Rod's Birding: South American Cruise - January 17th to 31st , 2018

A taxi arrived just before 12:30 on Tuesday, January 16^th and took us to St Margaret’s Bus Station in Leicester where we caught the 13:30 National Express coach to Heathrow Airport. We arrived in plenty of time for our BA flight to Santiago, Chile, which was scheduled for departure at 22:00. After checking our baggage, we went for something to eat and at around 20:45 and boarded the flight around 21.15. The aircraft moved from the baby before our take-off time, but it was around 22.20 before we took-off.

We arrived in Santiago at around 09:30 after a fourteen-and-a-half-hour flight, which was mainly overnight. Once passing through Chilean immigration and collecting our luggage we were met by a Princess Cruise representative and it wasn’t long before we were on a coach heading for San Antonio where we were to board our Princess Cruise ship, Emerald Princess. When we arrived at registration it was quite busy, but we were soon through and after passing through the ships security we were on board and in our cabin.

I had seen a few birds during the transit from Santiago to San Antonio that included two Turkey Vulture, a Variable Hawk, a Black-chested Buzzard-eagle, four Southern Lapwing, Rock Dove and four Chimango Caracara.

The ship was due to leave at 18:00 but left over two hours late due to baggage handling problems and although we had our baggage before we departed many passengers did not. There were plenty of Kelp Gulls around the harbour and I also had four Brown-hooded Gulls and two Franklin’s Gulls. There was also a Greet Grebe and a Pied-billed Grebe in the harbour and Peruvian Pelicans were a frequent sight, but I only saw four Peruvian Boobies. Other birds seen were a single Turkey Vulture, seventeen Southern Lapwings and Rock Doves. I didn’t get any opportunity to do any birding from the boat as we sailed as it was getting quite late after dinner.

Peruvian Booby

Franklin's Gull

I awoke before dawn on the 18^th but as dawn began to break I could see birds flying over the sea but it wasn’t light enough to identify anything, although I could see that they were shearwaters. After breakfast I was able to get out on the balcony and bird for a couple of hours and I did two other shorter sessions during the day, although during the final session the number of birds seen were far fewer. During the first two sessions I recorded just seven species that included a single Southern Royal Albatross, two Northern Royal Albatross, twenty-four Black-browed Albatross, a Southern Giant Petrel, 155 Sooty Shearwater, thirty-five Pink-footed Shearwater and twenty-seven Franklin’s Gulls. The final session produced four Black-browed Albatross, five Sooty Shearwater, forty-eight Pink-footed Shearwaters and eight Wilson’s Storm-petrels.

Friday the 19^th we laid anchor off Puerto Montt and had booked an excursion to Petrohue River, Frutillar and a German Settlers Museum. After and early breakfast the passengers on tours assembled in the theatre to await their passage to the mainland via a tender. Once through the Peru security we were greeted by our tour guide and settled into our coach for the day. We then went to the Petrohue River to view the rapids and falls and then went back to Puerto Varas.

After a walk around the town and some lunch we went to Frutillar, which was a German Settlement that still shows signs of the German character today and after a brief visit to a museum and a relaxing five minutes on the beach we returned to the ship.

During the day I had managed to see just twenty-five species, which included nine lifers: Black-faced Ibis; Imperial Shag; South American Tern; Chilean Pigeon; Austral Parakeet; White-crested Elaenia; Tufted Tit-Tyrant; Chilean Swallow and Austral Thrush.

Chimango Caracara

Tufted Tit-Tyrant

Calbuco Volcano from the ship

Osorno Volcano

Osorno Volcano from the Petrohue Falls

Petrohue Falls

Puerto Varas

Saturday the 20^th saw us at sea all day, which gave me the opportunity to carry out three observation from the balcony. The ship was heading south and entered the Chilean Fjords briefly to avoid some severe weather. My first watch was from 06:20 to 09:30 with a short break for breakfast. During this period I recorded just eight species that included two Northern Royal Albatrosses, twenty-six Black-browed Albatrosses, 850+ Sooty Shearwaters, six Pink-footed Shearwaters, 200+ Imperial Shags, a Great Egret, three Franklin’s Gulls and a Kelp Gull.

Chilean Fjords

The second watch was for just an hour between 10:55 and 11:55 when I recorded just three species: a Northern Royal Albatross, six Black-browed Albatrosses and thirty-nine Sooty Shearwaters.

The final watch between 14:00 and 17:15 produced seven species: two Wilson’s Petrel, a Wandering Albatross, a Light-mantled Albatross, fifty-four Black-browed Albatrosses, three Grey-headed Albatrosses, 185 Sooty Shearwaters and a Chilean Skua.

Black-browed Albatross

Sooty Shearwaters

Sooty Shearwater

Light-mantled Albatross

Sooty Shearwater

Black-browed Albatross

On Sunday the 21^st the ship entered the Chilean Fjords and headed for the Amalia Glacier via the canals Andres and Pitt. We spent around an hour observing the glacier before continuing towards Punta Arenas.

During the day I spent several short spells observing the sea and recorded twelve species: three Wilson’s Petrel, two Wandering Albatrosses, one Southern Royal Albatross, twenty-eight Black-browed Albatrosses, ten Southern Giant Petrels, a Northern Giant Petrel, 1635 Sooty Seawaters, an Imperial Shag, a Pomarine Skua, three Kelp Gull and three South American Terns.

Amalia Glacier

Northern Giant Petrel

Southern Giant Petrel

We arrived at Punta Arenas during the early hours of the 22^nd where we remained for most of the day. We hadn’t booked an excursion here and went for a walk around the town and then along the sea front and then repeated the exercise before re-boarding the ship

Bird wise there wasn’t too much in the town, just Feral Pigeons, three Austral Thrushes, a few House Sparrows and at least twelve Rufous-collared Sparrows. There were more birds along the sea front that included two Flying Steamer Ducks, several hundred Imperial Shags, a Chimango Caracara, eight Magellanic Oystercatchers, at least six Chilean Skuas, a Brown-hooded Gull, seventeen Dolphin Gulls, 200+ Kelp Gulls and a few South American Terns..

The Emerald Princess moored off Punta Arenas

Juvenile Imperial Shag

Imperial Shags on the beach

Imperial Shag

Brown-hooded Gull

Juvenile Dolphin Gull

Adult Dolphin Gull

Punta Arenas

I brief sea watch as we sailed away from Punta Arenas produced twenty Magellanic Penguins, 107 Black-browed Albatross, three Southern Giant Petrels, a Northern Giant Petrel and more South American Terns.

When I awoke on Tuesday the 23^rd we were heading for Ushuaia in Argentina and were cruising along the Beagle Channel. I did some birding as we moved through the Beagle Channel and recorded eight species: a single Magellanic Penguin, seventeen Black-browed Albatross, two Southern Giant Petrel, a White-chinned Petrel, 300+ Imperial Shags, nine Chilean Skuas, two Kelp Gull and 120 South American Terns.

Looking south into Chile from the Beagle Channel

We approached Ushuaia late morning and had berthed by around 12:30 and cleared to disembark by 13:00. I had booked a trip on a scenic wildlife cruise into the Beagle Channel, which appeared to be very poplar but thankful there were several boats involved in the cruise and I was able to get on deck in anticipation of getting a few photos.

Approaching Ushuaia

Argebtina from the Beagle Channel

The cruise lasted over two hours and we got close to several of the islands where there was plenty of wildlife to observe. I only recorded nine species during the trip, but the numbers and the photo opportunities made it worthwhile. Bird wise I had a single Fuegian Steamer Duck, two Kelp Goose, two Magellanic Penguins, fifty plus Southern Giant Petrels, thirty plus Rock Shags, 500+ Imperial Shags, twenty plus Chilean Skuas, a Brown-hooded Gull, circa thirty Dolphin Gulls, 100+ Kelp Gulls and 100+ South American Terns.

Imperial Shags

South American Sea Lion

Southern Giant Petrel

Imperial Shag

Rock Shag

Chilean Skua

Rock Shags

South American Terns

South American Tern

Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse

South American Sea Lions

Kelp Goose

We left Ushuaia early evening and set sail for Cape Horn and arrived at 07:15 on Wednesday the 24^th when we when the wind gusted up to 65 knots. We spent around two hours cruising around the area before heading east to The Falkland Islands. The whole day was spent at sea when I spent some time on the balcony looking for seabirds and recorded eleven species: Seven Wilson’s Petrels, six Wandering Albatrosses, one Southern Royal Albatross, one Northern Albatross, 895 Black-browed Albatrosses, thirty-nine Southern Giant Petrels, one Northern Giant Petrel, twenty-five Antarctic Prions, 165 Sooty Shearwaters, twenty Imperial Shags and three Chilean Skuas.

Cape Horn

Black-browed Albatross

The Emerald Princess sailed around the southern edge of The Falklands and entered the entrance to Stanley harbour from the east. After dropping anchor and securing the vessel there was a twenty-minute tender ride to reach Stanley. We had booked a trip to Buff Cove for penguins and initially were driven by minibus before disembarking and then completing the journey in four-wheel drive vehicles to the cove.

When we arrived, we were given a briefing by the head warden explaining where we could go and shouldn’t go. There probably wasn’t as many penguins as I thought but there were good numbers of Gentoo and about fifteen King Penguins at the nesting colony. Having spent some time observing and photographing the penguins and some Upland Geese that were grazing nearby we made our way towards the Sea Cabbage Café and museum and gift shop.

King Penguins

King Penguin

Gentoo Penguin

Dolphin Gull

Female Upland Goose

Male Upland Goose

Female Upland Geese

Sandra went into the gift shop whilst I went onto the beach to look for Magellanic Penguins and found three along with more Gentoo Penguins. There was also several Brown Skuas and a single Megallanic Oystercatcher around the beach and a pair of Falkland Steam Ducks on the sea.

Falkland Steamer Ducks

Magellanic Penguin

Magellanic & Gentoo Penguins

Magellanic Oystercatcher

Brown Skua

Having taken pictures of the birds on the beach I re-joined Sandra and we went into the cafe for our complementary drink and cream scone.

After about an hour at Buff Cove we made the return trip to Stanley and spent a while exploring the main street and museum. The Falklands Islands are a wonderful place and were without doubt our favourite location during the cruise and the people were so warm and friendly. Whilst in Stanley there were quite a few Southern Giant Petrels and Falkland Steam Ducks near the harbour and I also saw my only Blackish Oystercatcher of the trip.

Falkland Steamer Duck

Southern Giant Petrel

Turkey Vulture

When we got back to the ship I scanned the shoreline and found a couple of Kelp Geese and quite a few Megallanic Penguins and there were quite a few birds as we sailed away west back towards Argentina. During the day I had recorded twenty species: sixteen Falkland Steamer Ducks, fifty Upland Geese, two Kelp Geese, fifteen King Penguin, 100+ Gentoo Penguin, sixty Magellanic Penguin, 147 Black-browed Albatrosses, fifty-four Southern Giant Petrels, twenty-two Antarctic Prions, 156 Sooty Shearwaters, 200 Imperial Shags, eight Turkey Vultures, a Magellanic Oystercatcher, a Blackish Oystercatcher, six Brown Skua, four Brown-hooded Gulls, twelve Dolphin Gulls, 100+ Kelp Gulls, thirty-five South American Terns and House Sparrow.

Stanley from the ship

Falkland Islands

Friday the 26^th was another day at sea and several watches from the balcony produced nine species: three Wandering Albatrosses, four Southern Royal Albatrosses, three Northern Royal Albatrosses, 551 Black-browed Albatrosses, 100 Southern Giant Petrels, eleven Great Shearwater, a Sooty Shearwater, sixty Manx Shearwaters and a Brown Skua.

Saturday the 27^th we were at Puerto Madryn in the Gulf of Nueva and we were able to disembark after breakfast. We hadn’t get anything arrange today and just went ashore and walked some distance to the south along the promenade.

There weren't many birds along the sea front, which was manly a sandy beach and there wasn’t an awful lot to do in the town, although a couple dancing the Argentine Tango provided some excellent entertainment in a shopping mall.

There were thirty-one Great Grebes near the shore and when I was back on the ship I found three Black-necked Swans, with another twelve seen as we left in the evening. Another good bird was a Southern Martin that flew over as we walked back along the pier to the boat.

Other birds seen during the day were: a Southern Giant Petrel, a Rock Shag, an Imperial Shag, fifteen Brown-hooded Gulls, five Kelp Gulls, thirty South American Terns, two Chalk-browed Mockingbirds, House Sparrow and a Shiny Cowbird.

Puerto Madryn

The Emerald Princess moored at Puerto Madryn

The beach at Puerto Madryn

The day at sea on the Sunday the 28^th was the quietest with just five species observed: twenty Black-browed Albatrosses, a Southern Giant petrel, five Sooty Shearwaters, eighty Manx Shearwaters and thirty Common Terns.

On Monday the 29^th we were berthed at Montevideo, Uruguay early morning and were off the ship after breakfast. Again, we hadn’t booked any of the ships excursions and walked south through the streets to reach Rambla Gran Bretana and then walked east to reach a park at the eastern end. Another birder, Roy, walked with us and we saw a few birds before reaching the park that included Neotropic Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Southern Lapwing, Brown Hooded Gull, Kelp Gull, Rufous Hornero, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Southern Martin, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Starling and House Sparrow.

The view from the ship in Montevideo

Rufous Hornero

Chalk-browed Mockingbird

After a coffee in McDonald’s we went into the park and found several Eared Dove, Monk Parakeets, Rufous Hornero, Great Kiskadee, Grey-breasted Martin, House Wren, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Rufous-collared Sparrow and a Saffron Finch.

Safron Finch

Eared Dove

The walk back to the ship through the streets turned out to be quite a walk and on reaching the ship we realized with had walked over eight miles.

Rambla Gran Bretana

Montevideo

We left Montevideo early evening and headed for our final destination, which was Buenos Aires. The cruise finished in Buenos Aires but after docking on Tuesday the 30^th we had a full day in Buenos Aires with a further night stay on the ship before leaving for London on the 31^st.

I had arranged a day’s birding with a local leader, Horacio Maetarasso, who is the owner of Buenos dias Birding. I had arranged to meet him at around 08:30 and we were then going to an area around Ceibas, which is about a two-hour drive to the northwest of Buenos Aires. After I came out of immigration I had some problems finding him as I had come out of a gate that he was unaware of. However, once we met we were soon on our way travelling north out of the city with another guide also joining us.

We didn’t see a great deal on route, a Giant Wood Rail at the side of the road being the best, as it was mainly on busy main roads. The area was quite dry as there had been little rain recently and subsequently the areas of wetland was much reduced, which probably helped concentrate the birds.

We turned off on a minor road and stopped to view an area of scrub where there was a Guira Cuckoo and two Greyish Baywing. We moved slowly along the road stopping several times before reaching an area of wetland, which proved quite productive. There were forty-plus Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, which was a surprise to Horacio as they usually only occur in much small numbers. There were several Brazilian Teal, two Ringed Teal, a Yellow-billed Teal, several White-faced Ibis, a Great Egret, a Snowy Egret and a Lesser Yellowlegs, along with quite a few Common Gallinules and Wattled Jacanas. There was a Giant Wood Rail showing very well in a nearby ditch with a little more skulking Plumbeous Rail. A Ringed Kingfisher then flew over and Horacio found a Green Kingfisher and a White-naped Xenopsaris and a Masked Gnatcatcher caused some excitement.

Giant Wood rail

Driving further along the road we turned off onto a dirt road, which was a little drier initially and we had good views of a fly over Bar-faced Ibis, a White Monjita and a Fork-tailed Flycatcher.

White Monjita

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

As e drove further along the road there were quite a few Brown-chested Martins and an occasional White-rumped Swallow. We eventually stopped alongside another strip of wetland that again contained numerous White-faced Ibis and my first Coscoroba Swans. Coming back along the track there was a skulking Yellow-chinned Spinetail, which showed well on occasions.

We retraced our steps back to the main road and travelled further north as far as Ceibas before turning off onto another dusty track and after passing through the town and reached and area of dry scrub. In this area we had a nice view of a Roadside Hawk and then a White-fronted Woodpecker and a Short-billed Canastero. A little further along at a small damp area we had two Maguari Stork, a Bare-faced Ibis and two Southern Crested Caracaras.

Roadside Hawk

Maguari Storks

Maguari Stork

Southern Crested Caracara

Bare-faced Ibis

We eventually turned right along another dirt road and stopped by an area of dense reeds in the hope of finding a Many-colored Rush-tyrant but Horacio hadn’t seen them here and had only heard of them being seen. He played a recording of them but there was no response and he was about to give up when I noticed a small bird at the edge of the reeds I initially thought was a yellowthroat of some kind but when Horacio got on it he identified it as a juvenile Many-colored Rush-tyrant.

Many-colored Rush-tyrant

A little further along the track we reached a large area of wetland where there was an excellent array of species. One on side of the road there was mainly Wattled Jacana but on the other side there was a greater variety. There were several Southern Screamers, not the first of the day, but the best views as most of the other took to flight as soon as they saw us. There were also several more Coscoroba Swans, Brazilian Teal, a Wood Stork, a Maguari Stork, several White-faced Ibis, a Roseate Spoonbill, five Black-crowned Night–herons, a Western Cattel Egret, Snowy Egrets, Common Gallinules, several Limpkin, White-backed Stilts, Southern Lapwing, a Pectoral Sandpiper and a Lesser Yellowlegs. An Anhinga flew over and two Hooded Siskin flew over and I picked up a Yellow-winged Blackbird in flight.

Coscoroba Swan

Southern Screamers

Southern Screamer

Maguari Stork

Wattled Jacana

Having exhausted the wetland area, we started to make our way back to Ceibas and just after turning towards the town we had superb views of a Savanna Hawk on the ground and then in flight. A little further along I picked up a bird flying alongside the car, which turned out to be a Green-barred Woodpecker. On reaching the village we turned back onto the main road and headed south.

Savannah Hawk

We stopped at Parrilla y Comedor, a roadside café, for lunch before continuing back south and then turning onto another track where there was a chance of finding Rheas, although Horacio wasn’t very optimistic. We drove quite some distance along the track stopping frequently to look for Rheas, which we didn’t see, but there were plenty of other birds. A small pool at the side of the track held a couple of South American Snipes and a Baird’s Sandpiper and three Chotoy Spinetails were seen in an area of scrub. We also saw a couple of Suiriri Flycatcher and several Vermilion Flycatchers.

South American Snipe

We eventually turned back to the main road and as two birds flew across the road Horacio got very excited shouting get on these birds, get them photographed. They turned out to be a pair of Yellow Cardinals, which are a very rare bird and one he had not seen in this area before and he was immediately on his phone texting out the sighting.

Yellow Cardinal

As we drove back we added quite a few species to the day list that included; Yellow-browed Tyrant, Cattle Tyrant, Grassland Sparrow, Black-capped Warbling-finch, Grassland Yellow Finch, Pampa Finch and a Double-collared Seedeater and a White-browed Blackbird provided an excellent photo opportunity.

White-browed Blackbird

Unfortunately, we had to start to make our way back to Buenos Aires and turned south once back on the main highway. Horacio had promised to get me back for around 18:00 and we arrived back at the port within a minute or two and I was back on board the ship by 18:15.

It had been an excellent days birding and Horacio had been the perfect host. We had seen seventy-eight species thirty-two of which were world lifers. If anyone is thinking of going to Argentina I can highly recommend Buenos dias Birding as I am certain Horacio and his team will provide excellent service and plenty of birds. His email is Horacio@buenosdiasbirding.com and web page at www.buenosdiasbirding.com.

I saw a few birds the following day as we were driven by coach to the airport but nothing new.]

We left Buenos Aires on British Airways flight BA2044 just after 14:30 on the 31^st and arrived back at Heathrow around 06:30 on February 1^st. A short wait for the coach back to Leicester and after being picked up by my daughter we were back home around 12:30. It had been an excellent holiday during which I had recorded 140 species, of which seventy-six were lifers.

Rod's Birding

Sunday 25 February 2018

South American Cruise - January 17th to 31st , 2018

1 comment:

About Me