{"id":932,"date":"2014-10-12T09:51:15","date_gmt":"2014-10-12T12:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/?p=932"},"modified":"2014-10-12T10:42:09","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T13:42:09","slug":"weekend-birding-trip-to-villa-la-angostura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/archives\/932","title":{"rendered":"Weekend birding trip to Villa La Angostura"},"content":{"rendered":"

My thanks to friends who contributed photos – I have acknowledged where I knew the source. Click on any image to start the slideshow, or scroll down to read the narrative.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are some of the members of\u00a0COA Cauqu\u00e9n Real<\/em>, on a recent visit to Villa La Angostura. I’m the one with the hat.<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/a>

Some members of the COA Cauquen Real on a recent visit to Villa La Angostura<\/p><\/div>\n

The letters COA stand for Club de Observadores de Aves;<\/em>\u00a0in English these would be local Birdwatchers’ Clubs. All these clubs are brought together under the umbrella of Aves Argentinas<\/em><\/a>, the national birding authority which since 1916 has existed for the conservation of wild birds and their habitat.<\/p>\n

\"141005-cauquen-real-2-mallin-grande-Angostura\"<\/a>

Two Ashy-headed Geese, with a Gaviota Cocinera (Larus dominicanus), in English the Kelp Gull<\/p><\/div>\n

Our branch in San Mart\u00edn is called COA Cauquen Real<\/a><\/em>, named for the\u00a0Ashy-headed Goose (Chloephaga poliocephala<\/em>), and last weekend some of our members travelled to the COA Tintica<\/em><\/a> in neighbouring Villa La Angostura, who had organised a weekend event<\/a> to celebrate the opening of their new birding season. ‘Tintica’ is another name for the Rayadito (Aphrastura spinicauda<\/em>), known in English as the\u00a0Thorn-tailed Rayadito. We saw both of these species in our recent birding outing, a week-end trip to the nearby town of Villa La Angostura.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Rayadito or Tintica<\/p><\/div>\n

It was good to meet our neighbours, and we heard some very interesting talks too, but we managed to get a bit of birding in too, on the way there and while we were in Angostura.<\/p>\n

I travelled with friends Scarlett Eastman and Lisandro Gonzalez, with other members of our COA travelling under their own steam.\u00a0The day was\u00a0Saturday 4th<\/sup> October and we left San Mart\u00edn at 08:30 am. The sun had been up for a couple of hours and the sky was clear, although\u00a0as we took the\u00a0Seven Lakes Road towards Villa La Angostura the mountain-tops were covered with clouds. Nevertheless, by the time we got to our first stop it had cleared up and we had sunny weather for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n

On our first stop\u00a0we saw a fair selection of birds:<\/p>\n

1. Tero (Vanellus chilensis), Eng.\u00a0Southern Lapwing<\/strong>
\n2. Chimango (Milvago chimango), Eng.\u00a0Southern caracara<\/strong>
\n3. Carancho (Caracara plancus), Eng.\u00a0Chimango caracara<\/strong>
\n4. Tordo Patag\u00f3nico 2 (Curaeus curaeus), Eng.\u00a0Austral Blackbird<\/strong>
\n5. Rayadito (Aphrastura spinicauda), Eng.\u00a0Thorn-tailed rayadito<\/strong>
\n6. Pico de Plata (Himenops perspicillata) , Eng.\u00a0Spectacled tyrant (<\/strong>male and female)
\n7. Ratona (Troglodytes aedon), Eng.\u00a0Grass wren<\/strong>
\n8. Golondrina Patag\u00f3nica (Tachycineta leucopyga), Eng.\u00a0Chilean swallow<\/strong>
\n9. Zorzal Patag\u00f3nico (Turdus falklandicus), Eng.\u00a0Austral thrush<\/strong>
\n10. Bigua (Phalacrocorax brasilianus), Eng.\u00a0Neotropic<\/strong>\u00a0aka\u00a0Olivaceous Cormorant<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Crossing<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n

I’m not going to clarify exactly where we stopped next, but it was a fairly wild area between the turning\u00a0for Meliquina and the road to Pueyehue, Chile. Here we set off on a bit of a trek, having to wade over streams and negotiate some seriously dangerous cliffs. We were in search of the Torrent Duck, a declining\u00a0species in Argentina threatened by (amongst other things) the American Mink (Sp. viz\u00f3n<\/em>) which eats its eggs and young.<\/p>\n

\"Torrent<\/a>

Torrent duck, shot at great distance in adverse circumstances<\/p><\/div>\n

The torrent duck was our main aim, and we were lucky enough to see one bird, a male, perched up on a rock about half a mile away. With the poor light, spray of the rapids and the generally overexposed background the photos I took were something of a disaster, but will serve as a register. It was a pity that we saw only one of these ducks, but they are hard to find. The poster below gives a better idea of what this duck looks like.<\/p>\n

\"Clearly<\/a>

Clearly we were in the right place. Photo taken by Scarlett Eastman.<\/p><\/div>\n

We watched this bird for a good ninety minutes, during which time it showed no signs whatsoever of movement and could well have been sleeping. Scarlett cites biologist\u00a0Gerardo Cer\u00f3n as explaining that the female is likely brooding on a nearby nest and only comes out for an hour or so each day while the male keeps watch outside and sends her back to the nest when she emerges. If that is the case, maybe this example of the species was sleeping on duty.<\/p>\n

In addition to repeat views of the above mentioned species on this white-water trek\u00a0we also saw:<\/p>\n

11. Picolezna (Pygarrhichas albogularis), Eng.\u00a0White-throated tree-runner<\/strong>
\n12. Martin Pescador (Megaceryle torquata), Eng.\u00a0Ringed kingfisher<\/strong>\u00a0(heard not seen)
\n13. Diuc\u00f3n (Xolmis pyrope), Eng.\u00a0Fire-eyed diucon<\/strong>
\n14. Remolinera com\u00fan (Cinclodes fuscus), Eng.\u00a0Bar-winged\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0Buff-winged Cinclodes<\/strong>
\n15. \u00c1guila Mora (Geranoetus melanoleucus), Eng.\u00a0Black-chested buzzard-eagle<\/strong>,\u00a0flying above the trail we were following, and of course …
\n16. Pato de Torrente (Merganetta armata), Eng.\u00a0Torrent Duck<\/strong>\u00a0(see above).<\/p>\n

We reached Villa La Angostura in time to check in at the highly recommended Italian\u00a0Hostel<\/a>\u00a0(budget, but very cosy).<\/p>\n

\"Hostal<\/a>

Hostal Italian, a very comfortable and surprisingly economical night’s stay.<\/p><\/div>\n

After a quick wash and brush up we\u00a0set off on food for the series of talks organised\u00a0by the COA Tintica. It was a varied and interesting programme, and well worth the visit but I’ll not review it further here. It was good too to make contact with members of the neighbouring COA. We then pooled resources for an evening picnic in the hostel and settled down for a good night’s sleep.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Evening<\/a>

Evening meal in the hostel – pooling resources<\/p><\/div>\n<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n

The following morning we went out on Lake Nauhal Huapi on a launch in a search for Imperial Cormorants. Here are some of the members of the two COAs who went on this lake excursion.<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/a>

Some members of COA Cauquen Real and COA Tintica, sailing on Lake Nahuel Huapi<\/p><\/div>\n

Imperial Cormorants<\/a>\u00a0are usually found at the sea shore, but some have evolved to live on the islands and cliffs of this lake, although we were unlucky and didn’t actually see any on this occasion. We did however see the endemic flying steamer duck, the only steamer duck that can fly, and this was some compensation.<\/p>\n

\"Flying<\/a>

Flying steamer duck – we saw about 18 birds on the lake<\/p><\/div>\n

After the boat trip we walked around two local birding spots; both excellent. One was the Laguna Verde<\/em>, close to the harbour where we had sailed from, and the other a private property, the Mall\u00edn Grande<\/em>, which is preparing for development as a Birding Reserve. Both were excellent birding sites with ‘walk-around’ trails, and I will group them together below for simplicity. I have not repeated species seen earlier in the trip.<\/p>\n

17. Remolinera Araucana (Cinclodes patagonicus), Eng. Dark-bellied cinclodes<\/strong>
\n18. Picaflor Rub\u00ed (Sephanoides sephaniodes), Eng. Green-backed Firecrown Hummingbird<\/strong>
\n19. Gorri\u00f3n (Passer domesticus), Eng. House sparrow<\/strong>
\n20. Cabecita Negra Austral (Carduelis barbata), Eng. Black-chinned siskin<\/strong>
\n21. Carpintero Magall\u00e1nico (Campephilus magall\u00e1nico), Eng. Magellanic woodpecker<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Of particular interest to me were the last of these, the Magellanic Woodpeckers, which had eluded me for far too long. No more; we saw several, reasonably close up. These are big birds, allegedly taken as the model for Woody Woodpecker.<\/p>\n

\"Male<\/a>

Male Magellanic woodpecker<\/p><\/div>\n

The pair seen here (above and below) were apparently looking for a nesting place, with the male drumming to get the female’s attention and then moving aside for her to investigate a wide hole in the trunk, which she did with great interest.<\/p>\n

\"Female<\/a>

Female Magellanic woodpecker<\/p><\/div>\n

We also saw:<\/p>\n

22. Carpintero Pit\u00edo (Colaptes pitius), Eng. Chilean Flicker\u00a0<\/strong>(heard not seen)
\n23. Comesebo (Phrygilus patagonicus), Eng. Patagonian sierra finch<\/strong>
\n24. Pato Overo (Anas sibilatrix), Eng. Chiloe <\/strong>or Southern Wigeon<\/strong>
\n25, Pato Vapor Volador (Tachyeres patagonicus), Eng.\u00a0Flying steamer duck <\/strong>(see above)
\n26. Gallareta Ligas Rojas (Fulica armillata), Eng,\u00a0Red-gartered coot<\/strong>
\n27. Gaviota Cocinera (Larus dominicanus), Eng.\u00a0Kelp gull<\/strong>
\n28. Churr\u00edn Andino (Scytalopus magellanicus), Eng.\u00a0Magellanic <\/strong>or Andean Tapaculo<\/strong>\u00a0(heard not seen).
\n29. Chucao (Sclerorchilus rubecula), Eng.\u00a0Chucao Tapaculo<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Chucao<\/a>

Chucao tapaculo – photo by Lisandro Gonzalez<\/p><\/div>\n

The chucao and the huet-huet both hide away and are hard to see. Congratulations are due to Lisandro, who invested time, energy and a cleaning bill to dive into a wettish\u00a0thicket\u00a0and stay there for long enough to catch this chucao.<\/p>\n

30. Huet-Huet (Pterotochos tarnii), Eng.\u00a0Black-throated Huet-huet<\/b> (heard, not seen)
\n31. Mac\u00e1 Grande (Podiceps major), Eng. Great grebe<\/strong>
\n32. Mac\u00e1 Pico Grueso (Podilymbus podiceps), Eng. Pied-bill grebe<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Pied-bill<\/a>

Pied-bill grebe, on Laguna Verde<\/p><\/div>\n

We saw two pairs of pied-bill grebes on Laguna Verde, communicating noisily with each other as they established their territories. \u00a0Beautiful birds, and happy to pose for us.<\/p>\n

We drove back home to San Mart\u00edn on the Sunday evening, tired but happy with a weekend’s birding activity under our belts and the determination\u00a0that before too long we would be returning to Angostura.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My thanks to friends who contributed photos – I have acknowledged where I knew the source. Click on any image to start the slideshow, or scroll down to read the narrative. Here are some of the members of\u00a0COA Cauqu\u00e9n Real, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-birds","category-for-fb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932","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=932"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":973,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions\/973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eayrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}