Argentina in November (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

we are a group of birders planning a birding tour to Argentina in November.

As our time is limited, we are planning to visit only the extreme south (Ushuaia and Rio Grande), the NW (Salta- Jujuy) and leave a couple of days for Buenos Aires surroundings.

I have been searching in internet for information about the places and birdlists.

Now I am working about the logistics.

As a first step, I am looking for local guides.

For the extreme south somebody mentioned in a post Santiago Imberti. Does anybody have his email or any other way to contact him?

Somewhre else I read bout Martina Mcnamara, Is she still working in this field? Anybody has her email?

Any other bird guide in that area?

Regarding NW (Jujuy, Salta, ...) Does anybody know any bird guide in the area?

And about Buenos Aires Area (Costanera Sur, Reserva Otamendi, ...)?

Regarding the prices for hotels, restaururants, ... I may easily find the prices in internet but I would like to know, if possible, the price for the bird guiding service in these regions in Argentina.

Any other information that you believe that will be helpfull to prepare the tour will be always wellcome.

Regards,

Hola Ramón.
Santiago trabaja para seriema www.seriemanaturetours.com
En la zona de Ushuaia también podés hablar con Marcelo de www.magellanicnaturetours.com
En buenos aires está Diego Gallegos de buenosairesbirding.com y Marcelo de www.birdingbuenosaires.com
En el NOA está la gente de www.clarkexpediciones.com
Saludos

y por un paquete completo podés hablar con la gente de www.trogontours.com

Hello Jose,

Buenos Aires is a great place for birding and the city's reserves are outstanding. You could easily spend a day at Costanera Sur and Ribera Norte is great too. Vicente Lopez is tiny but handy for a quick look at Rufous-sided Crake (pretty much guaranteed there, although I had better views at Ribera Norte). Both are easy to reach by taxi or cheap public transport (metro/train). If you'd like a local guide I can highly recommend my friend Laura Dodyk who lives in BA and works for Aves Argentina (http://www.lauraves.com/).
Outside the city you'll need a car but the driving is straightforward. Heading west you should definitely continue on to southern Entre Rios. The area around Ceibas is a transition zone to the Espinal and has a very high biodiversity. You could get a 100+ day with loads of goodies and it's sufficiently different from the BA area to drive the extra hour or two. There is a very comfortable lodge called Rio de Las Aves with luxury rooms or cheap dorms for birders which Laura arranged for me. They have their own private reserve along the river. Amazing food too! Make sure to bring waterproof shoes or the lodge has wellington boots you can borrow. I did not visit Otamendi but have heard it a good site, and best for the Reedhaunters (both), Dusky-legged Guan and Diademed Tanager (although I saw one in Costanera Sur, it's rare there).
To the east you have Samborombon Bay and Punta Rasa - a very different set of birds here, very much pampa and shorebirds. Should be great for Nearctic waders in November, and plenty of accommodation at the beach.
To do all sites you'll need about a week, although you could do something shorter along these lines:
1) Costanera Sur (morning), Vicente Lopez & Ribera Norte (afternoon), then drive to Ceibas (evening)
2) Full day in Ceibas, drive to Otamendi (late afternoon)
3) Otamendi (morning), drive to La Plata with visit to Punta Lara (afternoon)
4) Samborombon Bay to San Clemente del Tuyu (full day)
5) Punta Rasa (morning), drive back to BA
It's a lot of driving but you should get a pretty amazing list that way.
Details of the sites can be found here (http://www.birdingbuenosaires.com/index.html)

Hope you have an amazing trip and let me know how you got on!
Joost

Near Salta is damm Cabra Coral.
Some waders, herons and many other birds.
First time when I was there, I saw about 50 - 60 different birds in the morning.

About 200 km away is El Ray national Park. Very good for birding and really nice national park. But you have to sleep in the parc because is far away from next towns.

From Jujuy is same spots into north into Humahuaca valley.
Best is Laguna Los Pozuales. Good for waders, flamingo and other birdlife.

On the other hand 150 - 200 km from Jujuy is Calilegua national parc, which should be the second best birding spot in Argentina, behind Iguazu.

I did only the north of Argentina 2 x. Once from Tucuman to Iguazu, second time from Salta to Iguazu.
Second I defined 470 different with some help of Guy Cox and Karadya.

Iguazu has the big advantage. Easy travel with taxi from Puerto Iguazu to Foz de Iguazu. Fly from Foz to Iguazu to Sao International and continue from same Airport ! to Europe.
Airport transfer from Buenos Aires international to national, I do not like so much.

Recommendation for Clark Expediciones from me also. My time in Salta was short so I only had two days with them and we went up the Cuesta del Obispo to Los Cardones on the first day which was a great day of birding. On the second day we started in the small patch of yungas at Reserva del Huaico, before heading to the reservoir at La Caldera in the afternoon.
Clark have an arrangement with the Hotel Selva Montana in San Lorenzo - which was pretty good birding from the grounds as it was - so should be able to do a tour and accomodation deal.

Recommendation for Clark Expediciones from me also. My time in Salta was short so I only had two days with them and we went up the Cuesta del Obispo to Los Cardones on the first day which was a great day of birding. On the second day we started in the small patch of yungas at Reserva del Huaico, before heading to the reservoir at La Caldera in the afternoon.
Clark have an arrangement with the Hotel Selva Montana in San Lorenzo - which was pretty good birding from the grounds as it was - so should be able to do a tour and accomodation deal.

Recommendation for Clark Expediciones from me also. My time in Salta was short so I only had two days with them and we went up the Cuesta del Obispo to Los Cardones on the first day which was a great day of birding. On the second day we started in the small patch of yungas at Reserva del Huaico, before heading to the reservoir at La Caldera in the afternoon.
Clark have an arrangement with the Hotel Selva Montana in San Lorenzo - which was pretty good birding from the grounds as it was - so should be able to do a tour and accomodation deal.

Thanks Joost. This is a helpful list of birding spots around town. However the link to the guide's website no longer works. Do you still have their contact information?

I have a 7 hour layover in Buenos Aires next month, and it would be nice if I could get a little birding in.

If you are in Argentina in November, you simply have to visit the Parana fooldplains - but I see Nohatch already recommends it. November is peak spring there, with high water levels and I must say that my jaw just dropped after I arrived there a couple years ago in this season and it took me a while to close it again. I see you are more of organized birders, so you will probably have a guide and sites, but if you happen to not, just yake any side driveable side road off RN12 north of the river (the less tarmac the better) into the lowlands and you will be surrounded by birds. If you have limited time around BA then yes, Costanera Sur is great, but the Parana floodplains will give you most of the species and it's just so much more spectacular. Visiting both is of course the optimal thing

From other places +1 to Calilegua, that is simply one of the greatest places on Earth I have been to. If you go to Laguna Los Pozuales or similar places on the altiplano, please note the altitude differences. I have once driven straight from Salta to San Antonio and I had to stop on the 4250 pass to let my colleague vomit from the window The "step" from Salta/Jujuy to the altiplano is just possible to do so quickly that people get really blindsided by the altitude changes, be careful and retreat in the case of any serious symptoms. Otherwise by all means yes, the altiplano gives you a completely different set of birds, it's like another planet!

edit: lol, this was a year-old thread just bumped by another question, guess my advice was rather useless then

7 hours is a very short time in Buenos Aires.

Take into account that Buenos Aires is a huge city with a very heavy traffic and you will spend a lot of time moving from one place to another.

I can tell you my experience in Buenos Aires, November last year.

I do not know if you are flying in, out or inside Argentina.

If you area flying into Argentina, just tell you that last year it took me more than one hour to clear inmigration controls.

So, from the moment that you land to the moment that you will be ready to get into the guide's car, consider to spend a couple of hours.

Same thing when you drive back to the airport, traffic is very heavy.

Then, Buenos Aires has two airports.

If you are talking about Aeroparque Internacional Jorge Newberry it is located by the coast, closer to the birding sites.

If you are flying to Aeropuerto Internacional Ezeiza, it is located 30 Km SW central Buenos Aires, so consider another hour to get to the city center.

With such a short time, I will consider only to visit any hotspot in the coastal area of Central Buenos Aires.

You may visit eBird to get more information about the best birding sites in Buenos Aires.

Costanera Sur is a park by the sea but with good numbers of birds and species. It could be close if it is a windy day, for security reasons.

You could also visit Reserva Ecologica Costanera Norte and also Reserva Ecologica Vicente Lopez, both North from costanera Sur.

There is a good place called Reserva Otamendi /Paque Nacional Ciervo de pantanos but it is a 100 Km north of the city and you will spend most of your time driving to and from the place.

Regarding the guides I went with Diego Gallegos and I recommend him very much.


Diego Gallegos

Email: [email protected]
Telephone / Whatsapp: +54 9 11 4410-0723
website: http://buenosairesbirding.com/ (it seems to be under construction now)


Other guides in Buenos Aires:


Marcelo Gavensky / BA Birding
Email: [email protected]
Phone: :+54 9 11 6568 5344
Web: http://www.birdingbuenosaires.com

Laura Dodyk:
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.lauraves.com/


And finally, just let me mention that Argentina is a wonderful country, with very nice people, nice food and a lot of birds.

But Argentina is a very big country so you need a lot of time to visit it. I spend two weeks there visiting only Buenos Aires (inluding Entrerrios and also the pampa south of Buenos Aires), Salta /Jujuy and the south of the country (Ushuaia and Río Grande).

There are many other fantastic places to visit like Iguazu, Peninsula Valdés, Esteros del Iberá, ... and if you want to spend a good amount of money, the Antártic Peninsula by boat from Ushuaia.

And if you plan to visit it all, consider to spend at least a month in the country.

Regards,

abirdingguy said:

Thanks Joost. This is a helpful list of birding spots around town. However the link to the guide's website no longer works. Do you still have their contact information?

I have a 7 hour layover in Buenos Aires next month, and it would be nice if I could get a little birding in.

Click to expand...

I second what others mention about timing... I assume you will be flying into Ezeiza Intl Airport (EZE). Aeroparque Jorge Newberry (AEP) only handles a few Intl flights from Chile and Brazil, and soon will be purely domestic. Arriving to EZE, sometimes I clear immigration faster but plan on 40-60 minutes from when your plane touches down until you are clear of customs and out to the curb. A bit of bad luck and it could be 90m. Sitting as far forward on the plane as possible, and walking fast to customs helps, naturally.

From EZE (which is a good ways south of town, as mentioned), it's about an hour with typical traffic to Costanera Sur, which is handily the best birding location in the area. So assuming you land, get to the curb in an hour, drive an hour, you might have about 2 hours to bird before you need to turn around and head back to the airport in order to not risk missing your ongoing flight due to traffic. This assumes your ongoing flight is from EZE. A better option, assuming you are flying into and out of EZE, might be to consider a site closer to the airport. In another thread a site called Laguna de la Rocha was mentioned. I've never birded it, just seen the hotspot on eBird really, and don't know anything about where the entrance is / when it might be open / etc, but it is very close to EZE.

If, however, your ongoing flight is from Aeroparque (AEP) you might as well do some birding at Costanera Sur or another urban reserve, since you have to come into town anyways.

One other tidbit - if you will be here on a Monday, be aware that Costanera Sur is closed Mondays. As mentioned it closes when there is stormy weather, and after heavy rains as well.

Cheers and good luck! Feel free to ask more questions.

Out of curiosity, I just did a bit of research:

- Laguna de la Rocha is not open to the public. You can contact the Guardabosques (Rangers) to ask how to visit. This is clearly not a viable option for a short layover.

- There is a second small reserve in the area, Reserva Natural de Ciudad Evita. I didn't immediately find any info about access.

Thank you all for your quick replies. Below is a bit more about my scenario and what I'm thinking based on your advice. I know that I don't have much time for a place so full of birds, but I'd like to sample it a little if I can manage. I haven't been to Argentina before, so even many of the common birds will be new to me.

- 1100 Arrive EZE from outside country
- 1615 Leave AEP to another destination in Argentina
With customs and transportation time between the airports, I probably will only bird around AEP. I'm thinking that I can drop off my bag and then bird along Av. Costanera Rafael Obligado near the airport terminals and at the Plaza Puerto Argentino. It looks like there are some good parks near the airport, but I'm afraid to miss my flight. Also if I only have an hour or so, it would be nice to look for birds instead of walking / riding in a taxi.


- 1630 Arrive AEP from inside Argentina
- 2315 Leave EZE to destination outside Argentina
It looks like Costanera Sur close at 1800. Sunset is closer to 1900, so I’m thinking of visiting one of the coastal parks north of AEP to take advantage of a little extra sunlight. The question is what to do with my suitcase while bird watching. It has wheels, but it is obviously nicer not to have to haul it around while looking for birds. Also I’m thinking that ~2 hours might be too short to hire a guide. If I am very lucky, maybe there is also an owl somewhere between the coast and EZE? I’m not sure what I will do – this is looking trickier to fit in birdwatching than I realized when I posted the first time.

You're probably in the country already, but if you're still looking for a guide in Salta province, I happen to have met a PhD student in ornithology (also a very active birder, eBird regional reviewer, ...) who guides on the side. He's currently in the mountains with a big birding group, but I think he gets back tomorrow or so. Drop me a private message and I'll send you his email address.

Thank you for the offered assistance. I fortunately I didn't see this message until the new year. I've just looked up how to be automatically notified when someone responds, so hopefully I won't be tardy in the future.

Happy 2020

nartreb said:

You're probably in the country already, but if you're still looking for a guide in Salta province, I happen to have met a PhD student in ornithology (also a very active birder, eBird regional reviewer, ...) who guides on the side. He's currently in the mountains with a big birding group, but I think he gets back tomorrow or so. Drop me a private message and I'll send you his email address.

Click to expand...