Tuesday, 12 April 2016

Laguna Blanca Rarities from the Residents!

Sunday 10th was a very stormy day which was generally very quiet on the birding front. The rain started overnight and continued into the morning. 

Monday 11th The rain continued until around 1030hrs which had me itching to check the areas around the base for rarities! One thing I have been surprised about thus far is the lack of hirundines at the reserve. Could this be due to the vast amounts of water that covers Paraguay giving birds more feeding options.

Once the rain had stopped and the day had brightened up Alicia had me running from the house to see a vulture that was not acting in the same manner as the Turkey and Black Vultures that frequent the reserve.

The bird sat at the edge of the beach before behaving almost Marsh Harrier like over the reed beds along the southern end of the Lagoon. The primaries had a distinct paler brown colouring to them and the face was yellow blue red and grey..

The bird was a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture which is a marsh vulture an uncommon but welcome sight at Laguna Blanca.

A Tawny-headed Seedeater was spied later on in the day sat high in a tree at the back of the Lagoon. Another bird that got caught up in the rain, this was a new bird for Laguna Blanca for me although I have seen this species on the road to Santa Rosa in the past.

Tuesday 12th I visited three habitats the most interesting species a pair of Magpie Tanager was seen in the Transitional Forest. Unfortunately my skills in stealth let me down on this occasion and the pair were not re-located!


Peter and Marnix (Netherlands) have been visiting the Cerrado and Transitional Forest every couple of days and today they added a Toco Toucan and a Red-winged Nothura to their growing list. Nice one guys!!

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