Patagonia at last.

 

We have arrived in Patagonia, an area of Argentina that we have been trying to get to for two years.

 

The reason why it has taken us so long, is that the other parts of Argentina have been so good. The people have been wonderfully friendly, the wildlife outstanding and the landscapes have ‘blown us away’ – much as they are doing here in Patagonia.

 

Up until a few months ago we were aiming to travel in Patagonia to birdwatch, to film and photograph the wildlife as before. Specifically to continue with our main project to discover why there are so many bird species in South America.

 

But, just before we left the UK, a request from Aves Argentinas, (the pre-eminent bird conservation NGO in the country) changed our plans. We we asked if we wanted to make to make a film about one of South America’s rarest birds, the Hooded Grebe.

 

We said YES, so here we are in Patagonia.

 

Patagonia at last.

Here Paula is hanging on to the car so she isn’t carried away by the ferocious wind.

 

We are staying in a remote biological field station, three hours from the nearest village.

 

and are working with some great people who are helping us a lot.

 

AND we have seen our first Hooded Grebes, a pair. They were displaying to each other on a lake that was quite low down, not on the high plateaux where they breed.

 

We watched the pair of birds all afternoon. They were mixed in with Red Shoveler and Silvery Grebes.

 

The following morning we returned and they were gone.