On Monday 04th, November a team of four – led by Juan Pablo Seco Pon - set out around mid-morning with the goal of commencing a conservation project centered in obtaining estimates of the abundance and productivity of ducks in Las Flores, western Buenos Aires province. That morning the weather was our side, with mild-temperatures at the beginning and increasing by the hour. We visited up to nine lagoons in the search of ducks, sometimes aided with waders, also checking for nests around associated vegetation, shrubs and trees; though no active nests or ducklings were found. Up to 4 species of ducks of interest for the project were spotted that day, including the Yellow-billed Pintail, the Rossy-billed Pochard, and the Silver and Ringed teals.
Other duck species spotted comprised the White-cheeked Pintail and the White-faced Whistling-Duck. One interesting sighting included a nest of the Southern Screamer and of the Black-crowned Night- Heron containing every 4 and 3 eggs, respectively. By the early afternoon, some heavy rain prevented us from continuing in the search of ducks, so it was decided to call the day off, and expect the weather to improve for the following day.
On Tuesday 05th, the team started very early in the morning, expecting that the rains from the previous day did not affect the gravel roads. Fortunately, luck was on our side, and with the driving skills of Javier, one of our local guides, we managed to visit another 11 lagoons. With the same spirit as the previous day, we search not only for ducks of interest but also for their nests or ducklings; but none was found again. Except for a couple of Southern wigeons, the same species of ducks were spotted that day when compared to the previous one. One extra species of duck spotted that day included the Red Shoveler.
During lunchtime, we have some time to wrap up the list of species sighted during our outing. Apart from the ducks latter referred, other bird species (incomplete list) included three species of coots (Red-gartered, White-winged and Red-fronted coot), several species of raptors (White-tailed Kite, Snail Kite, Long-winged Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Southern Caracara, Chimango Caracara, Aplomado Falcon, and American Kestrel), several species of waterfowl (Southern Lapwing, White-necked Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Maguari Stork, Bare-faced Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Southern Screamer, Neotropic Cormorant, Coscoroba Swan, Black-necked Swan, and Plumbeous Rail), Brown-hooded Gull, Snowy-crowned Tern, Monk Parakeet, Guira Cuckoo, Burrowing Owl, Field Flicker, Rufous Hornero, Spectacled Tyrant, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, White-rumped Swallow, White-banded Mockingbird, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Brown-and-Yellow Marshbird, Long-tailed Meadowlark, House Sparrow, European Starling, Picazuro Pigeon, Eared Dove, Picui Ground-Dove, Shiny Cowbird, Bay-winged Cowbird, and the Great Kiskadee.
