wanted to see.
Our second stop was the Reserva Natural de Formosa.
Here we walked the trails, and saw many ‘conejo de los palos’, the Chacoan mara. This one kindly posed for us.
I was impressed by the size and variety of the cactus in this part of Formosa. It was certainly very arid, and we saw several dead cows and burros, accompanied by large flocks of black vultures keeping the landscape clean. Pity they can’t also pick up the litter that is accumulating everywhere.
We were invited for mate and supper by the Park rangers and didn’t leave until late.
Then it was a drive back to our hotel in Ingeniero Juarez, dinner and a good night’s sleep.
Trajectory: Las Lomitas – Fortín Soledad – Las Lomitas
Distance covered: 330 km
An exceptional day’s birding today. After breakfast in the hotel we drove slowly to Fortín Soledad. Little traffic except a couple of cattle trucks.
We birded our way slowly along a dirt road for some 70 kms until we reached the township of Fortín Soledad …
… where we met Chilo at his restaurant and tour centre.
First lunch, where we met a number of birders and photographers. The company was great …
… and so was the food
After lunch Chilo took us out on a punted canoe for four hours in the Bañado la Estrella, the second largest wetlands in Argentina.
With low waters there was an exceptional number of birds to see, but our specific interest was to help Chilo in a count of Jabiru nests.
Chilo punted us through some twenty kilometres of shallow water and we saw every variety of bird – this is really a stunning site to visit, especially at this time of the year with low water. The weather was good too, and we were spared the hot sun Formosa can provide.
It was a wonderful experience, with so many birds and absolute silence (the punting was noiseless).
Bird of the day is the roseate spoonbill, of which we saw many.
Early start for a full-on birding day. We spent most of the time on dusty tracks and trails, and although we did see many birds that’s not really the point of this blog.
We did see quite a few caiman …
… and, to get the bird of the day out of the way; it was a hard one as we saw so many but I’ve gone for the crazy looking Jabirú, here on the nest with a couple of juveniles.
I’ve decided just to show you some of the scenery we travelled through. Hot and dry, and very varied.
Curiosity of the day: we went through a small township called San Martín 2. And why not?
We encountered what could have been a problem: there was a regional diesel shortage and I have not yet filled up the jerry cans (a lesson there!) but we finally found some, perhaps not quite the usual standard but enough to keep us on the road.
Some lovely brooks …
… even if some of the bridges were a bit flaky
…and we found good use for the spotting scope …
We finally arrived at the magnificent Bañados de Estrella, a world class birding area, but more about that tomorrow.
First to a hotel for some good beer and an indifferent supper …… but a decent wine …
Tomorrow we go boating: at the moment that is all I know.
Surprisingly good breakfast today (fresh croissants came after this photo), and off for a 07.30 start.
Today we shared the driving … it feels good to have a bird guide and a chauffeur!
Quite early in the day we saw a King Vulture flying very, very high in the sky …
… and it reminded me of the King Vulture feather I had been given when I was mucking out cages in the Guaycolec Reserve and which I am going to turn into a quill ballpoint.
Obviously we had a number of stops for mate as well as birds …
One interesting thing I noted is the use of beer cans as night reflectors on country roads – a cheap and effective way of providing road guidance in the dark.
I’m also rather fond of the ‘palo borracho’ (floss silk, or drunken trees), which are very common in this region.
Time for lunch …
… which we had at a service station after visiting a border post [with Paraguay], just across the River Pilcomayo
After lunch we visited an old Franciscan Mission at Tacaaglé – moved twice because of flooding. A very interesting place, though much smaller in scope than the great Jesuit Missions in Paraguay and the Province of Misiones.
Back on numerous tracks and trails we continued birding until dusk ..
And at about 18.00 we returned to our hotel in Laguna Blanca for beer, blog writing and supper.
My bird of the day: hard, with so many, but I’ve chosen the great ant shrike – this is the female.
`Tomorrow we move west some three hundred kilometres: watch this spot.
Today I took a lot of photos and I also had connection problems so again I am using only iPhone photos for the blog.
Breakfast mate and we were on our way. Today we visited a number of sites within the Pilcomayo National Park. On our way there we passed a friendly homestead …
We spent the day in the Pilcomayo National Park in two areas: the ‘Estero Poi’ ….
… and the ‘Laguna Blanca’ …
with its boardwalks
These two, and the connecting drives, provided us with a wide range of habitats. Typical of this part of Formosa is the Savannah …
… but we also followed a number of trails …
And were never far from the river Pilcomayo.
Much in evidence were termites’ nests: some in mounds on the ground:
And some in trees:
We kept an eye open for monkeys and maned wolves but were unsuccessful, but we did find recent evidence of maned wolves on one of the trails.
Bird of the day – the cattle tyrant, which we saw pretty much everywhere although it was in fact a great day’s birding.
By the end of the day we were well tired, but I still had to write up the day’s blog. Time then for wine, food and a good night’s sleep.
Tomorrow we’ll explore more o the surrounding country.
Ariel and I left at six in the morning for the Guaycolec Animal Reserve, where he used to work. Today was a full on birding day, but this is not a birding blog so I’ll limit myself as usual to one bird of the day.
In fact I shot about four hundred pics today, between birds and other fauna, which I’ll probably not get to process for quite a while. Today’s photos are all off my iPhone (and the ones above and below off Ariel’s!).
Guaycolec was not technically open but Ariel had a key and knew everyone there so I had a very privileged visit, meeting some of the new arrivals, some of the long-term residents, and helping with the feeding of the big cats. I was very honoured to see behind the scenes of the reserve, something not easily accessible to amateur wild life enthsuiasts like me.
Here are one or two of the residents – I will have many more photos in time. The iPhone quality is not great, especially when I’ve pumped up the zoom, but they give a flavour. The first is a ñandu – one of many friendly rheas walking around the compound.
Next, a very young Geoffroy’s Cat – rather more spit and snarl than it seems. This had arrived in the rescue centre this morning.
And a lovely young South American tapir, about eight months old. It will soon lose its humbug colouring.
These baby macaws had just come in too – confiscated contraband from near the Paraguayan border. Some macaw species sell illegally for very high prices.
Time for my bird of the day. It’s unusual for me to take a decent photo of a bird with my iPhone, but this was a big bird (a King Vulture) and I was inside the cage with it for once.
It was Ariel’s task to get the asado ready, with some hefty chunks of meat …
… while one of the other people working at the reserve was cutting up animal food for the big cats. I loved his [home-made] hat.
I helped muckout and feed a dozen or so puma compounds, and one ocelot enclosure: it was a first for me to be so close to ocelots.
By the time the pumas and ocelots were fed and their compounds cleaned out Ariel’s cooking was more or less done …
… and we sat down for an al fresco lunch ….
After which Ariel and I spent a little more time trying unsuccessfully to get some decent shots of a couple of birds we had seen.
By five o’clock we were back in town. Siesta, blog writing and supper in turn, and an early night. Tomorrow to two more sites, this time for some undiluted birding.
