Day 29: 15 September 2017 – Reserva Proyecto Tagua – Fortín Toledo
A cool and overcast day, poor for photos. Early in the morning we dropped in to a nearby park at Reserva Flor del Chaco where we saw a small feline jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), also known as the eyra.
A jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), photo from Wikipedia
Despite the poor weather the Reserve was a wonderful place for birding and wildlife in general – an oasis of calm and landscaping with easy to navigate paths and more openings into the forest. Caroline enjoyed chatting to Marilyn (part owner of the estancia with her husband) and found some female company refreshing after three days with men whose enthusiasm is to collect lists of things!
Exhibits from the Natural History section of the Filadelfia museum
Then into Filadelfia, where we spent a while at the town museum. This was divided in sections and was very comprehensive: well displayed too, in its own park. It had an excellent natural history division, with good taxidermy of local species; also an interesting history of ‘Mennonite immigration’ and lots of bits and pieces that once belonged to the early settlers.
From there we drove to a scientific research station (Reserva Proyecto Tagua – Fortín Toledo) where we are to stay two nights. This was something of a treat and required special permission, so we were somewhat privileged. The Reserve was very remote but we appreciated the isolation. We arrived in time for a late lunch.
Sat on the verandah with a cold beer and watched the monk parakeets build their nests. They build large nests dangling from branches with thorny twigs. They build as a group but have their own individual apartments within. Ulf described now the indigenous folk know exactly when the young are plump enough to eat and will set fire to the nest, bringing it down and cooking the young in the process!
After lunch we walked around the reserve and saw lots of peccaries. There are three kinds in the research station: collared (Pecari tajacu), white lipped (Tayassu pecari) and the much rarer Chaco peccary (Catagonus wagneri).
The whole area was very dry, and most of the lagoons and pools had dried up. Birdwise, we caught a glimpse of a crested gallito (Rhinocrypta lanceolate), a tapaculo, a rare find and we just saw a few dark feathers in the distance.
Supper was again excellent – it really is a miracle how Ulf gets such good results from a single ring and some battered old pans. Beer was available too, and as we felt somewhat exhausted we declined the opportunity for another night walk, postponing it for tomorrow night.
Caroline kept evening vigil on the nest of a funnel spider, attempting to catch a photo as it flashed out and back to grab its moth supper.