Antarctica: Buenos Aires Pre-trip

Maguari Stork © Andrew Whittaker

A short pre-trip to the rich wetlands in the Argentine capital promises easy birding and an exciting range of mainland birds not possible on the cruise.

A short pre-trip to our Antarctica, South Georgia, and Falkland Islands cruise visits Buenos Aires, Argentina, where participants will spend most of two fabulous days experiencing the birds of southern South America. In addition to good birding, we will enjoy authentic Argentine cuisine.

Buenos Aires is regarded by many as the finest, most sophisticated city in Latin America. An obvious European influence permeates the city’s parks, architecture, and culture. Sometimes called the “Paris of the South,” Buenos Aires has long been an enticing destination for many travelers. For birders and other natural history enthusiasts, Buenos Aires is equally compelling. Several premium birding areas are accessed from the city center in an hour or less.

We will visit two critically important bird areas: Costanera Sur and the Paraná River Delta. Costanera Sur, an enormous preserved wetland alongside a major metropolitan park, presents a truly fantastic setting, where ponds, mudflats, and reedbeds provide important refuge to thousands of shorebirds, waders, and other waterbirds. A wide levee and several viewing platforms allow for limitless viewing, and we will spend an entire afternoon looking over the extensive habitat. With so many birds so easily seen, there simply is no better way to experience the joy of birding in Argentina. Waterfowl are the primary attraction, as the majority of the waterfowl of southern South America occur here, a sampling of which includes Coscoroba Swan, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Rosy-billed Pochard, Red Shoveler, and Silver, Yellow-billed, and lovely Ringed teal. Gray-hooded and Brown-hooded gulls, Snowy-crowned Tern, Collared Plover, Southern Lapwing, and many wintering shorebirds from the Northern Hemisphere crowd the mudflats. Woodlands hold Nanday (Black-hooded) and Monk parakeets and Glittering-bellied Emerald.

On the second day, we’ll drive north from Buenos Aires towards the deltaic habitats of the River Paraná. This is a critically important bird area consisting of wetlands and pampas habitats, a massive system of marshes, reedbeds, and shallow lagoons. Outside the area, much of this habitat type has been destroyed, lending even greater importance to this fine ecosystem. We'll be birding on several dirt roads that traverse the marshland habitats and, time permitting, we will venture across the Paraná River into the adjacent province of Entre Rios to further explore "Espinal" woodland habitats. Birding possibilities are many and numerous, and we hope to find an impressive diversity of species. A short list of the many possibilities includes Stripe-backed Bittern, Maguari Stork, Southern Screamer, Rufous-sided Crake, Long-winged Harrier, Green-barred Woodpecker, Wren-like Rushbird, Curve-billed Reedhaunter, Spectacled Tyrant, Brown-and-yellow Marshbird, and Black-and-rufous Warbling-Finch.

Meals and accommodations at a high quality hotel; easy walking on roads and trails; warm weather and dry conditions expected.

Diademed Tanager © Andrew Whittaker