The Middle of Nowhere

On the eighth day of our Birds and Wines of Chile and Argentina trip we left our lodging at the Salentein Winery and drove east, away from the Andes Mountains, into the middle of nowhere.  This was bleak, flat, and dry country that reminded me of the setting of some old western movies (without the cactus).  As we drove along a dirt road we spotted a Guanaco, which is a relative of the llama.  Guanaco are prized for their fleece and are hunted as game (I had some Guanaco meat as an appetizer at dinner one night BEFORE I saw one – I wouldn’t have ordered it if I had know how cute they were.  I promise).

We drove for a couple of hours our guide Marcello advised us to keep our eyes open for Tinamou and Rhea.  I stared out the window as the miles passed in search of these larger birds alongside the road but to no avail.  Finally we stopped at the ranger station for the Llancanelo Park in the Malargue Department, Mendoza Province for a comfort stop and to check in before entering the park.  It was hot out so we all headed into the rustic building.  Most went directly to the restrooms but I wandered to the the back of the building and looked out the dirty, large window that looked over an overgrown open area.  My eyes were drawn to some movement and soon I was calling to Karen, “Tinamou!  There are Tinamou out there!”  Indeed there were two Elegant-crested Tinamou walking through the tall grasses not 20 yards from the ranger station.  The birds blended in well with their thinly striped bodies as they slipped between the stalks of grass.  I love the spike/crest at the top of their head!

After leaving the ranger station we went in search of a horse farm, which was our primary birding location for the day.  Although we could see the clump of trees which surrounded the farm buildings in the distance it took several wrong turns to finally figure out how to get there.  The horse farm was a great birding spot because a large wetlands was located on the property – being in the middle of a relatively dry region, the wetlands attracted a wide variety of birds.  The owners of the farm greeted us as we got off the van; like other private properties I have been taken, the tour guide pays the owners a small fee (about $10 per person in this case) for use of their facilities.

As we assembled outside of the van my attention was drawn to about 100 large birds rising up and resettling off in the distance, and they were pink!  Yes, there were Chilean Flamingos on the property.  Although we did not find the main flock several of them flew back and forth above us.

I like this shot with the Andean foothills off in the distance.

Our path took us along a lake which was surrounded by tall reeds and grasses.  Several Lifers popped up to look at the strange beings walking by, like this Grass Wren.

The Wren-like Rushbird peered out at us as we passed by, doing the splits between two stalks of grass.

Another small bird that appeared was the Yellow-billed Tit-tyrant.  It flitted back and forth across the path trying to find the best pose for me.

We ended our hike looking out over the pasture where two horses grazed with the Andes mountains in the distance.  All in all it was well worth the drive.

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