Note: this post and those to follow are SUPER back-dated. I’m posting in June but this is what I was doing in early April… I’m catching up now though!
From Posadas, I caught the bus to El Soberbio (the Suburb) which is a very small town on Argentina’s border with Brazil. The birding there was excellent, and I saw about 70 species (and a bunch of lifers) along a wooded dirt road a couple of miles north of the town. I have gone birding several times using this same strategy: fill a 2L bottle with water, wake up early and start walking towards some wooded area found using google maps satellite imagery. The patch I was headed for today was about two miles north of town, so I got up at about 5 and started walking. I was pleasantly surprised along the way by Magpie Tanagers, A singing Variegated Antpitta and a couple of very loud (and very hidden) Slaty-breasted Wood-Rails.
I got to the dirt road that turned off the main route, and almost instantly ran into a little flock with a couple common species like Variable Antshrike, Tropical Parula and Plain Antvireo. After starting to whistle a Pygmy-owl imitation (to attract the attention of any other birds in the area) a LOT more stuff began appearing. I was most surprised at how ferociously the Golden-crowned Warblers reacted to the Pygmy-owl call, perching right out in the open just feet away from me, angrily searching for the offending owl.
I managed to pick out a couple of lifers like Chestnut-headed Tanager and Eared Pygmy-Tyrant and activity was really picking up, then I noticed a man walking towards me from down the road. I have had a bit of a dilemma about birding by myself on public roads, as I’d be pretty defenseless if someone wanted to take all my stuff. When I spotted him, my camera was still in my backpack so I wasn’t too worried, and as he got closer I saw that he was fairly elderly and had a very kind look about him. So I kept on whistling the owl call and I think it had the following effect: as the man walked by me I smiled, and he suddenly noticed that there was a small army of birds attacking me. So I can only hope that someday he’ll tell the story of how he once saw a gringo in the middle of nowhere talking to a flock of birds.
On the way back I saw a sign that said “Kayak Rental” so I figured, why not? It was $1.75 for 2 hours. I paddled around the river a bit and got Ringed and Amazon Kingfisher, two new birds for my Argentina list.
The place that was renting them out was a pretty interesting establishment, a “touristic complex” translated directly. I ate a couple empanadas and heard my lifer White-spotted Woodpecker with this view out the restaurant window:
I was staying at the cheapest place in town listed on Booking, which turned out to be an entire three-room apartment for $11/night… go figure! I have had pretty excellent luck in terms of places I’ve stayed so far, given that my strategy is to find the cheapest place in the general area I want to explore and cross my fingers. Two new Argentina birds I got from the tree behind the hotel were Chestnut-eared Aracari and Thrush-like Wren.
The town was very interesting, and I probably shouldn’t have been surprised when I mostly heard Portuguese and not Spanish being spoken. Brazil was just across the river, and a couple of different folks I talked to mentioned how interesting it was to have to speak in strictly spanish to me, since they’re used to speaking a mix of the two languages. Here’s one meal that I had at a restaurant along the main street: a hamburger with actual ham on it! I need to work on my food photos…
While I was sitting there, a motorbike started backfiring and the police pulled the guy over. After about 5 minutes of discussion a police pickup truck pulled up and they loaded the bike into the bed and drove it away. Tough luck… I bought the guy a beer as I left.
I asked around and I couldn’t figure out how I was going to get to Iguazú from my current location, since everyone seemed convinced that the only bus left the town at 2am. So the next day I packed my backpacks and walked outside of the town to a speed bump where cars were obliged to slow down. I stuck out my thumb and waited, hoping that someone was headed to San Vicente, where I could catch a bus to Iguazú. I was pleasantly surprised after about a half hour of waiting: a bus pulled up with a large sign reading “San Vicente.” I hopped on, paid my $1 fare for the hour’s ride and was delivered straight to the San Vicente bus terminal. I bought my ticket, caught the bus and the driver even let me off right outside my hotel, which was next to the main road into Iguazú. In all, a much more successful trip than I was expecting.
Backcountry Birding 
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