Mental Mega Trip (Part 1) Buenos Aires & Costanera Sur

Been away for a month with Lizy in Argentina and on a big boat to Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Photos and words won’t give you a sense of this epic trip but here is a short round up and a few highlights. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet and I’ll try not to plaster the blog with too many penguin photos and long lists of birds.

Buenos Aires & Costanera Sur. 14th-16th Dec

Bird species- 64 (give or take a few)

I would like to say Buenos Aires was a beautiful city with friendly people and a relaxed, chilled atmosphere, rich in culture and splendour but it was actually a bit of a dump! (the bits we visited anyway). 

On the edge of the city however is a cracking spot, Costanera Sur; Ecological Reserve. This is an area of lowland on the Rio de la Plata riverbank and includes habitat such as; grassland, marsh, bog, lagoons and shore. It was a great place to escape the busy city and go birding. We spent several days here exploring the trails and skipped on most of the city sights.

Costanera Sur tracks

Bird highlights were Chequered and Green-barred woodpeckers, Spectacled Tyrant, Grey-necked wood rail, Fork-tailed flycatcher, Epaulet oriole, Black-and-rufous warbling finch, Masked yellowthroat, White-winged coot, Red-fronted coot, Red-gartered coot White-tufted grebe, Red-crested cardinal, Guira Cuckoo, Masked Gnatcatcher… and the list goes on. An additional highlight was finding wild Guinea pigs.

Green-barred woodpecker

 

Golden billed saltator

Fork-tailed flycatcher

Rufous-collared sparrow

Great kiskadee... destroying a frog

Bloody boiling! (Chalk-browed mockingbird on me finger)

Double-collared seedeater

Piglets

We also took the tube (an experience in itself) and visited the botanical gardens where large numbers of random cats can be found. The abandoned cats are allowed to live in the gardens and are fed and looked after by volunteers while being put up for adoption.

Public toilets got a rating of 1/10