Observaciones de rdsage

These two owls were roosting in a Maiten (Maytenus boaria) tree.
My friend, who lives next door to this tree regularly observes one Horned Owl roosting in the tree. Today, was the first time that he saw two birds together. He also said that in the previous night (24-25 March) he had heard a horned owl calling - presumably one of these two birds.

I had photographed a Horned Owl in this same tree two years ago (www.inaturalist.org/observations/144110995). Perhaps it was one of the two birds I photographed today?

This was second two-some of Horned Owls that we saw today. The other two were in a Poplar tree near to Laguna de Los Juncos (www.inaturalist.org/observations/207839259).

These two horned owls were roosting in a large Poplar tree in a grove next to the train station. The two birds were separated from one another by a distance of 5-10 meters.

This was the second "duo" of horned owls that we saw today. The other two were close to one another in a Maiten tree on the east side of San Carlos de Bariloche (www.inaturalist.org/observations/208162756).

These ducks were part of a group of about six ducks that were resting on a sand bar or swimming in a small drainage creek along a dirt road. Two of the ducks were Anas flavirostris (not shown) and the rest of them were A. georgica.

This Nightjar was discovered sitting on the lawn in a garden (picture 6). It sat, unmoving, even though it could see people moving around at a distance of 6+ meters in the surrounding garden. It stayed in the garden for at least 8 hours.

In pictures 3,4, and 5 one can see the bristles (modified feathers?) surrounding the bird's mouth. Presumably these help the animal catch flying insects.

This is the first one of these birds that the owners have seen in the garden in nearly 40 years of residence.

These two "chinchemolles" were found at night on a shrub (probably Adesmia volckmanni) (picture 6), along the edge of a dirt road in a dense steppe vegetation (picture 10).

Both animals had some tiny, reddish mites on their bodies - in both animals there was one mite near the base of the left antenna (pictures 2, 3, 7, 8). There were two more mites on the left side of the thorax of the female (picture 2).

This species is dioecious, that is, the male and female reproductive cones are on different plants.

The small, shrubby, male tree is growing in a mixed vegetation of Patagonian steppe and introduced shrubs like Rosa mosqueta (Rosa rubiginosa) and Retama (Cytisus scoparius) (picture 6). There is a female tree about 100 m from this male tree (https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/324273235/square.jpg). They are the only two specimens of this species that I have seen in this area of degraded steppe vegetation.

This male tree has an abundance of small, "typically coniferous" cones (pictures 1-3 ). The cones have not yet opened to start shedding pollen. On the female tree there are no cones that look like they will blossom in the near future - only the fertilized cohort of green and purple cones from previous years (https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/324273235/square.jpg).

There is a white stripe down the center of each needle (seen in pictures 1, 2, 3).

The bark is a light gray and broken into longitudinal strips (picture 4 ).

This species is dioecious, that is the male and female reproductive cones are on different plants.

The small, shrubby tree was growing in a mixed vegetation of Patagonian steppe and introduced shrubs like Rosa mosqueta (Rosa rubiginosa) Retama (Cytisus scoparius) (picture 1). There is a male tree about 100 m from this female tree. They are the only two specimens of this species that I have seen in this area of degraded steppe vegetation.

This particular tree is a female, and has the "juniper berries (pictures ). Pictures 1-2 show how the same tree may have older, dark-purple fruits (i.e., cones) along with newer, green cones at the same time. The opened cones (pictures 4 and 7) show the seeds that are in the center of the cones and how they are surrounded with a pulp. This pulp (of the ripe, purple cones) is eaten by birds and in that way the seeds are spread into the wider area after passing through the digestive tract of the bird.

There is a white stripe down the center of each needle (seen in pictures 3, 5, 6, 9). Pictures 3, 5, 6, and 9 show how both the fruits and the new leaves are tripartite in their structure.

The bark is a light gray and broken into longitudinal strips (pictures 10-11).

This clump of fruiting bodies were coming out of the base of the dead trunk of an ornamental Salix tree in a garden (picture 10).

In the hyphal mass at the base of the stalks there were quite a few invertebrates: (2 species of slugs, Armadillidium vulgare, 1 species of a centipede, and 1-2 species of a millipede).

These are the first specimens of this species of fungus that I have seen in this garden in 20 years.