Birding Argentina 2011 - Post 10

Iquazu Falls was an afterthought for this trip.  Boy are we glad we did it!  Nate Chappell and his group all headed back to the states, but Chelle, Brig, Paula and I wanted to go up to see what we had read was a lifetime experience.  It truly was, and while the birds were great, the falls were incredible.

 

Take a look at the following site, and then explore about this incredible place.  LINK TO IGUAZU FALLS

We found a great guide online.  A fellow named Daniel Somay, a former park ranger.  He spoke great english, and was very bird knowledgeable.  Best though was that he was a local and had special privileges to the park at all hours. 

We started out before first light on Sunday, August 14, in the parking lot of the visitor's center.  Great birds right off the bat, but I also dropped my Sigmonster and ended up using the Nikon 400 2.8 with a 1.7 telecon for most of the shots.   This was another place where the D3 with the Bigma (Sigma 50 - 500) was a great choice.

 Chopi Blackbird





A very gregarious Red-Crested Finch



We were hearing the very beautiful call of the Surucua Trogon long before we saw it, but finally got a great look. 







A huge Black Headed Vulture flew in. 





A couple of new Parrot's, including the Scaly Headed Parrot



And the Blue Headed Parrolet





Very quick looks at the Swallow Tailed Manakin



And the Blue Dacnis



And a nice long look at the incredible Swallow Tailed Tanager









We were really impressed with what we were seeing, but once we got a glimpse of the falls, we were totally blown away.  These are one of the most incredible sites ever!  My photo's do no justice to it at all.















We did have some fun taking pictures of each other.



We all had to take our turn under the falls!







The trails built by the Argentinians around the falls are really great.  Between sections of the falls we saw more birds like the Red Rumped Cacique.







And a very interesting pair of Chestnut Eared Aracari





We got a Fawn Breasted Tanager just under a waterfall.





And for the mystery critter, what is this thing?



Even the butterflies seemed especially beautiful here.



They call their flicker the Campo Flicker here.





And both the male and female of the Saffron Yellow Finch were vibrant.





One of the real highlights was a White Cheeked Puffbird seen right along the road into the park.





A couple of nice flycatchers, the Fuscous,



And the Short Crested. 



Right in the parking lot was a crazy Rufous Collared Sparrow fighting with itself in a car window!





Right at the edge of the falls was a Rufous Hornero building it's nest.  Amazing that they form them so perfectly. 





Can't leave this post without featuring two of the real stars of the Iguazu area.  First the Toco Toucan









Often maligned for boisterous behavior, and their tendency to prey on other birds, the Jays are uniformly among the real lookers in the world.  The Plush Crested Jay seen everywhere at Iguazu is no exception.

























From the steps of the old colonial age hotel, now abandoned



to the falls themselves, I am really glad we didn't pass this one up.