Birding Argentina 2011 - Post 8

Thursday August 11, 2011 found us at Rincon del Socorro.  I should have taken pictures of the facility itself, as it was really amazing, but if you are interested look at it's web site .  The staff is great, and I would highly recommend it for birders or anyone else.

Early, we went just outside our rooms, and the variety and quality of birds was amazing.  Here are some of them.



 The Checkered Woodpecker is small and primarily eats fruit!

 

 

 And of course the Golden Fronted Woodpecker

 

 As well as the Field Flicker

 

 

 Some of our best looks at the Monk Parakeet were here, as it was a fairly open area.



 And the White Mojita

 

The Grayish Saltator

 

 And a really close encounter with the Narrow-Billed Woodcreeper

 

 One of my favorite shots of the Argentine national bird, the Rufous-Sided Hornero

 

Several ponds surrounded the lodging facilities.  Apparently they have a full time guy who guards the perimeter at night just to keep the Capybara from making a mess of the grounds.



Brig (son-in-law) was either the curious or the subject of curiosity, I am not sure which!



Course he wasn't paying too close attention most of the time to what was behind him.



This was my first look at Plumbeous Ibis.  They are one of the largest of the Ibis family.









It was pretty fun to get close to the very rare Yellow Cardinal.  Both the female and the male are striking.



The Male.



A bird I still can't seem to find much information on is the Brown Chacolote.  Try to Google it!







While we were having an incredible lunch in the gazebo behind the lodge, this very beautiful Cream Backed Woodpecker hung out.







So I am going to make the mystery critter very easy on this one.  Surely one of the Grandchildren will recognize this very common raptor from this trip.  Taken just as the sun was about to set with a trick exposure.



Back out on the main highway (dirt road nonetheless), we got some of our best looks at the Strange Tailed Tyrant.  This is really one of the highlights of birding this area.





The tyrant flycatchers do just that.  They dart off the perch, catch an insect in the air and come back to the same spot.





With it's very interesting tail, even the female is extremely unique.





A fun but challenging bird to photograph.  Quick, small and shy.





Another shot at the Tropical Screech Owl later that night proved once again successful just outside our room.