My wife and I went to Antarctica for November 30 – December 10, 2011. In our travel to/from Ushuaia (Antarctica departure point), we spent a full day in Buenos Aires and birded the morning at Otamendi Natural Reserve. The primary target/specialty here is Straight-billed Reedhaunter.
Birds and Reference material:
For a field guide, I used Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica by Martin R. De La Pena. It is ok but limited in many of its illustrations.
The other option is Birds of Argentina & Uruguay: A Field Guide by Dario Yzurieta. I have no experience with this guide.
We downloaded target species to our MP3 player from xeno-canto
http://www.xeno-canto.org/index.php
We brought a small speaker so that we could tape in species.
Guides:
We were entirely self-guided.
Timing of the trip:
We went during the Argentina summer. Most information is from this time period. It gets daylight earlier in the summer. Thus, I would recommend arriving at Otamendi no later than 0600 to start birding (assuming you are not trying for owls which would necessitate an earlier start time). This would require a 0500 depart time from Buenos Aires.
Transportation:
We rented a car from Hertz Rental Car at the domestic airport (AEP). We rented a 4 door 2 wheel drive. You do not need 4 wheel drive or a high clearance vehicle at Otamendi. Gas was around US $4.70/gallon.
Hotels:
We stayed in downtown Buenos Aires. There are a lot of hotels but I understand that sometimes the hotels in Buenos Aires fill up.
Directions to Otamendi:
Otamendi is about 75km northwest from Buenos Aires. Depending on traffic, it takes about 1 hour to drive from downtown. It was easy to get to Otamendi from downtown Buenos Aires. I simply drove from the hotel back to the airport where I got on the Autopista (north side of the airport). Once on the Autopista, I followed the following signs: “Acceso Norte” “Route 9” and “Campana.” Following these signs on the Autopista eventually put me on Route 9 towards Campana. After you pass the exits for Escobar, begin looking for the exit to Otamendi. As you arrive in the town Otamendi, you will exit to the right off the Autopista. There are blue signs with white letters that state “Otamendi Natural Reserva”. Once exiting the autopista, you will turn right on Colectora Norte (heading back in the direction towards Buenos Aires). Go for about 100meters (back in the direction of Buenos Aires) and then turn left. There is a bus stop and a pedestrian pathway over the autopista at this left turn but no sign for the reserve (I missed it the first time because there was no sign). After making the turn, continue through the town of Otamendi. The entrance to the Otamendi Natural Reserve is about 1.1Km down the road, on the right after driving through the small town of Otamendi. It opens at 0800. If you continue on the paved road (past the entrance to the reserve), the road turns to the left, then to the right, then to the right again before reaching the train stop (on the left). Continue on the paved road (across the train tracks) where the road becomes dirt. This dirt road goes through the marsh for over 4 Km until it ends at the river. The Straight-billed Reedhaunter occurs in the marsh along the road.
Advice:
You need one full morning at Otamendi. Straight-billed Reedhaunter can be difficult and some have missed it despite spending all morning trying (so a back-up day may be needed if this species is a primary target).
The dirt road became busy with traffic around 0745 making birding quite difficult. It was dusty and every car produced a substantial dust cloud. I would definitely suggest starting early to try and get as much birding along the road as possible before traffic picks up. There is a ditch on either side of the road limiting the ability to get off the road and into the marsh. Near the start of this road (after crossing the railroad tracks), there was two locations where people had placed pieces of wood to cross over this ditch and get access to the pampas and better access to the marsh. I am not sure if this is allowed or if it is private property but it allows much better marsh access and keeps you off the dirt road.
After birding the dirt road through the marsh, I went to the reserve headquarters and birded the trails behind the buildings. There is also forest habitat around and to the west of the railroad station.
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
White-faced Ibis
Maguari Stork – one flying over the marsh
Black Vulture
Snail Kite
Long-winged Harrier – flying over the marsh
Roadside Hawk
Southern Caracara
Chimango Caracara
Gray-necked Wood-Rail
Red-gartered Coot
Southern Lapwing
Picazuro Pigeon
Eared Dove
Picui Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Monk Parakeet
Guira Cuckoo
Glittering-bellied Emerald
Gilded Hummingbird
Ringed Kingfisher
Green-barred Woodpecker
Rufous Hornero
Curve-billed Reedhaunter – more common than below species
Straight-billed Reedhaunter – one responded to tape when the marsh first meets the dirt road and one seen in the marsh on the left (north) side of the road.
Wren-like Rushbird
Sooty-fronted Spinetail
Spix's Spinetail
Sulphur-throated Spinetail
Yellow-chinned Spinetail
Freckle-breasted Thornbird
Narrow-billed Woodcreeper
Rufous-capped Antshrike – a pair at the overlook at the trails behind the reserve headquarters
Warbling Doradito
Small-billed Elaenia
Sooty Tyrannulet
White-crested Tyrannulet
Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet
Many-colored Rush Tyrant
Spectacled Tyrant
Great Kiskadee
Streaked Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
White-rumped Swallow
House Wren
Masked Gnatcatcher
Rufous-bellied Thrush
Creamy-bellied Thrush
Chalk-browed Mockingbird
Hellmayr's Pipit
Tropical Parula
Masked Yellowthroat
Golden-crowned Warbler – pair nest building on trails behind reserve headquarters
White-browed Warbler – one along trails behind reserve headquarters
Sayaca Tanager
Diademed Tanager
Long-tailed Reed Finch
Black-and-rufous Warbling-Finch
Great Pampa-Finch
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Golden-billed Saltator
Yellow-winged Blackbird
Brown-and-yellow Marshbird
Bay-winged Cowbird
Hooded Siskin
Jim Holmes
Sacramento, CA
jfholmes@ucdavis.edu