ANTARCTICA: Back in Ushuaia

As we disembarked the Plancius, back in Ushuaia, Argentina, we were surprised to see our new friend, Esteban Daniels there to greet us. Esteban is a local birding guide from Ushuaia whom I had contacted via email prior to our trip. We had scheduled a day of birding with him, however, after Delta Airlines delayed us by 24 hours and lost our luggage, we had no time to bird when we arrived.

Esteban had driven us to our ship so we would at least have a chance to meet. As we talked over a cup of coffee at a shop near the pier, he informed us he was to be on holiday when we returned from Antarctica and would not be able to take us birding then either.

That is why we were surprised to see him. In his kindness he had decided to rearrange his family vacation in order to spend an afternoon with us in Tierra del Fuego National Park!

There is no doubt that Esteban will become a valued member of the Wildside trips to Ushuaia in the future!

Our first new bird, spotted by Lisa, was a male Upland Goose. As we found an opening in the shrubs, we also found a female and immature goose.

Chimango Caracaras were also numerous and were seen in open fields on the ground and in the trees along the forest edge. A a couple Southern Crested Caracaras were spotted as well, including a juvenile complaining of hunger!

We watched a Southern Gray Fox cross the road and hunt along the river for a while. In the river we found Spectacled Duck and Flying Steamer Ducks (all other seamer ducks are flightless).

As we scoped the ducks a Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle took flight from the forest tree tops, right over our heads! It swooped a couple times and dove on what we guessed was a rabbit… its favorite food.

Very similar to the American Robin, Austral Thrush were everywhere! This one perched quite cooperatively along a mountain road over a river.

In the river behind the thrush swam a pair of Great Grebes with a large stick nest in the water nearby.

We parked and hiked along a path through a meadow. Along the edge in the trees came a small flock of Thorn-tailed Rayaditos. For those who live in North America, the rayaditos act and sound very much like Black-capped Chickadees with squeaks and twitters as they hang upside down feeding in the branches.

Tufted Tit-tyrants join them from time to time, similar to our Tufted Titmouse/chickadee flocking behavior.

As we watched the tiny birds, Estaban noticed an Austral Pygmy Owl high in a distant tree watching us! Then he heard something… our target bird!

We raced through a small, dense forest and came to the edge of a root- and shrub-covered hill. We waited… listened… and suddenly a large black and red bird flew in to a nearby tree. MAGELLANIC WOODPECKER!

Then another flew in… and another. Three male Magellanic Woodpeckers join us… at one time all in the same tree!

Ten the female came in and offered wonderful views as well! Our day was complete, and just in time as we had to head back so Estaban could begin his vacation before nightfall.

Lisa and met some friends from the ship in town for dinner at a great barbeque restaurant… a great end to a fantastic trip. After a good night’s sleep we would begin our journey home.

Note: On our way home, I knocked on the Delta office door in Buenos Aries. When the door opened, I saw my luggage sitting in the middle of their floor! One of Lisa’s bags was there also, however, she had to wait another 5 weeks for her other bag to be sent from, of all places, Chile… a country we never even visited! CSA travel reimbursed for most of the items we had to purchase and all of our additional expenses incurred due to Delta’s negligence.