J.P. Myers 1974 Journal Estancia Medalland 35 km S. of Tucumano by road, Pte. de Madariaga, Provincia Buenos Aires, Argentina 1 September (cont'd) mid afternoon - some produce short squalls with increased wind velocity and land, driving rain. The squalls are very local: what I do or don't experience in the Arrayo, for eg at (1526) is not necessarily what is happening at the farmhouse, 36 km away at (130). And it is obviously not the same as that occurring along the coast: it appears as if the coastal strip receives many more and more intense squalls than even we at Medalland do. This morning the squalls gained a new dimension - snow - which fell repeatedly but without lasting effect at the farmhouse north. At (1526) however, there was little rain, and no snow. By evening - just before an 1830 sunset, the sky was essentially cleared - occasional remnants of the clouds remain along the horizon, but these appear to dissipate during the night, till usually at dawn the sky is 0% clouds. Last night, however, there were two brief periods of gentle rain (even though the horizon was clear at dawn). The weather patterns just described are very reminiscent of those we experienced last November and early December. I should mention that total precipitation is rarely more than 3 mm. per day under these conditions. This morning I drove along the Arrayo at 1526 in order to watch interactions within a bandicoot - fuscicollis flock that has been foraging in that vicinity for several days. The wind was such that along this particular stretch of arrayo, its direction was 1 to East of the direction of water flow. This produced a local piling effect of the water along the NE bank, and appeared to clear water away from the SW side. The flock of peeps were distributed along the SW side, with a few individuals infrequently flying over to the other side. This morning there is ice along the sides of the Arrayo (temp went down to -1° very early last evening and remained there). In the vicinity of the tower, in sheltered stretches (e.g.(1314)), ice extends from one side to the other - a "solid" sheet. At 1526 the ice is limited to the edges of the water, particularly the water trapped in 600 hoop points - as the favorite foraging depression of WR's. The total flock was ~ 40 birds. See appendix of Faind's + WR. Also increased aggression within the flock. Shelled species: Vanellus, Erythro, Crepopholus, Ch. fallardi, Tringa op, Calidris bairdii + fuscicollis, Limosa haem, Himantopus, a few Thinocorus. I searched tower flanks & alrededores but found no buffle. nor any Pluvialis. One cinereous horned owl over the Arrayo spotted the flushed peeps.