Argintina Visit at end of February (1 Viewer)

[Michael Hogan]

I will be visiting Buenos Aires on business around 20th February 2008. I will have a few days free and I was wondering what will the bird life (and other wildlife) be like then. I will probably visit Costanera Sur and Ribera Norte but if there is somewhere really worth visiting at that time of year I do not mind travelling.

Thanks

Michael

 

[black52bird]

I will be visiting Buenos Aires on business around 20th February 2008. I will have a few days free and I was wondering what will the bird life (and other wildlife) be like then. I will probably visit Costanera Sur and Ribera Norte but if there is somewhere really worth visiting at that time of year I do not mind travelling.

Thanks

Michael

Dear Michael

I was there for most of January. Costanera Sur is wonderful - I got 35 new species for my life list in a day!! Don't bother with Ribiera Norte which is closed as it is flooded, and the floods have filled it with rubbish. Try to get to the Otamendi Reserve, 67 km north, but go by car, not by train, which takes hours. Unfortunately I tried to do this latter, and 2 hours and 2 trains later I was still not there!! Unfortunately the rain set in, and was torrential for the rest of the day, so I cut my losses and went 2hrs and 2 trains back to BsAs!!

What I'd wanted to do was get a car and drive out west, and I still wish I had done this, as when I was driven to San Nicolas (250 km north) for work, the birds one saw on the roadsides were spectacular and frustratingly unidentifiable!! So I'd recommend a car and just wander around provincial roads, stopping whenever you want. It's what I'll do next time.

Very best

David

 

[JCL]

Don't bother with Ribiera Norte which is closed as it is flooded, and the floods have filled it with rubbish.

Ribera Norte is regularly closed due to high water, but is not (as far as I am aware, although I haven't popped down there for a few weeks) permanently closed. Flooding does indeed fill the site with rubbish, but this doesn't deter the birds. You can spend a good 2-3 hours here without problems, working the area slowly: rufous-sided crakes are quite common (though not easy with summer vegetation) and curve-billed reedhaunters frequent the area round the hide. Each time I go there I see something that I haven't seen there before...

Otamendi is indeed good, but do go by car if you can. In addition to the train being time-consuming, there are aregular reports of birders being removed of their optics on the train. An hour or so further on is Ceibas, an excellent birding area with a very different fauna.

James