You can see the full eBird trip report for our Northwest Argentina birding trip here.
Pre-trip birding at Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur
After a month in Santa Fe, I found myself walking through the streets of Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires, on my way to the Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur. My travel companions for the next three weeks, Garret and Joshua, were only landing from Cape Town in the evening, so I decided to spend the afternoon checking out the lovely Costanera Sur Reserve on the Rio de la Plata. I had briefly visited the reserve on my last visit to Argentina in 2020 and was looking forward to exploring it more thoroughly this afternoon.
It proved to be quite productive, and I recorded 47 species with birds like Southern Screamer, Rosy-billed Pochard, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Harris’s Hawk, White-eyed Parakeet, White-winged Becard, Spix’s Spinetail, Golden-crowned Warbler, Green-winged Saltator, and my only White-lined Tanager in Argentina.
I returned to the accommodation at sunset and was joined by Garret and Josh in the evening.
Day 1. 7 January 2024. Parana Wetlands and Ceibas
Day 1. 7 January 2024. Parana Wetlands and Ceibas birding
Our alarms went off before dawn, and we had allocated a full day to explore the wetlands and Espinal woodlands north of Buenos Aires in search of some real global megas. We met up with Francisco Táboas, and our first stop on a random farm road near Zarate delivered big with birds like Gilded Sapphire, Rufous-sided Crake, Spix’s Spinetail, Black-and-rufous Warbling Finch, and Bluish-grey Saltator.
We continued along the road and passed through various sections of flooded grassland, wetlands, and riverine thicket, picking up birds like the tricky Ash-colored Cuckoo, Plumbeous Rail, Giant Wood Rail, an out-of-range Savanna Hawk, Rufous-capped Antshrike, Freckle-breasted Thornbird, Sooty Tyrannulet, Spectacled Tyrant, Scarlet-headed Blackbird, and Brown-and-yellow Marshbird, to name only a few. The highlights for me, however, were the reedhaunters, and man, did we succeed with them. We managed to get excellent views of all three of these localised and tricky birds: Curve-billed, Sulphur-bearded, and Straight-billed Reedhaunter.
In addition to these, we had other incredible sightings like the outrageous Diademed Tanager, localised Grey-throated Warbling Finch, an unexpected Black-collared Hawk, our only Euler’s Flycatcher for the trip, Warbling Doradito (I love the doraditos) and the raucous Dusky-legged Guan. We had over 100 species by 10 am!
We then made our way to Ceibas in Entre Ríos Province, picking up Swaison’s Flycatcher and Coscoroba Swan along the way. The plan was to spend the rest of the day birding the Espinal woodlands along the Ceibas road. I had already seen most of these species during my time in Santa Fe, but the birding was nothing short of spectacular, and I still managed a lifer in the form of a Long-tailed Reed Finch.
After birding the road for just over an hour, we had recorded 76 species with personal highlights including another two Ash-colored Cuckoos, Solitary Sandpiper, White Woodpecker, Tufted Tit-Spinetail, Lark-like Brushrunner, Short-billed Canastero, and close-up views of White Monjita.
A final stop at a wetland west of Ceibas delivered Fulvous Whistling Duck, Maguari Stork, Burrowing Owl, Yellow-browed Tyrant (lifer!), and White-naped Xenopsaris. It had been an incredible first day of our Argentina birding trip; we recorded no fewer than 136 species, and I had seen a whopping 24 lifers! We had a convenient dinner at a fast-food restaurant near our accommodation (with a celebratory beer, of course) and packed for an early flight to Cordoba, where our northwest Argentina birding trip would begin.
