13th to 15th September - around the Iguazu Falls and departure
13th September - We had a relatively late breakfast at 7 a.m. Anne wasn't feeling too well so stayed in our room whilst the rest of us went for a walk in the extensive grounds. The plan was to follow a longish trail through a wooded area but the weather was threatening and we soon had to scuttle back to the hotel as thunder and rain set in. However during the walk we managed to see the very attractive Saffron-billed Sparrow although it was so dark in the wood that decent photographs were hard to get due to the need for high ISO. The same applies to the other species we saw - Band-tailed Manakin, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Pearly-vented Tody-tyrant, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, and Swallow Tanager. It did eventually subside and some of us tentatively went out again. The field on the other side of the road from the hotel had a pair of Southern Lapwing with young, and near the hotel we had Pale-breasted Thrush and a distant White Woodpecker with a strangely deformed bill. We eventually left the Canzi Hotel late morning and transferred in our bus across the border into Argentina and the town of Puerto Iguazú. Here we found a nice restaurant to have some lunch during which the rain set in again. We then visited a viewing area where three countries meet at the confluence of Paraná and Iguazú rivers, the three countries being Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. After this we went into the town and visited a delightful private garden where the owner, Leandro Castillo, has set up numerous hummingbird feeders. You pay a small fee and can spend an hour or two seeing what turns up. It's quite a small garden but the birds were superb. There was light rain all the time we were there but nevertheless many photos were taken. The list of hummers we saw was pretty impressive: Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Planalto Hermit, Black Jacobin, Black-throated Mango, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Violet-capped Woodnymph, Gilded Hummingbird, and Versicoloured Emerald. These were accompanied by Bananaquit, Sayaca Tanager, Palm Tanager, the oddly named Green-headed Tanager {it has a blue head by my reckoning}, Blue Dacnis, Purple-throated Euphonia, Violaceous Euphonia, and Chestnut-bellied Euphonia. Quite a session despite the rain!
We then drove to our accommodation which turned out to be the superb La Cantera Jungle Lodge which comprised main building, with the rooms being wood cottages distributed among the trees and accessed by covered wooden walkways. It was still raining so there was nothing to do but settle in. Walking back to the main building at one point, Tom & I got on to a bird in the canopy above the walkway, and it looked familiar but we couldn't hang a name on it. Later we both arrived at the same conclusion having grabbed our field guides - a Black-crowned Tityra. We had a late-ish dinner {8 p.m.} and abandoned the bird list as there were too many guests and accompanying noise.
We then drove to our accommodation which turned out to be the superb La Cantera Jungle Lodge which comprised main building, with the rooms being wood cottages distributed among the trees and accessed by covered wooden walkways. It was still raining so there was nothing to do but settle in. Walking back to the main building at one point, Tom & I got on to a bird in the canopy above the walkway, and it looked familiar but we couldn't hang a name on it. Later we both arrived at the same conclusion having grabbed our field guides - a Black-crowned Tityra. We had a late-ish dinner {8 p.m.} and abandoned the bird list as there were too many guests and accompanying noise.
14th September - Breakfast was at 6 a.m. and then we drove into Iguazu National Park, arriving when it first opened. We spent the whole day here. Morning involved walking a meandering trail that gave views of various of the falls on the Argentinian side, plus many opportunities for finding birds. The beginning of this walk was marred somewhat by a park ranger with a very loud leaf blower who insisted on following us, pointlessly blowing leaves from one place to another! We then had lunch in an incredibly busy restaurant by the visitor centre, although because we were a group we seemed to be able to queue jump. After lunch we walked another trail which at one point led us to some amazing butterfly activity by some muddy puddles by the dirt road. One of the first birds we saw when we arrived in the morning was a couple of Scaly-headed Parrots, swiftly followed by a pair of diminutive Blue-winged Parrolets. The guides then got quite excited when they spotted a Green-winged Saltator sitting in a tree - fairly scarce I guess. A new bird for the trip during these walks {I think this was after lunch} was a Rusty-margined Guan, and overhead we had Plumbeous Kite, and another American Swallow-tailed Kite, plus a few Great Dusky Swifts. On a tree in an open grassy area we had two colourful Yellow-fronted Woodpeckers, and in the more wooded areas we found Plain Antvireo, Rufous-winged Antwren and Streak-capped Antwren. Trogons are always fabulous birds to see and we were delighted to find a Suruca Trogon with its deep red belly and dark blue head. A Giant Cowbird was hanging around one of the buildings and a Fawn-breasted Tanager was another good find. These were all topped by a Southern Antpipit, a very secretive ground dwelling skulker which we had reasonable views of - thanks to our guides who picked up the call.
Last treat of the day, and the most spectacular, was yet to come. We took a narrow gauge train to a more remote part of the park and then walked along raised metal walkways for about 1 km, winding above the river and past various falls until we reached a viewing area right next to the fall with the highest drop of 80 metres - El Garganta del Diablo - the devil's throat. This was a truly spectacular location - it took your breath away with the sheer power and volume of water plunging to the depths below. On the way along the walkway we found a Striated Heron just below us, and on a rock in the water, a Snake-necked Turtle, and in the water itself some huge fish, including Catfish. We eventually made our way back to catch the mini train back to the centre where some had a brief taste of 'retail therapy' in the souvenir shop, before we made our way back to La Cantera, where we had time to do the bird list and have dinner, before crashing after a busy day .... which had been bright and sunny thank goodness.
Last treat of the day, and the most spectacular, was yet to come. We took a narrow gauge train to a more remote part of the park and then walked along raised metal walkways for about 1 km, winding above the river and past various falls until we reached a viewing area right next to the fall with the highest drop of 80 metres - El Garganta del Diablo - the devil's throat. This was a truly spectacular location - it took your breath away with the sheer power and volume of water plunging to the depths below. On the way along the walkway we found a Striated Heron just below us, and on a rock in the water, a Snake-necked Turtle, and in the water itself some huge fish, including Catfish. We eventually made our way back to catch the mini train back to the centre where some had a brief taste of 'retail therapy' in the souvenir shop, before we made our way back to La Cantera, where we had time to do the bird list and have dinner, before crashing after a busy day .... which had been bright and sunny thank goodness.
15th September - our last day - we had an early start and spent the morning birding along the National road 101, which runs for 140 km near the border with Brazil from Puerto Iguazú. The part at the Puerto end is dirt. When we arrived at the start we saw the strange sight of what was obviously a police or border guard post with a large stack of cases of cigarettes outside and an officer standing by. At its other end, the road become directly adjacent to the Brazilian border so maybe there's some 'movement of goods'. Anyway as we dropped downhill along the road it became apparent that birding would be difficult - there was a thick mist lying in the valley. Nevertheless we persevered and picked up a good bird straight away - a Wing-barred Piprities, albeit a little brown job. Farther on and down in the thicker mist we managed to pick out three woodpeckers- a White-spotted Woodpecker, Green-barred Woodpecker, and the aptly named Robust Woodpecker. The latter looks like our European Black Woodpecker, but with a broad white stripe up its back. The mist started to burn off and we found a Blue-black Seedeater in a tree, then a Green-headed Tanager and another Yellow-fronted Woodpecker. As we made our way back up the track we found another new raptor for the list - a Grey-headed Kite circling overhead and the last small bird before we reached the main road was a Yellow Elaenia. We then headed back into town for lunch at the same restaurant we had used previously. On the way we made a quick roadside stop to see a Burrowing Owl which was spotted sitting in the open near the road. It was sunny and we still had time before our flight back to São Paulo so after lunch we paid another visit to the Jardin de los Picaflores. Even though it was sunny the birds were not quite as numerous as they had been in the rain but obviously the light was better for photography of those that we did see. There were no different species.
Finally it was time to make our way back into Brazil and to the airport. It was with great sadness and a huge vote of thanks that we said our farewells to Kike and Martin and our driver, for what had been a fantastic trip with many great memories to take home with us. We took the 5 p.m. flight back to São Paulo where we arrived at 6:50 p.m. and then it was a bit of a wait until we caught our homeward bound flight at 11:50 p.m., finally arriving back at Heathrow at 3:15 p.m. on the 16th., tired but happy. Thanks to everyone for your company - everyone got on well together, we had a great time, had a few laughs, and of course ticked another destination off the bucket list!