{"id":3414,"date":"2022-08-25T09:58:49","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T12:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/?p=3414"},"modified":"2022-08-26T18:05:14","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T21:05:14","slug":"chaco-and-formosa-2022-day-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/archives\/3414","title":{"rendered":"Chaco and Formosa 2022 Day 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date<\/em><\/strong>: Wednesday 24 August 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trajectory<\/em><\/strong>: Miramar – towards La Para – Altos de Chipi\u00f3n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distance covered:<\/em><\/strong> \u00b1 100 km (driving from place to place)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Circled areas are where Walter and I birded.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today was my first day dedicated to birding, and an exhausting one. It started with breakfast at my friend Walter\u2019s house. Walter keeps bees, so \u2018home-made\u2019 honey was on the menu, and some surprisingly good tea he had brought back from a trip to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Good start to the day …<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bellies full, we set off a birding for what would be a six-mile stroll through a variety of habitats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
My super-guide, Walter Cejas.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was quite hot, but for much of the time a fresh breeze was blowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Trudging through the salty mud<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was also a bit wet underfoot, but hey, this is what birders do \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Shoreline of Lake Ansenuza<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and we left our tracks in the mud flats alongside those of the birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Footprints in the sand<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I took exactly 300 photos which will be processed later, probably much later as I want to enjoy my trip. However, I did have a quick look to choose my bird of the day, which turned out to be a tie for first place between a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 and a spot-backed Puffbird<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Spot-backed Puffbird<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My day took an unexpected turn after that, as Walter had arranged for me to be interviewed by a local TV station with him and the local \u2018Intendente\u2019 (mayor). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Left to right: the town mayor, me and Walter Cejas<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That was interesting, and I also participated in a municipal meeting to plan an upcoming birding festival in the area, recently awarded National Park status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being here was especially interesting for me as the project for National Park Status was greatly helped by funds collected at the 2018 British Bird Fair (in the region of $400,000 US). My friend Tim Appleton, who organised the British Bird Fair, had been here a few years ago and was remembered fondly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
How Argentine can you get …. ?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The meeting ended as it should, this being Argentina, in copet\u00edn, followed by asado (barbecue).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Choris, chanchito and tira de asado .. with a good Malbec.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At about 11.00 pm we broke up. Somebody had forgotten to book a room at the hotel in Altos de Chipi\u00f3n and I didn\u2019t want to go back to Walter\u2019s house in Miramar (45 kms in the wrong direction, and I had been drinking wine) so the local police arranged a bed for me in a building next to the police station. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
My home for the night on the outside …<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It felt good to be under police protection (especially for the car and contents) and the accommodation was comfortable enough. With the wine and walking I went straight to sleep. I used my sleeping bag, but it was a bit hot \u2013 a reminder of what awaits me further north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
…. and on the inside<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow to Gobernador Crespo, luckily only about 250 km so it should be another leisurely drive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Date: Wednesday 24 August 2022 Trajectory: Miramar – towards La Para – Altos de Chipi\u00f3n Distance covered: \u00b1 100 km (driving from place to place) Today was my first day dedicated to birding, and an exhausting one. It started with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel-2","category-trip-to-formosa-and-the-chaco-2022"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3414"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3474,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3414\/revisions\/3474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}