Uruguay was my contribution to the scope creep that turned my trip with Sandra last fall into more than a month in South America. “Look at the map! We’ll be in Buenos Aires, and Montevideo is right across the river. I’ve wanted to go to Uruguay since I was in high school.” Sandra quickly found Florencia Ocampo, founder of Birding With Me and co-author of the new field guide Birds of Uruguay, and just like that, Florencia had arranged a short tour for us.
We flew to Montevideo on December 4, checked into the lovely Cala di Volpe Boutique Hotel, and headed out for a little afternoon birding. I picked up two life birds right away—Great Grebe and Kelp Gull. I got better looks at both species later in Chile, where I took the photos below of the grebe with its “teenage” offspring and the big dark-winged Kelp Gull, but it was a great start.
Early the next morning, our guide for the next two days, Mauricio Silvera, picked us up. On our way out of the city, we stopped for his colleague, Pilar Camejo, who arrived at the car with an amazing homemade breakfast.
Mauricio wasted no time finding birds. Black-necked Swan, Chilean Flamingo, and Long-winged Harrier were all lifers for me. Hellmayr’s Pipit and the striking Black-and-white Monjita in the photo below were lifers for both of us. The monjita, with its limited range, was our only sighting during our entire month in South America. Amazingly, Mauricio spotted this bird as we were driving on a major highway.
In addition to the birds, I soon had another exciting wildlife sighting—the Urutu Lancehead below.
Later that afternoon, we made an unplanned visit to a little area near our hotel that turned into one of my favorite experiences of the day. What a treat to get such a clear look at the Rufous-capped Antshrike below—a small, perfect moment in a day full of good birds.
Same spot, another lifer—this pretty Gray-throated Warbling-Finch. Two new birds for my life list, and a wonderful end to our serious birding for the day.
Our bonus birds that evening were an adult and juvenile Southern Lapwing right in front of our hotel. I could have spent another hour photographing them, but it was time for dinner, and the others were not going to indulge me any longer. Lapwings are ubiquitous in South America; nine of our checklists over our two days in Uruguay included them. Still, babies are adorable and hard to walk away from!
Day two brought more life birds for both of us. We started with Curve-billed Reedhaunter, known as skulking and reclusive, so I was thrilled to photograph two different individuals. One appeared to be an immature bird, due to the light-colored bill. It was noticeably more confiding as well, typical of young birds, making it easier to photograph.
In that same reedbed habitat, we tracked down a Warbling Doradito—smaller and, reputedly, harder to see than the reedhaunter. I was thrilled to see this pretty bird, too, a very satisfying sighting of another bird with a fun name.
Cinereous Harrier (on the left below) was another lifer for me in this productive birding area. I was able to compare it to Long-winged Harrier (on the right) at the same spot for a nice side-by-side study.
One of Sandra’s favorites was Glaucous-blue Grosbeak. It is in the cardinal family, like the North American Blue Grosbeak, but it’s a little smaller and generally more shy. We were fortunate when this beautiful bird perched in the open and allowed us such a clear view.
Other great birds that day included the Rusty-collared Seedeater, Grassland Yellow-Finch, and Chivi Vireo below. The Vireo photo isn’t great, but I was happy to get any look at all, especially as I’d missed it multiple times earlier in the trip. It is a widespread and common bird in South America, but like the Red-eyed Vireo at home, it’s easier to hear than to see.
The star of the day—perhaps the star of our Uruguay birding—was the gorgeous Saffron-cowled Blackbird. Mauricio was elated to estimate 150 birds in the flock of this rapidly declining species. Seeing such a large flock of these birds was a truly unforgettable spectacle, made all the more poignant by the vulnerability of the species.
My final life bird of the trip was the Snowy-crowned Tern that I’d really wanted. In the photo below, it’s the lighter bird with the black mask.
It was difficult to believe that we’d packed so much into just two days of birding. The group trip report contains 125 species. I gained 17 life birds, and Sandra, who has birded far more extensively than I have, including recently in nearby Argentina, added six lifers. Uruguay had started as an easy add-on to our South American itinerary, but it had quickly contributed some captivating highlights to our trip.
Birding for Life 