We weren't very far out of town before the true cow country of Argentina appeared. Huge, wide open country. Not particularly well developed, and as we traveled we realized that there was a fuel shortage going on in the area. We tried a number of different filling stations before we finally got some diesel. The rigs we were traveling in were not much to look at, and were crowded, but tough.
Brig, Chelle, Paula and I were in the Red pickup, with our luggage under the tarp in back. The rest of our group was in the Nissan SUV. 3 across the back in these rigs over very rough roads was a trip. Michelle made it a bit more hilarious by making Brig translate for her while she interrogated our driver about everything from religion to politics and everything in between. She was totally doing her 20 question thing the whole way. Turns out our driver was a pretty bright and well read individual, so this was interesting.
After a brutally long wait, we finally got fuel.
We drove the dirt roads on the way up about 35 to 40 MPH. We didn't stop for any bird photography, so I had to try for some shots out the window. It was fascinating to see the civilization diminish more and more, and we did begin to see some birds.
The ubiquitous Southern Crested Caracara were there, including this one next to a Rufous Hornero.
We also saw a number of other raptors.
The Roadside Hawks were abundant.
After several hours heading southeast, we came to a little ranching community named Mercedes. Here, after a couple of tries we found a filling station that still had some diesel, and filled up.
After leaving Mercedes, the roads got considerably worse.
Occasionally we would see trucks that were "maintaining" the roads. There were a number of long haul trucks working the roads, supplying the villages that serviced the ranches. This was a huge area, probably about the size of the state of Oregon!
The area we were ultimately headed for, the Ibera Marsh, is in the middle of cattle country. It was once the site of some very large rice plantations, but because the Giant Anteater was hunted nearly into extinction, the anthills and termite mounds have virtually ruined the landscape. Restoration of the wetlands has been the fortunate byproduct however, and the Marsh is now one of the premier birding spots in the world. As we approached, we began to see more and more of the wetland fauna.
Great Egret
It got to the point where we saw virtually no traffic, and only the occasional horseback rider.
Signs that there had once been more people in the area were around however.
Let's throw in the mystery critter before we finish up. By the way, Kayla won $30 this morning by solving the last 3 mystery critters! We began to see a bunch of these critters, and by the time we got to the lake at Pelligrini, they were crossing the road in front of us regularly. What is it?
As we got closer to Laguna Ibera, we began to see more and more birds. It was getting dusk, but we still got a few shots off.
A tree full of Guira Cuckoo's.
Another tree full of our friend the Red-Crested Cardinal.
Wattled Jacana
And White Monjita
We finally saw a sign and knew we were actually going to get there.
At this point we were about 60 miles away, but decided to slow down. I was really glad we did, as one of the birds I had really wanted to see in Argentina was flitting along the side of the road.
The Strange Tailed Tyrant is only found in a small area where a particular reed is growing along the road. Even though it was almost dark, we worked on getting this bird. This picture was taken at only 1/40th of a second so I was really lucky to stop the windy swaying movement to get at least a reasonably decent shot.
Actually enchanting country. The village of Pellegrini mostly exist's for birder and wildlife travelers. I will show pictures of the place we stayed in a future post.
A true adventure...
1 comment:
that line for fuel is insane. and as always, awesome bird photos.
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