Nohatch
Mad scientist
Welcome to my first ever trip report :hi:
This year I had the opportunity to attend an international conference at the amazing location of Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. Iguazu is of course best known for its waterfall, which attracts over a million visitors every year. However, the main attraction for birders is the Atlantic tropical forest habitat and its many unique bird species. This is one of the most endangered ecoregions in the world, and thankfully two substantial tracts of forest are protected by national parks either side of the Brazilian-Argentinian border (more on this later). I had never visited this part of South America before, so the majority of species was going to be new for me.
My itinerary was as follows:
19-20 Sep: Flight London-Paris-Rio-Iguacu with a few hours to kill at Rio airport
20 Sep: Visit to Iguacu NP (Brazilian side)
21-22 Sep: Visit to Iguazu NP (Argentinian side)
23-26 Sep: Conference (with a half day excursion to the falls)
27 Sep: Flight Iguazu-Buenos Aires with a guided visit to Costanera Sur
28-29 Sep: Tourist sights in BA
29-30 Sep: Overnight guided tour to southern Entre Rios province (Ceibas area)
01 Oct: Visits to Vicente Lopez & Ribera Norte reserves (BA)
02 Oct: Attempted visits to Ribera Norte & Costanera Sur
03 Oct: Morning visit to Costanera Sur
03-04 Oct: Flight Buenos Aires-Amsterdam-London
The trip was self-planned with some pointers from friendly Birdforum members, and local advise from friend, bird guide and Aves Argentinas member Laura Dodyk (contact details to follow).
Rio de Janeiro stopover (20 Sep 2015 a.m.)
On my way over I had a few hours to kill at Rio de Janeiro's Galeao airport - unfortunately not enough to head into the city or visit the Tijuca NP. Instead I decided to see what was hanging around the airport, which turned out to be lots of Black and Turkey Vultures, Magnificent Frigatebirds, and an amusing troupe of Guira Cuckoo. Scanning the area around the airport I picked up fly-by Great Egret, several Grey-breasted Martin perched on street lights and a single Cocoi Heron. However, just beyond a newly built car park was an inviting patch of scrubby woodland. Stepping over some barriers (which nobody seemed to mind) I checked out the forest edge for a bit while the morning sun was rapidly heating up. There was a conspicuous group of introduced Common Waxbill, several noisy Great Kiskadees, and a stunning male Aplomado Falcon perched in a comms tower (much like our Peregrines do at home). I wasn't able to identify a hummer whizzing past, but in the forest had great views of a couple of common neotropical species: Common Tody-Tyrant, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Palm Tanager and Brown-chested Flycatcher. I also picked up two of the regional thrushes, Rufous-bellied and Pale-breasted, before a flyby male Ruddy Ground Dove rounded things off nicely.
All in all I was pretty pleased with 8 new species at a piece of airport wasteland - now on to Iguazu proper!
This year I had the opportunity to attend an international conference at the amazing location of Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. Iguazu is of course best known for its waterfall, which attracts over a million visitors every year. However, the main attraction for birders is the Atlantic tropical forest habitat and its many unique bird species. This is one of the most endangered ecoregions in the world, and thankfully two substantial tracts of forest are protected by national parks either side of the Brazilian-Argentinian border (more on this later). I had never visited this part of South America before, so the majority of species was going to be new for me.
My itinerary was as follows:
19-20 Sep: Flight London-Paris-Rio-Iguacu with a few hours to kill at Rio airport
20 Sep: Visit to Iguacu NP (Brazilian side)
21-22 Sep: Visit to Iguazu NP (Argentinian side)
23-26 Sep: Conference (with a half day excursion to the falls)
27 Sep: Flight Iguazu-Buenos Aires with a guided visit to Costanera Sur
28-29 Sep: Tourist sights in BA
29-30 Sep: Overnight guided tour to southern Entre Rios province (Ceibas area)
01 Oct: Visits to Vicente Lopez & Ribera Norte reserves (BA)
02 Oct: Attempted visits to Ribera Norte & Costanera Sur
03 Oct: Morning visit to Costanera Sur
03-04 Oct: Flight Buenos Aires-Amsterdam-London
The trip was self-planned with some pointers from friendly Birdforum members, and local advise from friend, bird guide and Aves Argentinas member Laura Dodyk (contact details to follow).
Rio de Janeiro stopover (20 Sep 2015 a.m.)
On my way over I had a few hours to kill at Rio de Janeiro's Galeao airport - unfortunately not enough to head into the city or visit the Tijuca NP. Instead I decided to see what was hanging around the airport, which turned out to be lots of Black and Turkey Vultures, Magnificent Frigatebirds, and an amusing troupe of Guira Cuckoo. Scanning the area around the airport I picked up fly-by Great Egret, several Grey-breasted Martin perched on street lights and a single Cocoi Heron. However, just beyond a newly built car park was an inviting patch of scrubby woodland. Stepping over some barriers (which nobody seemed to mind) I checked out the forest edge for a bit while the morning sun was rapidly heating up. There was a conspicuous group of introduced Common Waxbill, several noisy Great Kiskadees, and a stunning male Aplomado Falcon perched in a comms tower (much like our Peregrines do at home). I wasn't able to identify a hummer whizzing past, but in the forest had great views of a couple of common neotropical species: Common Tody-Tyrant, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Palm Tanager and Brown-chested Flycatcher. I also picked up two of the regional thrushes, Rufous-bellied and Pale-breasted, before a flyby male Ruddy Ground Dove rounded things off nicely.
All in all I was pretty pleased with 8 new species at a piece of airport wasteland - now on to Iguazu proper!