Out to the Atlantic Coast
New birds on a driving day. It was with some reluctance that we left our cosy hotel in Buenos Aires and stepped out into the cold winter morning. A tango-themed hotel may seem an unlikely place for birders to stay, but in fact it was ideal: not too far from the Costanera Sur nature reserve, very comfortable rooms, and incredibly friendly and helpful staff, not to mention the fantastic tango evening show when it was too dark to go birding. So if you find yourself looking for somewhere special to stay in Buenos Aires, do check out www.complejotango.com.ar.
Our reluctance to leave came also from the fact that we now had to collect our hire car and brave the crazy Buenos Aires traffic to drive to our next destination, San Clemente de Tuyu further south on the Atlantic coast. But amazingly we made it in one piece, and once on the main road heading south, the traffic began to disappear, the fog lifted and the sun came out. And we began to see birds. Several short stops on our way south produced some good birds. Best amongst these was undoubtedly the Many-coloured Rush-Tyrant, a tiny bird with a riot of colour. Chilean Flamingos fed majestically in roadside pools showing off their diagnostic pink knees. The same pools also held a good variety of other water birds including Ringed Teal, Speckled Teal, Red Shoveler, Lake Duck, Great Grebe, Red-fronted Coot and both Black-necked and Coscoroba Swans. We crossed a vast expanse of open grassland grazed by numerous cattle. Raptors hunted here including both Cinereous and Long-winged Harriers, and a single Short-eared Owl.
Bird species total: 2624
Posted 3rd July, San Clemente, Argentina