After
collecting the car from Avis, it was a maze of small roads until Glenn
& I finally found the Hotel Tolkeyen which was to be our base for the next
three nights. Having forgotten to grab a google map of Ushuaia didn't help. Arriving at the Hotel Tolkeyen, we were greeted by a number of other
Birders who were also staying at the same hotel, including Tony Pollard prior to joining the Atlantic Odyssey.
Tony & I had already been in touch by email
in the UK
with a plan to team up & share my hired car. We also persuaded Glenn to join
us for the following day. My Plan A option was to see if the Garibaldi Pass
looked feasible to get onto the rocky top to look for White-bellied Seedsnipe
and Yellow-bridled Finch. The Plan B option was to continue onto Rio Grande (about a 3
hour drive) to look for Austral Canastero & Ruddy-headed Goose. We arrived
at the Garibaldi Pass to find relatively good conditions
with no snow or rain & high cloud. Therefore, it seemed worthwhile to try
to get up to the high tops. There were three Belgium Birders (Olivier, Filiep & Koen) who were just leaving
their car & who got onto the trail before us.
The trail to the top of the Garibaldi Pass went through this beautiful forest
It was a slow journey up the
hillside through the trees for us, as Tony was struggling with the path & Glenn
& I were keen we all kept together.
Austral Thrush: This was one of the few
species seen in the forest
Thorn-tailed Rayadito: This cracking
species is another of the commoner forest species. It seems to think it is both a Tit & a
Nuthatch, as well as, being a Furnariid
Unidentified Fungi
Once I reached the top of the rocky top, I saw
brief views of a party of Yellow-bridled Finches. I quickly tried to relocate
them, but they were clearly mobile. Rather than trying to chase the
Yellow-bridled Finches, I decided I needed to focus on finding a White-bellied
Seedsnipe.
The Garibaldi Pass: Proof that Tony made it above the treeline
This looks to be a difficult task given the amount of suitable
habitat & how cryptic White-bellied Seedsnipe are. However, on one of the
initial scans, I spotted one of the Belgium Birders appearing on a ridge about
¾ mile away, followed quickly by his mates with a lot of pointing, before the
cameras were raised. They then started to slowly stalk the Bird there were
looking at.
Glenn & Tony deciding whether to continue
I quickly walked back to where Glenn & Tony
were standing close to the treeline to say I think the Belgium lads
had found the White-bellied Seedsnipe. Glenn
& Tony weren’t keen to come up, but Glenn
told me to keep going.
The White-bellied Seedsnipe were on one of the distant hillsides in the middle of the photo
After a 15 minute walk across the screen slopes, I
reached the Belgium
lads who confirmed they had found five White-bellied Seedsnipe. I was then invited
to find them myself with calls of colder, warmer, nearer, before I picked them
up about 25 metres in front of us: Belgium humour I guess. They had had their fill & left me to
slowly crawl closer. Most Birders visiting Ushuaia don’t try for White-bellied
Seedsnipe & those that do, rarely seem to see them, so I appreciated how
lucky I was to see one of the toughest of Ushuaia’s near endemics.
White-bellied Seedsnipe: With a bit of habitat to show how difficult they can be to locate
White-bellied Seedsnipe
White-bellied Seedsnipe
White-bellied Seedsnipe
White-bellied Seedsnipe: The photo of the trip for me, but keep following the blog as there are plenty more cracking photos to come as this was only day one of a brilliant seven weeks trip