Argentina is a place that might not normally be at the top of a wildlife photograhers must go list.  Maybe this post will change that.  Over a week and a half this past Christmas and the new year we traveled to several places throughout the country and saw some incredible places, wildlife, and birds.

We arrived in Buenos Aires on Christmas Eve, and within minutes of arriving at our hotel were heading down to Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve.  It is a wonderful place located at the edge of the bustling city, and it is a haven for over 100 birds species and several reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. 

As well as being in the reserve itself, there is a mile long wall along a main street that borders the reserve, and from here is where we did most of our birding.  We saw hundreds of birds from this wall.  Species we saw included Ringed Teal (above), Monk Parakeets, Black Hooded Parakeets, White Faced Tree Ducks, Brown Teal, Silver Teal, Coscoroba Swans, Tiger Herons, Common Moorhens, White Winged Coots, Red Gartered Coots, Red Crested Cardinals, and Guira Cuckoos to name a few.  And the best part is that the birds here are used to people since the wall is a hub for people doing all sorts of activities.

Guira Cuckoo- Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve

White Winged Coot- Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve

Common Moorhen?

Southern Lapwing- Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve

 This next bird is easily one of the most spectacular birds I have ever seen.  THe RED CRESTED CARDINAL.  First is the female, then the SPECTACULAR male. My shots don’t do justice to the male

Female Red Crested Cardinal

THE MALE

Male Red Crested Cardinal

After staying in Buenos Aires for several days, we took and hour and a half flight up North to Iguazu National Park.  Iguazu National Park is home to the second largest waterfall in the world.  The park as a whole is absolutley spectacular.  The falls are gorgeous and are definitely a place worth visiting.

Iguazu Falls from the Plane

 We stayed at the Sheraton Iguazu.  That is not in the photo here.  However, from our hotel, which is just out of the shot to the right, we could see the falls.  It truly is an UNBELIEVEABLE place.  The big falls with the plume of steam is called the Devil’s Throat and plunges over 350 feet.  The falls themselves are a couple miles from end to end.

Iguazu Falls

 It looks prehistoric.  And the diversity of wildlife in the park is staggering.  We saw around 30 species of butterflies, several lizard species, frogs, countless unusual bugs, and in the one day we spent there over 50 species of birds.

Double Barred Seed Eater

Plush Crested Jay

Violet Capped Woodnymph

Robust Woodpecker

Lastly, some butterflies, a caiman, and a coati

Eighty Eight Butterfly

Leaf Mimic Butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly

Spectacled Caiman

This last animal is a coati. They are some of the coolest creatures I have ever encountered.  They are all over Iguazu, and are completely unafraid of humans.  But you need to be careful, because if you don’t pay attention they WILL steal your food.  Its quite comical if it doesn’t happen to you

Hope you enjoyed my first post, and hopefully I did a decent job. Thsese photos only scratch the surface of what we saw

Sunset