Birding the Americas Trip Report
and Planning Repository
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CHILE
9 - 24 November 2002
by Gruff Dodd
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 & 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 & Eleanor for being such
brilliant company throughout the trip – can’t wait to do another trip with
you!
Getting there
Gruff & Sara flew from London Heathrow (LHR) to Santiago de Chile (SCL)
via Madrid (MAD) with Iberia. Clive & Eleanor flew from Edinburgh
to SCL via Frankfurt with Lufthansa. All flights were booked on-line
through Opodo (http://www.opodo.co.uk/, e-mail 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 – https://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 - 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 – 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 - rmatusn@entelchile.net
or 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 - msallabe@uchile.cl or msallabe@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 - rara_avis@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 - 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 & 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 - birding@chileaustral.com,
web-site www.chilebirding.com
Jorge Ruiz – based in Valdivia, but guides throughout the Concepción
to Chiloé area.
Email: jruiz@hualamo.com
Celular Phone: 09 6437279
Website: www.hualamo.com
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 - beknapton@hotmail.com,
web-site – 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 – dmp@avesdechile.cl
Costs & 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
UKP 1 = USD 1.54
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 & ferries - UKP 379
Hotels & meals - UKP
794
Guiding - UKP
613
Fuel & 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 tierradelfuego@entelchile.net,
web-site – 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
– payne@mundosur.com, web-site 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 – ukg@entelchile.net,
web-site – 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 resarica@panamericanahotels.cl,
web-site www.panamericanahotels.cl USD 59 (UKP 38) per room – total
cost USD 177 (UKP 57) per couple. This was an absolute bargain – a very
comfortable sizeable hotel right on the beach (Grey Gulls etc from your bedroom
window!), with lovely rooms. Part of a chain, with hotels throughout
Chile.
We also had a superb meal in the hotel restaurant, again very reasonably
priced at USD 90 (UKP 60) for the five of us.
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 – 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.
We didn’t have an evening meal here as we had again eaten well on our LanChile
flight from Arica.
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 & 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 sunblock.
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 & Daniel Martinez, and
(3) Claudio Vidal, Enrique Couve & 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 Pe a 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 Pe a, 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 & Chester. Useful
with good text. The illustrations are black & 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
& 10.11.00 24.11.00 Carlos Pedr s-Ali
Chile 2.3.02 3.3.02 Mark Adams
Chile & Argentina 7.10.00 26.10.00
Jon Hornbuckle.
Northern & Central Chile 20.2.91 6.3.91
Guy Kirwan.
Chile 8.11.92 11.12.92 Steve Howell
& 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 & 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 &
John Cooper
Chile 24.1.98 14.2.98 Jan van der Laan
Chile 3.3.00 Greg Roberts
Argentina & 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 & Sara, internal flight to Puerto Montt for Clive
& 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 Duica-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. 2 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 50 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 river bed, 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 Tinamou. We
arrived at Michel’s spot, and almost immediately found a flock of 8 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, Chiloe
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 2 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 2 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, Chiloe 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 Chiloe 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 Penguin making
their way through the sand dunes – Sara’s and my world penguin list had now
grown to 4 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
track down to an area of wetlands, which was full of birds. Upland
Geese, Chiloe Wigeons and Crested Ducks were common, and also present were
Coscoroba Swans, Chilean Pintails and Red-gartered and White-winged Coots.
A very obliging Least Seedsnipe was watched alongside the car, while Two-banded
Plover and Bar-winged Cinclodes were also seen here.
Two new ducks for the trip were soon added – Silver Teal and a Rosy-billed
Pochard, as well as some distant Silver Grebes, while I was delighted to see
a large flock of Hudsonian Godwits, a wader that has eluded me on several
previous trips to North America. Red Shoveler was also found here, while
a Cliff Swallow perched on the ground within a flock of Barn Swallows got
Ricardo quite excited – they are not common this far south.
Having seen everything we’d hoped for here, and with nightfall approaching,
we left the wetland behind us, and headed into some drier areas in search
of some localised species. Patagonian Mockingbird is one such bird,
found in Chile only in this small area near Punta Delgada, but Ricardo knew
of a reliable site, and sure enough there it was when we arrived – almost
on the specific bush where Ricardo said it would be! Black-faced Ibis
was also seen here.
A little further along, we brought the car to a quick halt when Clive found
a fabulous Tawny-throated Dotterel on a dried-up pool along the road, with
Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch also seen nearby. Our last stop was for the
elusive Band-tailed Earthcreeper – this bird was previously considered an
Argentinean endemic, but has recently been found breeding in this area of
Chile, where it frequents small bushes along the roadside. It didn’t
take long for us to find one, and although it didn’t stay in view for long,
we got great views.
We got a little confused when it apparently reappeared, not looking quite
right, until we realised that this was a different bird, this time a Scale-throated
Earthcreeper. Time to finish for the night, and we headed back to the
hotel extremely satisfied at a superb day’s birding.
Birds recorded
Punta Arenas – Southern Giant Petrel, Southern Fulmar, Brown-hooded Gull,
Kelp Gull, Dolphin Gull
Road towards Fuerte Bulnes – Black-browed Albatross, Magellanic Diving Petrel,
Magellan Cormorant, Blue-eyed Cormorant, King Cormorant, Black-faced Ibis,
Coscoroba Swan, Ashy-headed Goose, Ruddy-headed Goose, Magellan Goose, Kelp
Goose, Crested Duck, Flying Steamer Duck, Chilean Teal, Chiloe Wigeon, Southern
Caracara, Southern Lapwing, Rufous-chested Plover, Magellanic Oystercatcher,
Blackish Oystercatcher, Baird’s Sandpiper, Chilean Skua, Dolphin Gull, South
American Tern, Band-winged Cinclodes, Austral Negrito, Chilean Swallow, Barn
Swallow, Bank Swallow, Patagonian Sierra-Finch, Long-tailed Meadowlark, Black-chinned
Siskin
Seno Otway – Lesser Rhea, Magellanic Penguin, Flightless Steamer Duck, Andean
Condor, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Southern Caracara, Two-banded Plover,
Hudsonian Whimbrel, Common Miner, Short-billed Miner, Austral Negrito, Correndera
Pipit, Patagonian Yellow-Finch
Primera Angostura area – Silvery Grebe, Magellanic Penguin, Magellan Cormorant,
King Cormorant, Black-faced Ibis, Coscoroba Swan, Magellan Goose, Crested
Duck, Chiloe Wigeon, Chilean Pintail, Silver Teal, Red Shoveler, Rosy-billed
Pochard, Cinereous Harrier, Red-gartered Coot, White-winged Coot, Two-banded
Plover, Tawny-throated Dotterel, Hudsonian Godwit, Least Seedsnipe, Chilean
Skua, South American Tern, Scale-throated Earthcreeper, Band-tailed Earthcreeper,
Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Patagonian Mockingbird, Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch
Friday, 15 November 2002
Most of today was to be spent on the long drive westwards to the Torres
del Paine area, but we firstly had a few birds to look for in the east, so
we made an early start and headed northwards along the dirt road towards
the Parque Nacional Pali-Aike. We saw several Guanacos, a few Lesser
Rheas and a Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch along the way, before arriving at a
site which Ricardo has found to be reliable for Canary-winged Finch.
Having failed so narrowly yesterday, we were delighted to find a Rufous-chested
Dotterel near the roadside, and although it flushed it didn’t fly very far
and was scoped for quite a while in the dry pampas grass, alongside a pair
of Least Seedsnipe. Another “want” bird, Chocolate-vented Tyrant, put
in an appearance and was watched for some time, as well as Two-banded Plover,
Upland Goose, Common Miner and Correndera Pipit, however there was no sign
of the Canary-winged Finches despite a fair bit of tramping around the grasslands.
So, we got back in the car, drove along a little further, and turned right
along a dirt track into the pampas, and almost immediately stumbled onto a
small group of these superb finches – great close views of an excellent bird.
We turned around and drove back to the main track, and had just got to our
previous stop when we found another small flock – they were all around the
car, and it was difficult to know which to look at!
Back to the hotel to collect Sara who had enjoyed another lie-in, and we
set off for the long 400 km drive via Puerto Natales towards Torres del Paine.
We stopped briefly at a roadside pond 80 km from Gobernador Phillipi to watch
a small flock of Chilean Flamingos and Coscoroba Swans, and again at the rest
stop at Río Rubens. Just before this stop, a roadside pool produced
our first White-tufted Grebes as well as Chilean Teal, Chiloe Wigeon and
Black-faced Ibis.
A lunch stop along the shore of the Canal Señoret (Señoret
Channel) in Puerto Natales in the hope of Grey-flanked Cinclodes produced
only Crested Ducks and Black-necked Swans, although Black-faced Ibis and Black-chested
Buzzard-Eagle were seen just outside the town. Eventually, after about
a 6 hour drive, we arrived at the entrance to Parque Nacional Torres del
Paine, but we were not going to enter yet – our destination was further north
in the area of Los Baguales, towards El Calafate as the crow flies, although
it is not possible to cross the border here.
More Black-faced Ibis and a Blue-and-white Swallow were seen along the low
grassy areas before we started to climb up into the Baguales valley.
As we started climbing we saw several Patagonian Yellow-Finches, then the
first of several Cinnamon-bellied Ground-Tyrants. As the road skirted
a narrow valley with a farmstead, two Andean Condors soared over the top of
the ridge, and Dark-bellied Cinclodes was seen on the ground near the stream.
We stopped at a spot where there were a number of Grey-hooded and Plumbeous
Sierra-Finches feeding, among which was a Greater Yellow-Finch. Further
along we found some more Chilean Teals, and then another excellent bird –
a Grey-bellied Shrike-Tyrant. According to Ricardo this bird has not
been reported this part of Chile, but this area is very near the border with
Argentina, and he has seen this bird in exactly this spot several times recently.
As we continued to climb, the Cinnamon-bellied Ground-Tyrants were gradually
replaced by Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrants, while another Chocolate-vented Tyrant
was a nice bonus. We eventually reached the end of the road, where we
parked the car, climbed over the wall and scanned the hillside to the left
for the resident Grey-bellied Seedsnipes. Clive, Eleanor and I failed
completely to find this astonishingly camouflaged bird, until Ricardo arrived
and found it roosting on a rock – a beautifully-marked female.
This area is also a good one for White-throated Caracara, but unfortunately
there was no sign during our visit. It was now time to descend back
to the Torres del Paine area, where we checked into the idyllic Mirador del
Payne, on the shores of Laguna Verde, outside the park proper, but with great
views of the mountains which give the park its name. A Chilean Flicker
greeted us as we arrived.
Birds recorded
Pali Aike Road – Lesser Rhea, Two-banded Plover, Rufous-chested Plover,
Least Seedsnipe, Common Miner, Chocolate-vented Tyrant, Austral Negrito,
Correndera Pipit, Canary-winged Finch, Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch
Route 9, km 80 stop – Chilean Flamingo, Coscoroba Swan
Río Rubens – White-tufted Grebe, Black-faced Ibis, Chilean Teal,
Chiloe Wigeon, Black-chinned Siskin
Puerto Natales – Black-faced Ibis, Black-necked Swan, Crested Duck, Black-chested
Buzzard-Eagle
Los Baguales – Black-faced Ibis, Magellan Goose, Crested Duck, Chilean Teal,
Andean Condor, White-winged Coot, Grey-breasted Seedsnipe, Dark-bellied Cinclodes,
Chocolate-vented Tyrant, Grey-bellied Shrike-Tyrant, Cinnamon-bellied Ground-Tyrant,
Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrant, Blue-and-white Swallow, Greater Yellow-Finch, Patagonian
Yellow-Finch, Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, Black-chinned
Siskin
Laguna Verde – Chilean Flicker
Saturday 16 November 2002
Today was to be spent in the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, looking for
the birds that had eluded us thus far. We entered the park through the
northern Porteria Sarmiento (Sarmiento Gate), seeing Andean Condor, Red-gartered
Coot, Brown-headed Gull and Black-faced Ibis en route, and took up position
at the first area of marsh on the left while Ricardo played a recording of
Austral Rail. A bird replied immediately, and called extensively from
just within the reedbed, but as is usual with this species, it refused to
come into sight. We would have to be satisfied with a “heard only” record,
but this was still a great experience.
Waterbirds were abundant throughout the park – we had soon recorded White-tufted
Grebe, Black-necked Swan, Flying Steamer Duck, Chiloe Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal,
Chilean Pintail and Great Grebe, and male Lake and Andean Ducks side by side
were very convenient! The wind had by now picked up considerably, and
another try for Austral Rail failed to get a reply, nor could a singing Grass
Wren be located.
A little further along, we stopped alongside a small lake to watch a pair
of Rufous-tailed Plantcutters, as well as a group of Patagonian and Grey-hooded
Sierra-Finches. A further stop at a swampy pond before reaching Salto
Grande and Lago Pehoe failed to produce the hoped-for Spectacled Duck, but
a small bird on the hillside to the right was pinned down and identified as
a Lesser Canastero. While we were watching this, another bird popped
up alongside it – an Austral Canastero! We had been trying for this
bird sporadically over the last couple of days without any luck, so it was
very satisfying to finally see one.
We made a stop at Camping Pehoe, on the right hand side of the road, in
the hope of seeing a Striped Woodpecker at its nest – sadly, the nest proved
to be unoccupied at present, but Chilean Flicker and Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail
were seen here. We therefore continued along the road, turning right
up the valley towards Lago de Grey, where we stopped and took the path to
the right crossing the river on a rope bridge.
From here we scanned for Torrent Duck, but there was no sign at this often-productive
site, before continuing across to the other side, where we tried to attract
the attention of the Magellanic Woodpecker which are sometimes seen here.
These were also unco-operative, as was a Striped Woodpecker which called briefly
but didn’t appear. The weather had become cold and drizzly by this
time – the only rain we had throughout the trip, so having enjoyed the view
of icebergs floating down the Río Grey, we beat a retreat to the car.
By now we had seen most of our target birds, but there were still 2 ducks
high on our want list – Spectacled and Torrent Ducks. We turned our
attention firmly onto finding Spectacled Duck, and shortly afterwards found
one of these striking ducks at the back of a reedy pool. From here we
returned back out of the park the way we had come, ironically seeing a further
2 Spectacled Ducks en route, and then turned northwards off the Sarmiento
road towards Laguna Amarga.
Here we turned northwards following and scanning the narrow swiftly-flowing
river in the bottom of the gorge on our left, and eventually found our quarry
– a stunning family group of Torrent Ducks – male, female and 4 ducklings,
resting on a riverside rock. This was definitely one of the experiences
of the trip, watching all 6 birds including the recently-fledged ducklings
dealing with ease with the swift currents and white water.
Totally satisfied, we slowly drove out of the park, seeing a Patagonian
Skunk, some breeding Magellanic Oystercatchers and Blue-and-white Swallows.
From here we started the long drive back to the south-east stopping only for
a fly-by Cinereous Harrier, a Southern Caracara and some souvenir shopping,
as well as a rest break at Rio Rubens which gave us great close-up views of
a perched Austral Parakeets, before arriving back at our Punta Arenas hotel
after dark.
Birds recorded
Torres del Paine - White-tufted Grebe, Great Grebe, Black-faced Ibis, Black-necked
Swan, Magellan Goose, Crested Duck, Flying Steamer Duck, Spectacled Duck,
Chiloe Wigeon, Chilean Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, Torrent Duck, Andean Duck,
Lake Duck, Andean Condor, h Austral Rail, Red-gartered Coot, Southern Lapwing,
Magellanic Oystercatcher, Brown-hooded Gull, Chilean Flicker, h Striped Woodpecker,
Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, Lesser Canastero, Austral Canastero, Austral
Negrito, Rufous-tailed Plantcutter, h Grass Wren, Chilean Swallow, Blue-and-white
Swallow, Austral Thrush, Patagonian Sierra-Finch, Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch
Torres del Paine to Puerto Natales – Cinereous Harrier, Southern Caracara
Río Rubens – Austral Parakeet
Sunday 17 November 2002
Our last day in Chilean Patagonia, and we were going to take a ferry trip
over to Tierra del Fuego to look for just two key species – Magellanic Plover
and Magellanic Horned Owl, both of which Ricardo seemed confident of finding.
The ferry trip to Porvenir was good for birding – great views of Southern
Giant Petrels, Southern Fulmars, Black-browed Albatross, several fly-past
Magellanic Diving Petrels, and Chilean Skuas, Magellanic Penguins, King and
Blue-eyed Cormorants and South American Terns. A new trip bird was added
in the form of a White-chinned Petrel.
On arrival at Porvenir, we headed north to a lagoon in the Monumento Natural
Laguna de los Cisnes, the most reliable place that Ricardo knew for Magellanic
Plover. The water level in these lagoons has fallen alarmingly in recent
years, covering just a fraction of its previous extent, and the glare of the
salt-encrusted rock and extremely windy conditions made the birding quite
difficult. A Cinereous Harrier greeted us on arrival, and on arriving
at the lake shore we soon found a flock of Baird’s Sandpipers and a few Two-banded
Plovers.
We headed for the shore and scanned for the plovers – no luck, although
we did find a pair of Flying Steamer Ducks. We were obviously going
to have to do this the hard way, so we started to walk along the rocky shore
searching as we went. Just then, two birds flew in and landed right
in front of us – a fantastic pair of Magellanic Plovers! We enjoyed
great views of these magical birds for as long as we could stand the wind,
before beating a hasty retreat to the car.
Short-billed Miners are apparently easier to see on Tierra del Fuego than
on the mainland, and we soon found a couple of these birds while sitting in
the comfort of the car. Having got the first of our targets we drove
back to Porvenir, then took the road southwards towards Onaisin. A stop
at a lagoon along the road produced more Flying Steamer Ducks, Coscoroba Swans
and Chilean Flamingos, before we moved on to a site where Ricardo had found
Magellanic Horned Owl roosting previously.
He’d located the bird before we’d even got out of the car, and we enjoyed
superb views of the bird while getting stuck into our packed lunch.
Dark-bellied Cinclodes and Southern House Wren were also seen here.
Having completely succeeded with our target birds, we had some time to kill
before catching the return ferry so we did some souvenir shopping and enjoyed
a cold beer, before getting back on the boat. Seawatching on the return
trip produced much the same birds as the outward sailing, although Pintado
Petrel was a very welcome lifer for me.
Birds recorded
Ferry from Punta Arenas to Porvenir – Black-browed Albatross, Southern Giant
Petrel, Southern Fulmar, White-chinned Petrel, Pintado Petrel, Magellanic
Diving Petrel, Magellanic Penguin, Blue-eyed Cormorant, King Cormorant, Chilean
Skua, Kelp Gull, South American Tern
Laguna de Los Cisnes – Flying Steamer Duck, Cinereous Harrier, Two-banded
Plover, Magellanic Plover, Baird’s Sandpiper, Short-billed Miner
Road south from Porvenir – Chilean Flamingo, Coscoroba Swan, Crested Duck,
Flying Steamer Duck
15 km south of Porvenir – Magellanic Horned Owl, Dark-bellied Cinclodes,
Southern House Wren
Monday 18 November 2002
Today was mostly a travelling day, with an eight hour flight from Punta
Arenas in Chile’s extreme south to Arica in the extreme north, We arrived
late afternoon, where we were met by Gonzalo Gonzaléz, and we drove
north then east up the Lluta Valley towards Putre. A couple of brief
stops along the lower Lluta Valley gave us some new birds for the trip – Peruvian
Thickknee, Pacific Dove and Peruvian Elaenia at the first stop, and a flock
of Andean Swifts at the second, with a pair of Peregrines in between.
The road climbed out of the bottom of the Lluta Valley, entering a real
desert environment, with no vegetation at all other than a few large cacti
(Cactus candelabro), and where the only birds of interest seen were a few
Greyish Miners which flitted across the road, one of which gave reasonable
views. By the time we got to Putre it was dark and we were all tired,
so after dinner we turned in early.
Birds recorded
Lluta Valley – Peregrine Falcon, Peruvian Thick-knee, Pacific Dove, Andean
Swift, Greyish Miner, Peruvian Elaenia
Tuesday 19 November 2002
We had a pretty poor night’s sleep, with Sara suffering from bad headaches
all night, presumably as a result of the altitude - Putre is some 3,500 metres
above sea level. However, when I went to meet Clive and Eleanor, it
transpired that Eleanor had been much worse, and the staff at the hotel had
needed to bring her oxygen and coca tea during the night to alleviate the
symptoms.
New birds were added around the hotel while we sorted ourselves out – Mourning
Sierra-Finches were common, while Andean Hillstar and Chiguanco Thrush were
also seen. The highlight, however, was the resident pair of Blue-and-yellow
Tanagers, the male of which spends the first hour or so every day attacking
the reflection of itself in the mirrors of parked cars – a slow learner, obviously!
Clive, Gonzalo and myself then left Eleanor recuperating in bed, and Sara
eating breakfast and set off for the dry gorge area of Putre – found by proceeding
into the centre of the town, and turning right down a side street, before
clambering down the side of the ravine into the valley bottom. This
was an excellent spot, which produced a number of very good birds. First
birds seen were some Blue-and-white Swallows, followed by a Plain-breasted
Earthcreeper and the first of many Cordilleran Canasteros.
A dark phase Puna Hawk soared overhead, while several Giant Hummingbirds
were seen feeding around flowering bushes. Another Canastero was found,
this time a Dark-winged Canastero, recently split from Creamy-breasted Canastero,
as it is shown in the Rumboll and de la Peña book. Some Band-tailed
Seedeaters were found feeding on the ground, followed by a Streaked Tit-Spinetail
and then a Canyon Canastero – this latter bird is not even shown in the Rumboll
and de la Peña book, as it has only recently been found to breed in
Chile in the Putre area, but it seems quite easy to find in the dry gorge
– easily identified by its very rufous plumage.
Blue-and-yellow Tanagers were seen before the best bird of the morning,
a White-throated Earthcreeper was found, and gave superb views. Forget
the white throat; this species is easy to identify from Plain-breasted by
the extensively rufous wing and tail feathers in flight, and was watched for
quite some time at close range. A White-browed Chat-Tyrant gave much
briefer but satisfactory views, followed by a pair of Black-winged Ground-Doves.
Several Bare-faced Ground-Doves were also seen, mostly around the top of
the canyon, and while looking at these birds we found a Sparkling Violet-ear
around the tall eucalypts at the top of the slope. A Black-throated
Flower-piercer also put in an appearance, but Clive was unfortunately unable
to see it before it disappeared around the far side of a bush, never to reappear.
We climbed (very slowly!) back up the side of the canyon, and spent some time
looking unsuccessfully for the flower-piercer, while at the same time enjoying
good numbers of Greenish Yellow-Finches and Bare-faced Ground-Doves feeding
on the ground under some trees.
It was now time to try the wet gorge, to see what we could find – this is
the area on your left as you enter Putre, and is accessed by driving into
the village from the Hostería Las Vicuñas, immediately turning
left and skirting the left hand edge of the village, until you see a set of
steps descending down into the valley. Chiguanco Thrushes and Mourning
Sierra-Finches were everywhere here, and wandering along the streamside path
soon produced a cracking Golden-billed Saltator.
Black-hooded Sierra-Finch was also new for the trip, as was a small flock
of Hooded Siskins, which were elusive at first but eventually gave good views
– these birds turned out to be common in the area, and were even seen from
our hotel window feeding on the ground. A Plain-breasted Earthcreeper
gave better views than the individual at the dry gorge, and we also got further
views of Streaked Tit-Spinetail, Cordilleran and Dark-winged Canastero.
By now it was lunchtime, and we felt that we had spent enough time acclimatising,
so having checked up on Sara and Eleanor, Clive, Gonzalo and myself drove
up towards Lauca for a superb afternoon’s birding. Our first stop was at a
small semi-circular bog on the right hand side of the road near a sign for
Lass Cuevas, where there was a breeding pair of the fantastic Diademed Sandpiper-Plover,
probably the one bird above all others that we had wanted to see on the trip.
We got out of the car with some trepidation, quickly finding Andean Gull
and Giant Ground-Tyrant, before Gonzalo called out that he’d found our bird.
We ran over and enjoyed scope-filling views of a magnificent pair of Diademed
Sandpiper-Plovers – pure magic! We called in at this site on two other
occasions during our visit, each time quickly finding the birds in the same
general area – there appeared to be 2 adults and 2 immatures present, with
the adults showing signs of intolerance towards their offspring, often driving
them away.
Having gorged ourselves on these birds, we scanned the rest of the bog,
finding White-winged Diuca-Finches and Puna Ground-Tyrants as well as Bar-winged
Cinclodes. A little further along we watched a small group of Vizcachas
in roadside rocks, before continuing towards the Parque Nacional Lauca.
Several Puna Miners were seen along the roadside before we reached the village
of Chucuyo and turned left towards Parinacota, getting our first glimpse of
the wetland birds that are so abundant throughout this area. First seen
were Giant Coot, Crested Ducks and Sharp-winged Teals, followed by a flock
of Puna Ibis. We stopped at the famous roadside colony of nesting Andean
Flickers, getting great views of several birds, and a little further along
found our first flock of the stunning Black Siskins – definitely one of our
favourite birds of the trip. A pair of Grey-breasted Seedsnipe crouched
right at the roadside, trusting totally in their camouflage, and more Giant
Ground-Tyrants were seen in the area.
From here we skirted Parinacota lake – this produced no new birds for the
trip, but allowed excellent views of Silvery Grebe, previously seen only distantly,
our second Andean Duck of the trip as well as more Puna Ibis, Giant Coots,
Bar-winged Cinclodes, Cordilleran Canasteros, Andean Gulls, Black-hooded
Sierra-Finches and another Grey-breasted Seedsnipe. We arrived at Parinacota
village, finding another Andean Flicker on the roof of the church in the
middle of the village, then took the rough track off to the right towards
Cotacotani lake.
This route was fantastically scenic, winding through rocky countryside,
with wetlands everywhere, and Parinacota and Pomerape volcanoes towering
in the background throughout. New species added included White-throated
Sierra-Finch and Black-crowned Night-Heron, as well as more White-winged
Diuca-Finches and a fly-past Mountain Caracara.
Plumbeous Sierra-Finches were also seen before we had what was one of the
sightings of the trip – a pair of Red-backed Sierra-Finches which flushed
from right alongside the car, flew across a narrow stretch of water, before
landing on some rocks on the other side – very nice views of a very difficult
bird, and Gonzalo’s first sighting from this area, which excited him greatly!
Scanning the various bodies of water eventually produced Puna Teal and a few
Andean Avocets as well as Neotropic Cormorant, Plain-breasted Earthcreeper
and more Puna Ibis, before adding Andean Negrito and Andean Lapwing to our
list.
By now we had reached the main road south of Parinacota, and headed back
towards Putre. Please note that much of this track around Cotacotani
was pretty rough, and a 4WD was probably necessary to complete the circuit,
at least during our visit. There is also a police checkpoint near Chucuyo,
at which you are required to stop and explain your intentions – this area
is very near the border with Bolivia and drug-running can be a problem.
On our way back towards Putre we took a minor detour to the left to a small
abandoned building, near which Gonzalo had found a breeding pair of the berlepschi
race of Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail – one was soon found, and an Andean Swallow
also flew over, before we finally headed back to Putre. By the time
we had arrived back both Eleanor and Sara were up and about and feeling much
better, so we decided on a return visit to Lauca the next day.
Birds recorded
Putre – Puna Hawk, Bare-faced Ground-Dove, Black-winged Ground-Dove, Sparkling
Violet-ear, Andean Hillstar, Giant Hummingbird, White-throated Earthcreeper,
Plain-breasted Earthcreeper, Band-winged Cinclodes, Streaked Tit-Spinetail,
Dark-winged Canastero, Cordilleran Canastero, Canyon Canastero, White-browed
Chat-Tyrant, Blue-and-white Swallow, Chiguanco Thrush, Blue-and-yellow Tanager,
Golden-billed Saltator, Band-tailed Seedeater, Greenish Yellow-Finch, Black-throated
Flower-piercer, Black-hooded Sierra-Finch, Mourning Sierra-Finch, Hooded Siskin
Las Cuevas – Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Puna Ground-Tyrant, Giant Ground-Tyrant,
White-winged Diuca-Finch
Lauca – Silvery Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Puna
Ibis, Andean Goose, Crested Duck, Andean Teal, Puna Teal, Andean Duck, Mountain
Caracara, Giant Coot, Andean Lapwing, Andean Avocet, Grey-breasted Seedsnipe,
Andean Gull, Andean Flicker, Puna Miner, Plain-breasted Earthcreeper, Band-winged
Cinclodes, Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, Cordilleran Canastero, Rufous-naped
Ground-Tyrant, Giant Ground-Tyrant, Andean Negrito, Andean Swallow, White-winged
Diuca-Finch, Black-hooded Sierra-Finch, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch, Red-backed
Sierra-Finch, White-throated Sierra-Finch, Black Siskin
Wednesday 20 November 2002
Having stocked up on food, water and petrol in Putre, seeing Band-tailed
Seedeater and Greenish Yellow-Finch in the process, we drove out of Putre
towards Lauca at about 08:00, stopping very quickly just outside town when
we saw an endangered North Andean Deer on a bluff right alongside the road
– fantastic views! Unfortunately, it didn’t stay around to be photographed,
casually fading from sight over the next bluff and into the valley beyond.
Gonzalo had instructed us all to keep an eye open for Ornate Tinamou on
the way up, and sure enough we found a pair of these attractive birds along
the roadside before reaching Las Cuevas. A second visit to Las Cuevas
produced the hoped-for Diademed Sandpiper-Plover for Eleanor, as well as
Giant and Puna Ground-Tyrants, Bar-winged Cinclodes, Andean Goose, Grey-breasted
Seedsnipe, White-winged Diuca-Finch and Sharp-winged Teals. The circuit
around Parinacota and Cotacotani produced much the same birds as yesterday,
unfortunately minus Red-backed Sierra-Finch, but finally succeeding in finding
White-winged Cinclodes, which had eluded us up to now.
From Cotacotani we drove next to Chungará, reputedly the world’s
highest lake, at an elevation of over 4,500 metres. This area produced
much the same birds as the other areas visited, including some very confiding
Black-hooded and Plumbeous Sierra-Finches at the excellent craft stalls near
the lake. We had intended looking for Andean Coot on Chungará,
but the insects were pretty bad here, so we beat a retreat, having to satisfy
ourselves with good views of a Black-crowned Night-Heron of the very distinctive
dusky obscurus race.
Unfortunately, both Sara and Eleanor were by now starting to suffer from
bad headaches, so we retreated to the lower altitude of Putre, taking the
old road into the town and making just one brief roadside stop for a mixed
group of passerines which included our first Ashy-breasted Sierra-Finches,
as well as Mourning and Black-hooded Sierra-Finches, Greenish Yellow-Finches
and Cordilleran Canasteros.
Leaving Eleanor and Sara to recuperate at the hotel, we stopped briefly
to enjoy a Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant on a pole outside the hotel, before
paying our second visit to the wet gorge area, in the hope of finding a Yellow-billed
Tit-Tyrant. Chiguanco Thrushes were again all over the place and the
Golden-billed Saltator was again located, while a Puna Hawk flew overhead,
this time a light phase bird, and an Andean Hillstar gave us best views to
date. Eventually, Gonzalo heard a Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant calling,
and succeeded in taping in the bird, which showed very well. Also here
were Streaked Tit-Spinetail, Blue-and-yellow Tanager and Blue-and-white-Swallow.
We made an unsuccessful attempt at Magellanic Horned Owl, an individual sometimes
roosting in eucalyptus trees in the middle of town, before deciding on an
early finish.
Birds recorded
Putre – Puna Hawk, Andean Hillstar, Streaked Tit-Spinetail, Yellow-billed
Tit-Tyrant, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant, Blue-and-white Swallow, Chiguanco
Thrush, Blue-and-yellow Tanager, Golden-billed Saltator, Band-tailed Seedeater,
Greenish Yellow-Finch, Black-hooded Sierra-Finch, Mourning Sierra-Finch, Hooded
Siskin
Putre to Lauca – Ornate Tinamou, Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Grey-breasted
Seedsnipe, Puna Ground-Tyrant, Giant Ground-Tyrant, White-winged Diuca-Finch,
Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch
Lauca – Silvery Grebe, Puna Ibis, Andean Goose, Crested Duck, Andean Teal,
Puna Hawk, Giant Coot, Andean Lapwing, Andean Avocet, Grey-breasted Seedsnipe,
Andean Gull, Andean Flicker, Puna Miner, Band-winged Cinclodes, White-winged
Cinclodes, Cordilleran Canastero, Giant Ground-Tyrant, Andean Swallow, White-throated
Sierra-Finch, Black Siskin
Chungará – Neotropic Cormorant, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Puna Teal,
Puna Ground-Tyrant, Andean Negrito, Black-hooded Sierra-Finch, Plumbeous Sierra-Finch
Thursday 21 November 2002
Unfortunately, Eleanor had had another bad night and while she felt better
by the morning, she rightly decided that today’s proposed long high-altitude
trip to Monumento Natural Salar de Surire was a bad idea. In any case
she had seen Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, her main “want” bird and was happy
with that. Sara had also had a poor night, and was equally happy to
rest around the hotel.
So, at around 08:00, Clive, Gonzalo and I set out again on the road towards
Lauca. We couldn’t resist another stop at Las Cuevas to once again enjoy
the Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, and again saw Ornate Tinamou on the drive
up. After Las Cuevas, but before Chucuyo, we turned right on a dirt
road towards Surire, a drive which would take us some 3 hours.
Our second Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant was seen along here, a little before
Ancuta village, and a little after the village we stopped for great views
of a perched Aplomado Falcon. We continued through the villages of Guallatiri
and Vislubio, stopping at police checkpoints as we came across them, before
finally reaching the Surire salt lake at the village of Chilcaya.
There was another police checkpoint here where we were required to report,
and having taken care of the formalities, we turned eastwards along the left
hand edge of the lake. The main reason for coming all this way was to
look for a few localised puna species, namely Andean and Puna Flamingos and
Puna Plover. The left hand side of the lake is the favoured area of
Puna Flamingo, but we had barely left the Chilcaya police post before Gonzalo
found a Puna Tinamou below us on the lakeshore – great views of a solitary
bird out in the open.
There were many flamingos along this shore, and stopping at various viewpoints
produced good views of both Chilean and Puna Flamingos, as well as flocks
of Black Siskins and several Puna Miners, Puna Ground-Tyrants and Andean Negritos.
Having satisfied ourselves with the Puna Flamingos, we returned to Chilcaya,
and took the other road southwards along the right hand side of the lake,
passing the extensive area of commercial salt extraction, before finding
a flock of Andean Flamingos along this shore – for some reason they prefer
this area of the salina, whereas the Punas prefer the other side.
While we were enjoying the flamingos, Gonzalo found us a very smart Puna
Plover nearby – mission accomplished! We didn’t want to stay too long
in this area, as we were anxious to return to Putre, collect Sara and Eleanor,
and descend to sea level at Arica, so after grabbing a quick lunch and seeing
Grey-breasted Seedsnipe and some Black-hooded Sierra-Finch we made our way
back towards Putre.
However, this was not before finding, amazingly, our second Grey-bellied
Shrike-Tyrant of the trip – not bad for a bird that is not supposed to occur
in Chile! As with Ricardo’s bird at Los Baguales, this was an individual
which Gonzalo had seen in the area previously, and the site is only a few
kilometres from Bolivia, so there may be more of these birds around than was
previously thought.
The journey back was fairly uneventful, with just flight views of a Tawny-throated
Dotterel, and our main concern was the heavy thunderstorms raking the mountains
–some of those lightning strikes were a bit too close to be comfortable for
three guys sitting in a metal vehicle! We collected Eleanor and Sara
safely, both of whom were glad to say goodbye to high altitude for the trip,
and we made our way down the Lluta Valley to Arica. A few Peruvian Meadowlarks
were seen poorly near the end of the drive, as well as 2 Peregrines.
At Arica we checked into our excellent seaside hotel, and spent the last
hour of daylight birding the shore right outside the hotel – great birding
from the terrace! Grey Gulls and Elegant Terns were numerous, as were
several species of shorebirds – Ruddy Turnstones, Surfbirds, Whimbrel, Willets,
and Blackish Oystercatchers. Band-tailed and Franklin’s Gulls flew around,
a single South American Tern flew by, and a Little Blue Heron and a couple
of Black-crowned Night Herons (race obscurus) poked around in the rock pools.
Birds recorded
Putre – Andean Hillstar, Plain-breasted Earthcreeper, Cordilleran Canastero,
Chiguanco Thrush, Blue-and-yellow Tanager, Mourning Sierra-Finch, Hooded Siskin
Putre to Lauca – Ornate Tinamou, Diademed Sandpiper-Plover
Ancuta – Aplomado Falcon, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant
Guallatiri – Andean Goose
Surire – Puna Tinamou, Chilean Flamingo, Andean Flamingo, Puna Flamingo,
Andean Goose, Puna Plover, Tawny-throated Dotterel, Andean Avocet, Grey-breasted
Seedsnipe, Puna Miner, Grey-bellied Shrike-Tyrant, Puna Ground-Tyrant, Black-hooded
Sierra-Finch, Black Siskin
Lluta Valley – Peregrine Falcon, Peruvian Meadowlark
Arica – Neotropic Cormorant, Little Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron,
Blackish Oystercatcher, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Surfbird,
Band-tailed Gull, Franklin’s Gull, Grey Gull, South American Tern, Elegant
Tern, Pacific Dove
Friday 22 November 2002
Sara and my last full day in Chile started at dawn along the shore outside
the hotel, where we recorded the same species as last night. Excitement
levels were raised when Eleanor glimpsed a small dark passerine among the
rocks – could it have been a Chilean Seaside Cinclodes? It never reappeared,
so we will never know. Leaving Sara relaxing around the pool, we drove
south along the coast heading past the fishmeal factory to the end of the
road at Playa Corazones, where we hoped to find some nesting Peruvian Boobies.
These birds are normally easy here, but El Niño was again having an
effect and so far this year they were very scarce.
We left the car walking the path along the shore, and almost immediately
Gonzalo found a Chilean Seaside Cinclodes on a large rock above us – what
a relief! We really thought we had dipped this bird, as it is much harder
to find this far north than around Santiago, but later browsing through various
trip reports confirmed that Chris Goodie also saw one at the same site in
2001, so this may be a reliable spot for this much-desired bird.
Red-legged Cormorants and Band-tailed Gulls were seen further along the
path before we arrived at the booby colony where, to our delight, Gonzalo
found a single nesting Peruvian Booby on the cliff above us. We returned
to the car, getting even better, almost point blank views of the Chilean Seaside
Cinclodes on the way back.
We next drove into Arica town and to the port area, where Gonzalo talked
our way into a restricted area where we had absolutely staggering views of
a group of Inca Terns, at a range down to about 3 metres – fantastic!
Peruvian Pelicans were also seen here.
Our list of target species was dwindling rapidly, so we headed next to the
Museo Arqueologico de San Miguel de Azapa, in the famous Azapa Valley, in
the hope of seeing some localised birds. On arrival we found the first
of several Slender-billed Finches in some trees opposite the museum entrance,
and then a roosting Burrowing Owl on a telegraph pole a little further along
the road.
At the end of the road there was a sharp turn to the right, and an Oasis
Hummingbird holds territory here, so we waited for it to put in an appearance.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of it, although we added Croaking Ground-Dove
and Chestnut-throated Seedeater while we were waiting. Having dipped
on the male hummer, we went into the museum grounds, heading straight ahead
past the entrance to the museum itself, then staking out the row of flowering
bushes off to the left towards the offices. It wasn’t long before a
female Oasis Hummingbird showed up, and later on one of the museum staff showed
us the nest – the bill of a young bird could just be seen poking out of the
top.
We still needed Peruvian Sheartail, so we drove back to the main road, turned
right, then left along a side road to a patch of flowering bushes where Gonzalo
had seen one previously. Incidentally the area of bushes shown in Pearman’s
guide was uprooted and destroyed earlier in 2002, so the hummers will have
to be looked for elsewhere. With it went the only apparently reasonably
reliable spot for Chilean Woodstar, always a difficult bird, and this bird
is now rarely seen – Gonzalo had only seen one all year. This bird now
seems to be in real trouble – it is restricted to a small geographical area
between Arica and the Peruvian town of Tacna, and has apparently declined
badly throughout this range, partly through competition from the range-expanding
Peruvian Sheartails and from the use of pesticides.
Peruvian Elaenia and Vermilion Flycatcher were seen here, before a Peruvian
Sheartail eventually put in appearance, perching on a small twig and
just visible through a hole in the vegetation. By now the only bird
we still needed was Peruvian Meadowlark, so after collecting Sara from the
hotel, we drove north along the coast to the mouth of the Lluta Valley.
A walk out to the beach produced some new trip birds – Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated
Plover, Killdeer and a probable Pacific Golden Plover, as well as a one-footed
wader which prompted much debate and disagreement, but which was eventually
identified as a Stilt Sandpiper. Also here were American Oystercatcher
and Little Blue Heron.
Back at the road, we found the first of several Peruvian Meadowlarks, as
well as our second Burrowing Owl of the day. From here we drove some
way back up the Lluta Valley, hoping for better views of some birds seen previously,
and found several Vermilion Flycatchers and more Peruvian Meadowlarks.
A Southern House Wren of the very distinctive grey race tecellatus was seen
– totally different to the birds seen previously on the trip.
Driving down a couple of side tracks failed to produce Peruvian Thickknees,
but we weren't too concerned, having already had good views of a pair on the
17th, although we added Blue-black Grassquit to our trip list. By now
we had seen all our target species, and still had a few hours to kill before
needing to be at Arica airport for our flight to Santiago, so we decided to
make another attempt at the male Oasis Hummingbird at the San Miguel de Azapa
museum. This time the bird was sitting on the fence waiting for us
when we arrived – a cracking bird and well worth the effort of seeing a male.
We killed some time by looking around the museum itself, which was pretty
interesting, before eventually making our way back to the airport, where we
bid Gonzalo a fond farewell and got on our flight to Santiago, comparing notes
en route with an English and a Belgian birder who we had first met yesterday
at Putre
Birds recorded
Arica – Neotropic Cormorant, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Blackish Oystercatcher,
Hudsonian Whimbrel, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Surfbird, Band-tailed Gull, Franklin’s
Gull, Grey Gull, Elegant Tern, Pacific Dove
Playa Corazones – Peruvian Booby, Peruvian Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant,
Red-legged Cormorant, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Blackish Oystercatcher, Hudsonian
Whimbrel, Band-tailed Gull, Chilean Seaside Cinclodes
Arica port – Peruvian Pelican, Inca Tern
San Miguel de Azapa – Common Moorhen, Eared Dove, Pacific Dove, Croaking
Ground-Dove, Oasis Hummingbird, Peruvian Sheartail, Peruvian Elaenia, Vermilion
Flycatcher, Chestnut-throated Seedeater, Slender-billed Finch, Cinereous Conebill,
Hooded Siskin
Lluta Mouth – Little Blue Heron, Pacific Golden Plover, Semipalmated Plover,
Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Peruvian
Meadowlark
Lluta Valley – Vermilion Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, Southern House Wren,
Chestnut-throated Seedeater, Blue-black Grassquit, Shiny Cowbird, Peruvian
Meadowlark
Saturday 23 November 2002
Sara and I were due to fly home at lunchtime today, while Clive and Eleanor
were flying south to Puerto Montt at the same time, so we had a few hours
to spend around Santiago this morning. Clive and I decided to spend
the morning around the resort of Farellones in the hope of seeing Moustached
Turca (which Clive and Eleanor had already seen while we were stranded in
Madrid) and Crag Chilia.
We were collected by local guide Christian Gonzaléz and drove into
the mountains. It didn’t take long to find our first Moustached Turca,
a bird disturbed on the road that climbed right up the vertical hillside alongside
the car. A Chilean Mockingbird was similarly disturbed on the road,
but Crag Chilias remained depressingly elusive all morning. They had
apparently been quite easy to find around the resort Farellones itself as
recently as September, before the arrival of a very heavy snowfall, after
which they disappeared, presumably further down the mountain. However,
despite several attempts at a range of altitudes, we had no luck.
Some nice birding was had at an overlook just down a rough track to the
left from the middle of Farellones village, including White-browed Ground-Tyrant,
Rufous-banded Miner, Mountain Caracara (Clive only), Grey-hooded and Mourning
Sierra-Finches, Blue-and-white Swallows and Hooded Siskins.
A Red-backed Hawk flew by, and three more Moustached Turcas were seen at
various stops on the way back down, before it was finally time to call it
a day and return to Santiago to meet our flights. Sara and I bid a very
fond farewell to Clive and Eleanor, who had been perfect trip companions throughout,
and started our journey back home with a huge number of very happy memories
of our time in Chile.
I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Chile very highly as a birding
destination. It is an extremely easy country to travel around with excellent
infrastructure, good hotels, wonderful food, world-beating scenery, great
birds, superb local guides, and a whole selection of unforgettable “experiences”
for you to enjoy.
Birds recorded
Farellones – California Quail, Red-backed Hawk, Eared Dove, Rufous-banded
Miner, Band-winged Cinclodes, Moustached Turca, White-browed Ground-Tyrant,
Blue-and-white Swallow, Chilean Mockingbird, Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch, Mourning
Sierra-Finch, Hooded Siskin
Species List
Please note – where I have not accurately counted the number of a particular
species seen, I have preceded the location with ‘n’. Numbers of each species
seen are understated in many cases, especially regarding the commoner species
– I’m not always as diligent as I should be in keeping numbers of species
seen.
The letter 'h' denotes that the bird was heard but not seen.
Lesser Rhea (Rhea pennata) Several in the Seno Otway area 14.11,
seen less commonly elsewhere throughout the Magallanes area e.g. the Pali
Aike Road 15.11.
Ornate Tinamou (Nothoprocta ornata) One seen c. 09:00 along
the roadside just south of Las Cuevas on both 20.11 and 21.11. Morning
and evening are apparently best.
Chilean Tinamou (Nothoprocta perdicaria) 2 flushed from close
range at Los Cipreses 12.11. Michel, Clive & Eleanor also had a
group of 5 at Farellones on 9.11
Puna Tinamou (Tinamotis pentlandii) Usually quite common between
Las Cuevas and Chucuyo, but apparently much less frequent this year.
We eventually had excellent views of one bird in front of the police post
at Chilcaya, Surire 21.11. This was in itself unusual, according to
Gonzalo, as they are usually seen in groups.
California Quail (Callipepla californica) n Chillán valley
12.11, Los Cipreses 12.11, Farellones 23.11, and a few others west of Santiago
de Chile
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) n Leyda 13.11
White-tufted Grebe (Rollandia rolland) 1 near Río Rubens
15.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11
Silvery Grebe (Podiceps occipitalis) 2 very distant at Primera
Angostura marsh 14.11, 3 Parinacota 19.11, 1 Parinacota 20.11
Great Grebe (Podiceps major) n Leyda 13.11, 1 San Antonio 13.11,
n Torres del Paine 16.11
Black-browed Albatross (Diomedea melanophris) n between Punta
Arenas & Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Punta Arenas – Porvenir ferry crossing
17.11 An amazing experience, to stand on the shoreline watching albatrosses
fly past so near you could see them with a naked eye!
Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus) c. 15 Punta Arenas
14.11, n Punta Arenas – Porvenir ferry crossing 17.11
Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacioides) n Punta Arenas 14.11,
n Punta Arenas – Porvenir ferry crossing 17.11
White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) 2 ferry from
Punta Arenas – Porvenir 17.11
Pintado Petrel (Daption capense) 1 ferry from Punta Arenas –
Porvenir 17.11
Magellanic Diving-Petrel (Pelecanoides magellani) n. between
Punta Arenas & Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Punta Arenas – Porvenir ferry crossing
17.11
Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) 1 Algarrobo 13.11
Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) 6 Seno Otway 14.11,
n Primera Angostura 14.11, n Punta Arenas – Porvenir ferry crossing 17.11
Peruvian Booby (Sula variegata) 1 Playa Corazones 22.11
Peruvian Pelican (Pelecanus thagus) n Rocas de Santo Domingo
13.11, n San Antonio 13.11, 1 Algarrobo 13.11, 1 Playa Corazones 22.11, 1
Arica port 22.11
Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) n Leyda 13.11,
n Cotacotani 19.11, n Chungará 20.11, n Arica 21.11 – 22.11, n Playa
Corazones 22.11
Magellan Cormorant (Rock Shag) (Phalacrocorax magellanicus) n between
Punta Arenas – Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Primera Angostura 14.11
Guanay Cormorant (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii) n San Antonio
13.11, n Algarrobo 13.11
Red-legged Cormorant (Phalacrocorax gaimardi) n San Antonio
13.11, c. 6 Playa Corazones 22.11
Blue-eyed (Imperial) Cormorant (Phalacrocorax atriceps atriceps)
n between Punta Arenas – Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Punta Arenas - Porvenir ferry
crossing 17.11
King (Imperial) Cormorant (Phalacrocorax albiventer) n between
Punta Arenas – Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Primera Angostura 14.11, n Punta Arenas
- Porvenir ferry crossing 17.11
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) 1 Arica 21.11, 1 Lluta
River mouth 22.11
American (Great, Great White) Egret (Casmerodius albus) several
between Santiago de Chile & Angol 10.11, n Leyda 13.11
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) several between Santiago de Chile
& Angol 10.11, n Leyda 13.11
Cocoi Heron (Ardea cocoi) 1 Leyda 13.11
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) n between Chillán &
Rancagua 12.11
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 1 Cotacotani
19.11, 2 Chungará 20.11, 1 Arica 21.11, 1 Arica 22.11, 1 Playa Corazones
22.11. The birds seen on the coast and one of the Chungará birds
were of the very dark and distinctive obscurus race – a possible future split?
Puna Ibis (Plegadis ridgwayi) small groups seen at Chucuyo,
Parinacota & Cotacotani 19.11 – 20.11
Black-faced Ibis (Theristicus melanopis) 1 Fuerte Bulnes 14.11,
n Primera Angostura marsh 14.11, n near Río Rubens 15.11, n Puerto
Natales 15.11, n near Torres del Paine 15.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11
Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) 6 at km 80 on Ruta
9 towards Puerto Natales 15.11, c. 10 10km south of Porvenir 17.11, n Surire
21.11, in front of the Chilcaya police post and along the northern shore
Andean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus andinus) c. 15 Surire 21.11
– in the SW corner. For some reason they apparently usually prefer
this part of the lake, whereas the Chileans and James’s prefer the northern
shore.
Puna (James') Flamingo (Phoenicopterus jamesi) good numbers
at Surire 21.11, along the northern shore. Both James’s and Andean Flamingos
are sometimes seen at Parinacota or Chungará, but are apparently not
reliable there – none were seen there during our visit. They are however
almost always present at Surire.
Coscoroba Swan (Coscoroba coscoroba) n between Punta Arenas
– Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Primera Angostura marsh 14.11, n at k80 Ruta 9 15.11,
n 10 km south of Porvenir 17.11
Black-necked Swan (Cygnus melanocorypha) n Leyda 13.11, n El
Peral 13.11, c. 5 Puerto Natales 15.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11
Andean Goose (Chloephaga melanoptera) Common in ones and twos
throughout Lauca area 19.11 – 21.11
Ashy-headed Goose (Chloephaga poliocephala) Small groups between
Punta Arenas – Fuerte Bulnes 14.11
Ruddy-headed Goose (Chloephaga rubidiceps) Small groups between
Punta Arenas – Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, sometimes in association with Ashy-headed
and Magellan Geese.
Magellan (Upland) Goose (Chloephaga picta) Common throughout
Magallanes area 14.11 – 17.11
Kelp Goose (Chloephaga hybrida) A few between Punta Arenas –
Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, 4 Puerto de Hambre 14.11
Crested Duck (Anas specularioides) n between Punta Arenas -
Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Primera Angostura marsh 14.11, n Puerto Natales 15.11,
n Los Baguales 15.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11, n 10 km south of Porvenir
17.11, common throughout Lauca area 19.11 – 21.11. To our eyes the
northern birds were less well-marked than those in the south, especially
around the head.
Flightless Steamer Duck (Tachyeres pteneres) 2 Seno Otway 14.11,
at the penguin hide.
Flying Steamer Duck (Tachyeres patachonicus) 2 Fuerte Bulnes
14.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11, 2 Laguna de los Cisnes 17.11, 2 10km south
of Porvenir 17.11
Spectacled (Bronze-winged) Duck (Anas specularis) 3 Torres del
Paine 16.11
Chilean (Speckled) Teal (Anas flavirostris) 2 Fuerte Bulnes
14.11, n near Río Rubens 15.11, n Los Baguales 15.11. I didn’t
note down any at Torres del Paine 16.11, but find it difficult to believe
that I didn't see any here – must have been an oversight.
Andean (Sharp-winged) Teal (Anas (flavirostris) oxyptera) Common
throughout Lauca area. Distinctively different from the Speckled Teals
seen in the south, with their all dark heads.
Chiloe Wigeon (Anas sibilatrix) n Leyda 13.11, n between Punta
Arenas – Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Primera Angostura marsh 14.11, n near Río
Rubens 15.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11
Chilean (Yellow-billed) Pintail (Anas georgica) n Leyda 13.11,
n Primera Angostura marsh 14.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11
Puna Teal (Anas puna) 3 Cotacotani 19.11, 6 Chungará
20.1
Silver (Versicolor) Teal (Anas versicolor) 3 Primera Angostura
marsh 14.11
Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera) 2 Leyda 13.11, n Torres del
Paine 16.11
Red (Argentine) Shoveler (Anas platalea) 3 Leyda, n Primera
Angostura marsh 14.11
Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata) Great prolonged views of a
pair plus 4 downy young on a river near Laguna Amarga in Torres del Paine
NP. One of the highlights of the trip. The birds were of the
Chilean race armata.
Rosy-billed Pochard (Netta peposaca) 1 Primera Angostura marsh
14.11
Andean (Peruvian Ruddy) Duck (Oxyura ferruginea) A few Torres
del Paine 16.11, 1 Parinacota 19.11
Lake Duck (Oxyura vittata) 2 Leyda 13.11, 1 Torres del Paine
16.11, a male right next to a male Andean Duck – perfect comparison opportunity!
Black-headed Duck (Heteronetta atricapilla) 3 Leyda (13.11)
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) common
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) common
Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) 1 Seno Otway 14.11, 2 Los Baguales
15.11, 1 Torres del Paine 16.11. Clive & Eleanor also saw 5 at Farellones
9.11
White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) 1 Rocas de Santo Domingo
13.11
Cinereous Harrier (Circus cinereus) 1 near Primera Angostura
14.11, 1 between Torres del Paine & Puerto Natales 16.11, 1 Laguna de
Los Cisnes 17.11
Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) 1 Seno
Otway 14.11, 1 Puerto Natales 15.11
Red-backed Hawk (Buteo polyosoma) 1 Nahuelbuta 11.11, 1 Farellones
23.11
Puna (Variable) Hawk (Buteo poecilochrous) 1 melanistic phase
Putre dry gorge 19.11, 1 Parinacota 20.11, 1 Putre wet gorge 20.11
Mountain Caracara (Phalcoboenus megalopterus) 1 Cotacotani 19.11
Southern Caracara (Polyborus plancus) 1 Nahuelbuta 11.11, 1
between Punta Arenas & Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, 1 Seno Otway 14.11, 1 between
Torres del Paine & Puerto Natales 16.11
Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango) abundant roadside bird
from Santiago de Chile southwards.
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) seen occasionally throughout
trip
Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis) 1 Ancuta 21.11
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 2 Lluta Valley 18.11, 2
Lluta Valley 21.11
Plumbeous Rail (Pardirallus sanguinolentus) at least 1 seen,
possibly 2 and others calling from damp roadside grass near Rocas de Santo
Domingo
Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) a few San Miguel de Azapa
22.11
Spot-flanked Gallinule (Gallinula melanops) 1 Leyda 13.11
Red-gartered Coot (Fulica armillata) n Leyda 13.11, n Primera
Angostura marsh 14.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11
White-winged Coot (Fulica leucoptera) n Leyda 13.11, n Primera
Angostura marsh 14.11, 1 Los Baguales 15.11
Red-fronted Coot (Fulica rufifrons) 1 El Peral 13.11
Giant Coot (Fulica gigantea) Abundant at Lauca – every body
of water seemed to have a few birds
Peruvian Thick-knee (Burhinus superciliaris) 2 Lluta Valley
18.11
Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) very common roadside bird
throughout area from Santiago de Chile southwards, with several even seen
from the plane on arrival.
Andean Lapwing (Vanellus resplendens) 1 Cotacotani 19.11, 2
Parinacota 20.11, 2 Chucuyo 20.11
Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) 1 Lluta River mouth
22.11 was probably this species
Two-banded Plover (Charadrius falklandicus) 1 Seno Otway 14.11,
2 Primera Angostura marsh 14.11, 2 Pali Aike road 15.11, 2 Laguna de Los Cisnes
17.11
Puna Plover (Charadrius alticola) 1 at SW corner of Salar de
Surire 21.11
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 5 Lluta River
mouth 22.11
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferous) 1 Lluta River mouth 22.11
Rufous-chested Plover (Charadrius modestus) 1 in flight Fuerte
Bulnes 14.11, 1 Pali Aike road 15.11
Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (Mitchell's Plover) (Phegornis mitchellii)
up to 2 adults + 2 immatures seen daily from 19.11 – 21.11 in the small roadside
marsh by the km 146 marker on the right hand side just before the Las Cuevas
ranger station, on the road between Putre and Parinacota. This is the
same place where Chris Goodie saw this bird in 2001. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY
NO NEED TO WALK INTO THIS AREA – the birds were frequenting an area of the
marsh very near the road, and could be watched at a range of perhaps 30 metres
without leaving the roadside. Do not disturb them and they will hopefully
stay to breed here for many years to come. There were many areas of
suitable looking habitat throughout the area, e.g. along the road to Surire,
but too few birders to check them all out. However, as Chris says in
his report, they do not seem to be in the area near the Parinacota police
station at Parinacota at this time – we certainly never met anyone who had
found them there, although some people had tried. Definitely the bird
of the trip in my opinion.
Tawny-throated Dotterel (Oreopholus ruficollis) 1 Primera Angostura
area 14.11, 1 in flight Surire 21.11
Magellanic Plover (Pluvianellus socialis) 2 Laguna de Los Cisnes
17.11 Fantastic birds, rivalling Diademed Sandpiper-Plover as the bird
of the trip for me. Excellent prolonged views at a range of no more
than c. 20 metres.
American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) n Rocas de Santo
Domingo 13.11, 4 Lluta River mouth 22.11
Magellanic Oystercatcher (Haematopus leucopodus) n between Punta
Arenas - Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11
Blackish Oystercatcher (Haematopus ater) 4 Puerto de Hambre
14.11, 3 Arica 21.11, 2 Arica 22.11, 1 Playa Corazones 22.11
White-backed (Black-tailed) Stilt (Himantopus melanurus) n Leyda
13.11. Sibley & Monroe have split this from Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus
himantopus)
Andean Avocet (Recurvirostra andina) 2 Cotacotani 19.11 – 20.11,
4 Surire 21.11
Hudsonian Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) n Rocas de Santo Domingo
13.11, 1 Seno Otway 14.11, n Arica 21.11 – 22.11, 1 Playa Corazones 22.11
Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus) n Arica 21.11 – 22.11
Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) c. 40 Primera Angostura
marsh 14.11. I was delighted to finally catch up with this bird, having
dipped many times on previous trips to North America.
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) n Arica 21.11 – 22.11
Surfbird (Aphriza virgata) c. 20 Arica 21.11 – 22.11
Stilt Sandpiper (Micropalama himantopus) 1 Lluta River mouth
22.11
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) c. 10 Fuerte Bulnes 14.11,
c. 4 Laguna de Los Cisnes 17.11
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 1 Lluta River mouth 22.11
Grey-breasted Seedsnipe (Thinocorus orbignyianus) 1 Los Baguales
15.11, 1 Chucuyo 19.11, 2 Parinacota 19.11, 1 Las Cuevas 20.11, 1 Surire 21.11
Least Seedsnipe (Thinocorus rumicivorus) 1 Primera Angostura
marsh 14.11, 2 Pali Aike road 15.11
Chilean Skua (Catharacta chilensis) 1 Puerto de Hambre 14.11,
n Primera Angostura harrying South American Terns 14.11, n Punta Arenas -
Porvenir ferry crossing 17.11
Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) large flock on beach at Rocas
de Santo Domingo 13.11
Dolphin (Magellan) Gull (Larus scoresbii) n between Punta Arenas
- Fuerte Bulnes 14.11
Band-tailed Gull (Larus belcheri) 1 Rocas de Santo Domingo 13.11,
1 Arica 21.11, 1 Arica 22.11, 1 Playa Corazones 22.11
Andean Gull (Larus serranus) seen throughout whole Lauca area
19.11 – 21.11
Franklin’s Gull (Larus pipixcan) n Rocas de Santo Domingo 13.11,
n Arica 21.11 - 22.11
Brown-hooded Gull (Larus maculipennis) n Leyda 13.11, n San
Antonio 13.11, n Laguna El Peral 13.11, n Punta Arenas 14.11, n Torres del
Paine 16.11
Kelp (Southern Black-backed) Gull (Larus dominicanus) 1 between
Chillán and Rancagua 12.11, n Rocas de Santo Domingo 13.11, n Algarrobo
13.11, 1 Punta Arenas 14.11, n Punta Arenas - Porvenir ferry crossing 17.11
Grey Gull (Larus modestus) n Arica 21.11 – 22.11, on the rocky
seafront right in front of the Hotel Panamericana
South American Tern (Sterna hirundinacea) n between Punta Arenas
- Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Primera Angostura 14.11, following feeding flock
of penguins, n Punta Arenas - Porvenir ferry crossing 17.11, 1 Arica 21.11
Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) 1 San Antonio 13.11
Trudeau's (Snowy-crowned) Tern (Sterna trudeaui) 1 Rocas de
Santo Domingo 13.11
Elegant Tern (Sterna elegans) n Rocas de Santo Domingo 13.11,
n Arica 21.11 – 22.11
Inca Tern (Larosterna inca) 3 San Antonio 13.11, large numbers
at extremely close range (2 metres) Arica port 22.11
Chilean Pigeon (Columba araucana) 1 Nahuelbuta 11.11
Feral Pigeon (Colimba livia) towns & villages
Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) n between Santiago de Chile
and Angol 10.11, n Nahuelbuta 11.11, 1 San Miguel de Azapa 22.11, n Farellones
23.11
Pacific Dove (Zenaida meloda) 1 Lluta valley 18.11, n Arica
21.11, n Arica 22.11, n San Miguel de Azapa 22.11. Recently split from
White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
Picui Ground-Dove (Columbina picui) n between Santiago de Chile
and Angol 10.11
Croaking Ground-Dove (Columbina cruziana) n San Miguel de Azapa
22.11
Bare-faced Ground-Dove (Metriopelia ceciliae) n Putre dry gorge
19.11
Black-winged Ground-Dove (Metriopelia melanoptera) 2 Putre dry
gorge 19.11
Burrowing Parakeet (Parrot) (Cyanoliseus patagonus) flock of
8 Los Cipreses 12.11
Austral Parakeet (Enicognathus ferrugineus) n Nahuelbuta 10.11
(including 1 bird perched), 1 Río Rubens (16.11)
Magellanic Horned Owl (Bubo magellanicus) 1 at a roadside roost
c. 15 km south of Porvenir 17.11
Rufous-legged Owl (Strix rufipes) 1 Chillán valley 12.11.
The bird was roosting on a roadside stone in broad daylight, and allowed ridiculously
close approach without flying away. Gonzalo told us that while they
are very difficult to see, when they are found they often show this lack
of fear of humans. Another of the birds of the trip – Michel has been
guiding in Chile for nearly 20 years and it is only the second one he has
seen, and the first in daylight.
Austral Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium nanum) 1 found in the Chillán
valley 12.11, being mobbed by a flock of passerines.
Burrowing Owl (Speotyto cunicularia) 1 San Miguel de Azapa 22.11,
2 Lluta River mouth 22.11
Andean Swift (Aeronautes andecolus) n Lluta valley 18.11
The birds were of the race parvulus
Sparkling Violet-ear (Colibri coruscans) 1 Putre dry gorge 19.11
Andean Hillstar (Oreotrochilus estella) 1 Hostería Las
Vicunas, Putre 19.11, 2 Putre wet gorge 20.11, 1 Hostería Las Vicunas,
Putre 21.11. The birds were of the estella subspecies, known as Stripe-bellied
Hillstar.
Giant Hummingbird (Patagona gigas) n Putre dry gorge 19.11
Green-backed Firecrown (Sephanoides sephaniodes) 1 near Angol,
on the road towards Nahuelbuta 10.11
Oasis Hummingbird (Rhodopis vesper) 2 (1 male, 1 female) San
Miguel de Azapa 22.11
Peruvian Sheartail (Thaumastura cora) 1 San Miguel de Azapa
22.11
Chilean Flicker (Colaptes pitius) 1 Nahuelbuta 11.11, 1 Laguna
Verde 15.11, 1 Torres del Paine 16.11
Andean Flicker (Colaptes rupicola) Large, famous and long-established
colony in the roadside embankment near Chucuyo – birds seen here 19.11 – 20.11.
Other birds seen nearby at Parinacota 19.11 and Cotacotani 20.11
Greyish Miner (Geositta maritima) a total of 3 flushed from
the roadside on the ascent up the Lluta Valley towards Putre on 18.11.
1 showed reasonably well as we drove by after landing at the side of the road.
Rufous-banded Miner (Geositta rufipennis) 1 Farellones 23.11
Puna Miner (Geositta punensis) common on the plan between Las
Cuevas and Parinacota 19.11 – 20.11, and on the way to Surire 21.11
Common Miner (Geositta cunicularia) n Seno Otway 14.11, 1 Pali
Aike road 15.11 I am sure there were others seen in the south.
Short-billed Miner (Geositta antarctica) 1 Seno Otway 14.11
(at the penguin hide), 2 Laguna de Los Cisnes 17.11. They are apparently
commoner on Tierra del Fuego than on the mainland.
Scale-throated Earthcreeper (Upucerthia dumetaria) 1 Primera
Angostura area 14.11
White-throated Earthcreeper (Upucerthia albigula) 1 Putre dry
gorge 19.11. The best identification feature is the extensive rufous
in the wings, seen easily when the bird flies.
Plain-breasted Earthcreeper (Upucerthia jelskii) 1 Putre dry
gorge 19.11, 1 Putre wet gorge 19.11, 1 Cotacotani 19.11, 1 Hostería
Las Vicuñas, Putre 21.11
Band-tailed Earthcreeper (Eremobius phoenicurus) 1 Primera Angostura
area 14.11. Until recently this was considered to be an Argentinean
endemic, but it has recently been discovered breeding just over the Chilean
border in the Primera Angostura area.
Dark-bellied Cinclodes (Cinclodes patagonicus) 1 Nahuelbuta
11.11, 1 Los Baguales 15.11, 1 15 km south of Porvenir 17.11
Bar-winged Cinclodes (Cinclodes fuscus) several across the Magallanes
area, 1 Putre dry gorge 19.11, common throughout Lauca area, 2 Farellones
23.11
White-winged Cinclodes (Cinclodes atacamensis) 3 Parinacota
20.11
Chilean Seaside Cinclodes (Cinclodes nigrofumosus) 1 Playa Corazones
22.11. Big relief having dipped in central Chile. They are apparently
quite uncommon and difficult to find this far north, which is the extreme
northern edge of their range. However, Chris Goodie also saw one here
in 2001, so this may be a reasonably reliable place at present.
Des Murs' Wiretail (Sylviorthorhynchus desmursii) 1 Nahuelbuta
11.11
Thorn-tailed Rayadito (Aphrastura spinicauda) 1 near Angol on
way to Nahuelbuta 10.11, n Nahuelbuta 11.11, n Chillán Valley 12.11
Streaked Tit-Spinetail (Leptasthenura striata) 1 Putre dry gorge
19.11, 1 Putre wet gorge 19.11, 1 Putre wet gorge 20.11
Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail (Leptasthenura aegithaloides) 1
Torres del Paine 16.11, 1 Chucuyo 19.11
Lesser Canastero (Asthenes pyrrholeuca) 1 Torres del Paine 16.11
Dark-winged Canastero (Asthenes arequipae) 1 Putre dry gorge
19.11, 1 Putre wet gorge 19.11. Recently split from Creamy-breasted
Canastero (Asthenes dorbignyi)
Cordilleran Canastero (Asthenes modesta) very common throughout
Putre & Lauca area 19.11 – 21.11
Austral Canastero (Asthenes anthoides) 1 Torres del Paine 16.11
Canyon Canastero (Asthenes pudibunda) 1 Putre dry gorge 19.11.
Not included in the de la Peña & Rumboll guide, but has recently
been found regularly in the dry gorge at Putre. Easily identified by
rich rufous tones on tail, rump and most of wings
White-throated Treerunner (Pygarrhichas albogularis) 2 Nahuelbuta
11.11. Others heard
(Black-throated) Huet-huet (Pteroptochos tarnii) 1 Nahuelbuta
11.11
Moustached Turca (Pteroptochos megapodius) 4 Farellones 23.11
Chucao Tapaculo (Scelorchilus rubecula) 1 near Angol on way
to Nahuelbuta on 10.11 & 11.11, 2 Nahuelbuta 11.11 & others heard.
This bird seemed to react to the tape playback of just about any Tapaculo,
not just it’s own calls, and was by far the easiest of these to see, with
the exception of the Turca.
Ochre-flanked Tapaculo (Eugralla paradoxa) 1 heard near Angol
on way to Nahuelbuta on 11.11 – despite calling from just inside a small bush,
it couldn’t be seen despite trying for nearly half an hour. 1 heard
and seen briefly but well by Eleanor and badly by Clive and myself Nahuelbuta
11.11
Magellanic Tapaculo (Scytalopus magellanicus) very bad views
of a calling bird Nahuelbuta 11.11 We didn’t feel too bad about the
poor views as it is in any case almost identical to Dusky Tapaculo, and its
most distinctive feature is its voice, which we heard very well.
Dusky Tapaculo (Scytalopus fuscus) 1 taped into view near Angol
on way to Nahuelbuta on 10.11 & 11.11 – brief but excellent views.
Chilean (White-crested) Elaenia (Elaenia albiceps) 1 Angol 11.11,
n Nahuelbuta 11.11
Peruvian Elaenia (Elaenia modesta) 1 Lluta Valley 18.11, 1 San
Miguel de Azapa 22.11 Recent split from Chilean Elaenia
Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant (Anairetes flavirostris) 1 Putre wet
gorge 20.11
Tufted Tit-Tyrant (Anairetes parulus) 2 seen very poorly at
Nahuelbuta 11.11
Many-colored Rush-Tyrant (Tachuris rubrigastra) 2 Laguna El
Peral 13.11. Absolute crackers!
Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) 1 San Miguel de
Azapa 22.11, 4+ Lluta Valley 22.11
Patagonian Tyrant (Ochthoeca parvirostris) 1 Nahuelbuta 11.11
White-browed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca leucophrys) 1 Putre dry
gorge 19.11
Fire-eyed Diucon (Xolmis pyrope) 2 near Angol 10.11, n Nahuelbuta
11.11, 1 El Tabo 13.11
Chocolate-vented Tyrant (Neoxolmis rufiventris) 1 Pali Aike
road 15.11, 1 Los Baguales 15.11
Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant (Agriornis montana) 1 Hostería
Las Vicuñas, Putre 20.11, 1 Ancuta 21.11
Grey-bellied Shrike-Tyrant (Agriornis microptera) 1 Los Baguales
15.11, 1 Surire 21.11 These birds are rare in Chile, although ranging
widely throughout Argentina and Bolivia. Amazingly we managed to see
two, one in the south near the border with Argentina and one in the extreme
north near the Bolivian border!
Cinnamon-bellied Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola capistrata) c.
8 Los Baguales 15.11
Rufous-naped Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola rufivertex) 1 seen
briefly Cotacotani 19.11
Puna Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola juninensis) 1 Las Cuevas 19.11,
1 Las Cuevas 20.11, 1 Chungará 20.11, 1 Surire (Chilcaya) 21.11.
I think there may have been a few others.
White-browed Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola albilora) 3 Farellones
23.11
Giant (White-fronted) Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola albifrons)
1 Las Cuevas 19.11, 1 Chucuyo 19.11, n Parinacota 20.11, 1 Las Cuevas 20.11
Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrant (Muscisaxicola flavinucha) c. 4 Los
Baguales 15.11
Andean Negrito (Lessonia oreas) 4 Cotacotani 19.11, 2 Chungará
20.11
Austral (Patagonian) Negrito (Lessonia rufa) very common throughout
Magallanes region
Spectacled Tyrant (Hymenops perspicillatus) 1 Rocas de Santo
Domingo 13.11
Rufous-tailed Plantcutter (Phytotoma rara) 2 Rocas de Santo
Domingo 13.11, 2 Torres del Paine 16.11
Chilean Swallow (Tachycineta meyeni / leucopyga) very common
from Santiago de Chile southwards
Blue-and-white Swallow (Notiochelidon cyanoleuca) 1 near Torres
del Paine 15.11, 1 Torres del Paine 16.11, 1 Putre dry gorge 19.11, 1 Putre
wet gorge 20.11, 2 Farellones 23.11. The birds were of the southern
race patagonica – Patagonian Swallow.
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 1 Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, n Primera
Angostura marsh 14.11, n Lluta Valley 22.11 There may have been others.
Andean Swallow (Hirundo andecola) 1 Chucuyo 19.11, 1 Cotacotani
20.11
Bank Swallow (Sand Martin) (Riparia riparia) 1 Fuerte Bulnes
14.11
Cliff Swallow (Hirundo pyrrhonota) 1 Primera Angostura marsh
14.11 on the ground with a group of Barn Swallows
Southern House-Wren (Troglodytes aedon musculus) 1 at a petrol
stop between Santiago & Angol 10.11, 1 Nahuelbuta 11.11, 1 San Antonio
13.11, 1 15km south of Porvenir 17.11, 1 Lluta Valley 22.11 The latter
bird, in the Lluta Valley was of the race tecellatus, and very different in
appearance from the other birds seen – very grey and barred, and possibly
a shorter tail – possible future split?
Chiguanco Thrush (Turdus chiguanco) common around Putre, especially
Putre wet gorge where abundant 19.11 – 20.11
Austral Thrush (Turdus falcklandii) common from Chillán
southwards. Clive & Eleanor also saw them at Farellones and in Santiago
de Chile
Chilean Mockingbird (Mimus thenca) 1 between Santiago &
Angol 10.11, 1 Nahuelbuta 11.11, 1 Chillán 12.11, 2 Farellones 23.11
Patagonian Mockingbird (Mimus patagonicus) 1 Primera Angostura
14.11
Correndera Pipit (Anthus correndera) 1 Leyda 13.11, 1 Seno Otway
14..11, 1 Pali Aike road 15.11
Blue-and-yellow Tanager (Thraupis bonariensis) resident pair
at Hostería Las Vicuñas, Putre 19.11 – 21.11 – they attacked
the wing mirrors of parked cars religiously every morning! Also 1 Putre
dry gorge 19.11, 1 Putre wet gorge 20.11
Golden-billed Saltator (Saltator aurantiirostris) 1 Putre wet
gorge 19.11 – 20.11
Band-tailed Seedeater (Catamenia analis) c. 3 Putre dry gorge
19.11, 1 Putre 20.11
Chestnut-throated Seedeater (Sporophila telasco) 1 San Miguel
de Azapa 22.11, n Lluta Valley 22.11
Greater Yellow-Finch (Sicalis auriventris) 2 Los Baguales 15.11
Greenish Yellow-Finch (Sicalis olivascens) n Putre dry gorge
19.11, n Putre 20.11
Patagonian Yellow-Finch (Sicalis lebruni) 2 Seno Otway 14.11,
n Los Baguales 15.11
Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola) several at roadside
stop near Curico 10.11, n Leyda 13.11
Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) 1 Lluta Valley 22.11
Slender-billed Finch (Xenospingus concolor) 3 San Miguel de
Azapa 22.11
White-winged Diuca-Finch (Diuca speculifera) 2 Las Cuevas 19.11,
2 Cotacotani 19.11, 2 Las Cuevas 20.11
Common Diuca-Finch (Diuca diuca) 1 near Angol on way to Nahuelbuta
10.11, n Nahuelbuta 11.11, n Chillán 12.11
Black-throated Flower-piercer (Diglossa brunneiventris) 1 Putre
dry gorge 19.11
Canary-winged (Black-throated) Finch (Melanodera melanodera)
4 Pali Aike road 15.11
Patagonian Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus patagonicus) 1 Fuerte Bulnes
14.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11
Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus gayi) 1 near Angol on way
to Nahuelbuta 10.11, 1 El Tabo 13.11, 1 Primera Angostura 14.11, n Pali Aike
road 15.11, n Los Baguales 15.11, n Torres del Paine 16.11, 1 Farellones 23.11
Black-hooded Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus atriceps) 1 Putre wet gorge
19.11, n Parinacota 19.11, 2 Chungará 20.11, n Putre 20.11, 1 Surire
21.11
Mourning Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus fruticeti) very common around
Putre 19.11 – 21.11, n Farellones 23.11
Plumbeous Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus unicolor) n Los Baguales 15.11,
n Cotacotani 19.11, 1 Chungará 20.11
Red-backed Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus dorsalis) 2 Cotacotani 19.11.
In rarity terms, probably the best sighting of the trip – they have been recorded
from this area rarely in the past, but are only reliable further south in
the El Tatio area
White-throated Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus erythronotus) 1 Cotacotani
19.11, 1 Cotacotani 20.11
Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus plebejus) n just east of
Putre 20.11
Band-tailed Sierra-Finch (Phrygilus alaudinus) n Los Cipreses
12.11
Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) common everywhere.
The southern race with a relatively plain grey head look quite different from
the stripe-headed northern race.
Cinereous Conebill (Conirostrum cinereum) 3 San Miguel de Azapa
22.11
Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) 1 between Chillán
and Rancagua 12.11, 1 Lluta Valley 22.11. Others seen but not recorded
Austral Blackbird (Curaeus curaeus) n Nahuelbuta 11.11, n Chillán
12.11, 1 El Tabo 13.11
Yellow-winged Blackbird (Agelaius thilius) 4 Leyda 13.11
Long-tailed Meadowlark (Sturnella loyca) common roadside bird
from Santiago de Chile southwards
Peruvian Meadowlark (Sturnella bellicosa) 1 Lluta Valley 21.11,
3 Lluta River mouth 22.11, n Lluta Valley 22.11
Hooded Siskin (Carduelis magellanica) common around Putre 19.11
– 21.11, 2 san Miguel de Azapa 22.11, 1 Farellones 23.11
Black Siskin (Carduelis atrata) small flocks throughout Lauca
& Surire areas
Black-chinned Siskin (Carduelis barbata) n Angol 11.11, n Nahuelbuta
11.11, n between Punta Arenas and Fuerte Bulnes 14.11, Río Rubens 15.11,
n Los Baguales 15.11
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) towns and villages
Birds heard but not seen
Austral Rail (Rallus antarcticus) 1 bird responded immediately
to a tape in the marsh on the left hand side just inside the Lago Sarmiento
entrance gate to Torres del Paine. However, despite calling repeatedly
for a lengthy spell, it refused to come into view, staying just inside the
dense reeds. This is the norm here, although it is occasionally glimpsed
as it dashes across gaps in the vegetation. We were very satisfied just
to hear this bird, considered extinct until some 25 years ago.
Striped Woodpecker (Picoides lignarius) Several heard at Nahuelbuta
11.11, 1 heard at El Tabo 13.11 (seen by Clive & Eleanor but not by myself),
1 heard Torres del Paine 16.11. Each time they called just once, and
then fell completely silent, and no amount of searching, tape playback etc
could bring them into view. The bird at El Tabo was seen by Clive &
Eleanor when it flew into a dead tree, but it moved on before I could get
onto it.
Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus) one bird heard
calling very close (< 50 metres) at Nahuelbuta, but didn’t show despite
tape playback, instead moving further away into the trees. Very frustrating!
Also looked for in Torres del Paine (Lago Gray area) and by Clive & Eleanor
at Puyehue without success
White-throated Tapaculo (Scelorchilus albicollis) heard at El
Tabo 13.11 in response to a tape, but couldn’t be attracted in in the short
time we had available. We should really have tried for this bird at
dawn, and allowed far more time for what is a notoriously skulking bird.
Grass Wren (Cistothorus platensis) heard but not seen in very
windy conditions at Torres del Paine 16.11
Birds missed
The main target species that we missed are detailed below, with suggestions
for where they might be seen.
Puna Rhea (Rhea (pennata) tarapacensis) Often seen along the
drive to Surire, as well as within the Lauca area. Much less tolerant
of humans than the Magallanes rheas
Patagonian Tinamou (Tinamotis ingoufi) Difficult bird in Chile
– Ricardo told us that they are more reliably seen in southern Argentina,
not far from el Calafate.
Hooded Grebe (Podiceps gallardoi) has been reported from roadside
pools near Puerto Natales but extremely rare at best.
Peruvian Diving-Petrel (Pelecanoides garnotii) possible offshore
from Arica
Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) some colonies in Argentinean
Patagonia. Occasionally seen in Chile
Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes crestatus) restricted to islands
in the Chilean fjords – large colony on Isla Noir.
Rufous-tailed Hawk (Buteo ventralis) best place is probably
Chiloé Island, which I didn’t visit. Also possible at Torres
del Paine. This is a forest hawk, and can be very difficult to find.
White-throated Caracara (Phalcoboenus albogularis) possible
at Torres del Paine (including Los Baguales) and Ushuaia rubbish dump in
Argentina, but apparently not in between
Forster's (Striated) Caracara (Phalcoboenus australis) restricted
to outer islands in fjords
Slate-colored Coot (Fulica ardesiaca) possible at Chungará,
but not apparently elsewhere in Lauca area. We made a half-hearted attempt
to see it, but didn’t try very hard due to annoying flies and recurrence of
altitude sickness
Fuegian (Cordilleran) Snipe (Gallinago stricklandii) restricted
to outer islands in fjords. I’m not aware of any reliable sites.
Snowy Sheathbill (Chionis alba) possible in austral winter in
Primera Angostura area, but rarely still present from October onwards.
Most reliable site during the breeding season is the Isla Marta sealion colony
in the Magellan Straits, a small islet adjacent to the Isla Magdalena penguin
colony
Peruvian (Chilean) Tern (Sterna lorata) seen sometimes offshore
from Arica, but no breeding colonies here – they do however breed offshore
from Antofagasta to the south
Golden-spotted Ground-Dove (Metriopelia aymara) can be seen
in the Lauca area, e.g. around Parinacota
Slender-billed Parakeet (Enicognathus leptorhynchus) I didn't
go far enough south to have a real chance of this bird – others have seen
them at Nahuelbuta, but the rangers told us that they were not there during
our visit, and that we would need to go further south. Chiloé
Island is apparently a reliable spot – Clive & Eleanor had a flock of
about 20 birds there later in the trip.
Mountain Parakeet (Bolborhynchus aurifrons) possible at El Yeso,
Putre etc. Gonzalo told us that they used to be reliable until recently
just east of Putre along the old road towards Lauca – we dipped, but some
other birders we met saw them here.
Chilean Woodstar (Eulidia yarrellii) possible in the Azapa Valley,
but getting increasingly rare – Gonzalo referred to this bird as the second
most endangered in Chile, after the Juan Fernández Firecrown.
The row of flowering bushes near San Miguel de Azapa which used to be reasonably
reliable for them was cut down and destroyed earlier this year, and they have
now become even harder to find – Gonzalo birds regularly in this area and
has only seen one in the past 12 months.
Creamy-rumped Miner (Geositta isabellina) Possible at Farellones
and at Portillo
Crag Chilia (Chilia melanura) Disappointed to dip this one,
but they were hard to find this year. Can be seen at Farellones and
El Yeso. Christian told us that in September they were easy to find
both along the ridge just before reaching Farellones and on the escarpment
at the end of the grassy plateau accessed by a track running left from the
middle of town. However, October saw two unseasonal and very heavy
snowfalls which disrupted their breeding attempts, after which they had disappeared.
On 23.11 we tried both here, and further down the valley back towards Santiago
de Chile where they winter but with no luck. Clive & Eleanor also
tried here with Michel on 9.11, also with no luck.
Blackish Cinclodes (Cinclodes antarcticus) restricted to outer
islands in fjords, especially the Parque Nacional Cabo de Hornos, only accessible
by boat.
Grey-flanked Cinclodes (Cinclodes oustaleti) possible in Andes
near Santiago, and also in Magallanes.
Dusky-tailed Canastero (Asthenes humicola) Another annoying
dip. Clive & Eleanor saw this bird at Farellones on 9.11, but we
didn't really have time to look when I visited on 23.11 Thanks Iberia!!
Chestnut-throated Huet-huet (Pteroptochos castaneus) The most
often recommended sites are at Las Lajas and along the road up from Chillán
towards Las Termas. One possible scooted out from the side of the road
and vanished under the car, leaving a trail of loose feathers but no sign
of the bird itself.
D'Orbigny's Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca oenanthoides) Uncommon at
Putre – some other birders we met saw one at Putre wet gorge 21.11
White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant (Agriornis andicola) possible around
Surire and Lauca
Tamarugo Conebill (Conirostrum tamarugense) possible around
Arica, but very unreliable. The most reliable spot is the section of
the Reserva Nacional Pampa del Tamarugal near Pica, east of Iquique
Giant Conebill (Oreomanes fraseri) inhabits polylepis woodland
around Arica. Not looked for by us
Yellow-bridled Finch (Melanodera xanthogramma) can be seen in
places in Magallanes, e.g. the southern mountains on Tierra del Fuego.
Also possible in Torres del Paine
Mammal list
Peale’s Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus australis) several seen offshore
between Punta Arenas and Fuerte Bulnes 14.11
Southern Sea Lion (Otaria byronia) groups seen sunning themselves
on buoys offshore at San Antonio
Patagonian Gray Fox (Pseudalopex griseus) several seen in the
area around Seno Otway 14.11
Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) Common in the Magallanes area especially
Torres del Paine.
We also saw Llamas (Lama glama) and Alpacas (Lama pacos) but these are domesticated
animals rather than wild populations.
Vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) Common in the Lauca area
Patagonian Skunk (Conepatus humboldti) One seen on exit from
Torres del Paine on 16.11
Mountain Vizcacha (Viscacha) (Lagidium viscacia) Common in Lauca
and Surire areas
North Andean Deer (Northern Huemul) (Hippocamelus antisensis)
Our sighting of one of these highly threatened animals on the outskirts of
Putre on 20.11 was, objectively, probably as good as any bird sighting throughout
the trip.
Gruff Dodd,
2 Clos Tawe,
Barri, Bro Morgannwg,
Cymru/Wales;
Gruff@doddg.freeserve.co.uk