Argentina Part 1: Buenos Aires

Old Christian pre-2020 would not have wanted to go to Argentina. Back then I feared the hassles of international travel and I read warnings of how certain countries in Latin American, specifically Argentina, are not very safe. Besides, Argentina isn't really a well known birding destination. Old Christian was a dumbass.

When I met Christina I had just booked my first ever birding trip to a place that was not a state: Puerto Rico (seriously, don't be scared of the world like old Christian). We were talking about how I planned to start branching out from there and I asked her where she would go in the world if she had a choice. She said Argentina, specifically Mendoza, because her dad went there a raved about it. A few months later I came across porteño style pizza. If this awesome girl wanted to go to Argentina and I got to eat pizza like that, then yeah I'm taking her Argentina.

Southern Yellowthroat

You obviously have to visit Buenos Aires. Besides being the gateway to the country, the 15,000,000 million person city is the premier city in Argentina and arguably all of South America. But deciding where to go from there is the challenge. Mendoza is the home of Malbec in the foothills of the Andes. Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian border offers one of the most beautiful waterfalls on the planet in the rainforest. El Calafate and El Chalten in the remote Andes serve up stellar hiking and glaciers. Puerto Madryn and the Valdes Peninsula is funky mix of Monte and beaches. Ushuaia is at the end of the world! That's not even counting the Salta and Misiones Provinces with the yungas forest and the famous Ibera Wetlands. The choices are limitless.

Originally Christina really wanted to go to Mendoza, but after talking to the right people (shoutout Carolina) we realized it was mostly a bougie winery region with not much else to do. For two active travelers that wasn't our thing. Puerto Madryn was logistically harder due to my inability to drive stick, but it was a finalist. Down to our final 2 choices, Christina used penguins as a tiebreaker chose Ushuaia over El Calafate. As much as we wanted to add Iguazu, there was too much time to make it our other stop and not enough time to add it as a third stop.

Ushuaia will be a second post, because there is great birding in Buenos Aires and it offers a lot more.

There really is only one location in Buenos Aires to go birding: Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur, a wetland in the Puerto Madero area that has water, grassland, and some woods. 344 species have been recorded here, pretty nuts for a city of this size. While some birds may be more easily found in other areas, this is the place to spend your time.

Rosy-billed Pochard

We entered at the south end near Laguna de los Coipos. With Pitbull blaring from the food trucks on the road we starting amassing quite the list. Grayish Baywing, Wattled Jacana, Rosy-billed Pochard are all right there in front of you. Creamy-bellied Thrush is abundant in the trees next to you as squadrons of Monk Parakeets fly low and screech overhead like fighter jets. It's sensory overload in the best way possible.

Wattled Jacana

Since this wasn't exclusively a birding trip got there at about 10:00 on our first visit to just check it out. Activity was poppin off even that late. Our first group of trees took 30 minutes to get through as we had Saffron Finch, then a Gilded Sapphire, and so many others. We couldn't make it far before we saw Masked Gnatcatcher. On a future visit Christina graciously let me check this spot again on our way out and I even got a White-winged Becard!

Saffron Finch

I really wanted to get a tanager, but our field guide didn't really give details of habitat preferences so I did not expect to see one. Diademed was the most likely tanager, but all we could do was hope to get lucky.

Limpkin

As we entered the grassier area along the Rio de la Plata we got a good omen: Brown-chested Martin. Argentine Black and White Tegus kept us focused on wildlife. As were looking down at the tegus a Black and Rufous Warbling Finch reminded us to look up. It was starting to get hot and we were hungry. The breezy mirador over part of the river gave us some life, and I nearly jumped out of skin when I saw a flash of blue in the tree. No way, Blue and Yellow Tanager! It was a really unexpected find and we walked with a new renewed purpose.

Black and Rufous Warbling Finch

In the middle of the reserve there are boardwalks that will get you a little higher up in the thick brush. From there we saw Golden-billed Saltator and a stunning Glittering-breasted Emerald. The boardwalks continue to a marsh where you see Maguari Stork and also marks the first spot where had Southern Yellowthroat and Hooded Siskin.

Maguari Stork

We haven't even gotten to the woods yet. Tall trees guard to ponds and host tons of new birds. Here we got Sayaca Tanager, Chivi Vireo, Bran-colored Flycatcher, and Red-crested Cardinal.

Bran-colored Flycatcher

I of course saved the ponds for last. They are full of incredible water birds. Southern Screamer, this weird mix of goose and chicken, can be found here. But there is so much more. Along the edges we had hard to find Wren-like Rushbirds and even a Freckle-breasted Thornbird! There are new things around these lakes each day. One day we had 8 Fork-tailed Flycatchers and Coscoroba Swan. Neither were present the next visit, but Silver Teal was abundant and we got a Black-necked Swan. Rufescent Tiger Heron is there as well, although we saw one and never saw it again. 

Southern Screamer

As epic as this spot it, there were times where our vibes wavered. Frustration gripped our non-visit to this location on one day. Election day was the Sunday that we were in town for. Despite getting up early, we arrived to locked gates. The reserve is closed on Mondays. We spent most of our first visits focusing on certain areas. Because we left on a Monday, that meant we only had 2 visits and one of those was a day where we didn't get out early. That meant my birding was done earlier than expected. It was crushing to leave so much meat on the bone here.

Golden-billed Saltator

But the vibes returned. Christina convinced me to stick around that Sunday and we picked a few new lifers from the road including a cool Green-barred Woodpecker. We went back the morning we were leaving to do the same thing and bird the outskirts, but the park was inexplicably open! It was a very late in the morning visit, but we still added some amazing new birds like Checkered Woodpecker and Grassland Yellow Finch!

Green-barred Woodpecker

For the sake of space I am leaving out the strong emotional swings associated with that Sunday and Monday, but shoutout to Christina for her patience with the grumpiness on Sunday and charging into a mosquito populated reserve without bugspray on Monday knowing full well she would get some bites. Unselfish teammate, gotta love her. Without her we would have ended the birding way earlier than necessary. This was not her only clutch moment, but you'll have to read part 2 for that.

Freckle-breasted Thornbird

What makes Costanera Sur extra amazing is the food scene in Buenos Aires. We went to new place for lunch after each visit. Pizzeria Angelin in Palermo had the best fugazzetta pizza we had as well amazing empanadas, although Pizzeria Guerrin was also quite good. Peron Peron had mouth watering ossobuco that made the lifers we saw all that more delicious. Throw some cheap, delicious steak (no joke $10 filet mignon) from a parilla for dinner and you're having an epic birding trip.

Argentine Black and White Tegu

I mentioned safety earlier. Don't listen to what you read on the internet. Palermo and Recoleta are completely safe and we never had any issues. Even when we stayed in San Telmo, a place that is not as highly regarded as the other two neighborhoods, we had no problems walking around. Like I said, old Christian was a moron.

Go to Buenos Aires. From cheap steaks to great birds, you'll love it. Part 2 coming soon!