Argentina & Ecuador 2024

We had a morning out on Ibera Lagoon, several hours looking for the illusive and scarce Purple Gallinule.  I couldn't get excited about it - if we found it it was just going to look like a purple swamp hen (we didn't find it).  So instead I watched the caiman slip past and felt glad I was in the boat and they weren't.  They weren't overly interested in us, unlike Nile Crocodile or Australian Salties who look at you as if you're lunch.  I also admired the birds we did see - those who made it easy - like Tiger Herons and Jacana.  I thought of my friend Pam and how ridiculous she would think this expedition.  She didn't like birds!  She would also, like my cousin Janine, have seen boots, handbags and belts lying on the sandbars. Yesterday was Pam's funeral and I am disappointed to have missed it.  I can watch it streamed when internet allows - here the internet is slow and intermittent.  And it won't be the same as being there and re...

  We have been in the Ibera Regional Park in Corrientes Region for the last few days.  We briefly escaped the thunderstorms but they have caught up with us again this afternoon.  There has been so much rain!  The unmade roads are a mess and there was water over some of the main roads - unavoidable when there was 100mm in under 2 hours! To get here we passed through Mercedes which is an old town in need of some love.  You can see once grand old buildings in a state of disrepair and some cobbled streets.  It has the closest petrol supply to the town in the regional park - Carlos Pellegrini - but is 70 km away so locals would have to keep a private supply.  It is also the closest shopping area with just a little supermarket here. Along the unmade road to the regional park and adjacent to it is a national park that is relatively new and as yet has limited visitor infrastructure.  It was a large estancia (ranch) that was returned to close to natural ha...

 Twelve of his latest - the 2025 calendar is coming along nicely! Black Caiman Black-capped Donacobius Campo Flicker Crested Caracara Giant Wood Rail Roseate Spoonbill Great Antshrike Magauri Stork Marsh Deer Scarlet-headed Blackbird White-headed Marsh Tyrant Unidentified as yet butterfly

  Since we returned to Buenos Aires last Sunday it has rained and rained, only interrupted by thunderstorms - in Spanish Las Tormentas.  They have tormented us!  And made birding difficult and uncomfortable.  Still, Steve keeps racking up the "lifers" and has well over 300 species for the trip.  We have come to El Palmar NP after two nights in Ceibas.  It is just across the river from Uruguay.  The mammal count has increased with Cavies (Guinea Pigs) in Ceibas and Capybaras in EPNP.  Also a Pampas Fox to add to the Patagonian Fox at Emerald Lake.  Fox in Spanish is Zorro! In the area around here tree growing is an important economic activity.  We saw very many eucalypt plantations and some saw mills.  Also many log trucks heading south to Buenos Aries.  We saw conventional agriculture too.  Crops, silage rolls, sheep, cattle and battery chicken sheds.  Tonight we are staying near El Palmar NP in a camp where some acco...

It has been a really wet couple of days.  The television news reporter in Buenos Aires is roaming the streets in a pair of waders interviewing people whose homes have been flooded in "la tormenta" - the thunderstorm.  The rain was bucketing down yesterday when we left BA for Pilar and again today on the trip north to Ceibas.  We did get some birding in and Steve has another 79 species for the day including 20 lifers.  We saw other wildlife too including this small tortoise. It was wet around our hotel - I hope it doesn't float away in the night. Some more wildlife Hopefully we've left the rain behind for a few days, apart from anything else the rain makes the mosquitoes much worse.

  The Argentina Museum of Natural History is 200 years old.  It has a wonderful collection of skeletons, models and specimens.  The displays are well set up and fascinating to look at.  We spent a peaceful hour and a half walking through the galleries.  The building that now houses the collection is not 200 years old but has some delightful features.  I especially liked the owl statues above each of the door ways. I'm sure the science and biology teachers would use this resource with their students.  All the animal families are represented and there is so much information! Each of the major doorways had owl statues above them.  There was a set of these along the outside wall including armadillos, llamas and other South American animals. There were models of fossils showing the evolution from flying dinosaurs to modern birds. Skeleton of a Hummingbird in front of that of a rhea. How many Australian birds can you see - this diorama shows the diversi...

  We visited the Botanical Garden this afternoon.   It shows signs of former glory but currently needs a bit of work.  There were a lot of visitors there, many sitting and reading, many sipping mate (may-tay)  from mugs with special metal strainer straws.  Mate is the national drink - a herbal concoction we haven't yet tried. There were all sorts of statues and monuments.  This one celebrates Argentina's relationship with the Austro-Hungarian Empire! Calico flower Quite a few gum trees in the Oceania section Saturnalia - the bloke on the right was over it The glasshouse was excellent Cactus collection This was lovely