SAN CLEMENTE & CAMPO DEL TUYU PRIVATE RESERVE & LIST 

ARGENTINA

Region (Compass)

00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl 

Protected/registered status 

Best Time for visit (18-20th May, 2005)

 

Birding Site Guide

San Clemente is a small town about 5 hours south from Buenos Aires. There are several places to stay. We stayed at the Hotel Aquario 5 minutes along Avenida San Martin from the bus terminal. A double was 30 per night. The first day was spent birding Punta Rasa which is a wildlife reserve about 9km from San Clemente. From Plaza San Martin (a roundabout) take Calle 8, signed for Mundo Marino and Aguas Termales, a few kms along to another roundabout. Exits are signed to Puerto/Mundo Marino and Aguas Termales/Punta Rasa. The port is about 1km along this road. Next to the entrance for Mundo Marino you get a view over the river where Olrog's Gulls and other water birds can be easily seen depending on the tides. About 100m along the river, away from Mundo Marino are 2 or 3 containers on some private land. There are usually some men sitting about there. Ask permission to look for birds inside. Pass through the gap in the fence and over a bridge to a small island where Bay-capped Wren-Spinetail can be found in long grass. 

Back at the roundabout, take the exit towards Aguas Termales/Punta Rasa and after a km or so, there is a right turn into the reserve heading for Punta Rasa 5km away. A short way along thios road, there is a trail leading off to the right ending in a lake which can be quite good for birds. Birding is good all the way to the point. At the beach at the end, go left and follow it round. This stretch is very good for gulls, terns and waders. Eventually you will reach a river mouth on the opposite side of which there were 1000s of Black Skimmers as well as Hudsonian Godwits, Coscoroba Swans, Chilean Flamingos and various waders. 

We spent our second day in the Campos del Tuyu Private Reserve which is a little harder to access. First of all get permission to access the reserve by calling a guy called Mario Beade in nearby General Lavalle on 491033. We took a taxi to the gate which is 12km from San Clemente. Take the road out of town to Ruta 11 4km away then take the highway about 8km along to a gate on the right side of the road. There is a sign but it is not obvious. It is just passed Km 299 and after the bridge over a large river. From the gate it is a further 9km to the oark entrance although birding the grasslands can be productive. Patches of trees have Red-crested Cardinal, Masked Gnatcatcher and White-tipped Plant-cutter while the best bird in the reserve is the Black-and-white Monjita. I saw 95 species including 23 lifers 


Species seen 

  • Spotted Nothura Nothura maculosa
  • White-tufted Grebe Rollandia rolland
  • Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
  • Cocoi Heron Ardea cocoi
  • Great Egret Ardea alba
  • Snowy Egret Egretta thula
  • Maguari Stork Ciconia maguari
  • White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
  • Chilean Flamingo Phoenicopterus chilensis Near-threatened
  • Southern Screamer Chauna torquata
  • White-faced Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna viduata
  • Black-necked Swan Cygnus melanocorypha
  • Coscoroba Swan Coscoroba coscoroba
  • Speckled Teal Anas flavirostris
  • Yellow-billed Pintail Anas georgica
  • Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera
  • Red Shoveler Anas platalea
  • Long-winged Harrier Circus buffoni
  • Cinereous Harrier Circus cinereus
  • Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris
  • White-tailed Hawk Buteo albicaudatus
  • Southern Caracara Caracara plancus
  • Chimango Caracara Milvago chimango
  • American Kestrel Falco sparverius
  • Plumbeous Rail Pardirallus sanguinolentus
  • Red-fronted Coot ? Fulica rufifrons
  • American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus
  • White-backed Stilt Himantopus melanurus
  • Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis
  • American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica
  • Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
  • Two-banded Plover Charadrius falklandicus
  • Rufous-chested Dotterel Charadrius modestus
  • Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica
  • Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
  • Sanderling Calidris alba
  • White-rumped Sandpiper ? Calidris fuscicollis
  • Snowy Sheathbill Chionis alba
  • Olrog's Gull Larus atlanticus Breeding endemic Vulnerable
  • Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus
  • Brown-hooded Gull Larus maculipennis
  • Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica
  • Royal Tern Sterna maxima
  • Common Tern Sterna hirundo
  • Snowy-crowned Tern Sterna trudeaui
  • Black Tern ? Chlidonias niger
  • Black Skimmer Rynchops niger
  • Rock Dove Columba livia Introduced
  • Picazuro Pigeon Patagioenas picazuro
  • Spot-winged Pigeon Patagioenas maculosa
  • Eared Dove Zenaida auriculata
  • Picui Ground-Dove Columbina picui
  • White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
  • Monk Parakeet Myiopsitta monachus
  • Guira Cuckoo Guira guira
  • Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia
  • Green-barred Woodpecker Colaptes melanochloros
  • Campo Flicker Colaptes campestris
  • Bar-winged Cinclodes Cinclodes fuscus
  • Rufous Hornero Furnarius rufus
  • Wren-like Rushbird Phleocryptes melanops
  • Straight-billed Reedhaunter ? Limnornis rectirostris Near-threatened
  • Bay-capped Wren-Spinetail Spartonoica maluroides Near-threatened
  • Sulphur-bearded Spinetail Cranioleuca sulphurifera
  • Hudson's Canastero ? Asthenes hudsoni
  • Freckle-breasted Thornbird Phacellodomus striaticollis
  • Firewood-gatherer Anumbius annumbi
  • White-tipped Plantcutter Phytotoma rutila
  • White-crested Tyrannulet Serpophaga subcristata
  • Many-colored Rush-Tyrant Tachuris rubrigastra
  • Black-and-white Monjita Heteroxolmis dominicana Vulnerable
  • Austral Negrito Lessonia rufa
  • Spectacled Tyrant Hymenops perspicillatus
  • Yellow-browed Tyrant Satrapa icterophrys
  • Cattle Tyrant Machetornis rixosus
  • Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
  • House Wren Troglodytes aedon
  • Sedge Wren Cistothorus platensis
  • Chalk-browed Mockingbird Mimus saturninus
  • White-banded Mockingbird Mimus triurus
  • Rufous-bellied Thrush Turdus rufiventris
  • Masked Gnatcatcher Polioptila dumicola
  • Long-tailed Reed-Finch Donacospiza albifrons
  • Black-and-rufous Warbling-Finch Poospiza nigrorufa
  • Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola
  • Grassland Yellow-Finch Sicalis luteola
  • Great Pampa-Finch Embernagra platensis
  • Red-crested Cardinal Paroaria coronata
  • Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis
  • Unicolored Blackbird ? Agelaius cyanopus
  • Bay-winged Cowbird Molothrus badius
  • Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis
  • Brown-and-yellow Marshbird Pseudoleistes virescens
  • Black-chinned Siskin Carduelis barbata
  • House Sparrow Passer domesticus Introduced


Other Fauna 


A total of -- species of mammals. 


There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles. 

Flora 

Author: Charles Hesse

 

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