Chile

And as promised, here is the post with all of the bird & wildlife photos from Torres del Paine National Park that I couldn’t previously post due to a lack of working Chilean adapters for my camera battery. Let’s start with the common birds from Day 1 of the park: juvenile AUSTRAL THRUSH

SOUTHERN LAPWING:

MAGELLANIC OYSTERCATCHER:

Female AUSTRAL NEGRITO:

Juvenile GREAT GREBE, awesome-looking!

FIRE-EYED DIUCON:

Day 2–
DARK-BELLIED CINCLODES:

AUSTRAL PARAKEET:

STRIPED WOODPECKER, hard to find here!

BLACK-CHINNED SISKIN:

TORRENT DUCK, my favorite bird in the park!!!! Super uncommon and local species, and just an awesome-looking bird in general! Also very fast moving — difficult for photography.

Day 3–
WHITE-CRESTED ELAENIA showing off!

BLACK-CHESTED BUZZARD-EAGLE:

CINEROUS HARRIER hunting:

EARED DOVE:

LONG-TAILED MEADOWLARK:

SPECTACLED DUCK, life bird!!

SOUTH AMERICAN TERN:

RED-GARTERED COOT:

LAKE DUCK, life bird!

UPLAND GOOSE:

Juvenile RUFUOS-COLLARED SPARROW:

Guanaco:

BLACK-NECKED & COSCOROBA SWANS:

CHILOE WIGEONS:

LESSER RHEA:

MOURNING SIERRA-FINCH, life bird:

Amazing lamb tongue salad at the Estancia Tercera Barranca.

The moon, incredibly large in the sky here in Patagonia:

Gray Fox:

Day 4–
SCALE-THROATED EARTHCREEPER, life bird:

ANDEAN CONDOR:

BROWN-HOODED GULL:

RED SHOVELERS:

GRAY-HOODED SIERRA-FINCH:

CHILEAN FLAMINGO with BLACK-NECKED SWANS:

RUFOUS-TAILED PLANTCUTTER, a life bird:

FLYING STEAMER-DUCK:

ASHY-HEADED GOOSE:

Day 5–
gigantic European Hare, an introduced species here:

PATAGONIAN SIERRA-FINCH:

All the rest of the photos from the trip have been included in previous posts, available for viewing either by scrolling down or clicking links to them in the panel to the right. Hope you enjoyed!!

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1108 Species

In addition to battling a cold and recovering from an incredibly steep hike, LATAM Airlines threw us a “unique” turn of events last night: my flight to Santiago had been pushed back by almost 90 minutes, resulting in an impossibly tight connection for my connecting flight to Houston. So instead of calling LATAM and demanding a rebooking onto the earlier flight, my Mom just bit the bullet and bought me a ticket on the early flight since we didn’t have time to negotiate with the airline via phone. Thanks, Mom! Side note: LATAM Airlines has been problematic: as well as this annoying change in schedule, the flight attendants didn’t offer water or other drinks on every flight I have been on with them — ridiculous!

Also, I figured out that my two “mystery birds” from last post were Fire-eyed Diucon and these DARK-FACED GROUND-TYRANTS. Bummer: I had seen these species before. But the flip side is that I was able to upload some of my photos from my camera so I have photos from both yesterday & today for this post!

THORN-TAILED RAYADITO from yesterday. You can see it is appropriately named!

So today, we were back in the car headed for Punta Arenas by 9am. Luckily, we ended up padding enough time onto our travels to make some birding stops along the way! Closer to Punta Arenas, we stopped at what we now call the “Flamingo pond” as all four times we have passed this pond, it has been populated with these elegant CHILEAN FLAMINGOES. Never take a flamingo for granted!

Young Upland Goose? Or is this an Ashy-headed?

RED SHOVELERS & SILVER TEAL were present:

And the striking TWO-BANDED PLOVER!!

Like usual, many WILSON’S PHALAROPES were present, swirling about to disturb aquatic bugs:

WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS:

Look-alike BAIRD’S SANDPIPER — distinguished from the White-rumped by completely clean underparts. Bird identification is all about the details.

COSCOROBA:

A nice plethora of waterbirds, a typical view at this pond: UPLAND GEESE, COSCOROBA, CHILEAN FLAMINGOES, and sandpipers.

LESSER RHEA — a common sight on the Patagonian Steppe that never fails to disappoint.

Before I knew it, it was time to bid farewell to my mom and my sister, and to Patagonia. As usual, my mom cried.

They will fly out tomorrow to spend a week’s time in the Lakes District of Chile, while I am currently on my Punta Arenas - Santiago - Houston - Newark journey. I was booked in seat 34C on the flight to Santiago, but upon the door’s closing, I upgraded myself to 29A: a window seat in an empty row. Not to worry, this is a common sight on this airline — a flight attendant even winked at me for doing so, hahahaha!

Bird-of-the-day to the lovely Two-banded Plover and runner-up to all those Chilean Flamingoes, whom I will surely miss back in snowy New York.
Bird-of-the-trip is a tie, I just can’t make up my mind: Sooty Albatross, Snowy Sheathbill, Andean Condor, Magellanic Woodpecker, and Torrent Duck are all up there. I am so blessed — huge thanks to my parents for this epic opportunity, to Pearl for being the sassiest, funniest sister out there, and to my birding friends who helped me so much on this trip: Aidan, Dermot, Joe, Jim, Billy, Tom, Esteban, and Jürgen.

So that is it for my travels to Antarctica and Patagonia. I am posting this from the Santiago airport! Time for a new semester at the Manhattan School of Music to begin, but you know that my crazy birding adventures never stop! I may or may not be going on a day pelagic trip out of Queens in February — I’ll keep you updated. Until next time, South America! (next time hopefully will be Colombia, Ecuador, or Peru

Please note: one more post with additional photos from Torres del Paine is headed your way!

Good birding!
Henry
World Life List: 1108 Species (138 life birds on this trip)

Yesterday, we did not have wifi at our accommodation (which was otherwise excellent apart from an extremely remote location), so today’s post is combined for both days. Again, camera battery is at a premium, so unfortunately today’s post consists of back-of-the-camera bird shots and (surprisingly decent) iphone photos.

A shortish hike to a beautiful overlook was yesterday’s main objective, and it started out with a beautiful view of the Cascades del Torres (which apparently is another location for Torrent Ducks, though none were found yesterday).

And the end result was just stunning.

The afternoon drive to our accommodation for the evening was highlighted by a diversity of waterfowl, of which two were lifers and both were species that I was hoping to see here: SPECTACLED DUCK, a local and awesome find!

And LAKE DUCK — cool! This is separated from the Andean because of the clean-ish, horizontal-line transition between the black on the head and the rufous color. This transition would be at more of a diagonal on the otherwise look-alike Andean Duck, I believe.

Other waterfowl seen included COSCOROBA & BLACK-NECKED SWANS, UPLAND GEESE, SOUTHERN WIGEON, FUEGIAN STEAMER-DUCK, BROWN PINTAIL, SOUTHERN WIGEON, CRESTED DUCK, & RED SHOVELER, as well as a wealth of other waterbirds. So all in all, great diversity!

Later as we approached our hotel for the night in the Sierra Baguales area, I picked up my life bird MOURNING SIERRA-FINCH alongside the road:

Other notables included COMMON MINER, DARK-BELLIED CINCLODES, ANDEAN FLICKER, LESSER RHEA, several guanaco (wild llama), two Armadilli, and two tiny Gray Foxes which I observed hunting bird nests. And here is the beautiful sunset to which I was treated yesterday:

Bird-of-the-day yesterday to the Spectacled Duck with runner-up to the Lake Duck: all awards to waterfowl for the day!

Today, we took a driving tour of the park because the weather was extremely windy (too much so for pleasant hiking). We left our hotel, completely packed for our next accommodation tonight, by 11am and I almost immediately picked up a life bird alongside the road: SCALE-THROATED EARTHCREEPER! Awesome — and look at that bill! (and note the low battery indicator)

Then, we passed through a huge boulder field (for my Idaho friends, somewhat reminiscent of the City of Rocks/Castle Rock area), so we had to stop and climb a few boulders! Can you spot Pearl?

And, of course, admire the resident sheep skeletons lying underneath the boulders.

Take a look at Pearl’s face!

Much of the morning was spent admiring the beautiful countryside just east of Torres del Paine National Park.

And at one point, we were interrupted by...a battalion of SHEEP!!!! Literally thousands of them! Another Idaho connection — Sun Valley is the only other place I have observed the herding of sheep en masse like this.

Chilean gauchos and their beautiful sheep, dogs, & horses

We had a bit of excitement when a park ranger told us a Puma (Mountain Lion) had just been seen up the road, but alas, we arrived just a bit too late. Timing & luck is everything in wildlife watching!

Of course, I took many, many bird photos today — but they are currently unable to reach this blog because I must continue to conserve my ever-dwindling camera batteries. Bird-of-the-day to my one life bird today, the Scale-throated Earthcreeper, with runners-up to some beautiful Lake Ducks & Ashy-headed Geese also seen today.

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1108 Species (3 life birds yesterday; 1 life bird today)

Last night, my mom, Pearl, and I began our first night as a unit of three, spent in Punta Arenas so we could drive to Torres del Paine National Park today.

Our flight yesterday included a one-stop in the Lakes District of Chile, which looks beautiful.

And I picked up a PICUI GROUND-DOVE from the plane (you’ll have to just trust me on this one, lol!):

On the way into town last night and out of town today, we made quick stops at the Punta Arenas Wetlands to see what was there and especially to see if any rare Ruddy-headed Geese were mixed in with the Upland Geese — both species have been known to nest at the location in the past. My photos from this location are from both yesterday & today since both were extremely quick stops (due to impatient family members). Here is a photo of a typical scene here: many birds, especially BLACK-NECKED SWANS & CHILOE WIGEONS which are featured in this photo.

BLACKISH OYSTERCATCHER:

BROWN-HOODED & KELP GULLS:

COSCOROBA:

BLACK-NECKED SWAN:

CHILOE WIGEONS with a female RED SHOVELER and a SILVER TEAL:

LESSER YELLOWLEGS:

UPLAND GEESE. I picked through many of these geese on both visits but failed to find any Ruddy-headed.

The difference between the species is illustrated here on a board at the wetlands — the rarer Rudy-headed have distinctive white eye-crescents, which I did not see on any of the geese, unfortunately.

The striking male AUSTRAL NEGRITO:

Well, no geese but still a good number of birds seen. Then, this morning, it was a three-hour drive through the Patagonian steppe on the Ruta del fin del mondo, the “Road to the end of the world!”

Later on, we stopped at a salina (brackish pond) where we had seen CHILEAN FLAMINGOES with our guide Jürgen last time, and they were even closer this time! What brilliant colors!

There was plenty of other birdlife there also, including RED SHOVELERS:

SILVERY GREBES:

BUFF-NECKED IBIS:

WILSON’S PHALAROPES:

WHITE-RUMPED & BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS:

LESSER RHEA “kindergarten:” so many juveniles!

TWO-BANDED PLOVER with BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS:

Then, Pearl and I spotted a few ANDEAN CONDORS sailing over the road so of course we had to stop!

In fact, the drive today was full of unplanned birding stops, such as one for these CINEROUS HARRIERS:

AUSTRAL BLACKBIRD:

Juvenile AUSTRAL THRUSH, similar in appearance to a juvenile a American Robin:

LONG-TAILED MEADOWLARK:

CHIMANGO CARACARA:

Then, it was time to stop in the town of Puerto Natales for shopping and gas for the car. During the stops, I did find this BLACK-CHNNED SISKIN:

And the town is located on a beautiful waterfront.

That has many KING CORMORANTS!

And a single NEOTROPIC (known around here as “Olivaceous”):

BLACK-CHESTED BUZZARD-EAGLE:

FIRE-EYED DIUCON:

After over six hours, we had made it to the renowned Torres del Paine National Park! Unbelievable!

Then, I had my mom stop the car because I had spotted my first life bird of the day: a beautiful RUFOUS-TAILED PLANTCUTTER!

My second life bird of the day flew by two quickly for photos: CHILEAN FLICKER! Hopefully I will capture an image of this bird later.
Anyway, the views here never, ever disappoint!

My mom pointed out a SOUTHERN CRESTED CARACARA and I was able to lie on the parking lot and grab an image of it in front of Lago Torres!

WHITE-CRESTED ELAENIA:

I saw two Sierra-Finch species today, first the beautiful GRAY-HOODED:

And the equally-stunning PATAGONIAN:

DARK-BELLIED CINCLODES — but what is that in the background?

PLUMBEOUS RAIL! Nice. Hopefully I see it’s rarer cousin here, the AUSTRAL.

A full day of birding Patagonia was rounded off by following a group of “gauchos” with horses, cattle, and herding dogs. Cool!

Bird-of-the-day to my life-bird Rufous-tailed Plantcutter, with runner-up to the Chilean Flicker. STAY TUNED: tomorrow, we take a boat across Lago Gray to the Gray Glacier! My goal species for the day is Torrent Duck, an extremely specialized and beautiful waterfowl species of fast-moving streams in this part of the world.

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1103 Species (2 life birds today)

“Henry, there’s a duck sitting in the harbor out there!” I bounded out of bed and immediately snapped this photo, not of a duck of course, but of my life bird PERUVIAN PELICAN!

I laughed and informed my dad that pelicans are four times larger than ducks, and he laughed in turn, saying “A duck is a bird is a goose is a petrel,” prompting a belly-laugh from all of us and of course, an appropriate title for today’s post. Ninety minutes later, we had left the HMS Coral Princess for the last time, but not before I picked up more birds from the harbor, including my life bird PERUVIAN BOOBY! Awesome!

BROWN-HOODED GULLS:

KELP GULLS:

This cormorant flew over from the west, too quick to identify.

But it prompted me to scan toward the west and I quickly found more boobies sitting with my life bird RED-LEGGED CORMORANTS. The cormorants’ easily-identifiable characteristic is the white patch on the sides of their throats.

Then, it was time to bid farewell to the Coral Princess and begin our day of transit back down to Punta Arenas.

We said goodbye to dad at the cruise terminal and hopped a cab for the 90-minute ride to the Santiago Airport. Our cab driver thought of the drive more like an amusement park ride than a taxi service, whipping around corners ferociously and even exiting the highway, pulling an (illegal) U-turn and entering again in order to avoid a toll. All in good fun! Now we are waiting in the Santiago airport for a one-stop flight on LATAM Airlines (which my Dad told us was “duct tape air,” lol) down to Punta Arenas.

Bird-of-the-day to the Peruvian Booby with runners-up to the Pelican & Cormorant. Stay tuned: tomorrow we drive from Punta Arenas to the incredible Torres del Paine National Park.

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1102 Species (3 life birds today)