Raptors & Pumas of Patagonia

Home , Chilean hawk, Chimango caracara, Cinereous harrier, Roadside hawk

Combine this tour with the Ultimate Argentina Raptor Safari, 16–31 January 2016

Southern Patagonia is the last belong to the gigantic Andean Condor, and frontier for wildlife watching. In we should see many and up close. Another these remote confines of the world charismatic raptor, the Black-chested prey and predator unfold the everyday Buzzard Eagle is ubiquitous in the park. drama of life. Torres del Paine National Park, Three species of falcons can be seen here as in southern Chile, has been voted the Eighth well, namely the American Kestrel, the Wonder of the World in 2013 (5 million votes Aplomado Falcon, and the majestic on VirtualTourist.com). With the iconic Peregrine Falcon. backdrop of the granite torres (‘towers’), shocking azure-colored lakes, mighty Further north lies the “lakes district” in glaciers and hypnotic waterfalls, the park Northern Patagonia. Here we will explore the boasts robust populations of ecotone between the Patagonian steppe Guanacos—once South America’s most and a unique ecosystem: the southern beech widely distributed and abundant camelids. forest—one of the finest examples of temperate rainforests. Dotted with glacial The Andean Condor is the Where there is prey there are predators, and lakes, these forests are the breeding grounds largest flying bird. the top predator in Torres del Paine is the of White-throated and Rufous-tailed © D. Podestá Puma or Mountain Lion. The largest Pumas Hawks. on the planet occur here, and an extensive net of roads and great visibility makes Torres Tour starts and ends in Buenos Aires—a del Paine one of the best places to watch world-class tourist destination on its own them in the wild. Many scavengers, including right. Starting here will allow us to have a Turkey Vultures, Southern Crested, White- taste of the raptor life in the wet grasslands throated, and Chimango Caracaras attend of the eastern Pampas. Here we will target the puma kills—often guanaco carcasses. White-tailed and Snail Kites, Roadside Hawk, Long-winged Harrier, and, with a If the ground belongs to the puma, the skies little luck, Bay-winged Hawk.

conducted driving on dirt roads (mostly Day 1 | 9 JANUARY rather smooth) and making frequent stops Arrival at Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini to pan the landscape with binoculars. International Airport (IATA code: EZE). Early Sometimes a moderate hike is necessary, arrivals (landing before 10.00 AM) will go on though it is not unusual to see Pumas from a half-day drive to look for raptors including the very vehicles. White-tailed and Snail Kites, Roadside Hawk, Long-winged Harrier, Chimango Day 6 | 14 JANUARY and Crested Caracara, and perhaps Bay- One last quest for pumas early in the winged Hawk. Picnic lunch. Those arriving morning. Then breakfast and checkout. Drive after 10 AM will be driven and checked in back to El Calafate. Lunch en route to El our hotel, eat lunch and take the rest of the Calafate. Catch our flight to Bariloche in the day to relax. Dinner and overnight in Ezeiza. afternoon. Check in our hotel in Bariloche. Dinner and overnight in Bariloche. Aplomado Falcon, adult male. Day 2 | 10 JANUARY © D. Podestá 15 JANUARY Fly to El Calafate. Drive to Torres del Paine Day 7 | National Park stopping for raptors, including After eating breakfast we will drive the “Road Andean Condor, Variable Hawk and Black- of the Seven Lakes”, where we will target chested Buzzard Eagle. Dinner and Chilean, Variable, and White-throated overnight in Torres del Paine. Hawks. Picnic lunch at a Rufous-tailed Hawk nesting area. We should see both Days 3–5 | 11–13 JANUARY adults and juveniles (if it was a successful nesting attempt) soaring overhead. We may Today and the two next days we will work visit an Andean Condor roost, depending the Torres del Paine National Park—arguably on timing and the results we have had in South America’s finest—searching for Torres del Paine. Dinner and overnight in Raptors & Pumas. Pumas, like most cats, are Bariloche. more active either at night or at twilight. This means that we will wake up around 4.30 AM, Day 8 | 16 JANUARY have a cup of coffee, go out to the field Rufous-tailed Hawk occurs around 5 AM, look for Pumas for 2-3 hours, After breakfast we will pay a visit to a nesting only in Patagonia. then have a field breakfast around. We will site of Chilean Hawks. Back to Bariloche, © S. Seipke look for raptors from then on through noon. checkout, and catch our flight back to Around 1-2 PM we will be back in our hotel Buenos Aires. Check in at hotel. Eat dinner in to eat a well-deserved lunch. After lunch we Buenos Aires with the Ultimate Argentina will have 3-4 hours of free time. We highly Raptor Safari group and splice both tours, recommend devoting this time to take a or prepare for heading back home next day siesta (nap)—these will be long days and from Ministro Pistarini International Airport. short nights! Those with stamina will be welcome to walk around and bird the trails nearby. Our hotel here sits on a small island on lake Pehoe and vistas of the massif and surrounding landscape are superb. Dinner will be around 7.00 PM.

We will drive in comfortable 4WDs or vans, depending on group size. The search is Cinereous Harrier, adult male delivering prey at nest. © D. Podestá

32° S URUGUAY TARGE T SPECIES Buenos Aires & Ezeiza

E 1. Andean Condor Vultur gryphus L 2. Turkey Vulture I Cathartes aura

H 3. Black Vulture Coragyps atratus C 4. White-tailed Kite* Elanus leucurus Villa 5. Snail Kite* La Angostura Rostrhamus sociabilis 40° S 6. Cinereous Harrier n Bariloche

a n Circus cinereus

e a c 7. Long-winged Harrier* e

O c Circus buﬀoni

c O Patagonia 8. Chilean Hawk

ﬁ c i i Accipiter chilensis

c t 0 100 200 300 kilometers

a n 9. Bay-winged Hawk*

a P l Parabuteo unicinctus 0 100 200 300 miles t h 10. Roadside Hawk*

t A

u Rupornis magnirostris h

o t S 11. White-throated Hawk u

o Buteo albigula 48° S S 12. Rufous-tailed Hawk Buteo ventralis El Calafate FALKLAND IS. 13. Variable Hawk Torres del Geranoaetus polyosoma Paine NP 14. Black-chested Buzzard Eagle Geranoaetus melanoleucus 15. Chimango Caracara TIERRA DEL Milvago chimango FUEGO 16. White-throated Caracara Phalcoboenus albogularis 17. Southern Crested Caracara Caracara plancus 18. American Kestrel 80° W 72° W 64° W 56° W Falco sparverius 19. Aplomado Falcon Falco femoralis 20. Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus

MAMMALS

1. Puma Puma concolor 2. Culpeo Fox Lycalopex culpaeus 3. South American Gray Fox Lycalopex griseus 4. Guanaco Lama guanicoe

*To target this species your international ﬂight must land before 10:00 AM on Day 1. Refer to the Day-by-day Itinerary (on page 2) for further information.

Sergio has observed and photographed raptors for the past 20 years. He was born in Argentina, and TOUR GUIDE enjoys helping others to search for and identify raptors.

Sergio is currently working on Raptors of South America, to be published by Princeton University Press, and the ﬁrst ﬁeld guide to the raptors of the Sergio Seipke region.

Sergio is the owner of Raptours, L.L.C. and carries on Bill Clark’s legacy of raptor touring.

Sergio speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Roberto needs little introduction: he is the best puma tracker available today. He is also an PUMA TRACKER accomplished photographer, and works with most of the reputable wildlife watching and touring companies.

He lives in Punta Arenas and has been guiding nature tours in the region since before year 2000. Roberto Donoso

SUGGESTED FIELD GUIDES

ERIZE, F., M. RUMBOLL, and J. RODRÍGUEZ-MATA. 2006. Birds of South America: Non-Passerines: Rheas to Woodpeckers. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.

FERGUSON-LEES, JAMES, and DAVID A. CHRISTIE. 2005. Raptors of the World. Paperback Edition. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.

JARAMILLO, A. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford.

NAROSKY, T., and D. IZURIETA. 2004. Birds of Argentina & Uruguay: A Field Guide. Vázquez Mazzini Editores, Buenos Aires.

Make a difference!

RAPTOURS®, L.L.C. will make a ﬁnancial contribution to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary for every member that signs up for this tour. Join us on this tour and make a lasting contribution to raptor conservation.

GROUP SIZE LIMIT COMFOR T NEED TO KNOW A minimum of 4 participants is necessary to run We will stay below 5,000 ft / 1,500 m above sea the tour. If by 1 October the minimum number of level. participants has not been reached, the tour will be TOUR DATES & Accommodations range from very good to cancelled. AVAILABILIT Y excellent. We will drive in a comfortable van or No reservation fee applies at the time of booking, 4WDs depending on location and terrain 9–16 January 2016 but full payment is due by 15 October. conditions. BOOKING CLOSES ON TOUR PRICE Guide-to-passenger ratio will be 1:4 or better. 1 October 2015 Tour price is $4,560 per person, and includes WEATHER & CLOTHING hotels (double occupancy), three domestic flights, GROUP SIZE LIMIT Weather in January is pleasant in Torres del Paine, all meals, soft drinks, entry fees, ground with average highs around 75 °F / 24 °C and transportation, and guide fees. 8 participants (minimum: 4) average lows around 53 °F / 12 °C at night. Strong International flights to and from Buenos Aires, winds is the norm in Torres del Paine, so a good TOUR PRICE extra nights in Buenos Aires, entry “reciprocity “windwall” jacket, gloves, and warm footwear are fees”, alcoholic beverages, items of personal essential. While it is usually sunny in Torres del $4,860 per person nature, tips, and insurance of any kind are not Paine, rain can happen at any time. Because of included. strong winds a rain jacket is preferable over a SINGLE SUPPLEMENT folding umbrella. SINGLE SUPPLEMENT $450 Bariloche can be a little chillier, with average highs Single supplement is $410. Single rooms will be around 72 °F / 22 °C and average lows around R APTOR SPECIES subject to availability. 45 °F / 7 °C (dew point c. 7 °C, between a little dry EXPEC TED and comfortable). Roommates will be assigned to those participants 15–20 willing to share a room. If a roommate is not HEALTH available, you will be required to pay the single COUNTRY ENTRY supplement. For detailed information on health REQUIREMENTS recommendations to visit Chile, see CDC’s COUNTRY ENTRY REQUIREMENTS website 6 weeks before departure. Varies according to nationality A valid passport is required to enter Argentina. As For detailed information on health a result of a recent change in Argentine law, prior recommendations to visit Argentina, see CDC’s DIFFICULT Y to arrival in Argentina at any entry point, website. Australian, Canadian or U.S. citizen tourist and Easy to Moderate business travelers must pay a reciprocity fee by Travel medical insurance is strongly credit card online here. Online instructions in recommended. COMFOR T English on how to pay the fee are available here. LOCAL CURRENCY Once paid, you must print out the receipt and Very good to Excellent present it to the Argentine immigration officer at Local currency in Argentina is Argentine peso, the time of entry. and exchange rate is nearly 8.6 Argentine pesos WEATHER & CLOTHING for U.S. dollar. In Chile, the Chilean peso has an Australian, Canadian, E.U. or U.S. visitors do not Pleasant and dry | Bring a exchange rate of nearly 510 Chilean pesos for need a visa to enter Chile as tourists. Since we will jacket, thin gloves, and U.S. dollar. enter Chile by land from Argentina, no reciprocity comfortable shoes fee will apply for Chile. Major credit and debit cards will be accepted throughout the tour. It is recommended to start HEALTH DIFFICULT Y the tour with pesos cash for expenses such as No special vaccines or meals, souvenirs, drinks or phone calls. The level of difficulty of this trip is easy to malaria prophylaxis needed moderate. Three domestic flights, one of which is a little over 3 hours long, and a few half-day drives LOC AL CURRENCY are involved. Easy to moderate walks are Email Raptours, L.L.C. ([email protected]) unavoidable when searching for pumas in the to reserve your place in this tour, or book online Argentine peso, wild. Terrain is rather level and open, however. at www.raptoursllc.com. Chilean peso

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