We are so jealous. We cannot still enjoy the new viewpoint

Fishing in group. The one ahead caught something

With a red-gartered coot and two male rosy-billed pochards, one with his back turned, the other facing us.

The chick claiming for food with open wings

Exercising wing muscles

Exercising wing muscles

Exercising wing muscles

A flock of 50 moving north

The construction is in full swing. The woodpecker is removing chips from the cavity. In general it is about 30-50 cm deep

There were 6 in the Coypu Pond and 10 were seen  in the coast

With chimango caracara on the left

With the yellow crown patch exposed

The antenna, meeting point of martins. In this case, gray-breasted martins

The antenna, meeting point of martins. In this case, gray-breasted martins

The Snail Kite, as its name suggests, feeds on snails, especially Pomacea freshwater snails known as apple snails. To extract the soft part the snail it inserts the hook into the shell to cut the muscle which connects the flesh to the shell. So the shell stays intact. The other apple snail predator is the limpkin which has a completely different bill. To reach the soft part the limpkin pecks at the shell making a hole. The presence or absence of a hole tells us who the predator is.

The Snail Kite, as its name suggests, feeds on snails, especially Pomacea freshwater snails known as apple snails. To extract the soft part the snail it inserts the hook into the shell to cut the muscle which connects the flesh to the shell. So the shell stays intact. The other apple snail predator is the limpkin which has a completely different bill. To reach the soft part the limpkin pecks at the shell making a hole. The presence or absence of a hole tells us who the predator is.

The Snail Kite, as its name suggests, feeds on snails, especially Pomacea freshwater snails known as apple snails. To extract the soft part the snail it inserts the hook into the shell to cut the muscle which connects the flesh to the shell. So the shell stays intact. The other apple snail predator is the limpkin which has a completely different bill. To reach the soft part the limpkin pecks at the shell making a hole. The presence or absence of a hole tells us who the predator is.

The Snail Kite, as its name suggests, feeds on snails, especially Pomacea freshwater snails known as apple snails. To extract the soft part the snail it inserts the hook into the shell to cut the muscle which connects the flesh to the shell. So the shell stays intact. The other apple snail predator is the limpkin which has a completely different bill. To reach the soft part the limpkin pecks at the shell making a hole. The presence or absence of a hole tells us who the predator is.

A dozen. On Satyrday we spotted only two

One leading  and then six followed

One leading  and then six followed

From the path (photo below by J. Simón Tagtachian) the pair of black-necked swans seem to be inside a dense scrubland. However, from above (top photo by Eduardo Ibarra) the spot looks completely different

Too many coypus at sight. Several are very small. Here a small one feeding

On Saturday afternoon this juvenile Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle stood on the telecommunication antenna. It appeared at Combate de los Pozos and Moreno.

It was with a black-capped warbling-finch at the very beginning of the Lizard Path at the Viamonte end

It was with a black-capped warbling-finch at the very beginning of the Lizard Path at the Viamonte end

They start to arrive

Watching from the Lizard Path to the Gull Pond the black-backed stilt flew and dived into the vegetation disappearing very rapidly. Other observers told me they had seen a group of 15 flying by. No doubt, this pond will be the breeding site por waterbirds. Unluckily our vision on to the pond is poor and we will certainly miss all this activity.

Too few bugweed fruits are left, so the green-winged saltator wanders about the loquat

The adult grebe already has two chicks but sits on the nest again. There may be another egg still to hatch. The grebes begin incubation as they lay eggs. So the chicks are born with the same difference of days.

They are not clearly seen but they are two orioles foraging in the water yellow flags

It is a month already

Eating a lazy caterpillar Actinote, possibly common lazy

At last the cygnets were born

First family of this season

Taking the cotton-like material of the silk floss tree fruit to build a nest

Simón spotted 4 male vermilion flycatchers. Two were catching insects 25 mts away one from the other. And two others much more apart

Drying the wings

Snowy egret Egretta thula in the middle of the scene with its yellow fingers. on the right a juvenile rufescent tiger-heronTigrisoma lineatum and behind it y detrás de él Garza blanca Ardea alba. A la izquierda de la garcita inicial, otra garcita blanca y más a la izquierda una garza blanca.

Hardly seen but two characteristics show this is a Red-and-white Crake. Rosy legs and white undertail coverts. If this were the Rufous-sided Crake, legs would be greenish and the undertail coverts rufous. One was spotted at the burnt viewpoint and two others before getting to the Middle Path.
On Sunday 11th Sally saw two crakes with a chick on the Lizard Path near the three-cornered leeks but she cannot say which they were

Who is he taking that prey?

It flew outside the reserve and we were lucky that Marcelo was outside and took this photo

Sergio and Cora saw only 5 (most certainly the sme which had split from the group) that flew along with a roadside hawk

A day with too many screaming cowbirds. These were the first four of the walk

Eating Wisteria sinensis

Eduardo, our reporter in the heights, tells us he saw another pair of swans in the Gull Pond. "In the photo taken with a mobile only the location is shown. With binoculars the sight is great, they look beautiful and they seem to be displaying. One of them stands and flaps in front of the other. The place is very quiet, nothing but water, trees and vegetation. It is drizzling but they are not worried"

"Here in a very similar place but with more vegetation there are two other swans. One of them is still on the nest. The other one moves around, sits and looks attentive." This is the pair we saw on Saturday. 

The Google map shows the location of the two black-necked swan's nests

With another lapwing in the clearing of Viamonte. They are very tame, indeed

Nice little spider

First photo of the season

No doubt it is nesting

After a long wait the black-necked swans did come back. Looking on to the Gull Pond Carlos Álvarez detected the swan and very shyly said "There is a black-necked Swan". It was very difficult to spot because of the dried and fallen cattail, so he used a Caracara as a reference. It was practically above them. It seems they are nesting. Though vegetation still stands the pond is full of water and there is a big water mirror at the back. An ideal place to raise the offspring. 

After a long wait the black-necked swans did come back. Looking on to the Gull Pond Carlos Álvarez detected the swan and very shyly said "There is a black-necked Swan". It was very difficult to spot because of the dried and fallen cattail, so he used a Caracara as a reference. It was practically above them. It seems they are nesting. Though vegetation still stands the pond is full of water and there is a big water mirror at the back. An ideal place to raise the offspring. 

After a long wait the black-necked swans did come back. Looking on to the Gull Pond Carlos Álvarez detected the swan and very shyly said "There is a black-necked Swan". It was very difficult to spot because of the dried and fallen cattail, so he used a Caracara as a reference. It was practically above them. It seems they are nesting. Though vegetation still stands the pond is full of water and there is a big water mirror at the back. An ideal place to raise the offspring. 

Warned by Diego Bastías, who had already seen the female conebill, we had the chance to photograph it. It foraged very high in the tipus. This bird does not belong to this area. It is native to the nort of the country.

Warned by Diego Bastías, who had already seen the female conebill, we had the chance to photograph it. It foraged very high in the tipus. This bird does not belong to this area. It is native to the nort of the country.