Happy New Years!
I finished 2011 on a high note. After being thwarted numerous times, Maya and I finally found the elusive Magellanic Woodpecker. Following a hint from our collaborator, Marcela, we embarked on a coastal walk on the eastern part of town. After about an hour and a half we still had not found our peckerhead. Downtrodden, we decided to fool around with a bit of mimicry. We began to tap on a tree to try and communicate with our hammering hombre. "Hey Woodpecker!" we said. "We're sick of your shit! Show yourself or we'll burn down your forest!" Of course this was merely a ploy, and with our limited practice we doubted our accent was even discernible enough for any woodpecker to respond. But behod! Not twenty seconds later did a female Magellanic Woodpecker fly in nearby and begin to talk back. We listen intently as she tapped, and were very lucky as she spoke very clearly. "Here I am. Hey look, over here. Here I am. I'm a woodpecker."
AMAZING! We couldn't believe how well our tactic had worked. We watched for 10 minutes or so as she demolished a branch of a dying tree, before scaring her away forever (not on purpose, we were trying to inch close for a picture, but to no avail).
That makes 51 species in Ushuaia, and 171 in all in Argentina. Hopefully with a few days in Bariloche and Mendoza I'll be able to reach 200, but it won't be easy.
1. Southern Giant Petrel
2. Gentoo Penguin
3. Magellanic Penguin
4. Rock Cormorant
5. Guanay Cormorant
6. Blue-eyed Cormorant
7. King Cormorant
8. Buff-necked Ibis
9. Ashy-headed Goose
10. Upland Goose
11. Kelp Goose
12. Crested Duck
13. Flightless Steamer-duck
14. Flying Steamer-duck
15. Speckled Teal
16. Southern Wigeon
17. Brown Pintail
18. Turkey Vulture
19. Andean Condor
20. Black-chested buzzard-eagle
21. White-throated Caracara
22. Chimango Caracara
23. American Kestrel
24. Magellanic Oystercatcher
25. Blackish Oystercatcher
26. White-rumped Sandpiper
27. Great Skua
28. Dolphin Gull
29. Band-tailed Gull
30. Kelp Gull
31. South American Tern
32. Antarctic Tern
33. Austral Parakeet
34. Magellanic Woodpecker
35. Dark-bellied Cinclodes
36. Grey-flanked Cinclodes
37. Bar-winged Cinclodes
38. Thorn-tailed Rayadito
39. White-throated Treerunner
40. White-crested Elaenia
41. Tufted Tit-tyrant
42. Fire-eyed Diucon
43. Cinnamon-bellied Ground-tyrant
44. Austral Negrito
45. Chilean Swallow
46. Austral Thrush
47. Patagonia Mockingbird
48. Patagonia Sierra-finch
49. Austral Blackbird
50. Long-tailed Meadowlark
51. Black-chinned Siskin
51 + 120 = 171 total species in Argentina