Blog

Argentina - Iguazú Falls and Iberá wetlands

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 19:01:21 +0000

I returned last Sunday night (22 Oct 2013) from an 8-day birding trip to Argentina and Brazil (briefly). I stayed for 4 nights in Puerto Iguazú on the Argentinian side of the Iguazú Falls, with 2½ days birding in the Iguazú Falls National Park and a half day for a trip across the border to the Parque das Aves (Bird Park) in Foz do Iguaçu on the Brazilian side.

Iguazú boasts one of the largest remaining patches of Atlantic forest in Argentina. Birding in rain forest is a tricky business as many of the tiniest birds prefer the canopy 20 m and more up. Yet others skulk around in the thickest bush and are very hard to get even the briefest glimpse of. My hearing is not as good as it used to be, so had I not had the services of 2 very experienced local guides, Daniel Somay and Carlos Barros, who knew their bird calls very well and could focus my attention in the right areas, I might have seen only half of the species that I did.

Day 5 saw an all-day 475 km road transfer with a side excursion to see the Plovercrest, a range-restricted and not often seen Atlantic Forest hummingbird. I headed southwards to the village of Carlos Pellegrini on the Laguna Iberá in the Esteros del Iberá (Ibera wetlands) nature reserve, reputed to be the 2nd largest wetland area in the world. They were listed as a RAMSAR site in 2002. I again stayed 4 nights, with 3 full days dedicated to birding, split into half-day excursions focussed on different habitats, true wetland, flooded grassland, dry grassland and acacia dominated woodland.

Again, but for the services of my excellent guide, Rodrigo Fracalossi, who was able to take me to some “off the beaten track” locales, my species count would have been much lower.

Day 9 was the reverse trip back to Puerto Iguazú airport for the flight back to Santiago via Buenos Aires. The first 120 km of sand road had become rather challenging (the polite word) after heavy thunderstorms and was distinctly 4x4 territory. I had visions of being stuck at Iberá (shame!). I still managed to add 2 species to the trip list, birding “on the move”.

I had researched the birding possibilities of the two areas thoroughly before I embarked on the trip and had come to the conclusion that a trip list of 150 would be where to set the bar, with around 100 lifers included. Due mainly to the sharp eyes and ears of my 3 guides and visiting some areas that I would definitely not have got to on my own the eventual trip list totalled some 213 species, with 173 lifers and 143 species added to my photos list. I also added Argentina as the 8th country for which I currently have a species list of over 200.

I did not take my laptop with me, so to optimise memory card space I sat every evening and reviewed my day’s photos on the camera, deleting all the out-of-focus, back-of-head and gone-away-bird shots. Nevertheless, I still returned to Santiago with 2,500 photos to process! That should keep me out mischief in the evenings for a while!

The images will be posted initially as STOP PRESS! but will eventually be placed in the South America gallery.

Neil

Kenya birding safari - No 2

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 09:50:28 +0000

I had such success on my first birding trip to Kenya in late September 2010, that I planned a follow-up for October 2012. Again the trip was planned and all accommodation and transport bookings made for me by Moses Kandie (http://www.birdwatchingexpress.net), whom I contacted via the BirdingPals website - http://www.birdingpal.org - and had made the first trip the success that it was.

Peru - Ite Wetlands

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:17:40 +0000

Have just spent a few hours in the Ite Wetlands straddling the estuary of the Locumba River in the Tacna region of southern Peru. The wetlands are the result of an environmental remediation programme that have transformed over 700 million tonnes of copper tailings into the largest and most bird-diverse wetland along the Peruvian coastline. They measure some 12km long by 1.5km wide.

Chile

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:39:27 +0000

Spending some time in Chile, based in Santiago. What an opportunity to see some New World birds. Almost every bird I see is new. Most have their ecological counterparts in Africa and Europe, but are often only distantly related.

Zambia birding - Mutinondo Wilderness

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:01:46 +0000

A new day dawns. After a Shoebill can the rest of the trip match up?

Zambia birding - Shoebill Camp [2]

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Thu, 19 May 2011 08:57:33 +0000

Would I see a Shoebill? My whole trip was planned with this as the crowning moment, so it was with some trepidation that I set out in the boat after breakfast, me, Webby the bird guide, and Paul and Emmanuel the boatmen.

Zambia birding - Shoebill Camp [1]

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Thu, 19 May 2011 08:48:43 +0000

Due north some 70km from Kasanka lies Shoebill Island on the fringes of the vast Bangweulu Swamps. However, the road trip is some 145km and over 5 hours (yes the road, if it can be called that in places, is interesting!). Shoebill Camp is also run by the Kasanka Trust, so Webby the bird guide accompanied me to Shoebill. We dropped off his bicycle at the village of Chiundaponde and dropped Webby off there on our way out. He had a 94km bike ride ahead of him to get back to Kasanka - that's dedication!

Zambia birding - Kasanka

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Thu, 19 May 2011 08:43:52 +0000

Based currently out of Lusaka in Zambia, I took a week leave and headed north for a 7-day birding trip, very ably organised for me by Thorn Tree Safaris (http://www.thorntreesafaris.com). I had three specific destinations – Kasanka National Park, Shoebill Island and the Mutinondo Wilderness area - with the goal of removing the Shoebill from No.1 spot on my "must see" list.

Kenya birding safari

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:46:41 +0000

When I decided on a birding trip to Kenya in late September 2010, it was planned to maximise the number of species seen, while hopefully having a high ratio of lifers in the final list. The trip was planned and all accommodation and transport bookings made for me by Moses Kandie (http://www.birdwatchingexpress.net), whom I contacted via the BirdingPals website - http://www.birdingpal.org

BitterNly cold day at the London Wetland Centre

nkgray@gmail.com (Neil Gray) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:06:15 +0000

4 January 2010 - on my last full day in the UK before returning to Guinea I decided that whatever the weather I would spend as much time as possible at the London Wetland Centre. The day dawned with the temperature a frigid -7°C. I delayed my departure, but when I arrived at the Wetland Centre at 10:15 the temperature was still a chilly -3.5°C. I spent 5 hours walking around the Centre and when I decided to call it a day the temperature had reached the dizzy heights of -0.5°C.