Birding in...: Southern Cone: ChAr 2016, Part 8 - Northwest Argentina: Chaco to the edge of Bolivia

Feb 11

On our bus ride from Ituzaingo toward Taco Pozo, Adam had started to feel a little feverish, and generally 'off'. At first we passed it off as maybe the beginning of food poisoning, but we were soon to discover it was quite a lot worse than that! In any case, we got to Taco Pozo at 04:45, and walked across the street from the bus station to the Hotel Taco Pozo, where we checked-in to two single rooms (120p each) and dropped off our bags. As there wasn't much info on this area, we were mostly relying on Ian Davies' trip report from 2013, and began walking the road to the north of town in the dark. In the predawn gloom, a Scissor-tailed Nightjar almost flew right into us as it foraged under a light! As we walked out into the Chaco scrub, we eventually found a calling Chaco Owl, but were unable to get a visual on it. As the sun came up, we walked north along the little track, occasionally being passed by locals on their way to log the thorn forest farther from town or hunt for bushmeat. Along the track, we added a good variety of Chaco species, including Brushland and Quebracho Crested-Tinamous, Chaco Chachalaca, Spot-backed Puffbird, Black-bodied Woodpecker, Great Rufous and Scimitar-billed Woodcreepers, Crested Hornero, Lark-like Brushrunner, White-naped Xenopsaris and Cinereous Tyrant, plus quite a few other new birds that were more widespread! One of our oddest sightings of the morning was a Comb Duck flying over the dry Chaco - apparently they are a fairly regular species on small ponds in the region (https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27467583). At the lumber yard (-25.559091, -63.285647), we found Silvio and after a quick chat he granted us permission to walk through his property on the road back to town (the road that runs roughly NNW/SSE). This road held mostly the same species as the one we'd just been on, with better views of some. Part way down this road, Adam started to feel quite unwell, and he hitched a ride back to town with some passing lumber workers. I opted to continue walking, adding a few more species as the sun got higher in the sky and the heat really ramped up. By 10:00 the heat was pretty much unbearable, and I still had a ways to go before getting to town. I did finally make it, soaked through with sweat and completely out of water, only to discover the locals wandering around in jeans and sweaters! I honestly don't know how they did it, as when I got to the hotel and checked the temperature it was 46C without the added effects of the humidity.

The thorn forest at Taco Pozo

Crested Hornero

Crested Gallito

Spot-backed Puffbird

White Woodpecker

After checking in on Adam and turning on the A/C in my room, I went back into the blast-furnace of the outdoor world to look for a bank. It turned out the only one in town was the same bank that was in Resistencia, and my card still wouldn't work. At this point I was down to my last 30p (about $2.75), but luckily Adam still had 650p on him, plus some US cash. I spent the afternoon catching up on laundry (which dried almost instantly in the heat) and relaxing in the A/C, trying to do some research on the spotty WiFi. Adam spent most of the day sleeping off his sickness. By this point he had some more symptoms, and we eventually figured out (several days later) he had dengue fever - not good! I guess those signs in Iguazu had been right, and despite our anti-mosquito efforts, at least one of us had gotten the illness. At some point Adam mustered the energy to inquire about a bus, and the guy at the front desk told him the next bus to Salta was at 04:30 the next morning, so we settled in for the night and watched Spanish-dubbed movies until bed. As the rest of our money would have to go towards paying our hotel and bus tickets, we ate our emergency rations for dinner...

Running trip list: 624 (AR: 475)

Feb 12

We were up at 03:50 to hastily pack and check out, only to be told by the guy working the desk that the bus had come and gone at 03:30, rather than the 04:30 we had been told! He said there might be another bus at noon, he wasn't sure, so we gave him our key for one room and put our stuff back in the other. Adam was still pretty sick, so I left him to sleep and went out to bird the same road we'd done the morning before, hoping to get a visual on a Chaco Owl and maybe add some new species. Since I was out earlier than the day before, I had a bit more time with the nocturnal birds. After again seeing a Scissor-tailed Nightjar, I found a pair of Chaco Owls in a different spot from the day before, and eventually got a look at one in the twilight. The birds for the rest of the morning were mostly the same as the day before, with better looks at a few species, adding Stripe-backed Antbird as a lifer, and adding both Common Nighthawk and Blue-tufted Starthroat to the Argentina list (https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27467591).

Lark-like Brushrunner

Scimitar-billed Woodcreeper

Before I left, I had checked the hours at the bus station, and I made it back shortly after 09:30 when the ticket offices opened. After asking around at the various offices, it turned out that the only bus to Salta that day was at 16:00, so we resigned ourselves to being stranded for the day. We bought our tickets with almost all of our remaining pesos, then went to try the bank with all of our cards. Nothing worked, so we went back to the hotel and watched more movies to pass the time, as the internet wasn't working. At 15:00, we checked out, and had to pay the rather unhappy desk guy in US cash, as we didn't have enough pesos to cover our bill. Explaining our problem, he eventually accepted it, and we went to the bus station to wait, spending our last pesos on some snacks. Thankfully, the bus left on time and we were Salta-bound, with a combined total of about 6 pesos ($0.50) to our name! This ride turned out to be another milk-run, and at about 20:00 our bus broke down. My first experience with this in Latin America, surprisingly! The driver and another bus operator who stopped to help quickly figured out that it was caused by some loose wiring, and 30 minutes later we were back on the road. At 23:30, we got to Salta, and quickly caught a cab to find a bank that would accept our cards. We got the driver to wait for us (he didn't have much choice, as we had no money to pay him) and then went back to the bus station to find a bus to Jujuy. It turned out we'd missed the last bus for the night though, and the next one was at 06:00, so we went to a hostel (International Backpackers Hostel, 150p each for a quad dorm).

Running trip list: 626 (AR: 478)

Feb 13

As we had quite a long day yesterday, we were a bit slow off the mark this morning, making it to the bus station in time to catch a 10:30 bus to Jujuy. From there, we caught another bus up to the small village of Yala for only 8 pesos, where we checked in at the Refugio Complejo Yala (100p each for a dorm, which we had to ourselves). This was very convenient for us, as the hostel is located right across from the entrance road that goes up to the Yala lakes (Potrero de Yala Provincial Park). We ate lunch at the restaurant here, and then debated whether to attempt the walk up to the lakes, as there was a huge thunderstorm raging right over where we wanted to go (although it wasn't raining where we were). After waiting a while, hoping for the storm to pass, Adam decided he was going to stay back, while I decided to risk getting wet as it didn't look like the storm would leave anytime soon and I had birds to see! I walked the road along the river and up through the switchbacks, making it as far as the last set of switchbacks (9 km from Yala) before turning around (https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27528613).

The switchbacks in Yala

Along the way, I found quite a few of my target species: Red-faced Guan, Large-tailed Dove, Rothschild's Swift, Slender-tailed Woodstar, White-bellied Hummingbird, Tucuman Parrot, Rufous-capped Antshrike, Spot-breasted Thornbird, Buff-banded Tyrannulet, Slaty Elaenia, White-browed and Fulvous-headed Brushfinches, Golden-winged Cacique, Brown-capped Redstart and Rusty-browed Warbling-Finch, along with several other trip birds. Many of these are restricted to the Yungas forests of northwest Argentina and southern Bolivia, so I was pretty happy with the afternoon's adventure!

Red-faced Guan

Making my way back toward Yala, I ran into Adam at about the km 7 mark - after he'd had a nap he'd decided he didn't want to waste the afternoon lying in bed, and we birded our way back to town together. The rain held off until we were about 1.5 km from the hostel, when suddenly the skies opened up and a massive downpour started. We ran for cover at a nearby restaurant, and after getting some food the rain let up a little and we managed to catch a bus the remaining distance back to Yala to avoid a further soaking. We made it in at 22:30, just as another huge downpour started, nixing any chance we had of looking for owls.

Running trip list: 653 (AR: 506)

Feb 14

We were up at 05:00, hoping to catch the 05:30 colectivo up the mountain to try for Montane-forest Screech-Owl. Unfortunately for us, the rains from the night before were still ongoing, and it wasn't until after sunrise that they finally let up, effectively ending any chance we had at this rare owl. We ended up catching the 07:00 colectivo, getting off about 1 km from the park entrance at Los Nogales. The trees were hopping with birds in the cool morning air, and we encountered quite a few mixed flocks on our way up. Checking in at every lookout over the Rio Yala, we finally found a Rufous-throated Dipper at the very last lookout before the river turned away from the road. We made it up as far as the second lake, where we took a break for lunch before walking a side trail (the one that cuts east of the road on your way down from Laguna Rodeo) and heading back down toward Yala. Our morning here was quite successful, and Adam picked up most of the birds he had missed the day before. We also added Dusky-legged Guan, Red-tailed Comet, Yungas Pygmy-Owl, Dot-fronted Woodpecker, Brown-capped Tit-Spinetail, Highland Elaenia, Sclater's Tyrannulet, Plumbeous Black-Tyrant, Andean Slaty Thrush, Two-banded Warbler and Rust-and-yellow Tanager here (https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27529307). On our way down, a Black-and-Chestnut Eagle flew over the road, and we managed a few doc shots of it. At the time, it was one of only a handful of records for Argentina, although it now appears that there is an isolated population in the Yala area.

Yala river - dipper spot!

Rufous-throated Dipper

Rufous-capped Antshrike

After this successful morning, we caught the bus back to Yala to check out of our hostel and grab a late lunch. As we had left early that morning, we had emptied our room and stuffed our big packs in one of the buildings (we may have had to sneak in through a doggie door to do this) to keep them safe while we were out birding, as nobody was around. Unfortunately for me, I had left my towel hanging to dry on the bedpost (the same way I lost my other one in Santiago), and the room was now locked, with the cleaning staff having left for the day, and no sign of my towel anywhere in the room! I was once again towel-less, and had to go the rest of the trip using my shirts as towels as there wasn't anywhere to buy another pack towel... We spent the rest of the afternoon at the restaurant, until they closed. As we sat waiting for the bus to Jujuy, a pair of Buff-necked Ibis flew by and were added to the trip list. In Jujuy, our bus went to the old terminal, where the local buses still went. We caught a cab from there to the new terminal, where the long-distance buses stopped. There, we got dinner and Adam went off in search of medicine. By this point we had figured out that he did, in fact, have dengue fever, and one of the most important things to know is never to take Ibuprofen when you have dengue! Unfortunately for Adam, that was all we had with us - some 600mg pills that I had been given at the pharmacy back in Puerto Natales for my cold. He eventually found some other kind of fever/headache medication that was supposedly ok to take with dengue, but the nurse would only give him one pill as she refused to believe he had dengue fever (there is no dengue near Jujuy, only in the eastern lowlands)! Eventually our bus showed up, and at 00:20 we were headed toward La Quiaca, on the border with Bolivia.

Running trip list: 669 (AR: 523)

Feb 15

We arrived in La Quiaca at 05:00, after a rather terrible and too-short sleep on the bus. As sunrise was still a few hours away, we tried to get a bit of a nap in at the terminal, but the place was just too sketchy for us. We had curled up near some stairs, but there were quite a few homeless-looking people there already, laid out on the floor with some of them performing rather lewd acts on themselves... We didn't last long before we decided we didn't need the sleep after all, and went upstairs to a cafe where we got some much-needed coffee and awaited the dawn. Once we saw a hint of light on the horizon, we caught a cab to Yavi, a small oasis in an otherwise arid landscape, not dissimilar to San Pedro de Atacama, which is ~300 km away. Here we spent the morning walking the road to Yavi Chico and back (https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27620542). Citron-headed Yellow-Finches were easy to find in Yavi, and as we walked we gradually picked up more of our targets: Bare-faced Ground-Dove, Wedge-tailed Hillstar, Puna and Creamy-breasted Canasteros, Buff-breasted Earthcreeper, White-bellied Tyrannulet, Puna Ground-Tyrant, Brown-backed Mockingbird, Thick-billed Siskin and Puna Yellow-Finch. In Yavi Chico we added Tawny Tit-Spinetail, and an Ornate Tinamou flew out of someone's yard and landed right in front of us on the road - unfortunately I was a bit too slow with the camera! A pair of Andean Condors soaring over a distant ridge became our first and only bird on our Bolivia lists, as the little village of Yavi Chico sits right on the border.

Looking into Bolivia

Old building at Yavi Chico

Citron-headed Yellow-Finches

Back in Yavi, Adam decided he wasn't up for any more birding, and went to try to find a bus. I wasn't too surprised by this, and was impressed he made it as far as he did - he later said only the thought of finding a Wedge-tailed Hillstar kept him going! I had a few birds left to find, so I wandered the back streets of Yavi where it didn't take long to find a few d'Orbigny's Chat-Tyrants, and get photos of a few other species I'd been hoping to see. As I mentioned earlier, the Atacama desert isn't too far away from this part of Argentina, and many of the birds are the same - as a result we boosted our Argentina lists by a fair bit as we saw many species we'd already seen in Chile earlier in the trip.

d'Orbigny's Chat-Tyrant

With the Chat-Tyrants in the bag, I went back to the bus stop, finding Adam still waiting there. It turned out that no buses had gone by, but he wasn't too upset about missing the tyrants as he wasn't feeling up to more walking anyway. We ended up catching a colectivo back to La Quiaca, where we picked up our bags from the lockers. Adam got on a bus bound for Salta via Jujuy, while I opted to head toward Abra Pampa as I still had a few targets in the area. Once there, I eventually found a taxi driver who was willing to leave town limits, and took me out to Laguna Rontuyoc just north of town after agreeing on a price of 100p for the trip. I had found this spot from some other trip reports, and it looked like it had quite a few birds on it as viewed from the bus on my way into town. I managed to get the cab driver to wait for me (he was quite intrigued by the whole 'birding' thing), and scanned the lake and nearby fields, picking up Puna Ibis, Andean Flicker and Short-billed Pipit along with a whole suite of birds that I'd already seen in the San Pedro area several weeks earlier (https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S27620858). After that success, I headed back to the bus station, got lunch, and hopped on the 14:30 bus to Jujuy. Arriving at 19:00, I managed to get a bathroom break and buy tickets in time to get on the 19:15 bus to Salta - our stop here a few days ago paid off as I already knew my way around! Arriving in Salta at 21:00, I got a message from Adam saying he was at the Hostel Salta por Siempre, so I took a cab there and got a bed in a 4-bed dorm for 180p/night. It turned out Adam had arrived only 45 minutes before me, despite my layover in Abra Pampa.