CHILE Birding with a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018
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Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 A Tropical Birding CUSTOM tour CHILE: Pumas and Penguins of Patagonia A Birding With A Camera® tour 7th December – 17th December 2018 The Pumas and dramatic scenery of Torres del Paine National Park were two reasons for this tour being put together; ultimately these were combined with Pumas being seen within the most spectacular scenery on the continent in the park Tour Leader: Sam Woods The species photographed in this report are highlighted in red. Thanks to participant John Blakemore for his photos in this report (individually indicated). 1 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 TOUR SUMMARY: Chile has had obvious appeal for years; widely touted as the most spectacular scenery on the continent, Torres del Paine National Park provides ample evidence of this. In recent years, its appeal to birders and nature photographers has increased further with the establishment of an accessible colony of King Penguins on Tierra del Fuego, and the development of Puma- viewing and photography tours in and around Torres del Paine, has now made these animals all but guaranteed on a focused trip into the area. The principal motivation for these people for which this tour was designed, was getting sight of Torres del Paine, a national park famed for its breathtaking scenery in the Patagonia region, adding dedicated Puma searches and a side trip to Tierra del Fuego to get King Penguins and perhaps a Magellanic Plover (a monotypic bird family confined to southern Argentina and Chile) was therefore a natural progression, as geographically they are all so close together. The tour was a resounding success, with not only excellent views of our target species but all of them photographed too – Pumas posed late one evening amongst the dramatic surrounds of Torres del Paine, the scenery of Torres del Paine was on view constantly due to cooperative clear weather throughout our four-night stay, Magellanic Plovers foraged at close range to us just north of Punta Arenas, and the King Penguins were as immaculate and beautiful as expected. Aside from these obvious highlights came great looks and photos of Rufous-chested and Tawny-throated Dotterels, a great showing from a striking male Magellanic Woodpecker, and the steely glare from an Austral Pygmy-Owl all providing standout moments, alongside the waterfowl-covered pools that regularly accompanied this scenic tour. The participants had wanted to see the revered scenery of Torres del Paine National Park for some years; it did not disappoint, with wonderfully warm and clear weather bringing many phenomenal panoramas into view within what is widely regarded as the most scenic part of South America 2 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 Chiloe Wigeons were photographed within our first few hours of birding in Punta Arenas DETAILED TOUR SUMMARY: PUNTA ARENAS 7th December Following an afternoon arrival we did not have much time to go far afield, though thankfully Punta Arenas has plenty to offer first-timers to southern South America right around town. We started out at the Humedal Tres Puentes reserve, which in spite of being by a busy highway, comprises of wetlands packed with birds. Chiloe Wigeons (above) and Crested Ducks dabbled close to the blinds, Red Shovelers did so further out, and a search of the coots revealed two species: White-winged and Red-gartered Coots both being present. Just below the blinds adult White-tufted Grebes (next page) tended to their recently fledged chicks. Upland Geese, one of the most conspicuous birds in this season in this part of the world were encountered regularly too, as they were throughout this short tour. We closed the evening, by walking the seafront in the city, and admiring decaying piers devoid of people, but instead colonized by Magellanic and Imperial Cormorants, and being rested upon by Dolphin and Kelp Gulls. 3 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 White-tufted Grebes in Punta Arenas above and below (John Blakemore) 4 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 For people interested in interesting bird families, Patagonian Chile offers the Magellanic Plover, not really a plover at all but within a monotypic bird family confined to southern South America. We got half a dozen of these charismatic birds just north of Punta Arenas. PUNTA ARENAS to TIERRA DEL FUEGO via Pali Aike NP 8th December We set off from Punta Arenas early in the morning, heading at first directly north to Laguna los Palos, with one specific species in mind. Skirting around the edge of the lagoon, we quickly came upon our first Andean Condor gliding effortlessly above the windswept Patagonian steppe. This massive vulture is Chile’s national bird, and is arguably one of the best places to see them, with flocks of dozens still a fairly regular feature in some areas. As we walked the lake shore of this saline waterbody surveying for our main quarry, we noted our first Chilean Skua pass overhead, and a few Correndera Pipits (next page) foraging along the gravel shore. Then, on rounding a bend in the lake, we saw a small party of shorebirds sporting the bright bubblegum pink legs of our target – Magellanic Plover (above), a single species family found locally in southern Chile and Argentina. We spent some time watching both adults and juveniles feeding along the edge of the lake, and up onto gently sloping banks, before we set off for Tierra del Fuego. At a roadside stop, we found some Austral Canasteros, and some very obliging Gray-hooded Sierra-Finches, before we moved on to Pali Aike National Park. 5 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 6 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 7 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 8 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 Once inside Pali Aike, we quickly spotted a number of Lesser Rheas (below), and hundreds of Two-banded Plovers (page 6) gathered around any wet areas, and one pond held both Corscoroba and Black-necked Swans, while a South American Gray Fox sat alongside. Further along we stumbled upon the first of several different groups of Tawny-throated Dotterels (page 8), one of our most wanted species in the area. However, its cousin the scarcer Rufous-chested Dotterel remained elusive and out of sight. Our drive through the steppe within the park soon led us to a lake, where a distant pink line encouraged us to set off on foot for the lake edge, from where we could get much better looks at the reason for that line, a cluster of Chilean Flamingos feeding close to the lake shore. The grasslands surrounding the lake were littered with Cinnamon-bellied Tyrants (page 7), and among them a couple of Chocolate-vented Tyrants (page 7) were found, a boldly-colored terrestrial flycatcher. Finally, we headed out of the park to travel to Punta Delgada, from where a regular ferry carries cars and people across the fabled Tierra del Fuego. However, as we exited the park we came upon a group of three young Humboldt’s Hog- nose Skunks (next page), which necessitated a stop to photograph these ordinarily mainly nocturnal creatures. Just outside the park we came upon another group of South American Gray Foxes (next page), which this time comprised of a mother and a group of kits… In the evening, we took the ferry over to northern Tierra del Fuego, seeing hundreds of South Americans Terns on the crossing, plus a Black-browed Albatross, Southern Giant Petrel, and a couple of Magellanic Penguins. 9 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 10 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Tropical Birding Trip Report CHILE Birding With a Camera Custom Tour Dec 2018 Cerro Sombrero to Porvenir and Reserva Pinguino Rey, TIERRA DEL FUEGO 9th December We awoke before breakfast with one particular bird burning a hole in our minds – Rufous- throated Dotterel. Staying in the town of Cerro Sombrero though meant we were right in the heart of their breeding habitat. A short distance from town, we found a Least Seedsnipe (left) calling from a fence post, and soon located a Rufous-throated Dotterel (next page) as it called from an area of lush moorland, which provided the perfect opener for the day; the same place also held a couple of Short-billed Miners too. Our short spell of pre-breakfast birding was outstanding, with a pair of Ruddy-headed Geese (next page) found among the swathes of Upland Geese further along the road where a Scale-throated Earthcreeper also responded well. We also encountered our first Ashy-headed Geese in that stretch too, and the usual accompaniment of noisy displaying Magellanic Oystercatchers, (below John Blakemore) which were starting to become regular.