We arrived at Cataratas International Airport late on the 15th and had a very short stay in a hotel in Puerto Iguazú. We hit the pillow at around 0000hrs and were picked up at 0400hrs by our guide for the next 2 and a bit days. Our guide was Julian Baigorria who runs the Karadya Birding Lodge and who I can recommend. In hindsight the early rise didn't quite pay off as it rained for much of the day which severely limited our time in the field (rain in the rain forest who would have thought it). One of the best birds of the day was a single Black-fronted Piping-Guan seen sitting in a tree early in the day at Urugua-í Provincial Park in the pouring rain and in poor light. Classified as Endangered by CITES due to historical over hunting and now by habitat destruction. Northern Argentina still has a decent amount of Atlantic rainforest especially when compared to the adjacent Brazil and Paraguay. It's particularly noticeable when you view satellite images of the area on Google Maps.
Checklist here https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405613
We spent the rest of the day at Karayda Lodge and spent the night and the following day birding here also. On the way to Karayda we had a pair of Burrowing Owls nesting in the middle of a large roundabout at a random spot. It goes without saying that there's a huge diversity of species found in this area and it was a bit of a head spin getting to grips with entirely new bird families never mind new species. One could easily spent a few more days here which would have produced a lot more species. Our stay was a little too short especially with the rain putting a dampener on things. As usual forest birding could be frustrating as it's impossible to get onto to every species especially when it's right up in the high canopy or extremely elusive creeping around the forest floor amongst dense vegetation. We had great views of a Tawny-browed Owl right beside the lodge and a Common Potoo nearby on our one and only night here.
Checklists from the two days at Karayda.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405660
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405683
After finsihing up at Karayda on the 17th we made our way back up to Puerto Iguazú seeing two Swallow-tailed Kites on the way. We also stopped off again at Urugua-í Provincial Park.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405703
Further north we made a very brief stop to Salto Jasy Reserve. This is an area of planted Araucaria trees which are closely related to the Monkey Puzzle tree.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405730
Back in Puerto Iguazú we finished up the day in the Hummingbird Garden house in the town itself. Hummingbirds are fed here which also drawns in other species like Bananaquit, Shiny Cowbirds, Saffron Finch, Sayaca Tanger and Violaceous Euphonia. Five species of hummingbird (Black Jacobin, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Versicoloured Emerald, Black-throated Mango and Glided Hummingbird) wasn't a bad way to end up the day.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405752
Checklist here https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405613
We spent the rest of the day at Karayda Lodge and spent the night and the following day birding here also. On the way to Karayda we had a pair of Burrowing Owls nesting in the middle of a large roundabout at a random spot. It goes without saying that there's a huge diversity of species found in this area and it was a bit of a head spin getting to grips with entirely new bird families never mind new species. One could easily spent a few more days here which would have produced a lot more species. Our stay was a little too short especially with the rain putting a dampener on things. As usual forest birding could be frustrating as it's impossible to get onto to every species especially when it's right up in the high canopy or extremely elusive creeping around the forest floor amongst dense vegetation. We had great views of a Tawny-browed Owl right beside the lodge and a Common Potoo nearby on our one and only night here.
Checklists from the two days at Karayda.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405660
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405683
After finsihing up at Karayda on the 17th we made our way back up to Puerto Iguazú seeing two Swallow-tailed Kites on the way. We also stopped off again at Urugua-í Provincial Park.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405703
Further north we made a very brief stop to Salto Jasy Reserve. This is an area of planted Araucaria trees which are closely related to the Monkey Puzzle tree.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405730
Back in Puerto Iguazú we finished up the day in the Hummingbird Garden house in the town itself. Hummingbirds are fed here which also drawns in other species like Bananaquit, Shiny Cowbirds, Saffron Finch, Sayaca Tanger and Violaceous Euphonia. Five species of hummingbird (Black Jacobin, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Versicoloured Emerald, Black-throated Mango and Glided Hummingbird) wasn't a bad way to end up the day.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62405752
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| King Vulture |
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| Squirrel Cuckoo |
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| Plumbeous Kite |
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| Black-goggled Tanager |
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| Eared Pygmy-Tyrant |
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| Yellow Tyrannulet |
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| Ochre-collared Piculet |
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| Ochre-collared Piculet |
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| Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant |
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| Blond-crested Woodpecker |
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| Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner |
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| Swallow-tailed Manakin |
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| Swallow-tailed Manakin |
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| Pale-breasted Thrush |
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| Surucua Trogan |
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| Aftermath of all the rain. |
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| Staring into the wall of green. |
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| Sayaca Tanager |
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| Violaceous Euphonia |
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| Violaceous Euphonia |
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| Versicoloured Emerald |
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| Versicoloured Emerald |
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| Versicoloured Emerald |
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| Versicoloured Emerald |
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| Black Jacobin |
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| Black Jacobin |
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| Male Black-throated Mango |
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| Male Black-throated Mango |
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| Male Black-throated Mango |
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| Female Black-throated Mango |
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| Female Black-throated Mango |
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| Swallow-tailed Hummingbird |
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| Gilded Hummingbird |
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| Gilded Hummingbird |
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| Hummingbird Garden |
