Villa Carlos Paz

 When we landed in Cordoba, Argentina, our prearranged ride was about an hour late, which created the perfect opportunity for me to bird the grounds around the airport. I was ecstatic to find a Scimitar-billed Woodcreeper and these adorable Lark-like Brushrunners! 

We headed west to Villa Carlos Paz, a town anchored by a lake called Lago San Roque.

When we arrived to the house we had reserved, the host said the last person hadn't left yet, so she walked us across the street to the Costa Bonita and arranged for us to stay our first few nights there. Kinda weird, but they have a pool, so we just went with it. It's a pretty place with a great view.

I could scope birds on the lake from my window, but I found lots of great birds just sitting on the patio.

Brown-chested Martin (below)  Campo Flicker (below)

Brown Cacholote (above)  Chimango Caracara (below)

The downtown area has some nice restaurants and cute shops, like this art store with colored pencils on the front. 

This was interesting... This is the restroom in a building that contains multiple food vendors and dining areas. You can see the sinks and mirrors on the right, and there are stalls on either side of the couch. There is no division between men and women, anyone uses any stall.

We ate a couple times at Bravo on the lake. Check out the huge sampler platter!

From here we could see our place on the opposite side of the lake. Our first place is to the left of the tallest building. Our second place is the green house on the far left edge.

From here it's a lovely walk along the lake to the park. See more about that in the next post.

This bridge, Puente Uruguay, is so colorful at night. You can even see it from our place. Cars drive on top and pedestrians walk thru the rainbow on the lower level. Fun!

We moved over to the house we had reserved, and it came with dogs, haha.

And still a great view!

A friend suggested this small Vortex scope for traveling. It's worked really well for me and fits in my backpack. 

Monk parakeets were nesting right outside our door. I found this Brown-capped Redstart and a Glittering-bellied Emerald in the yard (both pictured below).

One day we went back to Cordoba and walked thru Plaza del Bicentenario and Parque Sarmiento.

A few minutes before heading back to Villa Carlos Paz, I spotted a bird I had been hoping to see. Right on a busy downtown street corner were two Guira Cuckoos!