After going to many wonderful birding locations and drinking many glasses of wine in Argentina, our journey there was down to the last day. We woke up to clear skies in downtown Mendoza and had a leisurely breakfast. We loaded up all our bags on the van and took off – to a souvenir shop. We wandered up and down the aisles checking out all the trinkets and baubles (although they had some very nice steak knife sets I briefly considered buying).
We did have a little bit more time for birding so Marcello took us to the Gen. San Martin Park right in the center of downtown Mendoza. Lots of people were walking, jogging, and riding bikes through the expansive park. I was surprised to find so many species of birds there. This cute little chick was on the ground and I don’t know if it could fly yet so it appeared very vulnerable.
Then I noticed not far away an adult Grayish Baywing nearby with some food for the chick in its beak. It kept watch over its baby as long as we lingered there.
You might remember the flock of Monk Parakeets at the Salentein Winery Lodge kept rather high up in the trees. Here in Gen. San Martin Park the Monk Parakeets ate the berries of the purple flowers right at eye level. We have to go to an electrical substation to see these introduced birds in our area – much prettier in the park!
This bird certainly lives up to its name – a Shiny Cowbird.
One of our main objectives in going to the park was a row of flower beds where hummingbirds fed. The first shot below is of the Red-tailed Comet and the second one is of a Glittering-bellied Emerald.
Foraging in the grass was a new type of Cardinal for us. We are very used to seeing our bright-red Northern Cardinals, but this Red-crested Cardinal only showed red along the head. It was our last Lifer in Argentina.
After a couple of hours in the park we headed out to the airport for our flight back to Chile. We had a beautiful view of the Andes Mountains as we passed over them.
What a wonderful trip! We enjoyed all the birds and wines of Chile and Argentina. Our Field Guides guide Marcello did a wonderful job of managing the hotels, meals, and birding spots during our stay. If you want to go on a birding trip and are OK with leisurely lunches with glasses of wine and beautiful views of the Andes Mountains we would highly recommend this trip. Cheers!
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