Argentina – Chaco and Iberá Marshes

17^th – 30^th March 2011 (14 days)

With an extension to the Iguazú Falls and Rainforest

29^th March – 3^rd April (6 days)(combined 18 days)

Tour Cost

Chaco and Iberá Marshes    £3,140

Iguazú Falls Extension        £   845

Combined Cost                   £3,985

Los Esteros del Iberá – the Iberá Marshes – and Chaco regions of northern Argentina hold some of the greatest and most diverse wildlife spectacles of South America.

This tour takes us through the Chaco – the land of the red and white Quebracho trees – one of the most fascinating regions of Argentina, both for its vastness and for its incredibly high biodiversity. It is characterised by woodland, found both in wide stretches and also in isolated pockets interlaced with grasslands.

Iberá, in the local Guarani language, means agua brillante or ‘shining water’ and is a land dominated by lakes and marshes where floating plants, such as Pickerelweed, are common and can grow so thick that they form floating islands on which people can walk and trees can grow!

Wildlife is abundant here and as well as a staggering variety of birds it is common to see Capybaras and crocodiles.

We shall also spend a short time in Buenos Aires, a sophisticated and vibrant city and home of the tango.

And as if all that is not enough, the tour also offers an extension to the breathtaking Iguazú Falls straddling the Argentine-Brazil border.

Those taking the extension will see a habitat that, although covering much of South America, is rare in Argentina – rainforest, and here we shall come across a new avifauna.

Itinerary – Chaco and Iberá Marshes


Day 1: Depart London

Day 2: The tour begins this morning with our arrival at Buenos Aires international airport. We will transfer to a downtown hotel and spend the afternoon birding at the city´s Costanera Sur Reserve for an amazing introduction to Argentina´s avifauna. A great variety of waterbirds such as Black-necked Swan, Southern Screamer, Rosy-billed Pochard and three species of coot concentrate in the shallow ponds along the banks of La Plata river. The reedbeds and thickets bordering them harbour some specialities like Curve-billed Reedhaunter, Sulphur-bearded Spinetail and Freckle-breasted Thornbird.
Overnight in Buenos Aires.

Day 3: Early morning flight to Salta city, in the northwest corner of the country. Located at 1,200 m. in the heart of Lerma Valley the city of Salta was already a populous and strategic place in the road for troops and carts to the Potosí-Bolivia silver mines, more than 400 years ago.
After arrival, a short drive north to San Lorenzo canyon will give us a valuable sampling of birds inhabiting the lowest borders of that section of Cloud-forest. Roadside Hawk, Southern Caracara, Mitred Parakeet, Scaly-headed Parrot, White-bellied Hummingbird, Golden-breasted Woodpecker and Rufous-capped Antshrike will soon be found. We will specifically look for the elusive Red-legged Seriema in the patches of grassland and Cream-backed Woodpecker at the forest edge.
After dinner we plan to visit Huaico Reserve and try for the localized Hoy´s Screech Owl, Scissor-tailed Nightjar and Common Potoo.
We spend two nights in San Lorenzo at the Selva Montana Ecolodge.

Day 4: We start today with an early drive along the scenic Route 9 north from Salta towards the border with Jujuy province. The winding road climbs up to the mountain pass amidst Yungas forest where we will certainly enjoy the morning, making opportunist stops for parrots, raptors, woodpeckers, hummingbirds and a great diversity of tanagers.
We then proceed down the mountains, northwards to Yala river where we plan to spend a couple of hours walking and looking for the localized Rufous-throated Dipper, the endangered Red-faced Gaun and the attractive Torrent Duck.
By early afternoon we retrace our steps back to Salta, driving via a different road that will provide good chances of finding Red-legged Seriema, Aplomado Falcon, Rothschild´s Swift and other typical birds of more open habitat.
Overnight at Selva Montana Ecolodge.

Day 5: Early departure from Salta eastwards for a visit to the lowlands of Mojotoro valley and Palomitas area in search of the elusive Black-legged Seriema, Brushland Tinamou, Checkered Woodpecker and Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant. Then we drive east and south traversing the Transitional Forest towards dry Chaco woodland. This will be a day of opportunist birding in diverse habitats as we travel to our destination, but we hope to repeat the success of previous groups that recorded over 100 species for the day including Greater Rhea, Comb Duck, Bat Falcon, Aplomado Falcon, Savanna Hawk, Blue-tufted Starthroat, Red-billed Scythebill, Dark-billed and Striped Cuckoos, Crested Hornero and Many-coloured Chaco-Finch.
We spend two nights at our quiet hotel in the bustling town of Joaquin V. Gonzales.

Day 6: Full day devoted to exploring a particularly dry area of Chaco Forest where we hope to find a number of specialities such as Bay-winged Hawk, the localized Spot-winged Falconet, Chaco Chachalaca, Blue-crowned Parakeet, Gilded Sapphire, Chaco Puffbird, White-fronted Woodpecker, White-barred Piculet and two spectacular furnariids: Great Rufous and Scimitar-billed Woodcreepers.
There is a pair of good trails that we plan to walk in search of two elusive goodies; Crested Gallito and Stripe-backed Antbird. Other attractions for today may include Chaco Earthcreeper, Brown Cacholote, Short-billed Canastero, Pale-breasted and Stripe-crowned Spinetails, Variable Antshrike, Cinereous Tyrant, Swainson´s Flycatcher, Greater Wagtail-Tyrant, Hepatic Tanager and Ultramarine Grosbeak. During an evening return to our hotel we’ll do some spotlighting in search of Little Nightjar, Common Nighthawk and the rare Chaco Owl.

Day 7: Our trip is possible in part because of the paving of Route 16 along its entire length, from Salta to Corrientes province, allowing a comfortable overland journey and a truly unusual South American travel experience.
Today we drive from J.V. Gonzales southeastward, across the Grand Chaco, traversing Santiago del Estero and entering Chaco province. We break the distance with roadside stops and walks into dry thorn forest where we may find Spot-winged Pigeon, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Campo Flicker, Little Thornbird, White Woodpecker, Black-crowned Monjita, Rufous Casiornis and Masked Gnatcatcher. By midday we arrive at Copo National Park which protects the last remnant of primary Quebracho Colorado (the ‘Red-Axe-breaker tree) forest in the world. This locality represents our best chance of finding the scarce Quebracho Crested Tinamou, the poorly known Crowned Eagle and the beautiful Olive-crowned Crescent-chest.
Later we continue our drive to Machagai town and our comfortable hotel there, for one night.

Day 8: Early departure for a full day visit to the isolated Chaco National Park where we stand a good chance of finding two localized attractions: Black-bodied  and Pale-crested Woodpeckers, plus a host of typical birds of this transitional central chaco such as Turquoise-fronted Amazon, Rufous Casiornis and Purplish Jay.
Later in the afternoon we drive along Route 16 eastwards into the wet Chaco environment with Palm savannas and wooded islets where several species new for us, such as Greater Ani, Laughing Falcon, Black-collared Hawk and Gray Monjita will hopefully be spotted along the road.
We overnight in Resistencia located on the corner of the medium Paraná River and at the border with Corrientes province.

Day 9: Our trip today will take us across the Paraná River and continue southeastward entering Corrientes province and the extensive marshlands known as the Esteros del Iberá. This huge mass of water covering the north central lowlands of Corrientes is a complex ecosystem with 20,000 square kms. of lagoons, embalsados (floating islands) and riverine gorges, supporting Yatay-Palm forest, xeric woods, extensive rushbeds, vast grasslands and dense reed bordering the roads. Colourful frogs, turtles and two species of caiman abound. The mammal community includes Capybara, Howler Monkey, Marsh Deer, Crab-eating Fox and the enigmatic Maned Wolf. As might be expected, the birding is of highest quality with a potential list of over 300 species recorded during our stay in the wetlands. Eight species of duck, thousands of herons, ibises and coots, plus Limpkin, Giant Wood Rail, Jabiru and Greater Rhea are common sights. We will bird San Luis del Palmar area and later we drive eastwards into the marshes to the locality of Loreto and our first-class accommodation at a ranch where we spend two nights.

Day 10: Today we have a full day to investigate in depth the natural attractions of the Iberá wetlands spending most of the time along unpaved roads and walking in this vast area where we hope to find several specialities, such as Little Woodpecker, Chotoy Spinetail, Greater Thornbird, the scarce private Strange-tailed Tyrant, Short-crested Flycatcher, the elusive Bearded Tachuri plus three very localised species: Black-and-White Monjita, Ochre-breasted Pipit and Lesser Grass-Finch. We will also take a boat ride along the marshes in search of Black Skimmer, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Terns, Azure and Spot-flanked Gallinules and the trio of kingfishers. This private cattle-ranch is being managed by the owners partly as a reserve to protect some of the last riverine forest still to be found in a matrix of native grassland.
A voluminous nest of twigs occupying almost half of a tree will permit us to locate a pair of Firewood Gatherer while the loud whistles of a Red-winged Tinamou will draw our attention to the pastures.
The morning could be spent in the grasslands looking for some of the local Sporophilas including Marsh, Tawny-bellied and Capped Seedeaters, while the afternoon should be a good time for our boat trip through the marshes.
Overnight at Loreto ranch.

Day 11: After a brief searching for another Iberá speciality -the impressive Streamer-tailed Tyrant-, we begin our journey traveling eastwards along Route 12 towards Ituzaingo village located on the banks of upper Paraná River.
More excellent birding is assured along this transitional area of wetlands into dry highland but some particularly hard-to-find citizens of the Iberá such as Ochre-breasted Pipit, Saffron-cowled Blackbird and Black-masked Finch will be looked for, as well as any other species we may have missed on previous days.
We spend one night at the nice Hosteria de Turismo in Ituzaingo.

Day 12: Traveling south from Ituzaingo we will spend the morning in search of the rare Mottled Piculet the endangered Saffron-cowled Blackbird and a fine selection of Crakes and Rails. Soon after midday we enter Misiones province passing by “campo” habitat characterized by a mosaic of forest islets on a matrix of dry grasslands. Birdwatching in this area may produce such species as White Woodpecker, Azure Jay, the scarce Vinaceous-breasted Parrot, Red-rumped Warbling-Finch and Diademed Tanager. We’ll travel along the southern edge of Misiones northwards to the city of Posadas where we spend the night

Day 13: We take a morning flight from Posadas to Buenos Aires where we arrive in time for a transfer to Ezeiza airport in order to catch flight back home.
Those participants taking the Iguazú Falls Extension will take a morning flight from Posadas to Puerto Iguazú where we transfer the short distance to our hotel in the town for a three nights stay.

Day 14: Those not on the Iguazú Falls extension arrive at Heathrow.

 
Itinerary – Iguazú Falls & Rainforest Extension


Day 13 (continued from above): We depart early from Posadas city and spend a couple of hours birding in “campo” habitat for some localized attractions such as Streamer-tailed Tyrant, Black-breasted Plovercrest and White-eared Puffbird. Then we drive along the Paraná River traveling northwards inside Misiones province slowly getting into Rainforest habitat. Most of the accessible areas have been put into agricultural use but a few small stands of forest with Araucaria wood will provide chances for the endemic Araucaria Tit-Spinetail, the elusive Mouse-colored Tapaculo and a fine selection of colorful tanagers such as Blue-naped Chlorophonia and Green-headed Tanager.

We eventually arrive to the small village of Puerto Esperanza and our hosteria there for one night.

Day 14: After an early breakfast, the surrounding gardens will attract our attention since quite a few hummingbirds and woodpeckers usually visit the place in the morning.

Soon we will drive the short distance northwards to Puerto Iguazú, making a couple of stops for some good birding en route.
After arrival to Iguazú we settle in to our comfortable hotel for three nights.
In the afternoon we set out to the Iguazú National Park in order to explore some dirt roads and trails, walking to savour some of the abundant birdlife, including parrotlets, toucans, tanagers, euphonias and many other forest inhabitants’ as well as, perhaps a troupe of inquisitive Coatis.

Day 15: Full day devoted to exploring the Iguazú National Park and walking the trails to the falls.

The Iguazú Falls provide an astounding spectacle amidst the splendor of the jungle. This mature Subtropical Rainforest looks like a compact green wall twenty to thirty meters tall, made up of at least a hundred evergreen tree species distributed into different strata, intermixed with epiphytes, lianas and a dense under storey dominated by bamboo cane. A Rainforest extremely rich in bird species that we’ll study in depth visiting all major habitat types: the evergreen and bamboo forests, misty riverine gorges, capueras and savannah. The long list of possibilities in Iguazu National Park includes Yellow-fronted, Lineated, Blond-crested and White-spotted Woodpeckers, Scaled and Planalto Woodcreepers,  Scale-throated Hermit, Black-throated Trogon, Rufous-capped Motmot, Bertoni´s Antbird, Tufted Antshrike, Eared Pygmy-Tyrant, Plain Xenops and some five species of Foliage-gleaners.

At sunset thousands of Great Dusky Swifts circle around the falls then plunge at great speed down through the curtains of water to their roost behind. We will try to get special permission to stay in one of the balconies until sunset to witness this spectacle.  Careful checking may produce several White-collared Swifts as well.

Day 16: Our second day devoted to the National Park.  We plan to walk the Macuco Trail along which there are some places to look for Southern Antpipit, White-necked Thrush, Rusty-breasted Nunlet, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Rufous-breasted Leafscrapper, Streak-capped Antwren, Spot-backed Antshrike, Short-tailed Anttrush, Rufous Gnateater, Cream-bellied Gnatcatcher and a trio of remarkable Manakins; White-bearded, Greenish and Swallow-tailed with its subtle combination of blue, black and red.
The vulnerable Black-fronted Piping-Guan has been found on our previous visits, and there is a reasonably good chance of seeing this great rarity again.
The Yacaratia section was logged intensively before the National Park´s creation, but today the vigorous vegetation is recuperating so we´ll get immersed here into typical Paranaense Forest and hope for the associated birds, notably Saffron Toucanet, Chestnut-eared Aracari and Green-billed Toucan.

Day 17: Our last morning will be spent with a visit to the Hummingbird Garden in Puerto Iguazú where we can see and photograph at least seven species that usually come to the feeders that a local lady tends near a stream. Scale-throated Hermit, Black-throated Mango, Black Jacobin, White-throated Hummingbird, Violet-capped Woodnymph and Rufous-throated Sapphire are some of the most common gems in this small brilliant place.

We shall then transfer to the local airport for our flight to Buenos Aires plus the transfer to Ezeiza international airport on time to flight back home.

Day 18: Our journey through one of the world’s most beautiful countries ends as we disembark at Heathrow.