Costanera Sur otra vez, 9/13/23

I wanted to get an early start on my first morning in Bueunos Aries but it was not to be.  In fact during the whole trip I found it hard to get out before 9am.  So anyway I finally got back out to Costanera Sur.  A pair of Wattled Jacanas were always doing guard duty near the entrance to the park.

White-tufted Grebes looked for goodies inthe water lettuce.

The Southern Screamers were still at the nest.

A local birder pointed out the Black-necked Swans also had a nest nearby.

I soon picked up a couple of lifer ducks, my first Yellow-billed Teal.  The barring on the head and the general compact teal shape identifies this species from the similar Yellow-billed Pintail.

And I got my first Brazilian Teals.

My first lifer woodpecker was this compact Checkered Woodpacker acting much like a Ladder-backed.

A little later I found the local "yellow breasted" race of the Green-barred Woodpecker.  This one was pretty tame and I showed it to a local school group that was passing by.  Some of the students were visibly moved by this cooperative beautiful "carpintero".

I did some pishing and pygmy owl tooting near a tangle of vegetataion and drew out a pair of Masked Gnatcatchers.

Also present were Rufous-and-black Warbling-finch, Golden-crowned Warbler and a calling brown and rufous furnarid.  Merlin IDed it as a Sooty-fronted Spinetail.  That was my guess also.

A huge rail loped acros the tail.  My guess was Giant Wood Rail and a little manipulation of lighting on the computer seems to support that ID.  Also present in the area is the large Gray-cowled Wood Rail.

I met a local birder who had a Guilded Sapphire staked out at a blooming aloe patch.  The field guide does a poor job of illustrating this species.  The rufous chin spot is a good field mark.

A noisy Rufous Hornero and it's Spanish oven (horno) like nest.

Black-capped Warbling Finch was a new one for me.

A local birder who had recently moved to Buenos Aires from Spain told me where to find a Rufescent Tiger-Heron nest.  Pretty cool.

Hooded Siskins feed on dandelion seeds on this early spring day in Buenos Aires.

The local Saffron Finch is not as brightly colored as those I have seen in Ecuador.  They were working on dandelions also.

Cattle Tyrants looked like kingbirds but preferred feeding from the ground.

A flock of forty Nanday Parakeets fed on loguats and chinaberries.

I finally made it to the far end of the park where I found this friendly Chalk-browed Mockingbird.

A soaring rator stumped me with its dark head.  Otherwise it reminded me of a Roadside Hawk.  Well checking the field guide revealed that Roadside Hawks down here have black heads.

Picazuro Pigeon enjoying the introduced loquats.

Finally I found the much wanted Narrow-billed Woodcreeper.

And the much wanted Red-crested Cardinal.  This was my only one for the trip.

I finished up the day with a pair of Ringed Teal, another species I have seen in zoos.  I wonder if species from the temperate subtopical climate of Buenos Aires are more cold hardy and able to take the cold weather in North American Zoos.

My three full days at Costanera del Sur turned up 68, 68 and 65 species.  How is that for consistent effort?

Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, AR

Sep 13, 2023 9:21 AM - 4:51 PM

Protocol: Traveling

6.367 mile(s)

68 species

Southern Screamer  3

Black-necked Swan  4

Ringed Teal  2

Brazilian Teal  2

Silver Teal  25

Yellow-billed Teal  2

Rosy-billed Pochard  20

Lake Duck  12

White-tufted Grebe  25

Pied-billed Grebe  3

Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  10

Picazuro Pigeon  15

Eared Dove  3

Gilded Hummingbird  3

Giant Wood-Rail  1

Spot-flanked Gallinule  2

Common Gallinule  10

Red-fronted Coot  60

Red-gartered Coot  5

White-winged Coot  5

Limpkin  6

Southern Lapwing  1

Wattled Jacana  3

Neotropic Cormorant  20

Rufescent Tiger-Heron  2    Adult and new young on nest

Cocoi Heron  1

Great Egret  2

Snowy Egret  2

Roadside Hawk  1

Harris's Hawk  4

Checkered Woodpecker  3

Green-barred Woodpecker  2

Crested Caracara  5

Chimango Caracara  1

American Kestrel  1

Monk Parakeet  10

Nanday Parakeet  50

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper  1

Rufous Hornero  5

Sooty-fronted Spinetail  1

Straneck's Tyrannulet  2

Vermilion Flycatcher  1

Yellow-browed Tyrant  1

Cattle Tyrant  3

Great Kiskadee  12

Gray-breasted Martin  5

Chilean Swallow  6

Masked Gnatcatcher  15

House Wren  15

European Starling  8

Chalk-browed Mockingbird  1

Rufous-bellied Thrush  10

Creamy-bellied Thrush  1

Hooded Siskin  2

Rufous-collared Sparrow  40

Shiny Cowbird  4

Grayish Baywing  7

Tropical Parula  3

Golden-crowned Warbler  8

Hepatic Tanager  1

Red-crested Cardinal  1

Yellow-billed Cardinal  3

Black-capped Warbling Finch  2

Sayaca Tanager  3

Black-and-rufous Warbling Finch  5

Saffron Finch  7

Bluish-gray Saltator  1

Golden-billed Saltator  1

Reserva Ecologia Costanera Sur, Buenos Aires, 9/12/23

It's been a long time coming but I finally took the plunge and scheduled a trip to Argentina.  September is not a great time to come as it's early spring in the north, winter in the south and summer birds are still off where it's warm.  But air fare and lodging were a lot cheaper than the warmer season and I knew I would find plenty to keep me busy and I was itching to go somewhere.

The overnight flight from McAllen, Tx to Dallas and then to Buenos Aires took about fifteen hours and wasn't that bad.  Took a while to get into town and get settled into my Air B&B condo in Puerto Madero.  But by 2pm I was ready to go birding and just a few blocks from the famous Reserva Ecologia Costanera Sur.  This huge park is a favorite for the locals where they can escape the urban intesity of Buenos Aires and walk, jog, bike or kick back with a cup of yerba mate.  A few even go birding and the cummulative eBird list for the park is an impressive 347 species.  There are large wetland areas and lots of mish mash introduced tree species tha makes a scrubby woodland that the local bird species have adapted to and and even a rough shoreline where the Rio de la Plata enters the Atlantic Ocean.

As I approached the park, the wetlands on the west side held plenty of new species and a lot of familiar ones.  At home we only have one species of coot but in Argentina there are a half dozen.  Here's the Red-fronted Coot with its maroon frontal shield and yellow bill.

The Red-gartered Coot has a yellow frontal shield bordered below by a rusty band.

The White-winged Coot has a plain yellow bill and frontal shield.

The entrance trail held what would prove to be common Rufous-bellied Thrushes.  But the first one is always exciting.

And the uber common Rufous-collared Sparrow.  In the Andes these guys act more like their Zonotrichia congeners up north, like regular sparrows.  But down here they are fearless city birds tirelessly singing throughout the day.

New to me was another noisy tame species, the Rufous Hornero.  I had seen Pacific Hornero in Ecuador so these were easy to ID.  They wandered around the trails looking for insects and occasionally collecting mud for their nest which looks like and old earthern Spanish oven known as an "horno".

Another wetland opened along the trail and a harsh scream drew my attention to my first Southern Screamers.  I've seen these turkey sized duck relatives in zoos so I knew the huge birds by sight.  The surprise was this pair was watching over their eggs.

Silver Teal was a new species for me.  And often a pair would be accompanied by a White-tufted Grebe.  I think this is an example of commensalism where the teal are doing the work stirring up food for the opportunistic grebe.

I've seen quite a few Masked Ducks though the years.  Apparently the they are uncommon at Costanera  Sur.

Black-necked Swan was a new species for me.

Another lifer that proved to be common was the Picazuro Pigeon.

All thoughout the Americas are various species of gnatcatchers.  Here in northern Argentina occurs the Masked Gnatcatcher.  They are just as difficult to photograph as our Blue-grays are.

Tropical tyrannulets can be difficult to identify but his one showed well for me.  The black streaking in the crown separates this Straneck's Tryrannulet from the very similar White-crested Tyrannulet.

It was getting late as I returned to the interpretive center near the entrance.  I was excited to find this cooperative Rufous-and-black Warbling-Finch.  Turns out they are pretty common in the park.

Walking back to the entrance I found a striking Yellow-billed Cardinal.

Argentina has a diverse Icterid fauna.  Unfortunately I did not find many of the varied blackbird species that occur hear.  I did find Grayish Baywings near the entrance.

I think this is a female Shiny Cowbird which lays it's eggs in the nest of Grayish Baywings.

In the Rio Grande Valley there is an introduced population of Monk Parakeets near the Hidalgo Pumphouse.  Other populations occur near Houston and Austin.  Down here they are a native species.

I fishished my first run through Costanera del Sur with afternoon sunlight illuminating lovely Rosy-billed Pochards.  The female looks very different as is the case of all members of the genus Netta which is similar to our genus Aythya.