I had had a good night's sleep in the car at a campsite in the small town of Mar Chiquita on the Atlantic coast. I was up at first light & was greeted by a calling Chimango Caracara near to the car. It was clearly going to be a nice day, albeit with strong sunlight.
Chimango Caracara: This is the nominate chimango subspecies that occurs from South Brazil & Paraguay to central Argentina & central Chile
Chimango Caracara: They are a common species and I bumped into the next individual just outside of the campsite
After a quick breakfast, I was heading out to explore the coastal areas around Mar Chiquita. The small town has two rivers that runs into the larger river and the sea, as well as, some good-looking coastal beaches and mud flats. It looks a nice place to live for a Birder & where the locals were tolerant of their local wildlife.
Southern Lapwing: This is the lampronotus subspecies which occurs South of the Amazon & East of the Andes to South Uruguay & central Argentina
Chalk-browed Mockingbird: This is the modulator subspecies which occurs from South East Bolivia to South Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay & North Argentina
Southern Crested Caracara: This monotypic species occurs from the Amazon basin to East Peru, Tierra del Fuego & the Falklands. When I first travelled to the New World, it was lumped with Crested Caracara which occurs as far North to the Southern United States & some of the Caribbean Islands
There was a dirt track along the side of one of the coastal rivers which had a good selection of species.
Coscoroba Swan: This monotypic species occurs from South Brazil to Paraguay, Uruguay, Tierra del Fuego & the Falklands
Hudsonian Godwit: This monotypic species breeds in Alaska and Northern Canada & winters in Chile & Argentina. Note, the stronger supercilium compared to our similar-looking Black-tailed Godwit. In flight, their black underwing gives them away
Black Skimmer: This is the intercedens subspecies which occurs from East Brazil to Paraguay, Uruguay & North East Argentina
There was a good selection of species on the mudflats at low tide, but all too far for photos. Then I ran into the local celebrities. It was good to see how the locals were looking after them.
Burrowing Owl: This is the nominate cunicularia subspecies which occurs from South Bolivia, South Brazil & Paraguay to Tierra del Fuego
Burrowing Owl: They are quite happy dozing during the day as long as their partner is awake
Burrowing Owl: Just in case it wasn't obvious that they were protected
Burrowing Owl: The protected nest site is next to one of the dirt roads in the small town
Burrowing Owl: When I checked Google Maps, I found that I could see the Burrowing Owl pair & their nest site on Google Maps (Copyright Google Maps)
It was time to leave the Mar Chiquita area & explore further in the hope of seeing a Red-winged Tinamou: which was the Tick I was hoping to see in this area of the Argentinian coastline.
