Encarnacion Part 2.

On Sunday we met Roberto at Paul’s house and he kindly drove us to two sites Carmen del Parana and the Rice fields and wetlands at Isla Alta. The two target species at the latter were Saffron cowled Blackbird and the Pinnated Bittern.

A stop off in the area of Carmen del Parana produced a trip tick in the form of a Large billed Tern,

We stopped off at a pool on arrival at Isla Alta, Purple Gallinule and Common Gallinule were added to the trip list. Ducks have been very rare on this trip and I regularly get ribbed about mentioning them so here I go and four Brazilian Teal!

Further down the road the area was crawling with birds of all shapes and sizes. Paul was rattling off names and using playback on other species. My pen was working at full speed with time to observe the birds as they were called. South American Snipe were the first lifer of the day giving good views as they buzzed about around our heads. A Red crested Cardinal made a brief appearance in a bush. This spectacular bird showed long enough to be captured on the SLR.

(Red crested Cardinal)

Great Pampa Finch and White browed Blackbird make it onto the photo list which was small with all the activity that was going on. A Bearded Tachuri was probably one of the birds of the day.

(Great Pampa Finch)

A White banded Mockingbird finally made it onto my life list this was considered a reasonable record for the time of year. Further down the road by a bridge and stream a blackbird stake-out took place. There were plenty of other birds to see including a Yellow Chinned Spinetail but no sign of target species number one! 

(Lesser Yellow headed Vulture)

It was time to make our way back but one more stop at a rice field nailed the Pinnated Bittern Paul had spotted one from the moving vehicle and the telescope was quickly deployed. Three birds were observed before we returned to Paul’s house where we thanked Roberto and said adios!

We travelled back to Laguna Blanca overnight which had its interesting moments along the way! We landed at around 1pm.

A fantastic couple of days which was well worth the bus fare! A big thank you goes to Paul and his family for making the trip possible.

List of sightings:-

Neotropic Cormorant, Whistling Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Pinnated Bittern, Wood Stork, Maguari Stork, Bare-faced Ibis, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture ,

Brazilian Teal, Snail Kite, Long-winged Harrier, Savanna Hawk, Yellow-headed Caracara, Chimango Caracara, Limpkin, Ash-throated Crake, White-backed Stilt, South American Snipe, Picui Ground-dove , Monk Parakeet,Guira Cuckoo, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Ringed Kingfisher, Campo Flicker, Rufous Hornero, Chotoy Spinetail, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Greater Thornbird, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Bearded Tachuri, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, White-rumped Swallow, Tawny-headed Swallow, White-banded Mockingbird, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Masked Yellowthroat, Grassland Sparrow, Saffron Finch, Great Pampa-finch, Red-crested Cardinal, Blue-black Grassquit, Rusty-collared Seedeater, Tawny-bellied Seedeater, Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Chestnut-capped Blackbird, Yellow-rumped Marshbird, White-browed Blackbird, Roadside Hawk, American Purple Gallinule, Common Gallinule, Southern Lapwing, Large-billed Tern, Ruddy Ground-dove, Lineated Woodpecker.