I had booked a cruise from Ushuaia to Antarctica for Feb/March but the vessel I was booked on hit an uncharted rock in late January and further cruises for the southern summer were cancelled or rather postponed until the following summer. I decided to use the booked airfares and extend my time in Ushuaia from 3 to 8 days, go to Northern Chile for 12 days and retain my original plan to bird in Central Chile for 4 days.
Birding in Tierra del Fuego was slow since it was late in the season, some of the land birds had gone North and the seabirds had apparently gone South. I did not have a guide here and saw about 60 species, 12 of these being new to me. I tried hard and often for the Magellanic Woodpecker in Tierra del Fuego National Park without success. I had been birding in Argentina in 1994/1995, but not quite as far south as Ushuaia.
On the coast and Altiplano of Northern Chile, I saw about 115 species, 70 being new to me. I stayed in Putre for most of the time and used the excellent guiding services of Barbara Knapton of Alto Andino Nature Tours for about 2.5 days.
In Central Chile, I had booked the excellent accommodation, transport and guiding services of Rodrigo Reyes of Aconcagua Birding for the 4-day version of their “From the Andes to the Pacific Ocean” tour. On this tour, we saw an additional 65 species, 25 of these being new to me. Even though I was not particularly keen, we looked for the Diademed Sandpiper Plover in both Central and Northern Chile without success. The story was that the birds had dispersed after breeding. We did see some Torrent Ducks, perhaps the bird of the trip for me although the Inca Terns, Moustached Turca and White-throated Tapaculo all tie for second.
I had to overnight in Buenos Aires on the way and spent a morning at the Reserva Ecologica de Costanera Sur, which I had visited and enjoyed in December/January 1994/5. In early March it was completely dry and on Sunday morning it was full of people. On the street in the San Telmo area of BA, my attention was diverted by white blobs sprayed on my clothes and I managed to have stolen my backpack with Swarovski bins, Panasonic Lumix camera and Chile Bird Guidebook. Apparently the trick (along with similar ruses) is used in many parts of South America.
Please contact me directly if you would like bird lists or further information.
Regards,
Gil Langfield Melbourne, Australia gil.langfield@bigpond.com
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