What can you do to top off an incredible Antarctic expedition cruise? Well, we didn’t really think there was much we could do to add further highlights to the trip once we got back to Ushuaia. I mean really….what can even come close to hanging out in South Georgia and Antarctica with penguins?? Turns out, it’s hiring a local guide for the weekend to go birding in Ushuaia, Argentina.
Our original plan was to get back from the cruise and head to Buenos Aires for a few days. But somehow, I managed to get the dates of our departing flight screwed up. I called to inquire about how much it would be to change our flights and yeah…..(yikes….$$$). We decided to make the best of it by exploring Ushuaia a bit more.
Ushuaia is a fairly big city and with Tierra del Fuego National Park close by, I started searching for hiking/birding options. Being photographers and nature adventurers, one in particular stood out. A birding guide for hire, Esteban from Birding Ushuaia. We reached out to see if he was available. Luckily he was and suggested a three-day plan for birding in and around Tierra del Fuego.
The price was not insignificant, so we reached out to one of his prior clients via her online review to be sure he was the real deal. She had nothing but amazing things to say about her birding adventures with Esteban. This eased our minds about the investment and locked in with him for 3 days of birding. It was totally worth it and honestly one of the best values of the entire trip!
The Ushuaia Coastal area
As part of disembarkation, we were bused to the City Center and Esteban agreed to pick us up at 9am. Keep in mind, we had all of our bags with us, and we would not be able to check in until later that afternoon. Thankfully, Esteban had a nice van to cart us around in, so we were able to keep our bags with us during our first day of birding.
Our first stop of the day was a little spot along the coast of the Beagle Channel in between industrial buildings. A spot we likely would have never known about on our own. Our first bird was within about 10 seconds of getting out of the car and was honestly one of our favorites. The Southern Lapwing, a beautiful shorebird. What a great start! We continued along to shore, seeing new bird after new bird (for us). Thankfully, Esteban was creating our eBird lists for us to keep track of every bird we encountered.
The Ushuaia Dumpsite
After getting back in the van, we headed to the most interesting stop of the day. El relleno sanitario – The Ushuaia Landfill. Commonly referred to by traveling birders as “the dump” and one of the best places to see the local birds, including three of the Caracaras; Southern Crested, Chimango and White Throated which is the hardest to find. Unless…you’re at the dump.
Reserve Natural Cerro Alarken
Our next stop for birding in Ushuaia, Argentina was heading out on the trails in the Reserva Natural Cerro Alarken to find two birds on our most wanted list – the Magellanic Woodpecker and the Austral Pygmy-Owl. The woodpecker almost made it too easy. We had not been walking down the path more than 5 minutes when we heard him drumming on a tree. He must be related to my arch enemy, the Pileated Woodpecker, because after we spotted him, he quickly flew back around the tree and off into the distance before I got a photo. The quick view we did have though showed us it was the male and that he is quite stunning.
The Magellanic Woodpecker is as big or bigger than the Pileated Woodpecker we have back at home. The male has an all black body and brilliant red head. After playing bird calls and trying to track the down for about 20 minutes, we started back down the path to search for the Pygmy Owl.
We came to a clearing with a beautiful little burbling stream of icy glacier water. It was such a beautiful park to explore. And other than a father and son we passed on the trail, we had the whole place, on this bright, beautiful, sunny day all to ourselves.
While we were enjoying the view and the solitude, we spotted another bird which Esteban said we might see. The Black Chested Buzzard-Eagle. Unfortunately, it was being harassed by a Chimango Caracara so we only got a blurry flight pic. But Kris took the opportunity to get at least one good photo in this spot of the three of us.
The Austral Pygmy Owl
After our brief encounter with the eagle, we set our focus on finding the Austral Pygmy-Owl. Esteban broke out his iPod and Speaker and started playing its calls. I have tried this in the past and never really thought it worked very well but sure as can be. he had an owl responding within just a couple minutes. Now that we had a sound to hone in on, we set off on tracking the owl.
Thankfully, Esteban has an amazing set of eyes and he spotted the Pygmy owl, off in the distance, deep in the green, high atop the trees. This owl is tiny. Our best guess was that it is roughly the size of an American Robin. We could see it in the tree but there was no way we could get a good shot of it with the camera. It wasn’t until another smaller bird chased the owl off, back towards the path that we had a real opportunity to see it up close.
It again took a few minutes to spot it, but based on its calls, we could tell it landed very close to the trail. When we finally spotted it and were shocked to see how tiny this owl is! Luck was with us again when it decided to move one more time and landed in a great spot for photos. We spent quite a bit of time admiring the owl and took way too many photos, but can you REALLY have to many photos of a new owl?
Esteban took us to a local place to grab some lunch. Ramos Generales El Almacen. The building had been a general store for years. It still had a bunch of the original products on display from before it closed back in the 70’s. The food was very good and taught us another great reason to hire a local guide…they know all the best places to eat! Funny too, we actually spotted a few of our fellow passengers from the Ocean Victory having lunch at the same place. They were easy to spot as a few of them were still wearing their penguin costumes. A bit strange but I’m sure somewhat common for an Antarctic cruise port city.
Reserva Natural Urbana Bahía Encerrada
After lunch we headed to our last spot of the day, Reserva Natural Urbana Bahía Encerrada. Here we found a large shallow pond that is home to a lot of ducks and shorebirds. We spotted a few of the birds we saw earlier this morning but this time they were more willing to pose. We got some great shots of the Southern Lapwing and the Upland Goose. There was also a small creek that flows into the pool where we spotted an unexpected bird, the Magellanic Snipe. That was a fun way to end Day 1.
It was just after 3:30pm when we wrapped up for the day. We had been birding for about 6 hours and had 28 new birds to add to our life list. Esteban told us that tomorrow would be a full day, starting with “a bit of an uphill hike” and then mostly flat. The quote marks will be explained shortly….lol.
Garibaldi Pass
We decided that we needed a slower start to the morning as we had not been sleeping well on the ship so Esteban agreed to pick us up at 10:00am. The beds and the pillows on Ocean Victory were incredibly hard and most of the passengers lovingly referred to them as bricks. One of our fellow passengers had even gone so far as to recreate Stonehenge with their pillows. So the extra sleep with much softer pillows at our B&B, Las Retamas, was a much needed recharge for us. We had a wonderful, hot breakfast prepared by our hosts and took a few minutes to offload and post a couple pictures to Instagram from the day before.
We were pleasantly surprised when Esteban asked if we would mind his friend/colleague, Federico, tagging along with us. Another set of well-trained eyes to help us look for birds was an added bonus. So off we went headed to Garibaldi Pass for some mountain birds.
Garibaldi Pass is about 40 minutes from Ushuaia and we had an enjoyable trip chatting with Esteban and Federico during the drive. They answered some questions for us and filled us in a little more on the history, geography and wildlife of the region. Turns out that since Tierra del Fuego is an island, there isn’t any wildlife to really worry about. I think Esteban put it simply as “there is nothing here that will bite you.” There are no snakes, very few native mammals and no large wildlife. NO BEAR SPRAY needed to hike in the mountains, yay!
We eventually pulled off and parked and I tell you this right now, when you hire an Argentinian Birding Guide and he says “it will start with a little bit of a steep climb but then it will mostly level off” plan to gain some serious elevation. We climbed up and up and up until we were above the tree line in the Andes Mountains. Guess we can check that off the list!
The first hour was straight up through the trees, having to crawl on our hands and knees in a few spots. It’s exactly the kind of hiking adventures we love. But remember we hail from mostly flat plains in Midwest USA. That plus sitting on a cruise ship for the past two weeks, eating our way around South Georgia and the Antarctic, we struggled a bit to catch our breath. But eventually we made it and the views were stunning!
Yellow-Bridled Finch
Our first encounter was a nest of baby birds being fed by their mother. We saw them briefly and decided to settle down and wait for momma bird to return. While we were waiting, we also saw a few other smaller birds including the Yellow-bridled Finch and the Black-chinned Siskin. Then, after about 20 minutes, momma bird was back and the two little birds were excited for lunch.
Once we got moving again, we were mostly focused on finding one particular bird, the White-bellied Seedsnipe. Esteban instructed us to spread out 10-15m from each other and look for “a rock that moves”… What?? We hiked up and over a large area of the mountain pass. For the longest time, we didn’t see much until Kris accidentally flushed out a baby Yellow-Bridled Finch. It flew right past me and landed about 10 feet away from where I was standing. It didn’t seem like the baby bird knew what to do and sat absolutely still while I took a few great shots. And for the record, we are fairly certain we saw momma bird came and ushered the baby back to the nesting site. 🙂
The White-Bellied Seedsnipe
We took a break for lunch. Esteban had made sandwiches and we had a nice lunch in the shelter of some larger rocks. There was a slight breeze and up at altitude it got a bit chilly but overall, the weather that day was perfect for hiking. Blue skies, sun and puffy clouds. We honestly couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.
Federico had quickly finished eating and was off on a mission to find the Seedsnipe. So we finished up and once again spread-out to hunt for the “moving rock.” Kris and I were a bit behind since she was having trouble navigating a large patch of snow. She only had her running shoes with her which offered her zero traction. Then Esteban appeared up ahead and flagged to come ahead. Federico had found the Seedsnipe.
We were worried we would miss seeing it but Esteban assured us it was fine. And I kid you not. If it had not been pointed out to us, I seriously doubt we would have ever spotted it. The “moving rock” description proved to be very accurate. Its feathers allow it to blend in with the rocky ground and its movements are sloth-like. But, even with its slow speed, if you took your eye off of it for a minute or two, it was quite a challenge to spot it again. Until it moved!
As a small ground bird, (probably close to in size to a small grouse) it has very short legs and is verrrry slow moving. This was a huge benefit as we could circle around it, get in better lighting and let it get closer to us for photos. Definitely the highlight of the day as this bird is a rare find!
Black-Throated Ibis
After finding the Seedsnipe, our day got a lot more productive. While were observing the Seedsnipe, 9 Black-Throated Ibis flew over. Then we spotted a Condor. After that, a Yellow Bridled Finch flew up and landed just a few feet away from us.
As we started our way back, we caught another bit of luck as three of the Black-Throated Ibis had landed on a nearby rock formation and I was able to get close for some really great pictures. Kris even had some fun sliding down the large patch of snow that I wasn’t able to climb up earlier in the day.
Beavers in Tierra del Fuego
We were told by Esteban that we would be heading back a different way as there was an easier trail to take us back to the road. After a bit of back-tracking, bushwhacking and discussion between Esteban and Federico, we eventually found the trail. It led us right past a pretty impressive beaver dam. Unfortunately, no signs of the builder so we just had to enjoy the view and the beautiful reflection of the mountains.
We did learn though is that the beaver is not native to Tierra del Fuego and actually quite a nuisance. In 1946, the Argentine military flew 20 beavers from Canada to Tierra del Fuego in hopes of encouraging a fur trade. The industry never flourished, but the beavers did: There are as many as 110,000 today. The industrious creatures have spread to Chile and to the Argentine and Chilean mainlands, leaving dead forests and stagnant ponds in their wake.
Once we got back to the van we all enjoyed some hot tea and learned more about Patagonia from Esteban and Federico. We also learned about Mate tea, the Argentinean national drink and the unique traditions of serving/sharing it.
We had previously chatted with Esteban about geocaching and it turns out that Federico was familiar with it as well. So they let us stop for two quick roadside caches on the way back. Luckily, both that we stopped at were very easy to find with no muggles nearby. The really unbelievable part is that both caches had never been found even though they were published back in the beginning of March. Nine months with no finds! Score for the Minnesota Home Team!!
Tierra del Fuego National Park
After an amazing day up above the tree line in the Andes Mountains, we were looking forward to our final birding adventure day in Tierra del Fuego National Park. Here we would get other chance to see one of the primary birds we were looking for, the Magellanic Woodpecker.
Because the national park is extremely popular with the tourists and the locals, Esteban wanted to get an early start to the day and beat the rush. Knowing we were planning on getting an early start we talked to our B&B host about possibly just leaving out some pastries for us to grab. He and his wife actually went a step above and made us both to-go breakfast bags with fruit and ham sandwiches and even made sure there was coffee ready for a quick cup before we headed out.
Our hotel: Las Retamas B&B
I guess now would be a perfect time to mention Las Retamas B&B, our accommodations during our post cruise stay in Ushuaia. It was a few blocks from downtown and tucked away from the busy, touristy main street area. It was perfect for our birding adventures and made for an easy pick up/drop off spot for us and Esteban. Gaston and his wife Vanesa were wonderful hosts which made our post stay in Ushuaia and birding adventure very enjoyable.
The Magellanic Woodpeckers
The drive was only about 30 minutes or so to get to the park from Ushuaia. Our first stop was a small pull-off next to the main road. Not exactly a parking spot but large enough for 1 or 2 cars to park. Our first objective this morning was finding the Magellanic Woodpecker. Esteban was confident that this was one of the best spots to look for them. We headed out on a small trail from the road that brought us to one of the major hiking trails in the park. If there is one thing I learned on this trip, it is that Esteban really knows his birds and more importantly, knows exactly where to find them!
Sure enough, we were walking for only about 5 minutes when we heard the distinctive sound of a woodpecker drumming on a nearby tree. There she was, not too far ahead of us, a female Magellanic Woodpecker. Luckily, she was a little more social than the male we saw on the first day and decided to stick around and allow us to get a few pictures.
The female Magellanic Woodpecker is much more subtle than her male counterpart, but she is a beautiful bird is her own right. Lacking the bright red head of the male, she is mostly black with only a bit of red feathers around her beak. Her most striking feature is the crest of black feathers on the top of her head. She took off on us once, but we were able to quickly track her down and watch as she put on quite a show, pounding and tearing bark off of a tree near the trail
We were heading back to the van and just about to get in and drive away when Kris heard a faint drumming in the distance. Looking more closely, not more than 30 yards away was the male Magellanic Woodpecker. He was on a fallen tree and very intent on his search for breakfast. This turned out to be a perfect opportunity. As I mentioned before, the Magellanic is very similar in size and appearance to the Pileated Woodpecker but thankfully, a bit less skittish. We have been trying to get a good picture of the Pileated for a long time and it has even become a running joke between us. So it was quite a treat to be able to sneak up to within about 10 yards of the male Magellanic and take all the pictures I wanted.
The End of Route 3 - The Pan American Highway
So now that I had 250+ photos of the woodpecker, it was time to move on. Next, we headed to the end of the Tierra del Fuego National Park, which also happens to be the end of Argentinian Route 3, the main highway from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. It is also the end of the Pan American Highway, the longest road in the world that starts in Prudhoe, Alaska and is 15,000 miles long. That’s an adventure for another day. 😉
Just beyond the end of the road, the hiking trails continue along the shore of the Beagle Channel where we hoped to see more sea birds and, in particular, the Flying and Flightless Steamer ducks. Even with it being a gray and fairly windy day, it was still a beautiful hike near the shoreline.
We did find the Flightless Steamer near the end of the trail when we almost stumbled over them. They were quietly napping on the rocks of the shoreline and didn’t seem to be bothered by us taking their picture.
The Great Grebe Family
The weather decided to turn a bit drizzly so we decided to drive over to one more spot in the park to check for a few more birds before lunch. This time we lucked out and even upped the cuteness factor. We found a Great Grebe family of 4. We spotted the dad first and followed him in the river as he returned his catch to the female and two young, fluffy babies. The youngest was riding on mom’s back and it was amazing to see. The babies look nothing like their parents. The young have striking black and white spots and stripes, whereas the parents are brown and black. So, this was another awesome birding moment to add to the books.
After the Grebe family encounter, it was time for lunch before heading back to town. We sat near the lake and had a couple special guests during lunch. Two Chimango Caracara’s decide they would much prefer we share our lunch with them. They were not at all bashful and came within about 3 feet of us, begging for handouts.
In summary...
With the drizzle slowly getting worse, we decided it was time to head back to Ushuaia. After one last check for birds near the airport, Esteban brought us back to our B&B and we officially wrapped up our 3-day Guided Birding Trip.
While I was initially hesitant to sign up for the 3 days of guided birding due to the price, afterwards we realized that this was one of the best investments in our trip. Having a personal guide for three days was perfect and we saw so many more birds than we would have ever found on our own. Plus, of course, the epic hike into the Andes Mountains! So if you ever end up in Ushuaia, Argentina and want to consider a guided birding adventure, we cannot recommend Esteban enough! You can check him out at BirdingUshuaia.com
