Fin del Mundo

On Saturday, Feb. 23 we flew to the end of the world – "fin del mundo" as the city of Ushuaia proudly proclaims.  It is not quite the end of the world but may have seemed that way in past centuries.  Ushuaia claims that it is the world’s most southerly city, dismissing a Chilean settlement on the south side of the channel as just a town.  This part of the continent is well known for its bad weather and we had packed accordingly.  I can’t say that we were disappointed when the weather was warm, calm and sunny!  We only had 2 ½ days in Ushuaia so we didn’t have time to explore all of the area.  We chose to do a 4 hour cruise in the Beagle Channel and a full day excursion to Estancia Harberton and Gable Island.

I had not been south of Buenos Aires before so almost all of the birds were new to me.  A walk along the shore near our hotel produced my first new bird for the area – Kelp Goose.  Along the shore there were hundreds of terns including South American Terns.  I think there were also Arctic and Antarctic Terns but I’ll have to check my reference books at home to be sure.

Kelp Goose

South American Tern

I picked a cruise boat that had a maximum of 26 paying customers and also had an upper observation deck; as a bonus, one of the crew knew his birds and would point out interesting birds to me.  The view of the mountains and the city was magnificent such that it was hard to focus on the birds!

View of Ushuaia as seen from the bay

The first new bird of the trip was Magellanic Penguin – nice to see but we would get much closer looks the following day.  The cruise got hijacked by a Humpback Whale for a while but eventually everyone had seen enough of the whale and we returned to the original route.  In the Beagle Channel there are a number of small islands which host South American Sea Lions and cormorants.

South American Sea Lions and Imperial Cormorants

Most of the cormorants were Imperial Cormorants but one island had a number of Rock Cormorants.

Rock Cormorants

In the sky, skuas – Brown and Chilean – were everywhere.  We also had distant looks at Black-browed Albatross and Southern Giant Petrel but, alas, no diving-petrels.  Near the end of the cruise, we docked at a small island and did a short hike.  Once again, the views were spectacular but close-ups of Chilean Skuas stole the show (at least in my opinion!).

Chilean Skua

The next day we went by van to Estancia Harberton, a 20,000 hectare ranch about 85 km from Ushuaia.  The ranch includes some islands in the Beagle Channel and this was the attraction for us.  We went for a 2 hour hike on Gable Island which is the largest island in the channel.  Birds weren’t plentiful but over the course of the hike I managed to find a few lifers.  At the end of the hike, we were treated to a delicious meal of chicken pizza (where the chicken replaces the dough of a normal pizza) complete with some Patagonian wine.

Thorn-tailed Rayodito

Austral Parakeet

We then went by zodiac to a small island which is a breeding colony for Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins.  There was even a special visitor in amongst the breeders – a King Penguin.

Penguin colony

Magellanic Penguin

Gentoo Penguin

King Penguin

After spending 3 weeks in Buenos Aires (albeit focusing on Spanish and tango lessons), it was nice to see a lot of new birds.  No doubt, a couple days more with some more boat trips, would have resulted in even more lifers but might not have been so interesting for my travel companions.  Barb has been great in accompanying me on birding outings and has also been taking some scenic and wide-angle shots which I am using in this and other Argentina posts.

 

 

A Day on the Delta

Having spent most of the past two weeks in the city, we were looking forward to a boating excursion on Saturday from Tigre, a town located about 30 kilometres north of Buenos Aires city centre.  Barb did the research and found a small company, Safari Delta, which offered trips in a zodiac. This had more appeal than the big tourist boats and I figured we would see some birds as we explored some small channels.

Our trip was scheduled for noon – not ideal but reasonable given a 1 ½ trip by train and foot to get there. Our guide was to be Lucila, a young energetic lady who spoke excellent English (alas, no Spanish practice!) and we were soon on our way down a small channel.

Barb and our gude Lucila

Lucila warned us that we probably wouldn’t see too many birds because of all the weekend boaters but there couldn’t be that many … could there?

Boats on the river with Buenos Aires in the background

It turns out that all of the navigable channels on the delta have homes or cabins on them so we were never far from people.  I kept looking for birds and eventually saw a Snowy Egret, Cocoi Heron and Kiskadee – not much for such wonderful looking habitat.  Lucila took us to a quiet channel and we went for a swim in the chocolate brown water – very refreshing on a hot summer day.

Swimming in the warm (but not clear!) water

Knowing that I was keen to find some birds, Lucila then went down a shallow channel.  We could hear a few birds and watched Streaked Flycatchers swoop down for insects just above the water.  However, the channel became too shallow for the zodiac so we had to turn around.  On the way out, I spotted a Green Kingfisher hiding in the shade.

A quiet channel

To cap the afternoon off, we stopped for lunch along the river where Lucila cooked a wonderful steak (best we’ve had in Argentina so far) which I washed down with a litre of beer.  It was a great outing but not very good for birds.  If you are ever in Tigre and want to see some birds, go early and don’t go on a weekend … the habitat looks great so there should be birds around.  Below is a map of the area showing our route for the afternoon.

Our route (Buenos Aires is to the southeast)

 Hopefully I'll have some bird and/or mammal photos for the next post! 

 

 

An Outing North of Buenos Aires

On Sunday, Barb and I met up with two young naturalists, Leonel and Martina.  I had contacted Leonel through Birding Pal and he suggested taking us to two reserves north of Buenos Aires.  The plan sounded great to me and even appealed to Barb who is not a birder.

Martina and Leonel with me at the entrance to Ribera Norte

We started birding at Ribera Norte in San Isidro.  The reserve borders the River Plata and features various habitats – extensive wetlands including a small lagoon, some dense forested areas and reedy areas along the river.

Lagoon at Ribera Norte

At the lagoon, there is a raised blind and we stayed there for about 30 minutes enjoying the views.  On the lagoon there were Common Gallinules, Brazilian Teals, a Striated Heron and a couple of Coypus (my second Argentine mammal.  Thanks Steve – that was a Brazilian Guinea Pig that I saw last week which the local guide book calls a South American Guinea Pig). 

Brazilian Teal

Coypu

Beyond the lagoon, there were Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets and a Cocoi Heron in the trees.

Cocoi Heron

While walking through the forest, we came across species such as Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Tropical Parula and had numerous glimpses of the Gray-necked Wood-Rail. In the reeds at the river we found my lifer for the day – a Wren-like Rushbird.

Wren-like Rushbird

Our next stop was a small reserve in Vicente López which is just south of San Isidro.  At a playing field on the way to the reserve, we saw a mixed flock of Shiny Cowbirds, European Starlings, Cattle Tyrants and Southern Lapwing.  This reserve featured a large lagoon with a trail around it.  On the lagoon, there was Wattled Jacana with 3 young ones and a Black-crowned Night-Heron juvenile.  On the trail, we found Sooty Tyrannulet, Sayaca Tanager and Green-winged Saltator.

Birding in the Vicente López researve

After a pleasant lunch, we made a couple of stops in Palermo on the way back to our apartment.  By now, the temperature was over 30^o C so the birding was quiet.  Still we found a Dark-billed Cuckoo, Limpkin and got better looks at the Narrow-billed Woodcreeper.

Dark-billed Cuckoo

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper

All in all, it was a great introduction to some great urban birding locations and we are very thankful to Leonel and Martina for taking us around and patiently answering all of our questions.  They not only told us about the birds but also the mammals, trees, flowers and butterflies and general ecology of the area. 

The bird names that I use in this blog are based on the most recent Clements update and, as such, do not always correspond to those in the Argentina guidebook.  For example, the guidebook uses Brazilian Duck instead of Brazilian Teal and White-necked Heron instead of Cocoi Heron. 

 

 

Common Birds of Buenos Aires

Barb and I arrived in Buenos Aires last Friday afternoon and soon were settled in an apartment in the Palermo district of the city.  We chose this area due to its proximity to a number of parks, quick access to the subway (“subte”) and because it was within walking distance of our Spanish and tango lessons.  When I saw the comment on this blog from my friend, Jose Gustavo, I was even more motivated to improve my Spanish.  We birded many times together in Venezuela and he very patiently tried to teach me some birding Spanish.

Birding wasn’t on the agenda but, with all of the large trees lining the streets, there were always birds to be seen.  From the apartment balcony, I have seen about 10 species including one lifer – Burrowing Parrot.  One landed on the balcony above me but I was not fast enough with the camera.  I have been trying to learn the calls of the 3 parrot species in the area and this morning I heard squawks that sounded like a car trying to start.  “Hmm, I wonder which one that is” and I listened closely.  The sound was repeated a few times and then the engine caught!

View from our apartment

A walk in the local park on Saturday produced many common birds, some of which are the same as in Calgary – Rock Pigeon, European Starling, House Wren and the ubiquitous House Sparrow; some which make it to the southern U.S. – Neotropic Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Kiskadee and Monk Parakeet; some are southern cousins of North American birds – Chalk-browed Mockingbird,Rufous-bellied Thrush; and some which common throughout South America – Rufous-Collared Sparrow, Eared Dove, Rufous Hornero.

Snowy Egret

Chalk-browed Mockingbird

Rufous Hornero

Sunday, we ventured to the street market in San Telmo.  There I found an Argentina bird guidebook (I had looked earlier in some book stores without success), albeit without the accompanying DVD.  It is an excellent guide with both Spanish and English, photos and illustrations and a numerical code indicating the likelihood of finding a bird (all of the birds I’ve seen so far are common, thus the title of this posting).  I don’t know why the book isn’t available in North America. There were not many birds in this old part of town but we saw some interesting sights. 

Tango - we just learned this step so perhaps Barb needs a dress like this!

This week, we have developed a bit of a routine:  an early morning walk in the park, Spanish lessons at noon, mid-afternoon by the pool or perhaps another outing, a tango lesson (just two per week) and then dinner at a nearby restaurant.  It is mid-summer here so the daytime highs are in the high 20’s and overnight lows around 18 … quite pleasant compared to Calgary at this time of year!

Buenos Aires has a well know ecological reserve – reserva ecologica Costanera Sur – which is just a half hour walk from the city centre.  I had visited it over 10 years ago while on a business trip and remembered it as a fantastic place.  However, it has been very dry in Buenos Aires the past few years and the lagoons have all dried up!  Still, there is a lot of good habitat but one has to work a lot harder to see the birds.  To compound problems, the reserve doesn’t open until 8 a.m. which is about an hour and a half after sunrise. I went to the reserve on Tuesday and by 10 a.m. it was too hot for me and the birds.  Some of the birds I saw were Green-barred Woodpecker, Streaked Flycatcher, Hooded Siskin, Saffron Finch, and Double-collared Seedeater.  I had one lifer in the reserve – a Golden-billed Saltator.  I also found my first mammal of the trip but am not sure what is was.  I asked a man who was watching it and he called it a “Cu-ee”.  This is a medium-sized rodent with prominent (but not large) ears and no apparent tail.  I was just about to take a photo when a jogger ran by and the animal scurried into the bushes.

Green-barred Woodpecker

Streaked Flycatcher

The parks nearby the apartment have many beautiful large trees but no understory.  Thus, most of the birds I’m seeing are those found in inhabited or open areas.  There are a few small lakes that have a variety of waterfowl, most of which appears to be of the barnyard variety.  Still, I have picked up some life birds such as White-winged Coot and Red-fronted Coot.

Red-fronted Coot

Some of the trees are still in bloom and the Palo Barracho with its pink flowers attracts the parakeets and hummingbirds.

Palo Barracho trees

Monk Parakeet

Gilded Hummingbird

In English we have an expression “trash bird” which usually refers to a bird that one was hoping to find and which turns out to be very common.  Here, the Monk Parakeet is truly a trash bird!

Trash birds!  Monk Parakeets

In this post, I have shown a few of the birds I have seen.  If you wish to view photos of all the birds I have photographed in Argentina, go to: https://plus.google.com/photos/117362411810728562179/albums?banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1#photos/117362411810728562179/albums/5842542341209391601

I have made contact with a local birder and, in the coming week, I am hoping to venture a little further afield.  Maybe I’ll have some uncommon birds to show you in the next post!

Saludos,
Brian

 

The Travelling Birder

When I started birding 25 years ago, I thought it was a cheap hobby – after all, you just needed a pair of binoculars and a field guide.  Over the years, my gear has expanded and I have learned that there is no such thing as a cheap hobby.  Travelling with all this gear can be a challenge, particularly if one will be travelling on small planes.  Doing the big year last year gave me plenty of practice in packing my gear and I learned a few things along the way that I’d like to share.  First, some basics:  If it is valuable or breakable, carry it with you; if it can’t be easily replaced at the destination, carry it with you.

Carrying all your gear can mean that your carry-on weighs more than your checked luggage – don’t let the airlines weigh your carry-on!  Although most North American airlines allow two pieces of carry-on, that may not be the case for your destination country.  As a result, I try to fit everything in a mid-sized backpack (30 litres).  For my current trip, my pack has binoculars, DSLR camera and two lenses, laptop computer and power supply, a small bag with chargers for camera batteries and tablet, medical supplies, sunglasses, bird book and checklist, flashlight (I was once on an overnight flight where the light for my seat didn’t work), a small toiletry kit and a spare set of clothes (in case my luggage is delayed).

For the most part, the pack stays in the overhead bin for the flight but it is small enough to fit under the seat.  I also wear a small hip belt which contains a compact camera, spare camera batteries and flash cards, noise cancelling headphones (they work great on planes), and a 7” tablet.  On a tip from my daughter, I have attached a small carabiner to all of the zippers to make it more difficult for a pickpocket to get into the hip belt or the backpack.

Last year I travelled with an E-reader and enjoyed the convenience of having multiple books without the bulk.  I also travel with a smartphone and enjoy the connectivity and birding apps but was wishing for a bigger screen.  When I saw the Google Nexus 7, I figured it was just what I was looking for and bought one a few weeks ago.  I have loaded most of the same apps as on my phone and the big screen is wonderful.  I have also loaded copies of all my travel documents so that they are readily accessible.  The Nexus also functions as an e-reader (I can access all of my wife’s Kobo books) and gives me access to the internet.  I considered getting one with cellular data access but chose not to as the phone companies charge (at least Telus does) $15/month extra on your phone plan without giving you any more data.  The smartphone can act as a wi-fi source so the data option is not really needed.  The other tablet I considered was the Kobo Arc which has many of the same features at a slightly lower price.  I chose the Nexus because it also has Bluetooth and GPS (always nice to know where you are in a strange country!).  My phone also has GPS but I found out in China that the phone GPS did not work without cellular data.

As is common in Canada, my smartphone was locked so that I could only use it with Telus.  I like having a cell phone in a foreign country and often buy a cheap phone with 20-30 minutes of talk time.  I was exploring options to unlock the phone and was surprised to learn that Telus (for a fee) will unlock it.  Supposedly my phone is now unlocked and I will be able to purchase a SIM card in anywhere in the world.

My computer is a big, heavy model with a 15.6” screen – why do I choose to lug it around?  I like to edit my photos on the road and I found that a small, low resolution screen wasn’t satisfactory.  My laptop has a 1920 x 1080 HD screen and works great for photo editing (on the road and at home).  HD screens are now available on much lighter laptops but a new one isn’t in my budget.

Pack some back-up gear.  If you are doing a trip of a lifetime, you wouldn’t want it ruined by a malfunctioning camera or lost binoculars.  In Ethiopia a few years ago, my lens stopped working but fortunately I had a back-up.  Last year on one of our big year trips, one of the team left his binoculars in a restaurant and my spare pair was put to good use.  Back-ups also extends to credit and ATM cards ... travel plans can be disrupted if your card gets eaten by a machine!

If you have a travel tip that you'd like to share, leave a comment at the end of this posting.

Happy travels!

 

 

January Big Day

On Tuesday, Phil Cram and I did a January big day for Alberta in combination with a rare bird chase for a Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

We like doing big days and have been doing them for many years.  The American Birding Association (ABA) keeps track of big day records by province/state by month.  The January record for Alberta was only 27 and we felt confident that we could beat this number.  We can’t compete on the spring big days – factors being birding skill, hearing and stamina – but anyone can do a winter big day as the birds are usually seen rather than heard and the days are a lot shorter.

Here is an edited account of our day that Phil posted on Albertabird (bird names in cap indicate a good winter bird):



Yesterday (January 22) Brian Elder and I did a Big Day in southern Alberta. One of our goals was to see the Chestnut-backed Chickadee in Waterton townsite, found originally by Malcolm and Joan McDonald on December 31. Our second goal was to beat the ABA Big Day record for Alberta in January, which stands at 27 species. We felt sure that this number has been surpassed many times, but evidently not reported to the ABA. With good weather, good roads, a degree of planning and some luck we reckoned we should be able to see 40 species of birds in the day.

Our first sighting was a Great Horned Owl at 8:00 a.m. just outside Pincher Creek, silhouetted against the dawn sky. Black-billed Magpie and Common Raven were seen on the way to Waterton. We could scarcely believe our luck as we watched the feeders on Fern Street in Waterton. Not only did we get great looks at the CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE (a new Provincial bird for both of us), we also watched from the comfort of our vehicle: Steller's Jay, Downy Woodpecker, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, Dark-eyed Junco, Mountain Chickadee, SONG SPARROW and Red-breasted Nuthatch. At feeders behind Evergreen Avenue we added EVENING GROSBEAK and Pine Siskin, and heard a PILEATED WOODPECKER, our only “heard-only” of the day. After just over an hour of birding, we left Waterton with 14 species. Despite lots of open water on Upper Waterton Lake and other water bodies, we saw no waterfowl there.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

We drove east to Mountain View, which yielded Bald Eagle, House Sparrow and Common Redpoll. Driving north on Hwy 800, we added Rock Pigeon and, in Hill Spring, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Northern Flicker and House Finch. Further north on Hwy 800, we saw our first Rough-legged Hawk. We turned west on Highway 505 and a couple of minutes later observed an adult grey-phase GYRFALCON, perched on a power pole next to the highway. Then a SHARP-TAILED GROUSE flew in front of the vehicle, and Canada Geese outside Pincher Creek brought us to 25 species by 11:00 a.m.

Gyrfalcon

We made our way north on Hwy 22, with a loop along Riley Road on the edge of the Porcupine Hills. Surprisingly we saw very few birds, and dipped on all expected open-country species. Two AMERICAN DIPPERS in Chain Lakes PP got us back on track, and a GOLDEN EAGLE just south of Longview tied the “record” of 27 species. Longview itself turned up Blue Jay and Pine Grosbeak, and Turner Valley produced White-winged Crossbill, RUFFED GROUSE and our first Black-capped Chickadee of the day. We knew of a good feeder in Millarville, and there we added MOURNING DOVE and White-breasted Nuthatch. Terry Korolyk had reported a NORTHERN HAWK-OWL on January 16 at the intersection of 240th St and Plummers Road, north of Millarville, and it appeared for us on cue at 2:00 PM: our 35th species after six hours.

Ruffed Grouse

It was time to add some waterfowl, and we made our way to Weed Lake, on Glenmore Trail just east of Langdon. Mallard and Common Goldeneye were spotted en route, and at Weed Lake, just where Terry Korolyk has been reporting them, we saw the Fab Five ducks: Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal and Lesser Scaup as well as the seen-earlier Mallard.

Mallard, Lesser Scaup and Northern Shoveler

Wending our way back to Calgary we were again disappointed not to encounter any open-country birds. The male Hooded Merganser at Elliston Park eluded us initially, but then emerged from hiding. A small flock of Bohemian Waxwings flew over Peigan Trail. A stop in Willow Park yielded nothing new: this can be a very birdy area but it was after 4:00 p.m and becoming cool and misty.

Our final stop by the Bow River in the Hull’s Wood section of Fish Creek Park added Barrow’s Goldeneye, Bufflehead and Common Mergasnser, bringing our final total to 46 species of birds at 4:30 p.m. after 8 ½ hours of birding. We had also seen four species of mammals during the day: White-tailed Deer, Mule Deer, Red Squirrel and -- in Waterton townsite -- a Red Fox.

Red Fox

480 km driven while birding, and a temperature range of minus 11 to plus 6^o C. Mostly cloudy in the south, and misty in the Calgary area. Winds gusting to 50 km/hr in the morning in Waterton, and becoming light later in the day in Calgary. And a lot of fun.

Thanks for the report Phil.  The birds cooperated nicely for us on the big day and we’re hoping that trend will continue as we search for some of the other winter birds in the next few days.

Good birding and mammaling.

 

The Joy of Winter

My wife Barb with me at the Fairview Lookout
overlooking Lake Lousie

Anyone living in Alberta had better get some joy from winter because we get a whole bunch of winter!  There are lots of winter activities and this month I’ve gone downhill skiing and snowshoeing in addition to some birding.

I intended to do at least a couple of posts on winter birding but it has taken me quite a while to get some “postable” photos to accompany the text.  I was finally ready a few days ago but had other priorities – mainly putting together a photo book of the 2012 Big Year I did with three friends.  You can view the book at:  http://www.blurb.ca/b/4006348-fur-and-feathers-500.

My first outing of the year was to Fish Creek Provincial Park in south Calgary with Bob Storms.  We walked 8 kilometres that day and there was a good selection of the common birds but the lighting wasn’t good for photography. A few days later, the lighting was good for photography but the temperature wasn’t too good for the photographer!  Nevertheless, I went to Queen’s Park Cemetery found some photogenic birds.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Brown Creeper

White-winged Crossbill (transitioning from juvenile plumage)

Calgary birders usually make at least one winter trip to Exshaw to view Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches.  Phil Cram and I made this trip on Jan. 12 arriving in Exshaw at sunrise.  In the mountains, it takes some time for the sun to rise above the mountains and so we were there too early for any decent photos.

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

En route to Banff National Park, we stopped briefly to view some Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep west of Exshaw.  These animals are almost always present along the road side and seem oblivious to humans.

Bighorn Sheep

In the park, the birds were pretty quiet but the scenery was fantastic.  Eventually, we found a couple of good birds – Belted Kingfisher and American Dipper – near some open water on Vermillion Lakes.

Vermillion Lakes and Mount Rundle - note dipper on ice and photographer (not me) in foreground

American Dipper

Last Friday, Mike Mulligan and I journeyed to the southwest of Calgary.  Our main destination was Brown Lowery Provincial Park which is the best place near Calgary to find both Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers.  Mike and I walked the park trails for an hour but didn’t see any woodpeckers.  The squawking of Gray Jays and the calls of a few chickadees were the only sounds in an otherwise quiet forest. 

Gray Jay

We then went to a feeder near Millarville and finally had some success – Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Grosbeaks, and Mourning Doves were all in the area.  It was nice to get good looks at both female and male grosbeaks.

Pine Grosbeaks - female on left, male on right

Evening Grosbeaks - male on left, female on right

Next posting, “A January Big Day” – we’ve done the big day but I’ve some chores to do before I have time do the write-up.