We went to Bahia de Asuncion on Thursday (28 September) to see if there were any shorebirds to catch. The day was gray and misty similar to NE Ohio weather. The Bahia was very high and the ground very soggy, where standing water was absent, because it stormed, a wonderful storm, the entire night. We saw 2
T. subruficollis (BBSA), 2
P. dominica (AMGP) and a host of
C. melanotos (PESA),
Tringa spp. and
C. fuscicollis (WRSA), all target species. There were also
C. himantopus (STSA),
H. mexicanus (South American Stilt) and the endemic
C. collaris (Collared Plover) present. Other interesting birds included
P. simplex (Large-billed Tern) and
S. superciliaris (Yellow-billed Tern). The flat of the bahia was full of small worms, presumably what the shorebirds were feeding on.
The drive to the Bahia is very short, it is next to the city. The road that leads to the banding site is lined with shanties of very poor people. Garbage is sometimes piled up next to the road or behind a shanty. There is a very bad smell from the area. Many, dogs, chickens and pigs roam in the road. Along the edge of the bahia there is tons of trash, shoes and glass bottles among other things. It is very different from the rest of Asuncion, which is very nice overall.
In the afternoon (after lunch and siesta) we went shopping for more supplies. The first shop had equipment for "cowboys". There were all kinds of saddle blankets, cast iron cook pots and branding irons. It was magnificent! This is were I got rubber boots. The next place was a steel factory to find posts for the drop nets. I have not seen anything like this is the U.S. We had a hard time finding what we needed but ended up with a couple of pieces of steel that were mis-stamped and the name of another place to try.
Spanish is giving me a headache! Everytime I want to say something, french comes to mind. I had no idea that so much of my seven years of french classes were still with me!
We went to Bahia de Asuncion on Thursday (28 September) to see if there were any shorebirds to catch. The day was gray and misty similar to NE Ohio weather. The Bahia was very high and the ground very soggy, where standing water was absent, because it stormed, a wonderful storm, the entire night. We saw 2 T. subruficollis (BBSA), 2 P. dominica (AMGP) and a host of C. melanotos (PESA), Tringa spp. and C. fuscicollis (WRSA), all target species. There were also C. himantopus (STSA), H. mexicanus (South American Stilt) and the endemic C. collaris (Collared Plover) present. Other interesting birds included P. simplex (Large-billed Tern) and S. superciliaris (Yellow-billed Tern). The flat of the bahia was full of small worms, presumably what the shorebirds were feeding on. 
The drive to the Bahia is very short, it is next to the city. The road that leads to the banding site is lined with shanties of very poor people. Garbage is sometimes piled up next to the road or behind a shanty. There is a very bad smell from the area. Many, dogs, chickens and pigs roam in the road. Along the edge of the bahia there is tons of trash, shoes and glass bottles among other things. It is very different from the rest of Asuncion, which is very nice overall.
In the afternoon (after lunch and siesta) we went shopping for more supplies. The first shop had equipment for "cowboys". There were all kinds of saddle blankets, cast iron cook pots and branding irons. It was magnificent! This is were I got rubber boots. The next place was a steel factory to find posts for the drop nets. I have not seen anything like this is the U.S. We had a hard time finding what we needed but ended up with a couple of pieces of steel that were mis-stamped and the name of another place to try.
Spanish is giving me a headache! Everytime I want to say something, french comes to mind. I had no idea that so much of my seven years of french classes were still with me!
