Potrero de Yala - Dippers, Red-faced Guans And More

Laura and I were up early to make the most of our morning at Potrero de Yala. As dawn broke, we slowly drove in along the entrance road, keeping an eye out for guans.

We found quite a few guans on and around the road but none were our hoped-for Red-faced Guans; they were all Yungas Guans. But we wouldn't have to wait long. Once we entered the reserve we discovered our first of many Red-faced Guans for the morning. 

Red-faced Guan - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Birding this reserve was a nice change of pace. Most of our previous birding sites had been along busy mountain roads, and while this one saw a small amount of traffic, it was very manageable. Just a few cyclists and runners passed us. 

Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

The sun stayed hidden behind thick clouds which also prolonged the morning's bird activity. And there were birds just about everywhere! Rust-and-yellow Tanagers, Rusty-browed Warbling Finches and Fulvous-headed Brushfinches were fairly common lower down. We picked out a few White-browed Brushfinches and enjoyed close views of a Golden-winged Cacique. A distant Rothschild's Swift soared effortlessly by, high in the sky.

Rusty-browed Warbling Finch - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Golden-winged Cacique - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Plumbeous Black-Tyrants were a lifer for us, but each individual was rather distant on the top of a tree. 

Plumbeous Black-Tyrant - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

I'm feeling generous and will allow a few of the common species to have their moment of fame on the blog: Plush-crested Jay and Rufous-collared Sparrow...

Plush-crested Jays - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Rufous-collared Sparrow - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Laura and I had been pretty relieved to discover a pair of Rufous-throated Dippers a few days earlier at Quebrada Los Sosa. This interesting species had been a top target of mine, and Quebrada Los Sosa was our best chance at this species. But they inhabit the river here at Potrero de Yala as well. The problem, however, is that most of the river snakes by out of view of the road, and its few access points are usually clogged with throngs of tourists enjoying warm summer days, making the dippers disappear somewhere up or downstream. We were glad to have gotten it "out of the way" at Quebrada Los Sosa since it is a lot trickier at Yala. 

All of this means, of course, that we easily found a trio of dippers as we walked past one of the river access points! It was early in the morning and the people had yet to arrive. Surely, a slightly later visit would have been hopeless as it was a prime summer weekend. 

Rufous-throated Dipper - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Rufous-throated Dippers - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

A little higher up, we found some more Red-faced Guans including one that was quite approachable. The soft light created by the overcast sky was nice to work with as a photographer. 

Red-faced Guan - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Red-faced Guans have a limited distribution on the eastern slope of the Andes, mainly in southern Bolivia but also over the border into northwestern Argentina. They seem to prefer semi-humid forest with a high proportion of Podocarpus and alders. 

Red-faced Guan - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

As we worked our way higher up the slope, the cloud ceiling descended and the fog rolled in. Luckily, we found a nice mixed flock right before we were enshrouded in fog, and I picked out the distinctive vocalizations of a pair of Buff-banded Tyrannulets. This is another species with a relatively limited range in the middle elevations of the eastern slope of the Andes. Sense a theme?

Buff-banded Tyrannulet - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

By the time that we crested the top of the road and pulled up next to one of the lakes, the fog had continued to surround us and a light rain was falling. Luckily, the morning's heavy lifting had been done with most of our targets acquired...

Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Eventually though the sun did reappear, giving us the chance to scan the waterbirds bobbing on the surface. Yet another Red-faced Guan was unsucessfully blending in with the Neotropic Cormorants beside Laguna Comedero, while several Andean Slaty Thrushes lent their ethereal voices to the soundscape. 

One of the cormorants had something funky going on with its pigments...

Partially leucistic (?) Neotropic Cormorant - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

On a hunch, I tried a bit of playback for Giant Antshrike and got a response! A territorial male came close to check us out, and then he slipped away. The size of this antshrike was preposterous - definitely, a well-named species. 

Giant Antshrike - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

We were in for one final surprise on our way back down the mountain. A pair of huge woodpeckers appeared next to the road - our first Cream-backed Woodpeckers!

Cream-backed Woodpecker (male) - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

I'm a sucker for a good woodpecker and these fit the bill. The male was striking with his crimson head contrasting with an ivory bill and a jet black body. The female was arguably even more attractive, with beautiful black edging to her red crest and gape. What a species.

Cream-backed Woodpecker (female) - Potrero de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Laura and I had considered staying for another night and visiting the reserve the next morning, but our day had been quite successful with all targets acquired. And so we began driving north. In the next few days, we hoped to explore near the Bolivia border. We would be searching for some new species for us up there, including the Horned Coot, Wedge-tailed Hillstar, Red-backed Sierra Finch and more. 

El Valle Encantado (The Enchanted Valley), And A Bump In The Road

January 19, 2023

It is not always easy to find trails worth exploring in the Andes, and the reason for this is simple. The extreme topographical changes in the mountains, combined with frequent rainfall and thick vegetation do not lend themselves to the construction and regular maintenance of trails. But that doesn't mean that it is impossible to access these diverse habitats, full of weird and wonderful creatures.  The answer to that is obvious - vehicles. 

Cars and buses need to drive from the lowlands to the highlands and back again, and so roads have been cut into the mountainsides. And while walking alongside roads has its challenges, it at least allows one to access different habitats and altitudinal gradients that would otherwise be impossible to visit. You may notice a theme for us here in Argentina, in that we have been doing much of our exploring along various mountain roads, and that would continue. Today's route: Highway 33, heading west from Chicoana in Salta Province towards Parque Nacional Los Cardones, and travelling through El Valle Encantado (The Enchanted Valley). 

Chiguanco Thrush - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

The road begins in the humid lowlands, passes through kilometres of beautiful yungas forest, and climbs into a drier ecoregion where scrub dominates. At the highest elevation of the road, pampas grasslands proliferate and continuing west, the conditions become quite xeric with the plant communities reflecting this. We had budgeted for two days to explore this beautiful area. 

El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We awoke to heavy rain but didn't fret much about this, as we knew that we would be climbing high enough up the mountain to an area where the storm clouds rarely reach. By the time that the sun rose, it was a gloriously clear morning. 

El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We made a breakfast stop at around 2100m in elevation and quickly found a bird species that was new for both of us, a Spot-breasted Thornbird. Most thornbirds seem to prefer fairly open habitats, but the Spot-breasted is a little bit unique in that it prefers stunted woodland and dense scrub. 

Spot-breasted Thornbird - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We finished up breakfast and continued driving, making one more quick stop for some roadside birding en route to our target elevation. Laura and I had three main bird species on our mind, and all three were limited to the higher elevations: Rufous-bellied Brushfinch, Zimmer's Tapaculo and Maquis Canastero. 

Andean Tinamou - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

I plugged in the GPS coordinates for a particular ravine and we soon arrived to begin our search. It was here that some of the annoyances of birding alongside public roads came into play. For one, traffic was much more frequent that we would have liked. And two, the rain had not reached these elevations in quite some time, meaning that the road's substrate included a thick layer of dust. Every time a pickup truck blasted by us, we were coated with it. Fun!

El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We tried to not let this bother us too much as it was a beautiful morning. And while our main target species were not cooperating, we enjoyed our first good views of an Andean Tinamou. Like most tinamous, Andean Tinamous are quite vocal, and indeed, we had heard this species many times before. But this was our first chance to study one with binoculars, and for me, my first chance at photos. 

Andean Tinamou - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We also found our first Dot-fronted Woodpecker in this area, though it quickly disappeared. A little while later, we re-encountered the same individual, this time for a prolonged period of time. 

Dot-fronted Woodpecker - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

The Dot-fronted Woodpecker is endemic to the semi-humid yungas forests of northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia. 

Dot-fronted Woodpecker - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We encountered our first Rock Earthcreepers here as well. Despite their name, Rock Earthcreepers are rarely found in open rocky landscapes as they much prefer shrubby and grassy areas.

Rock Earthcreeper - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

Red-tailed Comets were around, too. These guys are just spectacular, and I couldn't help but expand my photo collection of this species. 

Red-tailed Comet - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We continued higher up the valley, hoping to have better luck with our main target species. I stopped the car at an intriguing little ravine and we relished the chance to get off of the dusty road by hiking up the creek bed. 

Cream-winged Cinclodes - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

Our instincts were correct and we found a pair of Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanagers just before leaving!

Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanager - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

This species used to be considered a type of saltator; not an unreasonable assumption given its appearance. With the proliferation of genetic sequencing in recent decades, ornithologists determined that it was not actually a saltator, but closely related to the mountain-tanagers. It was then placed in its own genus, Pseudosaltator. The Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanager prefers high elevation scrub and Polylepis forest on the east slope of the Andes in Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. 

Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanager - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We connected with several Maquis Canasteros at the next little creek valley in an area of dense shrubbery. We would go on to find this species in several other locations later in the morning. 

Maquis Canastero site - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

Maquis Canastero - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

The Zimmer's Tapaculo was the only remaining member of the "Big Three" that we had not found up to this point. We climbed even higher to where a side track leaves the highway and there are interpretive signs for El Valle Encantado. This gate is sometimes open, but we were not so lucky and it was closed. We headed out on foot, knowing that we had a reasonably long walk to reach suitable habitat for the tapaculo. The scenery was incredible along the way: I love the wide-open spaces of the high Andes. 

El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

The birding was pretty good along our walk. Some of the standouts included Andean Hillstar, Rusty Flowerpiercer and more Maquis Canasteros and Rock Earthcreepers. 

Rusty Flowerpiercer - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

Andean Hillstar - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

Maquis Canastero - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

Most of the sierra finches were accounted for, as were Black Siskins, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrants and a few distant flying Andean Condors. Ornate Tinamous vocalized from all around and we spotted one in an area of very short grass.

Ornate Tinamou - Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

Our long walk paid off when we heard the distinctive croaking vocalizations of a Zimmer's Tapaculo from within a small creek valley. But despite our best efforts, it remained a "heard-only" species. 

Our walk back to the car added a few additional species of birds including a small flock of Bare-eyed Ground Doves. Definitely a sharp looking dove! 

Bare-eyed Ground Dove - El Valle Encantado, Salta, Argentina

We continued up over the crest of the Andes where the road opened up into a broad, flat valley. Our first Guanacos of the trip roamed these plains. These camelids are the wild ancestors to the domestic llama. Vicuñas, which we have seen elsewhere in Argentina, are the ancestors to alpacas. 

Guanaco - Parque Nacional Los Cardones, Salta, Argentina

Guanaco - Parque Nacional Los Cardones, Salta, Argentina

We continued westward and watched the landscape change further, with cacti replacing the grasses. We checked a site for Elegant Crested Tinamous during the heat of the afternoon but were unable to see any - just heard one calling from somewhere, likely hidden in the shade under some shrubbery. 

The drive back to Chicoana was a little bit more eventful than we would have liked...

A slight problem...

It wasn't just a simple flat tire as the tire was basically destroyed. With the help of a local couple that stopped to provide assistance, we got the temporary spare installed and very carefully navigated back down the mountain. Luckily, the rest of this drive was uneventful. 

January 20, 2023

As I mentioned earlier, Laura and I had budgeted two full days to exploring El Valle Encantado. We had been quite fortunate in that we had found all of our major bird targets during the first day, meaning that we could spend today trying to acquire a new tire, knowing that we were not wasting any additional days. And so that is what we did. 

If it was just a simple patch job that was required, we could have had it fixed in an hour. But we needed to purchase a whole new tire. In the end, we had to drive all the way into Salta to a particular tire dealer to buy the exact same model. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was chewed up by running errands, and by taking the car to the rental agency in Salta since it was determined that the remaining three tires were rather bald and needed to be replaced, too. Enterprise, and their local partner Alamo in Salta were fantastic in taking care of this for us. They let us borrow one of their cars so that we had wheels for the afternoon while the car was undergoing its maintenance. 

Once the heat of the day had subsided, Laura and I drove to a park on the outskirts of Salta for a few hours of birding. We really needed the mental break after the stress of everything with the car.

Great Antshrike - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

Parque del Bicentenario filled that need for us and we enjoyed over 50 species of birds. Some of these were lifers, including Chestnut-capped Blackbird, Lined Seedeater and Yungas Sparrow. 

Chestnut-capped Blackbird - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

Lined Seedeater - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

We watched the display flight of a male White-browed Meadowlark with a smile on our faces. This was a new species for Laura, and what a stunner!

White-browed Meadowlark - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

Ducks and other waterbirds were plentiful here, while the long grasses were filled with a nice variety of songbirds. Below are a few more bird photos from the evening. 

Blue-black Grassquit - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

Andean Duck - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

Tawny-headed Swallow - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

Great Pampa-Finch - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

Fork-tailed Flycatcher - Parque Bicentenario, Salta, Argentina

We picked up our car at 7:30 PM, complete with a full set of new tires, and we were good to go again. The next day, we had plans of birding chaco scrub and yungas forest north of Salta.