White-bellied Seedsnipe, Rio Valdez (Mike Watson)
BY NOVEMBER WHITE-BELLIED SEEDSNIPE HAS RETURNED TO ITS ALPINE ANDEAN BREEDING GROUNDS. THE classic site for it is Garibaldi Pass, on Ruta 3 north of Ushuaia, in Argentina’s far south. Crikey, as we crossed the pass, I was delighted that Birding Ushuaia had recently pioneered access to a much more accessible site for it, seeing its habitat above the endless Southern Beech treeline now covered in deep snow, in fact it was still snowing. After my encounter in Chile in September, I was keen to catch up with it on its breeding grounds but instead of enjoying watching it at leisure, it was clearly going to be a challenge to reach the required altitude in this weather let alone be able to locate one in the snow. ‘Do they stay up high in bad weather?’ was a hopeful question. ‘Yes’, the disappointing answer from our guide Federico. The new site in the Rio Valdez reserve is on the nothern side of the Andean watershed and does not bear the same brunt of weather coming from the south as Garibaldi Pass. The weather was still poor, the mountains above Ushuaia had a fresh covering of snow and we had already seen some evidence that things were rough up high today in the form of a mini fall of Dark-faced Ground Tyrants near our hotel on the edge of town. This was the tail-end of a large storm that had killed hikers in Torres del Paine some days earlier, no wonder I couldn’t see it through the mass of cloud my flight had entered after leaving El Calafate. Other gems driven downslope by the snowfall were a flock of Austral Parakeets feeding on dandelions in town (!!!) and the high-altitude loving Ochre-naped Ground Tyrant that we saw on the gravel airstrip at Lago Escondido en route to the the north side.
Austral Parakeet, Ushuaia (Mike Watson)
Ochre-naped Ground Tyrant, Lago Escondido (Mike Watson)
Eventually we made our way up through the beechwoods on the north side of the mountains, timber is harvested here and there are forestry roads, complete with padlocked gates(!), it would be difficult to reach the highlands above the forest without a guide with keys, even armed with waypoints. The trailhead at the end of the rutted forest track lies only a gentle 4km uphill stroll from the seedsnipe habitat, much easier than the 45 degree Garibaldi Pass slopes and more akin to a walk up Longridge Fell at home. However, it was a drag today in the snow, significantly trickier than usual and where it did not lie in the forest the track was waterlogged. It would normally be very enjoyable through the lovely, pristine, moss-covered beech trees. We left the trees behind and crossed an area of longer grassland before a snowy hillside. Yellow-bridled Finch and Rufous-chested Dotterel, two specialities of this spot, appear in quick succession. The males of both these extraordinarily beautiful birds lit up the white landscape and afforded stunningly close views. Ochre-naped Ground Tyrants had also stayed up here, at a slightly lower elevation than the pass. We paused for a cup of coffee, as Federico guided us to a likely spot for the seedsnipe, which he keeps regular tabs on, and indeed, one is there, sheltering in a snow-free streambed. So nice to see it on its alpine breeding grounds! But the snow is already melting now, swirls of mist evaporate from the lichen-covered hillside as it is time to leave, quite a different scene to our arrival here!
Yellow-bridled Finch, Rio Valdez (Mike Watson)
Rufous-chested Dotterel, Rio Valdez (Mike Watson)
White-bellied Seedsnipe, Rio Valdez (Mike Watson)
White-bellied Seedsnipe, Rio Valdez (Mike Watson)
Rio Valdez scenes (Mike Watson)
White-bellied Seedsnipe country, Rio Valdez (Mike Watson)