Ushuaia

9th March was a long travelling day, finally arriving in Ushuaia at 9pm. We quickly caught a taxi to our hotel & went straight to bed. The next day was spent in town, with little birding done. Plenty of Black browed Albatross & Southern Giant Petrels were in the harbour & just offshore.

On the 11th March we had booked a four hour boat trip visiting a couple of islands in the Beagle Channel. The weather was excellent & it wasn't long before we came across at least five Humpbacked Whales which gave us close up views.

Both Black browed Albatross & Southern Giant Petrels were constantly in view along with Chilean Skuas. A smattering of distant Sooty Shearwaters were also noted. The first island visited held several hundred pairs of Imperial Cormorants, with a few Magellanic Cormorants as well. Around 50 pairs of South American Terns were breeding at one end of the island.

The next small island produced a colony of South American Sea Lions, which were entertaining. Fleeting views were obtained of Fuegian ( Blackish) Cinclodes & a more obliging pair of Grey-flanked Cinclodes.

Then it was time to return to port, with yet more close up views of seabirds along the way. It had been an excellent outing, with great views of nearly everything we saw.

In the evening we visited the area around the Tolkyen Hotel. I has stayed here ten years ago & found it good for birding. A river empties into the sea & the surrounding area was alive with wildfowl feeding on the sea. The highlight though was a confiding Red-chested Dotterel sat on rocks along the shore.

The next day (12th) we drove out of the town up to the Garibaldi Pass, with spectacular scenery all around. It was a nice day out but virtually bird less.

We visited the Tierra del Fuego National Park on 13th March. A spectacular spot just out of town. As soon as we entered Delana spotted five Magellanic Woodpeckers feeding close to the road. We enjoyed unbelievably close views for the next thirty minutes as they went about their business totally unconcerned by our presence. 

We explored the park further & came across a bird party containing Fire-eyed Diucon, which was a nice addition to the list. Later we found Patagonian Tyrant close to the headquarters of the park. 

We finished on a creditable 26 species for the day. 

On 14th March we dropped our luggage off in town had a quick bird watch along the shore & then boarded our ship which was to be our home for the next six weeks! Ushuaia is a great place to spend some time but finding the birds was difficult.