CHILE
by Gruff Dodd
9th
November – 24th November 2002
Gruff
Dodd, 2 Clos Tawe, Barri, Bro Morgannwg, Cymru/Wales;
Gruff@doddg.freeserve.co.uk
Participants
– Clive Hurley, Eleanor Hurley, Gruff Dodd, Sara Dodd
Introduction
and strategy
Chile
was a destination which Sara and I had fancied for many years – the
combination of good birding with lots of Chilean and Patagonian endemics, and a
modern infrastructure combined with superb scenery added up to a total
experience which seemed hard to beat.
Our appetites were whetted further by a visit to Ecuador in September
2001, our first South American trip, which included some high altitude Andean
birding.
In
November 2000, while birding along the roadside in Valle Nacional, Veracruz,
Mexico we met Clive and Eleanor Hurley from Scotland, birded together for a
couple of days, and stayed in touch thereafter.
When I wrote to them to ask if they might be interested in a Chilean
trip, they agreed immediately, and so the trip was born.
We
decided to cover three distinct areas of Chile – the central part of the
country, between Santiago and Concepcion, Chilean Patagonia starting from Punta
Arenas, and the extreme north around Arica.
The trip was a great success – we recorded nearly 250 species in just
12 days’ birding, an excellent total for this country, and saw the large
majority of our target species, thanks largely to the superb local guiding we
enjoyed.
Chile
was a wonderful destination, and deserves to be high on every birder’s list of
planned destinations.
Forget any preconceptions you may have of Chile being a third world
country - it is extremely safe and modern, with an excellent transport
structure, good cheap accommodation and food, a number of high quality local
guides and some of the best scenery you will ever see.
And of course there are the birds – you won’t rack up a huge list in
Chile (our total of 245 species was a wonderful achievement by our guides), but
the quality makes up for this.
Not only are there a large number of Chilean and Patagonian endemics, but
you have the chance to see such magical species as Inca Tern, Magellanic Plover,
Diademed Sandpiper-Plover and Torrent Duck.
The
biggest problem, especially on a relatively short trip such as ours, is deciding
which sites to visit.
This certainly caused us some headaches during the planning stages, and
in hindsight, we might have been better advised to have tried to cover two areas
rather than three (Clive and Eleanor also added a few days around Puerto Montt
to the end of their trip) given the limited time we had available.
However, this was easier said than done.
We
were reasonably satisfied with the amount of time we spent in both the far north
and southern Patagonia – 4 days in each was a bit of a rush, but thanks to our
guides we managed to see most of the specialities, and we would probably have
needed several more days to find the remaining few missing species.
We also loved both areas and would certainly not have wanted to leave
either area out of our trip.
The
area where we struggled most for time was Central Chile, where we missed several
of the endemics and near-endemics.
In hindsight, it might have been better for us to have omitted our long
and time-consuming trip down to the Concepcion area, and spent more time in the
Santiago area, which would have increased our chances of finding Crag Chilia,
White-throated Tapaculo etc.
However, had we done so we would not have seen some of the best birds of
the trip such as Des Murs’ Wiretail, Rufous-legged Owl and Chucao Tapaculo!
Acknowledgements
Many
thanks to Peter Lonsdale, who kindly sent me all the way from Canada copies of
some older but extremely useful trip reports, annotated with his own sightings.
Thanks also to Jon Hornbuckle for sending me a copy of his tape of some
of the trickier species, which proved very useful.
We
owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our guides in Chile – Ricardo Matus,
Gonzalo Gonzaléz, Michel Sallaberry and Christian Gonzaléz who worked so
tirelessly to find us wonderful birds throughout our trip.
As
usual a lot of people helped with advice and suggestions while planning the trip
– many thanks to Allen Chartier, Alvaro Jaramillo, Antonie Meiring, Barry
Wright, Bjorn Johansson, Bo Beolens, Clifford Miles, Daan Sandee, David Donsker,
Felix Jachmann, Gail Mackiernan, Gunnar Engblom, Ian Lewis, Jim Hully, Jim
Yurchenco, John McAllister, John Penhallurick, Joseph Morlan, Murray Lord, Peter
Browne, Peter Lonsdale, Raman Athreya, Ray Belding, Ron Johns, Steve Dark, Terry
Witt and Volker Dierschke.
Finally,
Sara and I would like to thank Clive and Eleanor for being such brilliant
company throughout the trip – can’t wait to do another trip with you!
Getting
there
Gruff
and Sara flew from London Heathrow (LHR) to Santiago de Chile (SCL) via Madrid
(MAD) with Iberia.
Clive and Eleanor flew from Edinburgh to SCL via Frankfurt with
Lufthansa.
All flights were booked on-line through Opodo http://www.opodo.co.uk,
mailto:contact@opodo.co.uk, tel 0870 241 7051) and both routings cost UKP 515
each, including taxes – quite a bit more expensive than what I was being
quoted when I first looked 12 months previously.
The
Iberia flight times were scheduled to be as follows:
Outwards:
Depart LHR 08.11.02 19:15, arrive MAD 08.11.02 22:30
Depart
MAD 08.11.02 23:45, arrive SCL 09.11.02 09:30
Return:
Depart SCL 23.11.02 14:15, arrive MAD 24.11.02 06:55
Depart
MAD 24.11.02 09:15, arrive LHR 24.11.02 10:35
However,
Iberia managed to make a complete mess of the whole thing, resulting in our
leaving LHR 4 hours late, missing our connection in Madrid, and having to spend
24 hours in a hotel waiting for the next flight – extremely frustrating.
Iberia behaved pathetically throughout the whole time – throughout the
7 hours we spent at LHR they refused to confirm whether or not we would make our
connection, never apologised once during the whole delay period, and we have
still not received any official explanation of why the problem arose.
We
have heard that they are having serious problems with their computer system, and
had been for a couple of months before our trip, and as a result many of their
flights were experiencing difficulties – the one before ours to Madrid
actually got cancelled.
We shared our Madrid hotel with some Johannesburg-bound passengers who to
our knowledge had to wait for at least 36 hours for their onward journey.
As
a result of this experience, I would be very reluctant to trust Iberia again in
the future – I accept that every airline has problems occasionally, but the
way it was handled was both amateurish and patronising – all they seemed
interested in doing was pointing out to us that they were paying for our stay in
Madrid, as if we were supposed to be grateful when what we really wanted to do
was complete the trip for which we had paid.
Clive
and Eleanor’s flight with Lufthansa also had a few problems but got into SCL
at 11:30 on 9.11.02.
On 23.11.02 they went on from Santiago to spend a few more days in the
Puerto Montt and Chiloé area before returning home.
Try
to get a window seat for the flight into Santiago de Chile – some of the best
views from a plane that you will ever see!
Travelling
around
We
travelled between the three main areas visited by taking internal flights with
LanChile. All were booked on-line in advance – e-mail -
mailto:sales@www7.lanchile.com,
web site – http://www21.lanchile.com/english/un/planifique/compra/index.htm
Flights taken were as follows:
Santiago
– Punta Arenas – cost CLP 143,668 (UKP 140) each
Outwards:
13.11.02 – Depart SCL 19:00, arrive Punta Arenas 23:20 via Puerto Montt
Return:
18.11.02 – Depart Punta Arenas 07:40, arrive SCL 11:55 via Puerto Montt
Santiago
– Arica – cost CLP 129,118 (UKP 126) each
Outwards:
18.11.02 – Depart SCL 14:00, arrive Arica 17:30 via Iquique. Return: 22.11.02
– Depart Arica 18:50, arrive SCL 22:05 via Iquique in marked contrast to
Iberia, LanChile were extremely professional and efficient throughout, and the
whole process was very easy and convenient.
We
had booked guides in each of the areas we visited, and they also provided
transport, so we didn’t have to worry about making our own way around.
More details are given in the Bird Guides section.
We’d
originally arranged self-drive car hire around Arica, and the best deal I found
by far was with a very helpful local company called Lys Car Rental – USD 59
per day for a group B car.
Lys also has offices in other major cities in Chile.
E-mail - mailto:rent@lys.cl, web site –
http://www.lys.cl
Whether
or not you need 4WD really depends on the areas you plane to visit.
We didn’t have 4WD in the Punta Arenas area, and had no problems
visiting all the areas – some of the roads are untarred but generally
driveable in a 2WD without any real difficulty.
The same was true of most of the areas in the north, including the drive
over to Surire, although some of the tracks around Parinacota and Cotacotani
would not have been passable in a saloon car.
The
biggest problem areas were in the centre- the coastal areas as well as
Farellones were fine by 2WD, but I believe that El Yeso (which we didn’t
visit) needs 4WD.
Nahuelbuta definitely needed 4WD during our trip – the access road was
pretty rough but probably passable, but some of the tracks within the park were
very rutted and muddy.
The side road we took to the right off the road from Chillán to Termas
de Chillán would also have been very difficult without 4WD, and the road into
Los Cipreses would also have been no fun in a saloon car.
Petrol
was widely available throughout the area we visited, at a cost of c. CLP 440
(UKP 0.40) per litre.
There are no petrol stations between Arica and Lauca NP, and a standard
tank may not hold enough petrol to get there and back and allow local driving.
Car rental agencies in Arica are used to this and will, on request,
provide you with a spare fuel tank – ask in advance.
In you’re stuck it is possible to obtain petrol in Putre, at a building
opposite the grocer’s in the middle of town, but it involves siphoning it from
plastic containers into the tank of your car, which is awkward, and I don’t
know how reliable is the supply.
We
also caught a ferry from Punta Arenas to Porvenir on Tierra del Fuego on one
day.
These sail just once per day during this summer period – during our
visit the sailing from Punta Arenas was at 09:00 (09:30 on Sundays), and
returned from Porvenir at 14:00 (13:00 on Saturdays, 17:00 on Sundays).
Please note that there are no sailings on Mondays.
The
crossing, which takes about 2.5 hours each way, cost CLP 22,300 (UKP 21) per car
and CLP 3,700 (UKP 3.40) per passenger each way.
Only single tickets are available, and advance reservations are required
for vehicles.
For vehicle crossings you must also turn up an hour before departure, in
each direction.
Contact the ferry company – tel +56 (61) 218100, fax +56 (61) 212126,
e-mail – mailto:tabsa@entelchile.net
There
is an alternative, cheaper, more frequent and much shorter ferry service from
Primera Angostura (170 km north of Punta Arenas) – cost CLP 10,000 (UKP 9) per
car, CLP 1,200 (UKP 1.10) per passenger each way.
This is operated by the same company as the Punta Arenas – Porvenir
crossing.
It is however too short for serious seawatching.
Bird
Guides
We
were extremely lucky during this trip in securing the services of several
absolutely top-quality bird guides:
Our
guide for 4 days in the far south was Ricardo Matus.
Contact details – tel +56 (61) 211292 home, +56 (61) 241504 cell,
e-mail - mailto:rmatusn@entelchile.net or
mailto:natura@arkapatagonia.com.
He charged us USD 110 (UKP 73) plus costs per day for guiding, and rented
on our behalf a 7-seater minivan for USD 85 (UKP 57) per day, which was
extremely good value – car hire in Punta Arenas is considerably more expensive
than elsewhere in Chile.
Ricardo
was absolutely superb, as well as a really nice guy, and found us almost
everything we wanted, despite having only the bare minimum of time available.
Ricardo is currently writing and illustrating a book on the Birds of
Patagonia.
The proofs look great, although it may be some time before it is
published.
Michel
Sallaberry guided us around the Santiago and Concepcion area of Central Chile
for 5 days.
Contact details - tel +56 (2) 242 2598, cell +56 (9) 874 7568, e-mail -
mailto:msallabe@uchile.cl or mailto:labe@abello.dic.uchile.cl.
He charged us USD 150 (UKP 100) per day for guiding, plus a further USD
100 (UKP 67) for transport in his 4WD.
Fuel, accommodation costs etc were extra.
Michel
knew the area around Santiago very well, and while he was less familiar with the
area further south near Concepcion, he nevertheless managed to find most of our
target species.
We did miss a few endemics in the central area, but we could really have
used more time here to work the area properly.
Gonzalo
Gonzaléz, a friend of Michel’s, guided us for 4 days in the far north.
Contact details – tel +56 (9) 377 0446, e-mail - mailto:raraavis@entelchile.net.
He is based in Santiago, and guides all over the country, not just the
north, and can also arrange pelagic trips.
He charged us USD 150 (UKP 100) plus costs per day for guiding, but paid
his own air fare up from Santiago to join us, as he was already guiding another
group in that area just before our visit.
He arranged a Ford Explorer 4WD for us at the unbelievable rate of USD 35
(UKP 23) per day – this is much cheaper than anything we could find
independently, but Gonzalo has local contacts and can therefore obtain superb
deals.
Gonzalo
was again a superb guide – he knew the area around Putre and Arica in detail,
and was able to take us right up to some of the specialities.
He was also a lot of fun, and looked after our non-birding needs with
total professionalism – confirming flights, booking hotels etc.
Gonzalo is currently writing a book on the Birds of Chile with his friend
Daniel Martinez, due for publication in early 2003.
He had the plates with him, and it looks like a real cracker – in a
different league from anything else available at the moment.
Finally,
we hired the services of Christian Gonzaléz for our last morning in Santiago,
in an attempt to find a few specialities, which we had missed.
Contact details – tel +56 (2) 286 1783, cell +56 (9) 741 3854, e-mail -
mailto:falcocgb@netline.cl.
He charged USD 50 (UKP 33) for the morning, and another USD 50 for the use
of his 4WD.
He succeeded on finding us several Moustached Turcas, but we were
unsuccessful in finding Crag Chilias, which were being a bit awkward at that
time.
We
were also given the name of other guides in the areas we visited.
Although we didn’t use them, I have repeated details below in case some
of our guides are unavailable in future:
Claudio
Vidal and Enrique Couve – they run a guiding outfit called Fantastico Sur,
based in Punta Arenas, and have an excellent reputation.
They guide all over Chile. Contact details – tel +56 (61) 226054,
e-mail - mailto:birding@chileaustral.com, web-site
http://www.Chilebirding.com
Jorge
Ruiz – based in Valdivia, but guides throughout the Concepción to Chiloé
area.
Tel +56 (9) 643 7279
Barbara Knapton – lives in Putre, and runs a guiding outfit knows as Birding Altoandino, operating throughout the Arica – Lauca area. Also has accommodation available. Contact details –fax +56 (58) 222735, e-mail - mailto:beknapton@hotmail.com, http://www.birdingaltoandino.com
Please
note that there is no phone or fax service in Putre, and residents therefore
need to complete a 300 km round trip to Arica to collect messages.
Expect delays, therefore, when faxing or e-mailing.
Daniel
Martinez – based in Santiago.
Contact details – mailto:dmp@avesdechile.cl
Costs
and Money
The
local currency is the Chilean Peso (CLP), although many businesses quote in US
Dollars (USD).
The approximate exchange rates against sterling (UKP) at the time of my
visit (which I have used in translating costs throughout this report) were as
follows:
UKP
1 = CLP 1,080
I
took along some USD travellers' cheques, and also used the widely available ATM
machines in large towns and cities.
Credit cards were accepted in hotels, restaurants, shops, petrol stations
etc, although not everywhere.
The Hostería Las Vicuñas in Putre, for example didn’t take credit
cards, and there are no ATM’s in town, so make sure you have enough cash or
traveller’s cheques with you.
Our guides also all required payment in cash.
The
total cost of the trip is estimated at UKP 3,600, for 2 people (UKP 1,800 each),
made up as follows:
International
flights -
UKP 1,030
Domestic
flights -
UKP
532
Car
hire and ferries -
UKP
379
Hotels
and meals -
UKP
794
Guiding
-
UKP
613
Fuel
and incidentals (est.) -
UKP
250
Accommodation
and food
We
stayed at the following places (cost per couple includes the share of the
guide’s cost where applicable), and breakfast was inclusive in all cases:
10.11.02 Hotel Social Club, Angol. Tel +56 (45) 711103. CLP 23,000 per double room plus CLP 15,000 for single room for the guide. Total cost CLP 61,000 (UKP 56 – UKP 28 per couple). A meal in the restaurant cost a total of CLP 20,000 (UKP 20 - UKP10 per couple). Nice room – not luxurious, but comfortable enough with en suite bathroom.
11.11.02 Paso Nevado Hotel, Avenida Libertad 219, Chillán.
Tel +56 (42) 221827 / 237788.
Total cost for 2 double rooms and one single room was USD 96 (UKP 62 –
UKP 31 per couple)
Very nice comfortable rooms, although only one of the doubles was en
suite.
We had an evening meal in an excellent Chinese restaurant (Restaurant Jai Yang) just across the road – great food and fantastic value at CLP 26,600 (UKP 25) for 5 people.
12.11.02 Hotel Irazu, Noruega 6340, Las Condes, Santiago de Chile. Tel +56 (2) 220 5941. Cost USD 34 (UKP 22) per en suite double room (guide returned home). Excellent value for a comfortable secure hotel in the middle of the city. We had dinner in the restaurant downstairs – cost about CLP 10,000 (UKP 9) per couple.
13.11.02
Hotel Tierra del Fuego, Avenida Colón, Punta Arenas.
Tel +56 (61) 226200, e-mail mailto:tierradelfuego@entelchile.net, web-site –
http://www.hoteltierradelfuego.cl
Cost USD 50 (UKP 32) per room (guide lived locally).
This was superb value, thanks to the discount that Ricardo secured for us
– the normal rate is USD 98 per night.
A wonderful hotel, with incredibly friendly and helpful staff, right in
the middle of town.
We didn’t go out for an evening meal, as we had been eating airline
food all evening!
14.11.02
Hostería El Tehuelche, Km 160, Ruta 255, near junction with road to Primera
Angostura.
Tel +56 (61) 198 3002.
Total cost for 2 double rooms and one single room including dinner was
CLP 108,500 (UKP 100 – UKP 50 per couple).
This was a fantastic place to stay – an old ranch house beautifully
preserved, and giving a great insight into early twentieth century colonial life
in Chilean Patagonia.
The room was a little draughty, and wasn’t en suite, but the rest of
the house and it’s wonderful location on it’s own in the middle of the
pampas easily made up for this.
15.11.02
Hostería Mirador del Payne, near Torres del Paine National Park.
Tel +56 (61) 228712 / 226930.
E-mail – mailto:payne@mundosur.com , web-site
http://www.miradordelpayne.com
Double room CLP 112,000 (UKP 104), single CLP 53,420 (UKP 49) per night.
Total cost for 2 double rooms and one single room – CLP 277,420 (UKP
258 – UKP 129 per couple).
We also had an evening meal here at a total cost of USD 120 (UKP 80).
This
was our one big extravagance of the trip, but it was worth the money just for
the stunning views across Laguna Verde to the snow-capped Torres in the
distance.
Furthermore, while expensive, this hostería, which wasn’t actually
within the park proper, was a lot cheaper than the hotels inside the park.
The rooms were superb as well.
16.11.02
Hotel Tierra del Fuego, Punta Arenas
17.11.02
Hotel Tierra del Fuego, Punta Arenas
18.11.02
Hostería Las Vicuñas, Putre.
The hotel doesn’t have any phone connection, but you can contact them
through their office in Arica – tel +56 (58) 228564, e-mail – mailto:ukg@entelchile.net
, web-site –
http://www.chileanaltiplano.cl.
Double room – USD 80 (UKP 52), single USD 55 (UKP 36) per night.
Total cost USD 215 (UKP 140 – UKP 70 per couple).
This rate included dinner, but was still expensive for what it was –
the rooms were OK, but no better than that.
However, it’s apparently better than anywhere else in Putre.
19.11.02
Hostería Las Vicuñas, Putre
20.11.02
Hostería Las Vicuñas, Putre
21.11.02
Hotel Panamericana, Avenida Comandante San Martin 599, Arica.
Tel +56 (58) 254540, fax +56 (58) 231133, e-mail mailto:resarica@panamericanahotels.cl,
web-site http://www.panamericanahotels.cl
22.11.02
Hotel Diego de Almagro (Aeropuerto), Avenida Américo Vespucio Oriente, Santiago
de Chile.
Tel +56 (2) 230 5600, fax +56 (2) 230 5700.
E-mail – mailto:htl.d.almagro@entelchile.net.
Cost USD 90 (UKP 58) per room per night (guide lived locally).
Another great price for an extremely comfortable brand new 4 star hotel
just five minutes from the airport.
Fantastic breakfast included in the price.
Highly recommended.
Don’t confuse it with the other Hotel Diego de Almagro in the city
centre.
The standard of accommodation was generally excellent, even
in quite small towns, and exceeded our expectations.
Prices were variable, but the hotels in Punta Arenas, Santiago de Chile
and Arica were especially good value.
As
for the food, we have rarely eaten as well as we did on this trip.
Supermarkets were very well stocked, resulting in excellent packed
lunches, and food in restaurants was generally very cheap by UK standards, and
the portions enormous.
Both beer and wine were very good, and we quickly developed a taste for
the local speciality, pisco sauro, often served as a welcoming drink on arrival
at your hotel.
Red
tape
None
at all.
Immigration and Customs were very straightforward.
There are a couple of places near the border with Bolivia where you have
to report in at police or army posts, e.g. at Parinacota and Surire, but they
were no problem either.
Weather
The
weather was almost perfect throughout.
November was late spring in most of the country, with dry sunny days but
not too hot.
It was often quite cold in the south, especially when the wind blew,
mainly in the afternoons, and a scarf, hat and gloves proved useful at times.
However, the only time it got unbearably cold was during the ferry
crossing between Punta Arenas and Porvenir, when we periodically retreated to
the warmth of the saloon.
It
was comfortable in the central area, perhaps 20 Celsius during our time there,
although by the time we returned to Santiago de Chile for our flight home, the
temperature had climbed to 35 Celsius.
The north was also dry, with the high altitude making for cold nights and
early mornings, but it warmed up very quickly once the sun came up.
It was also very pleasant in Arica, dry and not too warm.
The light was generally very good, with excellent opportunities for
photographs.
It
only rained twice during the whole trip – a short spell of drizzle in Torres
del Paine on 16.11.02 and a thunderstorm in the Surire area on 21.11.02,
although Clive and Eleanor had a little more rain during their extension to the
Puerto Montt area.
Gonzalo explained to us that while it was spring / early summer in the
rest of the country, it was actually the start of winter in the altiplano around
Lauca and Surire, and the start of the rainy season, which normally arrived in
January / February.
This can be a major problem at that time, with rivers overflowing and
making passage difficult or impossible.
One
last thing to note was that 2002 was an El Niño year, which was causing some
odd weather effects – the rain in Surire was earlier than is normal, and
spring had been late coming in the south.
The central area had also experienced some unseasonal snowfalls in
October that had affected the breeding of some birds.
Health,
safety and annoyances
There
are no inoculations required for Chile, and no risk of malaria.
In fact we didn’t see a single mosquito throughout the trip!
No stomach upsets either, despite drinking the tap water in some places,
although I’m not sure if it’s really safe to drink.
We felt very safe throughout, although I’m sure that Santiago and other
cities have their share of petty crime.
The
biggest problem we encountered was with altitude sickness in the north, probably
caused by the rapid ascent from Arica.
Despite staying the recommended 24 hours at Putre before ascending
further, Eleanor suffered quite badly from altitude sickness on arrival even at
this altitude and spent most of the next day in bed.
While she had recovered by the following day a trip up to Chungará
caused a recurrence of the problem.
Sara
also suffered to a lesser degree, although Clive and I had no problems at all.
The symptoms seemed worse at night (in a confined bedroom with closed
windows), and while the hotel were able to supply oxygen and coca tea to help
alleviate the problem, it wasn’t pleasant.
The
other main risk was of sunburn – the high altitude in the north and ozone
layer problems in the south made this a genuine risk, and necessitated regular
applications of a high factor sun block.
References
Books
Chile
really deserves a much better field guide than the current books on offer, and
fortunately there are at least 3 currently in preparation (by (1) Alvaro
Jaramillo, (2) Gonzalo Gonzaléz and Daniel Martinez, and (3) Claudio Vidal,
Enrique Couve and Jorge Ruiz respectively), as well as another on Patagonia by
Ricardo Matus.
In the meantime, we had to make do with the following:
Birds
of Southern South America and Antarctica – de la Peña and Rumboll.
Not very good, although the best available at present.
The book is based on a previous field guide to the birds of Argentina by
de la Peña, with Chilean and other species added in.
However,
some of the birds illustrated are of Argentinean subspecies, which are very
different to those found in Chile, while others are illustrated badly, or show
incorrect plumage features.. Andean Swift is a good example – the birds in
northern Chile have a very prominent dark band across the lower belly, whereas
the book shows them with clean all white underparts.
Similarly, the recently split Black-throated Flowerpiercer is not
illustrated, and looks completely different from the Grey-bellied Flowerpiercer
shown.
Furthermore,
some species found in the north are completely absent – Grey Gull and Canyon
Canastero for example - and many recent splits are not covered, even as
distinctive sub-species, e.g. the Scytalopus tapaculos, Chilean / Peruvian
Elaenia, Dark-winged Canastero etc.
The
birds of Chile – Araya and Chester.
Useful with good text.
The illustrations are black and white, but good nevertheless.
There is a colour supplement available, but I didn’t get hold of it
before our trip
Birds
of Torres del Paine – Vidal and Couve – very useful little photographic
guide to the birds of the park.
This was on sale in the gift shop at Cerro Castillo, south of the park
entrance.
The
essential guide to birding in Chile – Pearman.
Good for background reading, especially the site checklists.
However many good sites are omitted (e.g. Farellones) as is the whole of
the extreme south of Chile, and other accounts are out of date or contain
errors.
For
example, Gonzalo referred to the dry and wet gorges referred to in Pearman’s
account on Putre the other way around to Pearman, and indeed the area labelled
‘A’ by .Pearman certainly looked the driest of the two we visited. Also, in
the account on the Azapa Valley, the large stretch of flowering shrubs described
by Pearman along the main road was torn down earlier this year.
The book is therefore definitely worth getting, but could really use a
revision.
Where
to watch birds in South America - Wheatley.
Good for background info and preliminary planning.
Chile
- Lonely Planet
Trip reports
These
were primarily obtained from Blake Maybank's excellent on-line repository of
trip reports on the Americas - http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/ns/maybank/Trips.htm
and John Girdley’s site - while others were kindly sent to me directly
from the authors
Chile
–5.12.98 – 18.1.99 – Volker Dierschke
Chile
– 3.11.01 – 19.11.01 – Chris Gooddie
Chile
– El Norte Grande – 1.8.99 – 15.8.99 and 10.11.00 – 24.11.00 – Carlos
Pedrós-Alió
Chile
– 2.3.02 – 3.3.02 – Mark Adams
Chile
and Argentina – 7.10.00 – 26.10.00 – Jon Hornbuckle.
Northern
and Central Chile – 20.2.91 – 6.3.91 – Guy Kirwan.
Chile
– 8.11.92 – 11.12.92 – Steve Howell and Sophie Webb.
Chile
– 23.11.97 – 22.12.97 – Christopher McInerny
Chile
update – 6.11.98 – 8.11.98 – Chris Gooddie
Chile
– 12.8.87 – 20.9.87 – Barry McCarthy.
Chile
– 12.10.98 – 21.10.98 – Todd Mark, Louise Augustine and Pete Shen
Chile
– 7.11.98 – 5.12.98 – Barry Wright.
Chile
– November 1996 – Alvaro Jaramillo
Chile
– 30.10.99 – 20.11.99 – Peter Browne
Chile
– 8.11.01 – 25.11.01 – Burke Korol
Chile
– 16.1.97 – 31.1.97 – David Matson
Chile
– 19.11.01 – 12.12.01 – John Penhallurick
Chile
– 5.1.99 – 5.2.99 – Dave Hanford
Chile
– November 1999 – Terry Witt
Chile
– 31.10.01 – 24.11.01 – David and John Cooper
Chile
– 24.1.98 – 14.2.98 – Jan van der Laan
Chile
– 3.3.00 – Greg Roberts
Argentina
and Chile – July 2001 – Saul Cowen
Chile
– 15.10.00 – 19.10.00 – John van der Woude
Maps
I
used the GeoCenter 1:4,000,000 map of South America – Southern Region when
planning the trip.
The scale is too small for detailed route finding, but in combination
with Pearman’s maps and others in various trip reports it was adequate to let
us know where we were, and of course we were accompanied throughout by local
guides whop knew all the sites.
I
also obtained a good road atlas while in Chile (a gift from Michel!), published
by the Copec petrol company, and saw others used by various people during the
trip.
Itinerary
Sites
visited were as follows:
09.11.02
We should have been spending the day birding the Andes around Farellones and El
Yeso, but thanks to Iberia’s ineptitude, we spent the day kicking our heels in
a Madrid hotel while Clive and Eleanor enjoyed the mountain birding!
10.11.02
Finally arrived at Santiago de Chile, met Michel, Clive and Eleanor, and drove
south to Angol (580 km - 8 hours).
Evening birding on road up to Nahuelbuta NP
11.11.02
Most of the day spent birding Nahuelbuta.
Evening drive to Chillán (175 km – 2 hours).
12.11.02
Morning birding the Chillán Valley, up towards Las Termas de Chillán, drive to
Rancagua (325 km – 4 hours), then side-trip to Reserva Nacional Río Los
Cipreses (1.5 hrs each way).
Drive to Santiago de Chile
13.11.02
Coastal loop trip – Santiago de Chile to Leyda, Rocas de Santo Domingo, San
Antonio, Laguna El Peral, El Tabo and Algarrobo.
Return to Santiago de Chile (1 hour) to catch evening flight to Punta
Arenas.
Total mileage 270 km
14.11.02
Morning birding road south from Punta Arenas towards Fuerte Bulnes and Puerto de
Hambre.
Afternoon trip to penguin colony at Seno Otway.
Drive to area around Primera Angostura area near Punta Delgada, evening
birding that area.
Total mileage c. 300 km
15.11.02
Morning birding road towards Parque Nacional Pali Aike.
Drive to Torres del Paine.
Late afternoon and birding Los Baguales valley.
Return to hotel near Laguna Verde.
Total drive c. 500 km
16.11.02
Day birding Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.
Drive back to Punta Arenas.
Total drive 350 – 400 km.
17.11.02
Ferry crossing from Punta Arenas to Porvenir.
Visit to Laguna de los Cisnes and to a Magellanic Horned Owl stakeout,
then return ferry crossing to Punta Arenas.
18.11.02
Early morning flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago de Chile, and onwards to
Arica.
Met by Gonzalo, and travel to Putre, with short birding stops en route in
Lluta Valley.
Drive 150 km (3+ hours)
19.11.02
Morning birding dry and wet gorges at Putre, afternoon trip to Parque Nacional
Lauca, visiting Las Cuevas, Chucuyo, Parinacota and Cotacotani areas.
Drive 100 km
20.11.02
Morning trip again to Parque Nacional Lauca, same areas as yesterday plus
Chungará.
Late afternoon visit to Putre wet gorge.
Drive 100 km
21.11.02
Day trip to Monumento Natural Salar de Surire.
Drive 300 km, all along very dusty dirt roads – 3-4 hours each way.
Drive down to Arica (150 km – 2 hours).
Late evening birding on beach.
22.11.02
Arica sea front, Playa Corazones, visit to Inca Tern roost in Arica port, San
Miguel de Azapa, Lluta River mouth, Lluta valley, return trip to San Miguel de
Azapa.
Flight from Arica to Santiago
23.11.02
Morning trip to Farellones with Christian (100 km return trip – 1.5 hours each
way due to twisting nature of road).
Flight home for Gruff and Sara, internal flight to Puerto Montt for Clive
and Eleanor
Details
of these sites are given in the Daily Account section.
Daily
account
Sunday
10 November 2002
Sara
and I finally arrived in Santiago at around 11:00, after a 24 hour delay in
Madrid thanks to the incompetence of Iberia Airlines, immediately met Clive,
Eleanor and Michel and set off on our long journey south to the town of Angol.
As with any visit to a totally new part of the world, even the roadside
birds were lifers, and we quickly notched up such common Chilean birds as Southern
Lapwing, Long-tailed Meadowlark, Chimango
Caracara, Snowy and Great
Egrets, Chilean Swallows and Eared
Doves as well as our first Chilean endemic, a Chilean
Mockingbird.
Comfort
stops en route added Southern House Wren, Grassland
Yellow-Finch and Picui Ground-Doves as well
as providing better viewing opportunities of some of the species seen earlier,
before we finally arrived at Angol a couple of hours before dusk.
We
booked into our hotel for the night, where Sara and Eleanor elected to stay and
freshen up while Michel, Clive and I drove a few kilometres up into the hills
towards Nahuelbuta to see what we could find before it got dark.
Our destination was a left to right hairpin bend maybe 7 km from Angol,
where a densely-vegetated stream cut across the road, and this proved a very
productive stop.
We
had no sooner got our of the car before finding a lovely Thorn-tailed
Rayadito in the roadside bushes, the first of many seen in the Nahuelbuta
area.
A pygmy-owl imitation brought in several more of these birds, as well as Fire-eyed
Diucon and Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch.
We next switched our attention to the several species of Tapaculo found
in this area – tape playback almost immediately produced a superb Chucao
Tapaculo, which gave sporadic excellent views – these proved to be very
inquisitive birds, reacting not only to tape playback of their own calls but to
pretty much any Tapaculo species.
A
Dusky Tapaculo was not nearly so obliging, keeping
largely to the middle of the vegetation, but eventually gave brief but good
views on the edge of a bush.
A Green-backed Firecrown showed up as were
leaving, and a brief roadside stop on the way back down resulted in the first Common
Diuca-Finches of the trip.
Birds
recorded
Santiago
to Angol – American Egret, Snowy Egret, Chimango Caracara, Southern Lapwing,
Eared Dove, Picui Ground-Dove, Chilean Swallow, Southern House Wren, Chilean
Mockingbird, Grassland Yellow-Finch, Long-tailed Meadowlark
Angol
– Green-backed Firecrown, Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Chucao Tapaculo, Dusky
Tapaculo, Fire-eyed Diucon, Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch
Monday
11 November 2002
We
were to spend today at Parque Nacional Nahuelbuta, but firstly we made another
stop at last night’s spot, to allow Eleanor to see the main birds, and we had
soon enjoyed more views of Common Diuca-Finch, Chucao and
Dusky Tapaculo as well
as Chilean Elaenia and Black-chinned
Siskin.
More frustratingly, an Ochre-flanked Tapaculo was calling persistently
for about 20 minutes from right next to the side of the road, but despite
virtually climbing into the same bush as the bird, we just couldn’t see it!
Approaching
Nahuelbuta, a roadside spot produced some nice birds, starting with several
Austral Blackbirds, Southern House Wren and many
Thorn-tailed Rayadito, followed
by another Chucao Tapaculo.
We tried to tape a Magellanic Tapaculo into view, eventually getting the
poorest of views, but given its relatively uninteresting plumage and the fact
that it had called throughout this time, we were pretty satisfied.
Next up was a pair of superb White-throated
Treerunners, which gave
excellent and prolonged views, while a small flock of Austral Parakeets
flew
over, one bird perching on a low branch allowing scope views.
Driving
further towards the park entrance, Michel spotted a Chilean Pigeon perched in a
tree to the left of the road, the only one we saw throughout the whole trip, and
a Chilean Flicker was also seen, before we made one of many stops on hearing a
Striped Woodpecker calling.
Unfortunately, as was the case throughout the trip, the bird called just
once and wasn’t located.
However, this was soon forgotten when Michel found a Des Murs’
Wiretail,
and although highly skulking, we eventually got good views of this
highly-desired bird.
Commoner
species seen en route to the park entrance included Chilean
Mockingbird,
Chimango Caracara, Eared Dove and Black-chinned
Siskin, but the highlight came
just as we arrived at the entrance of the park when a rail-like bird ran across
the road, and was watched working its way down the slope into the trees – a
Black-throated Huet-huet – fantastic!
Driving
into the park proper, the birding didn’t seem quite as good as that on the
entrance road.
The main target here was Magellanic Woodpecker, which Michel had found
fairly reliably here in the past, but we had no luck with this bird.
A Southern Caracara glided by, and a pair of
Tufted Tit-Tyrants gave bad
views, while a Patagonian Tyrant was an excellent find, calling high in the
trees above our heads.
Two other Striped Woodpeckers called but didn’t show, and a prolonged
attempt at taping out an Ochre-flanked Tapaculo eventually produced good but
very brief views for Eleanor and very bad views for Clive and myself.
Exiting
the park, we wound our way back to Angol, bringing the car to a sharp halt when
we heard a Magellanic Woodpecker calling from some trees next to the road – we
reckon it was no more than fifty metres back from the road.
Sadly, despite waiting here for about half an hour, we never managed to
see the bird, and its calling faded further and further into the distance.
A
comfort stop at a bridge over a stream produced a perched Red-backed
Hawk, and a
Dark-bellied Cinclodes flushed from under the bridge.
Back in the car, it was time to leave Nahuelbuta behind and drive to our
overnight stop at Chillán, at which we arrived shortly before dusk, and booked
into a very nice small hotel for the night.
Birds
recorded
Angol
- Chucao Tapaculo, h Ochre-flanked Tapaculo, Dusky Tapaculo, Chilean Elaenia,
Common Diuca-Finch, Black-chinned Siskin
Nahuelbuta
– Red-backed Hawk, Southern Caracara, Chimango Caracara, Southern Lapwing,
Chilean Pigeon, Eared Dove, Austral Parakeet, Chilean Flicker, h Striped
Woodpecker, h Magellanic Woodpecker, Dark-bellied Cinclodes, Des Murs’
Wiretail, Thorn-tailed Rayadito, White-throated Treerunner, Black-throated
Huet-huet, Chucao Tapaculo, Ochre-flanked Tapaculo, Magellanic Tapaculo, Chilean
Elaenia, Tufted Tit-Tyrant, Patagonian Tyrant, Fire-eyed Diucon, Chilean
Swallow, Southern House Wren, Chilean Mockingbird, Common Diuca-Finch, Austral
Blackbird, Black-chinned Siskin
Tuesday
12 November 2002
The
main target for today was Chestnut-throated Huet-huet, which is possible in the
Chillán Valley, up towards Termas de Chillán.
Michel seemed a little unsure of the exact place for these birds so we
spent some time driving around looking for the correct side road, during which
we were all jerked awake when a small dark bird shot out from the side of the
road and disappeared under the car – a huet-huet?
Fortunately,
we couldn’t see any sign of a corpse when we stopped, although there were
several feathers on the road, so we may have clipped it.
Needless to say there was no sign of the bird, and no others were seen,
so this was one species, which got away, however from the rufous and grey colour
of the feathers, it is at least possible that this was our bird.
We
eventually managed to find out turn-off, but before taking it we stopped to
investigate some small bird activity, which Michel had noticed in trees opposite
the junction.
Sure enough, we soon found what Michel had suspected – an Austral
Pygmy-Owl getting a terrible time from flocks of passerines.
Satisfied
with this sighting, we took the road, a rough dirt track to the right (south),
which dropped steeply down to a riverbed, and proceeded along for several
kilometres towards the valley head.
The habitat looked superb all along here, but sadly we just didn’t have
time to explore it properly – too much ground to cover in too short a space of
time.
Any
disappointment was, however, very quickly forgotten when we realised that an
odd-looking rock at the side of the road was an owl, and even more so when we
realised that it was a Rufous-legged Owl!
This is a seriously difficult bird to see – it is only the second that
Michel had seen in 17 years’ guiding, and to see one at such close range and
in broad daylight is almost unheard of!
We slowly got out of the car, cameras clicking, and crept steadily closer
and closer to the bird, wondering how close it would let us get before flying
off.
The
answer became apparent very quickly – as close as we liked!!
The bird was incredibly tame, allowing us to crouch right next to it, and
only complaining mildly when Michel lifted a wing to check if it was injured.
It didn’t seem in any distress, and appeared well fed – Michel told
us that while they are very difficult to see they do have a reputation for being
tame when found.
In any case, it allowed unrivalled photographic opportunities, which
Clive took to the full, while the rest of us just took in its superb intricate
plumage and savoured the experience.
It
was time to move on, and we did so in the best of spirits, returning to Chillán
to collect Sara from the hotel, before starting on the long drive northwards
towards Santiago, Clive and I taking turns with the driving to give Michel a
rest.
Before arriving back at Santiago, we had one further stop to make, at
Reserve Nacional Río Los Cipreses, turning off the main Santiago road at
Rancagua.
From here we drove eastwards to Coya, and turned off southwards at the
entrance to the large mine towards Termas de Cauquenes, then again to the left
uphill on a dirt road towards the park.
Our
main quarry here was Burrowing Parrot, for which Michel believed he knew a
reliable site, but we made a couple of good stops en route adding Band-tailed
Sierra-Finch, and flushing a pair of Chilean Tinamous.
We arrived at Michel’s spot, and almost immediately found a flock of
eight Burrowing Parrots on an eye-level dead snag – another excellent photo
opportunity.
Note
that this spot was some way before entering the park itself, where the slope
fell away to your left, and before reaching a large deep valley.
From here it was back to the main road, and on to Santiago where we
fought our way through the early evening traffic to our small but comfortable
hotel.
Birds
recorded
Chillán
Valley – California Quail, Chimango Caracara, Southern Lapwing, Rufous-legged
Owl, Austral Pygmy-Owl, Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Austral Thrush, Chilean
Mockingbird, Common Diuca-Finch, Austral Blackbird, Long-tailed Meadowlark
Chillán
to Rancagua – Cattle Egret, Chimango Caracara, Southern Lapwing, Kelp Gull,
Shiny Cowbird
Los
Cipreses – Chilean Tinamou, California Quail, Burrowing Parrot, Band-tailed
Sierra-Finch
Wednesday
13 November 2002
Our
last day in Central Chile was to be spent on a loop between Santiago and the
coast, where we hoped to find a good selection of water birds, and some other
endemic and localised species.
From Santiago we drove south west then west on the highway towards
Melipilla and San Antonio, turning off south-westwards at Leyda.
Our first stop of the day was at a series of ponds near Leyda, where we
quickly amassed a very impressive list of wetland species.
The
first small pond on the left hand side of the road allowed great comparison
opportunities of Red-gartered and White-winged
Coot.
Also present were Spot-flanked Gallinules, several duck species including
Red Shoveler, Chiloé Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal
and Chilean Pintail, as well as
Black-necked Swans and Pied-billed Grebe.
A Cocoi Heron flew in and a group of Grassland Yellow-Finches fed along
the track.
We
then switched our attention to the much larger lake on the right hand side of
the road, which held large numbers of birds.
Several White-backed Stilts fed along the lake shore, a small group of
Yellow-winged Blackbirds flew over and a pair of Correndera Pipits were watched
foraging in some dried grass next to the lake.
On the water were several Great Grebes, and Michel soon found for us a
Lake Duck and a small group of the enigmatic Black-headed
Ducks.
Other common birds included Brown-hooded Gull and
Neotropic Cormorant.
From
Leyda we continued westwards reaching the coast at Rocas de Santo Domingo.
We took a good sandy track down towards the sea, making an impromptu stop
for Plumbeous Rail in roadside wet long grass and a planned stop for a cracking
Spectacled Tyrant, for which this is a regular haunt.
On
reaching the beach, we took advantage of Michel’s truck’s 4WD, and drove
northwards along the shore towards the estuary of the Río Maipo, watching the
roosting Band-tailed and Kelp
Gulls, American Oystercatchers and Whimbrels along
the way.
We got to the estuary mouth, where we found a large flock of Black
Skimmers and Elegant Terns roosting on the spit, while a number of
Peruvian
Pelicans and Franklin’s Gulls floated in the river mouth, and an unexpected
Trudeau’s Tern drifted over.
We
drove back into the town to get some lunch, and then drove around an area of
beautifully maintained suburban gardens, stopping briefly for a White-tailed
Kite, before finding our target - a pair of Rufous-tailed
Plantcutters.
Time
was starting to get on and we still had a number of target birds to try for,
most notably two endemics in the form of White-throated Tapaculo and
Chilean
Seaside Cinclodes, so we pressed on, driving northwards along the coast to San
Antonio.
A brief stop opposite the pier here was productive, with a few distant
Inca Terns around the pier, Peruvian Pelican and
Great Grebes on the sea and
Arctic Tern, Guanay and Red-legged Cormorants flying past, as well as groups of
Southern Sea Lions sunning themselves on buoys in the harbour.
We
next stopped at Laguna El Peral, just south of the village of Las Cruces,
between San Antonio and El Tabo.
The main aim of this stop was to see the fantastic Many-colored
Rush-Tyrant, and this bird performed perfectly, with up to three or four birds
showing and giving great close views – it’s difficult to describe just how
attractive this bird is.
A little further along we found our third coot of the day, a single
Red-fronted Coot close to the shore.
From
here we drove to Cordova, near El Tabo, and took a short road away from the
coast to a scrubby ravine, which Michel has found good in the past for the
highly elusive White-throated Tapaculo.
Tape playback eventually produced a response, but the bird was quite
distant, and we just didn’t have the time to wait for it to perhaps come into
view – very frustrating to dip this bird through sheer lack of time.
It is apparently most likely to be seen here in the early morning, and so
in hindsight a very brief late afternoon visit didn’t appear likely to produce
the bird.
A
few other birds were seen here, most notably a Striped Woodpecker which Clive
and Eleanor saw briefly, but which flew off before I managed to get onto it, as
well as a Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch, but it was generally a very disappointing
stop.
It
was time to move on to our last stop of the day, at nearby Algarrobo, with time
rapidly running out and two highly desired species, Humboldt’s Penguin and
Chilean Seaside Cinclodes still to look for.
At Algarrobo, we drove westwards along the coast to the end of the road
at the yacht club (ask permission to walk around), an area which Michel has
always found very reliable for the cinclodes, and where there is a breeding
colony of penguins.
Unfortunately,
we dipped completely on the cinclodes, and also looked like doing so with the
penguin, until we eventually found one sunning itself on a rock near the sea.
There were plenty of Peruvian Pelicans and Guanay Cormorants breeding on
the rocks beyond the marina (restricted access during the breeding season), but
the penguins didn’t yet appear to be in residence – an El Niño effect,
perhaps?
Our
time had run, out, and it was in a slightly disappointed frame of mind from our
two big dips that we headed back to the airport to catch our evening flight to
Punta Arenas and the next stage of our trip.
With the benefit of hindsight, it would probably have made much more
sense to have done today’s loop in reverse, i.e. start off at Algarrobo and El
Tabo for the difficult White-throated Tapaculo and endemic Seaside Cinclodes,
and then finished off the day at Leyda, where there were relatively few critical
species, and where the time of day was not so important.
In fact, if I repeated the trip, I would probably stay the previous night
in San Antonio, so as to be on site at El Tabo first thing the next morning.
Birds
recorded
Leyda
– Pied-billed Grebe, Great Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, American Egret, Snowy
Egret, Cocoi Heron, Black-necked Swan, Chiloé Wigeon, Chilean Pintail, Cinnamon
Teal, Red Shoveler, Lake Duck, Black-headed Duck, Spot-flanked Gallinule,
Red-gartered Coot, White-winged Coot, Southern Lapwing, White-backed Stilt,
Brown-hooded Gull, Correndera Pipit, Grassland Yellow-Finch, Yellow-winged
Blackbird, Long-tailed Meadowlark
Santo
Domingo – Peruvian Pelican, White-tailed Kite, Plumbeous Rail, American
Oystercatcher, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Black Skimmer, Band-tailed Gull, Franklin’s
Gull, Kelp Gull, Trudeau’s Tern, Elegant Tern, Spectacled Tyrant,
Rufous-tailed Plantcutter
San
Antonio – Great Grebe, Peruvian Pelican, Guanay Cormorant, Red-legged
Cormorant, Brown-hooded Gull, Arctic Tern, Inca Tern, Southern House Wren
Laguna
El Peral – Black-necked Swan, Red-fronted Coot, Brown-hooded Gull,
Many-colored Rush-Tyrant
El
Tabo – h Striped Woodpecker, h White-throated Tapaculo, Fire-eyed Diucon,
Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch, Austral Blackbird
Algarrobo
– Humboldt Penguin, Peruvian Pelican, Guanay Cormorant, Kelp Gull
Thursday
14 November 2002
Today
has to rank right up there among the best birding days I have ever had – great
birding among unforgettable scenery, and another long-held ambition fulfilled
when I cast eyes on the Magellan Straits.
Having
kindly picked us up at the airport late last night, Ricardo Matus collected us
at our hotel early in the morning and took us down to the front for our first
views of the famous Magellan Straits (Estrecho de Magallanes).
A sewage outfall emptying into the water there might not have added to
the scene for most tourists, but we far too enthralled by the flock of Southern
Giant Petrels and Southern Fulmars swarming around and feeding.
Gulls were also much in evidence, with a lovely Dolphin Gull flying over
as well as the commoner Kelp and Brown-hooded
Gulls.
From
Punta Arenas we drove slowly southwards towards Fuerte Bulnes, stopping en route
for good birds.
The first stop produced Magellanic Oystercatchers,
Bar-winged Cinclodes
and the first of many Austral Negritos, while a little further along we found a
small group of Kelp Geese and a pair of Flying Steamer Ducks
on the sea, and
Crested Duck on the shore.
Turning
our eyes inland we soon found some Upland Geese and
Coscoroba Swans on a small
lagoon, before finding one of our main targets, Ruddy-headed Goose
with a flock
of Ashy-headed Geese along the shore of the lagoon.
Ricardo has carried out a lot of research into the endangered
Ruddy-headed Goose, and knows the birds well, so that we found several more
flocks during the course of the morning.
Other birds present here included Chiloé Wigeons,
Southern Caracara and
Black-chinned Siskins.
A
little further along we stopped to enjoy the wonderful experience of watching
Black-browed Albatrosses flying not far offshore – magnificent!
South American Terns were also common here, as well as
Magellan, King and
Blue-eyed Cormorants, and several Peale’s Dolphins
were watched porpoising
among the kelp beds.
A little further along more albatrosses and terns were seen, as well as
Magellanic Diving-Petrels offshore and a group of Dolphin Gulls on some nearby
rocks.
Near
Fuerte Bulnes, the most southerly permanent settlement on mainland South
America, we stopped at a place where Ricardo had recently seen some
Rufous-chested Plovers.
These birds breed on the pampas to the north, and then move southwards to
the shore to spend the winter – it was getting late in the season for them
here, but some had been present the previous week.
A
small group of Chilean Teal were seen on a small pool by the roadside, a
Black-faced Ibis flew in and landed nearby and a Patagonian Sierra-Finch perched
obligingly on a nearby bush, but there was no sign of any plovers.
A flock of Baird’s Sandpipers raised our hopes briefly, before a single
Rufous-chested Plover flushed and flew away high, giving untickable views –
never mind – we’d have to look for this bird on the pampas instead.
From
here we drove to Puerto del Hambre, site of the first European settlement in
this part of the world.
The name translates as Port Famine, grim testimony to the fate of the
first settlers who starved to death when the supply ship which had dropped them
off didn’t return.
This is as far south as the road goes, and produced a group of Blackish
Oystercatchers and some fly over Chilean Skuas, before it was time to return to
Punta Arenas (an hour late!) to collect Sara from the hotel and proceed
northwards.
Our
next destination, having called in at a superb supermarket to buy lunch, was the
famous Magellanic Penguin colony at Seno Otway (Otway Sound), about 50 km from
Punta Arenas.
Having turned off the main road westwards at the sign for the colony and
the mine at Mina Pecket, we stopped periodically to watch things of interest,
which included several Patagonian Gray Foxes, Lesser
Rheas, Black-chested
Buzzard-Eagle, Patagonian Yellow-Finch, Common Miner and, finally, a pair of
Two-banded Plovers just as we reached the car park for the colony.
It
was a fantastic experience being here – the sun was shining but the wind was
blowing a gale – just as we’d imagined this part of the world to be!
We walked out to the colony along the new boardwalk, seeing Austral
Negrito and Short-billed Miner en route, and on arriving at the hide at the end
of the boardwalk soon found a group of half a dozen Magellanic Penguins making
their way through the sand dunes – Sara’s and my world penguin list had now
grown to four species!
Another
great sighting here was a pair of Flightless Steamer Ducks swimming just
offshore, before we headed back to the entrance for our excellent packed lunch.
From here we drove back out towards the main road, stopping along the way
for my first Andean Condor, (another ambition fulfilled!), and
Southern Caracara.
On
reaching the main road, we turned again northwards, driving to Gobernador
Phillipi, where we turned east towards Punta Delgada and the frontier with
Argentina.
Just before Punta Delgada we arrived at a turning to the right (Cinereous
Harrier flying past the car) towards the ferry crossing across Primera Angostura
(First Narrows) to Tierra del Fuego – just on this junction was our hotel for
tonight.
We drove down to the narrows, where we spent a while looking across the
straits, and watching a flock of feeding Magellanic Penguins with attendant
South American Terns and Chilean Skuas offshore, and
King and Magellanic
Cormorants flying past.
From here we returned to the main road, but before getting there took a