El Gran Chaco

Saturday afternoon, we barreled up Ruta 9, which varied between a luxurious two-lane highway with wide shoulders as you would find the the U.S. and a narrow, bumpy, no room for mistakes road. If you ask anyone here, pretty much anything outside of Asuncion is the Chaco, however the vegetation changes markedly as you head north. Outside of the city there are Palm Trees and lush new grasses on the recently burned fields. Further north is dominated by dry scrub forest.

We arrived in Loma Plata, a German Mennonite settlement, much after dark and encircled the dirt road town many time in search of Hotel Mora, modest and clean lodging on the outskirts of town. We checked in for a few hours of sleep before heading out at dawn. The lagoons were still and hour and a half away by dirt road.

The first stop was completely dry. Not a good sign. We passed a few other would be lagoons on our way to Campo Maria, the deepest lagoon. If any of them had water, this one surely would. The property is privately owned by a German Mennonite farmer who grants people access for a small '"park entrance fee".

Indeed, Campo Maria Lagoon held water…..but not much else.

The lagoon is a huge network and there is hardly a bird in sight on the water. From the observation tower, we spot a few stilts and yellowlegs and enjoy watching the Monk Parakeets feeding on the sand. After setting up camp we split up into pairs and explore the shore of the lagoon. We saw 3 Pluvialis (American-Golden) and a flock of 8 C. fuscicollis (White-rumps) and a lost cow. Not even the customary flamingos were calling this lagoon home.

In the evening we again watched the lagoon for signs of activity from the observation tower. We observed tons of songbird activity (I only wish I had time to publish a list! Birder's take note this is the time of year to visit the Paraguay Chaco!) and nearing the last light, saw a flock of 25 Calidris spp. flying N to S to our east. This was good but not enough to justify staying for the week. Though lacking in shorebirds, we enjoyed nightfall as the nighthawks, nightjars and potoos made their presence known. There really is no night like a night in the Chaco. The sounds were amazing, indescribable and fascinating. In addition to the nightbirds above, we were allowed terrific looks at a Pygmy Owl and heard the South-America Screech-owl. It is amazing that the lagoon held such little life while the surrounding forest held so much.

Arriving back to camp, we came upon a tarantula hawk-wasp making short work of a Giant White Knee Tarantula (Acanthoscurria geniculata)! Creepy yet amazing!

Discouraged, yet impressed by the bird life of the Chaco, we headed back to Asuncion yesterday. There are still no birds in the bay. Tomorrow we will make a trip to Misiones before heading out to Argentina where I hear shorebirds have arrived.