January 31, 2023
Our success with the Chaco Owl and Black-bodied Woodpecker afforded us the luxury of a sleep-in this morning. With the exception of the rare Chaco Eagle, as well as several species that were heard but not seen (Black-legged Seriema, Olive-crowned Crescentchest, Yungas Sparrow) we had found every single one of our Chaco targets over the past few days and weeks.
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| Great Black Hawk - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
We would soon be leaving the Chaco behind. As we headed eastwards, the landscape slowly transitioned, beginning to incorporate taller trees. The humid Atlantic rainforest would not be far off now. We broke up the drive by visiting one last area of Chaco, the appropriately named Parque Nacional Chaco, located at the eastern edge of this ecoregion. Our sleep-in and the nearly two-hour drive meant that we did not arrive until the late morning hours. It was a scorcher of a day, with forecasted temperatures in the high 30s, so we stuck to the shade during our 2.5 hour visit.
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| Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
Right away, we found a really cool species along the entrance road: A Pale-crested Woodpecker! This species has a small range in Bolivia, extreme southwest Brazil and eastern Paraguay, just dipping down into Argentina here. It prefers more mature forest and so it does not venture further west into the shrubbier Chaco.
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| Pale-crested Woodpecker - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
We checked in with the friendly rangers and hit the trails.
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| Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
Parque Nacional Chaco is situated in the intergrade zone between the Chaco and the Atlantic rainforest. Some of the typical species of the latter region can be found here and we found several White-browed Warblers and Saffron-billed Sparrows, our first of many.
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| White-browed Warbler - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
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| White-browed Warbler - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
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| Saffron-billed Sparrow - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
Laura and I pushed through the heat and humidity. We attempted to stick to the shady patches, now scarce due to the sun's position almost directly above us. Despite the difficult conditions, the wildlife remained plentiful. Below are a few other species that I photographed before we had to retreat back to the air conditioning of our vehicle.
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| Four-toed Tegu (Teius teyou) - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
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| Black-crowned Tityra smashing a caterpillar - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
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| White-patterned Skipper (Chiomara asychis) - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
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| Gulf Fritillary (Dione vanillae) - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
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| Giant Wood-Rail - Parque Nacional Chaco, Chaco, Argentina |
We continued eastwards, eventually finding a hotel in the city of Corrientes near the Paraguay border.
February 1, 2023
Laura and I left the hotel by dawn, though we should have departed earlier to beat the temperatures. With a forecasted daily high of 38 degrees, it was bound to be a sizzler. Our goal for the day was to cover ground to the east, eventually ending up in Ituzaingó at the north end of Parque Nacional Iberá where quite a few birds of interest could be found. Not wanting to waste the day, I had picked out a road with a promising bird list for us to walk in the morning.
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| San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
The heat ramped up quickly, even in the early morning hours. We had to work quickly to find birds before the temperatures got out of control. Luckily, we easily found my main target for the morning - Rufous Casiornis.
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| Rufous Casiornis - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
We added a few more new species including Greater Thornbird and Surucua Trogon. We would undoubtedly see many more of these species in the coming days and weeks.
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| Greater Thornbird - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
The Surucua Trogon was a milestone bird as it was my 20th and final species of bird in the genus Trogon! That being said, there are quite a few other trogons I "need" as the family Trogonidae covers the tropical regions of Africa and Asia. In the Americas, I am only missing the Eared Quetzal and Hispaniolan Trogon.
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| Surucua Tanager - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
The road terminated at the Paraná River which separates Argentina from Paraguay. As it was my first time actually laying eyes on Paraguay, I had to add a few birds to my Paraguay list - Yellow-billed Tern and Black Skimmer, which were clearly across the border. Cheating, I know!
Several Western Collared Spiny Lizards (Tropidurus catalanensis) were basking on the rocks lining the river. Lizard diversity is surprisingly scarce in this part of the world, and this is one of the very few lizard species that we have encountered in the Atlantic rainforest of northeastern Argentina in the time since.
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| Western Collared Spiny Lizard (Tropidurus catalanensis) - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
A Red-billed Scythebill was working a tree in this area as well. This was, by far, the clearest view that we have had of this species. Sycthebills are the best - those bills are just ridiculous.
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| Red-billed Scythebill - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
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| Red-billed Scythebill - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
The walk back to the car was arduous and birdless, as the heat had really set in. The breeze did not help much as it was comprised of hot air. There was one avian surprise on the walk back, this Pale-crested Woodpecker.
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| Pale-crested Woodpecker - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
We had barely begun our drive towards Parque Nacional Iberá when a serpentine shape appeared on the road up ahead. Instinctively, I threw the car in neutral and yanked the parking brake, fired off a few photos of it on the road, and then took off running to cut the snake off before it disappeared into the ditch. This was successful, though it did give me a little nip in the process. This is Hydrodynastes gigas, commonly called the False Water Cobra.
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| False Water Cobra (Hydrodynastes gigas) - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
Of course, this scene played out in the front yard of one of the houses meaning that we had an audience for the ordeal. Our new friends were interested in the snake though, and afterwards they showed us a nearby wetland where we released it, safe from the machetes of neighbours. This species isn't always well-received here, as it is assumed by many people to hunt their chickens.
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| False Water Cobra (Hydrodynastes gigas) - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
We also stopped to photograph this Argentine Black-and-white Tegu on the roadside.
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| Argentine Black-and-white Tegu (Salvator merianae) - San Cosme area, Corrientes, Argentina |
The rest of our drive eastwards was without reptilian distraction, though we stopped on several occasions for birds. The first time was for a flock of Greater Rheas, Laura's first, while the next break in the drive was for a pair of Jabirus. They towered over the other wading birds.
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| Jabiru and friends - Itatí, Corrientes, Argentina |
By mid-afternoon we had found a hotel for a couple of nights in the town of Ituzaingó. We had plans to enter Parque Nacional Iberá on the following day, but we still had one order of business to take care of this evening.
The Sickle-winged Nightjar is rare and poorly known, inhabiting a select few undisturbed savannahs in southeastern South America. One population lives just east of Ituzaingó. To protect the nightjars, this area has been set aside as a reserve. Nestor and Olga are a couple that live at the entrance of the reserve. In addition to being the caretakers here, they actively study the nightjars. I reached out to Nestor to see if we could join him and Olga for a night of surveys, since the area where the nightjars live is off-limits to the public. He was happy to oblige.
Laura and I arrived just before sundown and met Nestor and Olga. We jumped in their truck and as the sun began setting, we made our way down a bumpy track, surrounded by gorgeous grassland. I inquired with Nestor about Sharp-tailed Tyrants - a species we had yet to see - and he quickly stopped the truck where he knew this species lived. We were losing light quickly but succeeded when a pair of the tyrants showed interest with my playback. Success!
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| Sharp-tailed Tyrants - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
We continued onwards to the site of a known Sickle-winged Nightjar lek. We waited for night to fall as the first Common Nighthawk darted overhead. The mosquitoes were a little friendly; surely they provided the buffet for the nightjars.
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| RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
The evening was nothing short of magical. No sooner had we heard the first Sickle-winged Nightjar when Nestor spotlighted it further down the path. We slowly approached - me snapping photos periodically - until we were mere metres from the bird.
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| Sickle-winged Nightjar - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
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| Sickle-winged Nightjar - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
Once I had concluded my photo-taking, Nestor deftly caught the nightjar by hand (no net required!). This one was a recapture, already sporting a metal band around one of its legs. We brought the bird back to the truck where measurements and data were taken. It was interesting to see the distinctive wings up close. Sickle-winged Nightjars have reduced secondary feathers, the reason for the unusual wing shape.
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| Sickle-winged Nightjar - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
For the rest of the evening we slowly drove the truck back out the way we came, stopping periodically for each nightjar on the road. It was impressive to see how quickly and accurately Nestor and Olgo identified each bird, often without using their binoculars and before the truck was completely stopped. Obviously, they are rather experienced with this!
We found several other Sickle-winged Nightjars including a young one that was new to the project. I photographed it before it was briefly captured and processed.
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| Sickle-winged Nightjar - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
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| Sickle-winged Nightjar - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
In addition to our target species, we encountered four other caprimulgids: Common Nighthawk, Common Pauraque, Little Nightjar and Scissor-tailed Nightjar.
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| Little Nightjar - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
We also noted a Common Potoo, while Laura and I spotlighted another once we had left the reserve.
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| Common Potoo - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
Nothing quite gets the heart pumping like the excitement of a snake on the road!
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| Pampas Lancehead (Bothrops pubescens) - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
This was a new species of Bothrops for us, the Pampas Lancehead (Bothrops pubescens).
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| Pampas Lancehead (Bothrops pubescens) - RN Rincón de Santa María, Corrientes, Argentina |
It was an incredible evening, thanks to the hospitality of Nestor and Olga. They wouldn't accept any payment for the evening so instead we gave them a donation to be used for their research. It is important work that they are doing and we were grateful that we could contribute in a small way.
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