January 2, 2010 – I was in Buenos Aires prior to embarking on a cruise that will take me to other parts of Argentina as well as the Falkland Islands and Chile. See my separate trip report regarding the cruise birding . Today I went out birding with a local guide, Alec Earnshaw. Check out his website at http://www.fotosaves.com.ar/index_english.html. I can recommend him without hesitation. Alec had an encyclopedic knowledge of the birds of the region, and could recognize all of them by ear. He played calls calls very judiciously to call the birds in for better looks when needed. He had many birds staked out, and was familiar with the very fields in which to find particular species. We went to the Entre Rios area north-west of Buenos Aires. With the early sunrise (especially with Argentina cancelling the change to Daylight Savings time at the last moment) Alec picked me up at 4:30 AM. It turned from dark to dawn as we made our way out of the city. By 6 AM or so we were birding, and with the recent rains the birding was fantastic, but so were the mosquitoes. By midday the temperatures as 36C, and I was putting on sunscreen and mosquito spray, as well as drinking a lot of fluids all day. We first birded a short road off the highway that was near fields and wet areas. I recall many kinds of ducks, ibises, a Kingfisher and too many other birds to remember with out looking at my checklist. Then we went on to some country roads leading east out of the small town of Ceibas, and the plan was to make a circuit back to the highway, but we were stopped by the flooded Gualeguaychu River in the last mile. Towards sunset we headed to the other side of the highway and picked up several more birds in the wetlands there. There were Ibisis flying over us in large flocks all day. Snail Kites were everywhere. The epic marathon day of birding ended at 10:30 PM when Alec dropped me back at the hotel. I ended the day with 128 species seen, of which 81 were lifers. I probably would have had another 12 lifers if I had not seen many new species in the 3 previous days that I spent in Buenos Aires birding on my own at Costanera Sur. See below for a complete list of the 128 species seen today. See many photos from this trip and the rest of my cruise at www.flickr.com/photos/dfaulder.
Spotted Nothura
Southern Screamer
White-faced Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Coscoroba Swan
Ringed Teal
Brazilian Teal
Red Shoveler
White-cheeked Pintail
Yellow-billed Pintail
Silver Teal
Yellow-billed Teal
Rosy-billed Pochard
White-tufted Grebe
Rufescent Tiger-Heron
Cocoi Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Striated Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White-faced Ibis
Bare-faced Ibis
Maguari Stork
White-tailed Kite
Snail Kite
Long-winged Harrier
Savanna Hawk
Harris's Hawk
Roadside Hawk
Southern Caracara
Chimango Caracara
Giant Wood-Rail
Plumbeous Rail
White-winged Coot
Limpkin
Southern Lapwing
Black-necked Stilt
Wattled Jacana
Solitary Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
South American Snipe
Wilson's Phalarope
Brown-hooded Gull
Rock Pigeon
Picazuro Pigeon
Spot-winged Pigeon
Eared Dove
Picui Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Monk Parakeet
Dark-billed Cuckoo
Guira Cuckoo
Striped Cuckoo
Nacunda Nighthawk
Glittering-bellied Emerald
Ringed Kingfisher
White-fronted Woodpecker
Checkered Woodpecker
Green-barred Woodpecker
Campo Flicker
Rufous Hornero
Curve-billed Reedhaunter
Tufted Tit-Spinetail
Chotoy Spinetail
Sooty-fronted Spinetail
Pale-breasted Spinetail
Sulphur-throated Spinetail
Stripe-crowned Spinetail
Yellow-chinned Spinetail
Short-billed Canastero
Little Thornbird
Freckle-breasted Thornbird
Firewood-gatherer
Lark-like Brushrunner
Brown Cacholote
Narrow-billed Woodcreeper
Rufous-capped Antshrike
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Suiriri Flycatcher
Warbling Doradito
Small-billed Elaenia
Sooty Tyrannulet
White-crested Tyrannulet
Many-colored Rush Tyrant
Bran-colored Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatcher
Spectacled Tyrant
Yellow-browed Tyrant
Gray Monjita
White Monjita
Cattle Tyrant
Swainson's Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Streaked Flycatcher
Crowned Slaty Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
White-tipped Plantcutter
White-naped Xenopsaris
White-winged Becard
Brown-chested Martin
White-rumped Swallow
House Wren
Masked Gnatcatcher
Rufous-bellied Thrush
Chalk-browed Mockingbird
Tropical Parula
Masked Yellowthroat
Grayish Saltator
Golden-billed Saltator
Black-and-rufous Warbling-Finch
Black-capped Warbling-Finch
Double-collared Seedeater
Saffron Finch
Grassland Yellow-Finch
Great Pampa-Finch
Red-crested Cardinal
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Scarlet-headed Blackbird
Yellow-winged Blackbird
Chestnut-capped Blackbird
Brown-and-yellow Marshbird
Bay-winged Cowbird
Screaming Cowbird
Shiny Cowbird
Hooded Siskin
House Sparrow