Southern Argentina: Spring Magic in Patagonia

Magellanic Plover pair © Andrew Whittaker

Our revamped Southern Argentina tour is an amazing adventure through this scenically spectacular and rich wildlife region. We begin in the Pampas grasslands and rich marshes, then head south to explore the marine life of the Valdes Peninsula and enjoy the breathtaking Glaciares National Park and snow-peaked Andes, finishing in incomparable Patagonia. Carefully timed to enjoy the “austral spring,” this tour offers delightful weather and the best of spring birding in this friendly country. Excellent photographic opportunities.

Argentina is an immense country, and its exciting southern tier offers some of the finest wildlife experiences on the South American continent. Combined with our new Northern Argentina tour, these two revamped tours cover most of the fascinating diverse avifauna. The recent publication of the superb Birds of Argentina field guide has further enhanced the appeal of a visit to this magical country.

Our expedition begins in the famed pampas, immediately south of Buenos Aires, an expansive grassland checkered with haciendas and scattered trees. We will concentrate on the coastal section of the pampas, where rainfall is higher, a region dotted with marshes that teem with waterfowl and wetland birds. During three days here, we will visit native coastal Celtis (hackberry) woodlands, marshes, coastal mudflats, and a range of wet and dry grasslands, with broad horizons that evoke W.H. Hudson’s early descriptions of this fascinating region, with an avifauna that ranges from three-inch hummingbirds to human-size Greater Rheas, from pipits and tiny flycatchers to swans and a rich assortment of waterfowl and waders, and to ponderous Southern Screamers. Specialties should include the endangered Olrog’s Gull, South American Painted Snipe, Pampas Pipit, Bay-capped Wren-Spinetail, Hudson’s Canastero, and the stunning Many-colored Rush Tyrant.

A tour highlight will be an exciting morning pelagic trip off Mar del Plata aboard a private boat to visit the nearby subtropical convergence, which attracts thousands of seabirds. At this time of year, we can look forward to encountering seabirds from both hemispheres, or even non-breeding birds from Antarctica.

We then migrate south to the northern reaches of Patagonia, where we’ll visit its fascinating scrub-desert, in appearance not unlike the Chihuahuan Desert of the American Southwest. At the famous Valdes Peninsula, we will experience many highlights, topped by an exciting boat trip to enjoy close observation of the endangered Southern Right Whale and the endemic White-headed (Chubut) Steamer-Duck. A South American Sea Lion colony should provide much action along with sought-after Snowy Sheathbills, Dolphin Gulls, Brown Skua, and monster Southern Giant Petrel.

A walk among a colony of half-a-million Magellanic Penguins will prove unforgettable, as will an active colony of Burrowing Parakeets and unusual mammals such as camel-like Guanacos and Patagonian Maras, the latter something like a large, long-legged rabbit wearing a mini-skirt! Other interesting desert birds that occur here include Lesser (Darwin’s) Rhea, Rock and Imperial shags, Elegant-crested Tinamou, Band-tailed Earthcreeper, and Rust-backed Monjita, while in saline lagoons we should see Chilean Flamingos and large concentrations of southern tier waterfowl and shorebirds.

The icing on the cake of this fabulous tour hardly needs an introduction: breathtaking and wild Patagonia. Amidst vast, rolling steppe grasslands, snow-capped Andean mountains, and vivid turquoise lakes, we will immerse ourselves in some of the grandest scenery on earth. Highlights of our time here include a visit to Los Glaciares National Park and its immense Perito Moreno Glacier, considered by many among the modern-day seven wonders of the world.

Our exploration of Patagonia begins on the border with Chile. Delightful Bariloche, with its high plains, rich Valdivian forests, and cool air, offers a perfect base to enjoy an array of montane birds nearly exclusive to the region in Argentina and the realm of the mighty condor. Avian highlights include Rufous-tailed and White-throated hawks, Black-faced Ibis, Torrent Duck, Rufous-legged Owl, Black-throated Huet-huet, Chucao Tapaculo, White-throated Treerunner, Thorn-tailed Rayadito, and Rufous-tailed Plantcutter. In contrast, El Calafate, with its Patagonian steppe and Nothofagus (Southern Beech) forests, holds a cast of other delights such as Ashy-headed Goose, Spectacled Duck, Least Seedsnipe, Tawny-throated Dotterel, tiny Austral Pygmy-Owl, Lesser (Magellanic) Horned Owl, and the lovely Chocolate-vented Tyrant. Of course, locating two of the region’s banner species—the unique pink-legged Magellanic Plover (now in its own family) and the gorgeous Magellanic Woodpecker (both male and female need to be seen)—will be a top priority.

Many of these Patagonian species are found nowhere else but in the southern forests and plains of this beautiful and stark region. Beyond outstanding birding opportunities, the Austral spring also presents appeal to botanists. We should see a good number of fascinating and colorful plants, and, with a bit of luck, some of the especially stunning terrestrial orchids that grace this region.

A short, optional extension will visit an area of wild Patagonia based in a delightful setting in a very remote but extremely comfortable Estancia in search of the beautiful and critically endangered Hooded Grebe and rare Austral Rail—itself only rediscovered to science in 1998—among several other regional specialty birds including White-throated Caracara, Patagonian Yellow Finch and more.

Good to excellent accommodations and stunning scenery throughout; wonderful cuisine and wine; tour moderately paced with easy birding throughout; an exciting half-day pelagic boat trip off Mar del Plata and a short whale watching trip off the Valdes Peninsula; physical demands light to moderate with easy walking on varied terrain; spring weather conditions mostly sunny and pleasant with little chance of rain; however, in the Andes, weather can be cooler to cold earlier and in Patagonia it may be windy at certain times.

Magellanic Woodpecker © Andrew Whittaker