RESERVA DON LUIS
Esteros del Ibera
We purchased Reserva Don Luis in April 2010 after searching for 2 years for a suitable place for a reserve. We have had to work hard to restore this former cattle ranch to its natural state.
It consists of 1600 hectares of grassland/wetland and several small woods. We have many endangered Marsh deer grazing on our land and often see Capybaras in the wet areas. The ponds to the south are full of Spectacled Caymans and in the woods we see Howler Monkeys, Gray Foxes, Armadillos, Crab-eating Racoons and Geoffroy's cats. We encountered about a dozen Strange-tailed Tyrants on the reserve in the winter - females and juvenile males. They stayed around until September but since then we have not seen them. We have now had 3 sightings of Neotropical Otters and finally have some pictures from the camera traps.
The Marsh Deer continue to grace our garden and are particularly abundant at the moment as everything is very dry and they are looking for water. Rosita, the tame Marsh Deer appears most days and is very partial to bread and pizza base. We discovered a new lake in the south of the property in September which was brimming with Caiman and I have never seen so many Black-crowned Night Herons (mainly juveniles) together in one place before. It is sufficiently dry to make another attempt to get to the lake and try out our new kayak. This may prove to be quite exciting as the lake is brimming with Caymans.
We are not sure if the two Jabirus who built a nest in the north ever produced young as it was too wet to get anywhere near until very recently, and anyway we did not wish to disturb them. We have however seen several juveniles around so looks like some breeding was successful. The Roseate Spoonbills have now left us which is a bit of a surprise as it is middle of summer, but presumably is because of the drought.
Roseate Spoonbills in October
We are spending more and more time at Don Luis, beginning programs to research the fauna in the area. We have recently planted more native trees and expect the small copses to self seed now the cattle are (more or less) gone. We have also planted flowering and fruiting plants around the house to attract Fruit bats and Hummingbirds (although our tame Marsh Deer is rather partial to these plants). We will not make any drastic changes but will have to manage the land to some extent. This may include some burning of small areas from time to time in autumn/winter although this will not be done in the south where we hope the Strange-tailed Tyrant will breed. We have recently purchased a tractor which is now at the reserve and has cut some fire prevention paths in the long grass. The tractor is also useful for transporting posts and wire for our new fences which previously we had to do on horseback.
Lapachos in September
Recently discovered Lake at Don Luis
Marsh Deer - male juv
The reserve is situated in the northern part of the Esteros del Ibera, about 50km to the southwest of a town called Ituzaingo. We are only about 40km from the Paraguayan border and the climate is sub-tropical.
At first we were plagued by cattle from 3 different neighbours and it took a lot of diplomatic effort to return these animals to their owners. We have repaired several hundreds of metres of our fence but still have more to do. In July we spent many man hours repairing the fence to our south where our neighbours cows were getting in as our grass is so much better than what they have. Our neighbour from the NE finally agreed our boundries after a year of negotiating and we have erected about 1km of fencing plus repairing some of the old fence as a temporary measure. His cows are now finally out of the reserve!
Spectacled Cayman
The average rainfall in this region is about 1500mm, but it spite of this we sometimes get many months of drought due to the intense heat of the summer months as is the case at the moment (Jan/Feb). In September, the area was in serious drought but fortunately we had plenty of rain in October (over 460mm) and enough in November. The area is once again affected by La Nina which brings drought and we are desperate for rain to fill our lagoons and ponds and keep the fish alive which maintain most of our predators. Also there is always a risk of fire when it is so dry. As a fire prevention measure we have cut several wide paths in the long grass to act as barriers.
The only way to get around the property in an environmental manner is on horseback and last year we bought 4 local horses which have settled in very well. We are looking for another 2 though as it is hard work for these horses. Unfortunately most of the local horses are infected with anaemia (the horse's equivalent to AIDS) and although we have taken blood tests from about 6 horses so far, they are all infected, and therefore not suitable.
Our Ranger Gomez with our 4 horses
We have constructed 2 wooden houses for use by our ranger and ourselves, the larger one being available for visiting biologists, researchers and conservationists. They are both powered by solar pv and solar thermal which is functioning successfully in general.
Below is the smaller house for our ranger with its own solar pv system. We also have a windmill which pumps water to the surface as a back up to our solar water pump.The water level varies between half a metre and four metres below the surface and our bore hole only had to go down to 18m to guarantee clean, clear water.
Here is pic of Rosita - our tame Marsh Deer
Aerial shot of Don Luis after a good rainfall.
We have a family of 7 Black Howler monkeys in the small wood behind the main house and sometimes one wakes up to a cacophany of sound from these creatures. We appear to have a family of these shy creatures in each of our small woods so, on occasion, can hear a multi sterio chorus of sound, for example just before it rains.
Howler monkey (female)
Tropical Screech Owlets at Don Luis
Permanant water at Don Luis (although it is a lot lower at the moment)
