9 Jan 23 - Argentina - Inland Wetland Pools

After an early look around the small coastal town of Mar Chiquita, I headed off to check out the large cattle estancias, inland from the Mar Chiquita area. It was turning into an increasingly hot day into the low thirties and the air conditioning was much appreciated, as the track was throwing up a lot of dust. I had a number of eBird locations where Red-winged Tinamous has been seen, but it was clearly going to be a hit & miss species and it appeared that some of these sightings had occurred when a Birder had been allowed to drive onto an estancia. In the last Blog Post, I had included the photos of a number of the dry country species seen on the estancias. In this Blog Post, I will focus on the species on the wet pools.

This was one of the better marshy areas

Pied-billed Grebe: This is the antarcticus subspecies which occurs throughout South America

White-tufted Grebe: This is the chilensis subspecies which occurs from South Peru & South Brazil to Tierra del Fuego & the Cape Horn Archipelago

Snowy Egret: This is the nominate thula subspecies which occurs from the United States & West Indies to central Argentina

Snowy Egret: I wonder how often UK Birders check Little Egrets for the bright yellow lores that are found on Snowy Egrets: we could do with another UK Snowy Egret

White-faced Ibis: This monotypic species occurs from the Great Basin of the Western United States to South West Brazil & central Argentina

White-faced Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill: This monotypic species occurs from the Southern United States & West Indies to Brazil & North Argentina

Roseate Spoonbill: This must be the best-looking Spoonbill

Maguari Stork: This monotypic species occurs on the tropical plains & marshes to the East of the Andes

Ringed Teal: This monotypic species occurs from South Brazil to Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay & North East Argentina. This was a bonus Tick as somehow we had missed it during our five week Argentinian trip in Nov/Dec 1998

Silver Teal: This is the nominate versicolor subspecies which occurs from South Bolivia, Paraguay & South Brazil to Tierra del Fuego

Silver Teal: They really are a gorgeous Duck

Cinnamon Teal: This is the nominate cyanoptera subspecies which occurs from South Peru & South Brazil to Tierra del Fuego & the Falkland Islands

Red Shoveler: This monotypic species occurs from South Peru & South Brazil to Tierra del Fuego & the Falkland Islands

Speckled Teal: This is the oxyptera subspecies which occurs from the Andes of central Peru to North Chile & Argentina

Bahama Pintail: This species is AKA White-cheeked Pintail. This is the rubrirostris subspecies which occurs from the Pacific coast of Ecuador South to central Chile and Eastern South America from Eastern Bolivia, central & Eastern Brazil & Uruguay South to North Argentina

White-winged Coot: This monotypic species occurs from extreme South East Brazil to East Bolivia & South to Tierra del Fuego

There were still a good number of other species seen on this drive inland of Mar Chiquita and I will cover them in the final Blog Post for the day.

10 Mar 18 - Colombia: Early Morning On The Guajira Peninsula

It was a long drive to our first stopping point on the Guajira Peninsula & for once, we arrived just after first light, rather than before dawn. However, it had only been light for a short period of time before we stopped. We started to see new Birds as soon as we were out of the minibus.

Bare-eyed Pigeon: This is restricted to the arid coast of Northern Colombia, Venezuela & a few offshore islands

Bare-eyed Pigeon: Later in the morning, we had better views of this local speciality

The first Bare-eyed Pigeon, was quickly followed by a Vermilion Cardinal.

Vermilion Cardinal: This sign on a house gives you an idea of how bright they are

A habitat shot showing how dry & arid the site is

Soon after, a patch of flowering bushes which were hosting my first Buffy Hummingbirds & Red-billed Emeralds. However, the light was poor, everything was flighty & Janos was quickly moving us on. Given it was going to get hot very quickly, it was good to keep looking, before the activity dropped off. We were soon at a fairly large waterhole among the arid bushes. Obviously, this was a magnet for Birds.

Crested Bobwhite: The whiter faced male has just put its head up. This is the only Bobwhite species & it occurs from Guatemala to Colombia, Venezuela & the Guianas

Crested Bobwhite: I am assuming that the left hand individual is the female with the other back two being the youngsters

Pale-legged Hornero: This species occurs from Colombia & Venezuela to Ecuador & Brazil

Pied Water-tyrant: They are always a delight to see

Pied Water-tyrant: They look quite different as they turn

Pileated Finch: This had also appeared close to the Pied Water-tyrant for a drink

White-whiskered Spinetail: This must be one of the best-looking Spinetails. A pity it was skulking in the vegetation

White-whiskered Spinetail: Fortunately, we had better views of this cracking species later in the morning

Black-crested Antshrike: Female

Greyish Saltator

At the far end of the waterhole, was a mixed group of feeding White Ibis, Scarlet Ibis and Snowy Egrets.

White Ibis, a paler Scarlet Ibis & a Snowy Egret

White Ibis

Scarlet Ibis: A well marked individual

Snowy Egret

Yellow-headed Caracara

It was time to move on to another local track. More in the next Blog Post.