BIRDING CHILE for GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON SOCIETY January 21St - February 05Th, 2022
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BIRDING CHILE FOR GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON SOCIETY January 21st - February 05th, 2022 BIRDING CHILE I. INTRODUCTION: BIRDING CHILE: A QUEST FOR THE ENDEMICS & SPECIALTIES OF CHILE Birding Chile Journey is an exciting birdwatching journey aimed to discover the endemics and specialties of this 3,000-mile long and narrow biogeographical country and explore and enjoy its marvelous landscapes, excellent infrastructure and great cuisine. Chile is a land of huge contrasts, truly a geographic extravaganza. On this birding adventure we will explore Chile’s incredibly diverse habitats and marvel at some of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth, while enjoying top-class hotels and cuisine. From Mediterranean scrub to the windswept steppes of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia, our search for the avian specialties of this long and narrow country will take us from the high Andes to the cold and productive waters of the Humboldt Current in the Pacific. We will find many interesting species, some of them with very restricted distributional ranges and some endemic to the country. TRIP HIGHLIGHTS • Three (3) pelagic trips and 4 ferry rides offering great opportunities for pelagic specialties of the eastern Pacific and Southern Ocean. FAR SOUTH EXPEDITIONS Manuel Señoret St. 610, Punta Arenas, CHILE • Telephone: +56 61 2615793 • [email protected] BIRDING CHILE FOR GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON SOCIETY January 21st - February 05th, 2022 • The magnificent Andean Condor and Magellanic Woodpecker and stunning waders including Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Magellanic Plover, Tawny-throated Dotterel, Rufous-chested Dotterel and Two-banded Plover. • Up to nine endemic species including Slender-billed Parakeet, Crag Chilia, Moustached Turca and White- throated Tapaculo. We will also search for the quasi-endemic Chestnut-throated Huet-huet. • A spectacular system of national parks and nature reserves protecting some of the most beautiful places on Earth. FAR SOUTH EXPEDITIONS Manuel Señoret St. 610, Punta Arenas, CHILE • Telephone: +56 61 2615793 • [email protected] BIRDING CHILE FOR GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON SOCIETY January 21st - February 05th, 2022 II. DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY A. THE HEART OF CHILE Day 1 • Friday 21 January, 2022 • Lampa marshes - Farellones - Santiago Our birding adventure in Chile starts today! Please make arrangements to arrive into Chile the prior day, in order to have an early start this morning. Your guide will be gathering trip participants at each individual hotel; right after we will drive a short distance north of Chile’s capital to explore some marshes around the localities of Lampa and Batuco. Wetlands are under a lot of urban pressure in central Chile and sadly Lampa and Batuco are examples of this threat. However, they hold a well represented sample of waterfowl, including Yellow-billed Pintail, Yellow-billed Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Chiloe Wigeon and Red Shoveler. Other targets here will be Cocoi Heron, Rosy-billed Pochard, White-cheeked Pintail and hopefully South American Painted Snipe. Correndera Pipit might be well singing high in the air in their characteristic courtship display! During the afternoon we will bird in the spectacular setting of Farellones. There are several Andean specialties here including Mountain Caracara, White-sided Hillstar, Rufous-banded and Creamy-rumped Miners, Cinereous, Black-fronted, White-browed and Rufous-naped Ground-tyrants plus Greater Yellow-Finch, Grey-hooded and Band-tailed Sierra-Finch. We will also look for the endemic Chilean Tinamou and Chilean Mockingbird and we might have the chance of seeing Red-backed (Variable) Hawk and Aplomado Falcon. Overnight Santiago (Lunch, Dinner) (Guide). Day 2 • Saturday 22 January, 2022 • Exploring the Andes: El Yeso Valley We will have a full day to explore the surroundings of El Yeso reservoir in the Andean foothills, where will hopefully be rewarded with sightings of the endemic Crag Chilia plus our first Andean Condors, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, and several other Andean specialities such as Black- winged Ground Dove, Grey-flanked Cinclodes, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant and Yellow-rumped Siskin. Careful scanning of grasslands and streams may produce the stunning Diademed Sandpiper- FAR SOUTH EXPEDITIONS Manuel Señoret St. 610, Punta Arenas, CHILE • Telephone: +56 61 2615793 • [email protected] BIRDING CHILE FOR GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON SOCIETY January 21st - February 05th, 2022 Plover, our main target species for the day. El Yeso valley is a lovely mountain spot where we will also have good chances for Mountain Parakeet flocks. During the afternoon we will visit another valley, Baños Morales. This location offers great chances for several other specialties including Mountain Caracara, White-sided Hillstar, Rufous-banded and Creamy-rumped Miners, Cinereous, Black-fronted, White-browed and Rufous-naped Ground Tyrants plus Greater Yellow Finch and Grey-hooded and Band-tailed Sierra Finches. Overnight Santiago (Breakfast, Picnic lunch, Dinner) (Guide). Day 3 • Sunday 23 January, 2022 • Drive to the Pacific coast: Maipo Estuary – Laguna El Peral Nature Reserve – Viña del Mar The Coastal Range separates Chile’s central valley from the Pacific coast and we will drive across to explore the productive Maipo river mouth and surrounding coastal wetlands, including El Peral Reserve. Our target birds here will be the cryptic-colored Stripe-backed Bittern, the brood-parasitic Black-headed Duck and the striking Many-colored Rush Tyrant; we will also have a chance to find the scarce and local Ticking Doradito. Overnight Viña del Mar (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) (Guide). Day 4 • Monday 24 January, 2022 • Pelagic trip off Valparaiso – Cachagua Today we will make an unforgettable visit to the cold and productive waters of the Humboldt Current, considered one of the world’s finest pelagic birding destinations. Here, we should see a great variety of tubenoses including up to six albatross species: Black-browed, Salvin’s, Buller’s, Chatham, Wandering (Antipodean) and both Northern and Southern Royal albatrosses. We also hope to find Southern and Northern Giant Petrels, Pintado, Masatierra, White-chinned and Westland Petrels, Pink-footed, Buller’s and Sooty Shearwaters, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, and Peruvian Diving Petrel. Other seabirds we may encounter include Red Phalarope, Sabine’s Gull and Chilean Skua. There are good chances of seeing cetaceans although FAR SOUTH EXPEDITIONS Manuel Señoret St. 610, Punta Arenas, CHILE • Telephone: +56 61 2615793 • [email protected] BIRDING CHILE FOR GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON SOCIETY January 21st - February 05th, 2022 they are always difficult to predict; on recent trips we have recorded Dusky Dolphin, Southern Right Whale Dolphin, and Orca! In the afternoon, we will head to the productive rocky coast north of Valparaiso. We have planned a visit to a protected breeding colony of the endangered Humboldt Penguin; the endemic Seaside Cinclodes and the delightful Marine Otter are both possible here as well. Before ending the day, will stop in a coastal marsh to see a variety of waterfowl including Red Shoveler, Yellow-billed Pintail, Speckled Teal and Chiloe Wigeon, all three lowland coot species (Red-gartered, White-winged and Red-fronted), Spot-flanked Gallinule and Plumbeous Rail, which is surprisingly quite easy to spot as it often walks in the open. Overnight Viña del Mar (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) (Guide). Day 5 • Tuesday 25 January, 2022 • La Campana National Park – Drive to Vilches During the morning we will bird at La Campana National Park, where we will be looking for an interesting array of passerines, all endemic to Chile: Dusky-tailed Canastero, Moustached Turca, Dusky Tapaculo and White-throated Tapaculo. We are also likely to encounter the remarkable Giant Hummingbird, Striped Woodpecker, Austral Pygmy Owl and Chilean Pigeon. The highest peak around, Mount La Campana (The Bell), dominates the entire scene; this area receives enough moisture from the ocean to sustain broad-leaf forests and a xeric shrub community named matorral (Chile’s equivalent to California’s chaparral). We will continue driving south along the central valley and the Panamerican Highway in direction to Talca (35°S). The forested rural locality of Vilches will be our base for two nights. Rufous-legged Owl usually roosts in the woodlands behind the lodge, a very good reason for a short owling night excursion. Overnight Vilches (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) (Guide). Day 6 • Wednesday 26 January, 2022 • Altos de Lircay – Lake Colbun At dawn, we will visit the temperate southern beech forests of Altos de Lircay Nature Reserve to seek for several Patagonian woodland specialties. The Nothofagus forests are the home for an interesting array of species, including the rare Rufous-tailed and White-throated Hawks, Austral Parakeet, Thorn-tailed Rayadito and White-throated Treerunner. We will keep searching in the undergrowth bamboo thickets for the quasi- endemic Chestnut-throated Huet-huet and Magellanic Tapaculo, our main target birds here. Along the road we might see the largest of the tyrant flycatchers, the Great Shrike-Tyrant, which usually perches on wires looking for large insects and even small birds and rodents! We will head to the mountains once more to briefly FAR SOUTH EXPEDITIONS Manuel Señoret St. 610, Punta Arenas, CHILE • Telephone: +56 61 2615793 • [email protected] BIRDING CHILE FOR GOLDEN GATE AUDUBON SOCIETY January 21st - February 05th, 2022 visit Lake Colbún where our search will focus on the threatened local race of Burrowing Parakeet, which usually congregates in noisy flocks. Overnight Vilches (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) (Guide). Day 7 • Thursday 27 January, 2022 • Drive to Santiago – Flight to Temuco After some dawn birding at Vilches we will drive back to Santiago and catch our flight to the city of Temuco, gateway of northern Patagonia. Overnight Temuco (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) (Guide). Day 8 • Friday 28 January, 2022 • Conguillio National Park During the morning we will visit the slopes of the Llaima Volcano located east of Temuco, in the gorgeous Conguillio National Park. This protected area offers spectacular vistas and remarkable vegetation, including stands of the peculiar Chilean Pine (also known as Araucaria or Monkey-puzzle tree).