Journey to the Southern Cone: Part 7 (Chiloé Island)

Introduction
January 8, 2016 - Santiago area, Chile
January 9 and 10, 2016 - Quintero pelagic, Parque Nacional La Campana, Chile
January 10, 2016 - Farellones, Chile
January 10-11, 2016 - Embalse El Yeso, Chile
January 12-13, 2016 - Nothofagus forests in Talca, Chile
January 14-15, 2016- Chiloé Island, Chile
January 16-17, 2016 - Chiloé Island penguins, Puerto Montt, Chile
January 18, 2016 - Patagonia: Puerto Montt to Sierra Baguales, Chile
January 19, 2016 - Patagonia: Sierra Baguales to Tierra del Fuego, Chile
January 20, 2016 - Patagonia: Tierra del Fuego, Chile
January 20-24, 2016 - Punta Arenas, Chile to Puerto Deseato, Argentina
January 25-26, 2016 - Valdes Peninsula and Las Grutas, Argentina
January 27-28, 2016 - San Antonio Oeste, Punta Tombo, and Bahía Blanca, Argentina
January 29-30, 2016 - Buenos Aires, Argentina


January 14, 2016

It was a long overnight bus ride, but we had finally made it to southern Chile. The cool, moist air was a welcome contrast to the dry heat we had experienced over the previous few days. As our bus waited for the ferry to take us to Chiloé Island, we hopped out for a few minutes to see what birds were present at the docks. Given the lush surroundings, layer of fog, cool ocean breeze and familiar smell of sea salt, this place reminded me of the east coast of Canada in the summertime. The Magellanic Penguins swimming close to the docks and the flocks of Imperial and Red-legged Cormorants flying by offshore were a quick reminder that we were in fact on the opposite side of the world.

Imperial Cormorant - ferry to Chiloé Island, Chile

The ferry ride was exciting as it was our first time birding the waters in this part of the world. We constantly stayed vigilant in hopes of seeing a Pincoya Storm-Petrel, which is a recently described, poorly known species that so far is only known from a tiny area in the vicinity of Puerto Montt and Chiloé Island. Most birders who encounter this species do so from this particular ferry crossing, if they are not able to charter a boat to access deeper waters. Unfortunately we had no luck during this ferry crossing, though thousands of Sooty Shearwaters and South American Terns kept us occupied! Mostly we were happy to be birding after a very long bus ride. Our first Magellanic Diving-Petrels were flushed by the ferry, and we enjoyed the Magellanic Penguins. I could hardly believe I was seeing penguins after dreaming about seeing then from a young age, but here they were.

Flightless Steamer-Duck - Chiloé Island, Chile

Trock bars are delicious after long bus rides

We successfully found a hostel, grabbed some dinner and then headed back to the ferry as we wanted another shot at the storm-petrel. We were able to ride the ferry to the mainland and back for free, but unfortunately the storm-petrels were a no show once again. Due to the long days during the austral summer, it was quite late when we arrived back at our hostel.


January 15, 2016

First order of business  was to bird some locations where Slender-billed Parakeets, Des Mur's Wiretails, and various tapaculos had been seen, as these are some of the main specialty birds on Chiloé Island. It was a warm but not hot, overcast day with only a slight breeze; ideal birding conditions.

Chiloé Island, Chile

Chiloé Island, Chile

Our first stop was incredibly successful and in no time at all we had dug up some Chucao and Ochre-flanked Tapaculos and a handful of Des Mur's Wiretails. The wiretail was on my most wanted list for this trip, in no small part to that long, thin tail. What an interesting little bird.

Des Mur's Wiretail - Chiloé Island, Chile

Des Mur's Wiretail - Chiloé Island, Chile

A couple of flocks of Slender-billed Parakeets screeched loudly as they wheeled by overhead. This unique species found only in Chile has a long, thin bill; an aptly named species. Eventually some of the birds did land in a distant tree, providing decent looks as they foraged.

Slender-billed Parakeets - Chiloé Island, Chile

One of our more interesting finds of our time on Chiloé Island was discovering a Hellmayr's Pipit, a vagrant to this area that has no eBird records for Chiloé Island, with the nearest records occurring about 200 km to the north. Unfortunately our photos leave a lot to be desired.

Hellmayr's Pipit - Chiloé Island, Chile

Austral Negritos are one of the most common species in this part of the world, though I never became sick of them throughout the trip. This pair was likely nesting nearby, allowing us quite good looks and photos.

female Austral Negrito - Chiloé Island, Chile

male Austral Negrito - Chiloé Island, Chile

Our next birding location was the Senda Darwin Biological Station, a field station set back in regenerating forest that is often visited by birders. This Chilean Flicker alighted on a telephone pole adjacent to the gravel path that led to the biological station.

Chilean Flicker - Chiloé Island, Chile

We were pleasantly surprised to see a Plumbeous Rail where the road crossed over a small creek.

Plumbeous Rail - Chiloé Island, Chile

Plumbeous Rail - Chiloé Island, Chile

Our main goal at the station was to find a Black-throated Huet-Huet, the last remaining tapaculo species that we had yet to encounter in Chile. We eventually heard one distantly, though we would have to wait to get a glimpse of this species. While we were at the station, we took advantage of the overcast, even lighting to photograph a few of the other birds that we came across.

Southern Lapwing - Chiloé Island, Chile

Black-faced Ibis - Chiloé Island, Chile

Austral Blackbirds - Chiloé Island, Chile

Chilean Swallow - Chiloé Island, Chile

It was now around 1 PM so we decided to head back to Ancud before planning our next move. It took a while, but eventually we were able to catch a bus back. While relying on public transportation is a lot cheaper than renting a vehicle, it did mean that throughout the trip we experienced several hours waiting on the shoulder of the road for our bus to show up.

Coastal areas of Chile often have excellent seafood and after a long morning of birding this big platter of seafood and sausage sure went down quite well.

By mid afternoon we were eager to head off to find more birds, with our goal to lay eyes on a Black-throated Huet-Huet. We took off on foot for a few kilometers west of Ancud, and eventually found a dirt road that ascended into some remnant patches of woodland.

birding the forest fragments west of Ancud - Chiloé Island, Chile

A fourth comrade joined our cause for part of the afternoon, though she was more interested in fetching rocks then looking for birds!

bird dog - west of Ancud, Chiloé Island, Chile

After passing through some farmland we took a side road to access a relatively large forest patch that we had noticed on satellite imagery of the area. Extensive logging was taking place here, yet still the birds hung on. Thorn-tailed Rayaditos were a common presence here, as well as anywhere else in the temperate forests of this latitude. They, along with White-crested Elaenias, provided a constant soundtrack to our hiking.

Thorn-tailed Rayadito - Chiloé Island, Chile

Tapaculos were also present and our hunch was correct; we heard several Black-throated Huet-Huets calling at various points. Try as we might, the best we could do was a very brief glimpse of one! Chucao, Ochre-flanked, and Magellanic Tapaculos also were located, and we had a Bicolored Hawk fly over, our first of the trip. Des Mur's Wiretails provided some great looks, and another flock of Slender-billed Parakeets flew overhead.

logging road west of Ancud  - Chiloé Island, Chile

After several hours of hiking we emerged back onto the main road and began the long walk back to our hostel in Ancud. As we passed an area known as Lechagua we noticed some steamer ducks that looked a little different compared to the Flightless Steamer-Ducks we had seen earlier. They were in fact a family of Flying Steamer-Ducks. Steamer-ducks are intriguing to me for several reasons. First and foremost, only one out of the four species have retained the ability to fly, while the other three have lost that capability over thousands of years.  These species have no need to fly - their coastal habitats provide a steady source of mollusks and other prey items. The Flying Steamer-Duck however uses its flying capabilities to access inland lakes, where it consumes a variety of different prey items. Steamer-ducks are also well known for being quite aggressive towards other ducks, utilizing their keratinized spurs on each wing to lay a beat-down. Due to their massive size I can imagine that they are feared by the other ducks that share habitat with them!

Flying Steamer-Duck family - Chiloé Island, Chile

It was a long day of hiking on Chiloé Island (we covered about 25 km on foot) but a very productive one. The following day we were hoping to visit a colony of Magellanic and Humboldt Penguins!

Journey to the Southern Cone: Part 6 (Nothofagus forests near Talca)

Introduction
January 8, 2016 - Santiago area, Chile
January 9 and 10, 2016 - Quintero pelagic, Parque Nacional La Campana, Chile
January 10, 2016 - Farellones, Chile
January 10-11, 2016 - Embalse El Yeso, Chile
January 12-13, 2016 - Nothofagus forests in Talca, Chile
January 14-15, 2016- Chiloé Island, Chile
January 16-17, 2016 - Chiloé Island penguins, Puerto Montt, Chile
January 18, 2016 - Patagonia: Puerto Montt to Sierra Baguales, Chile
January 19, 2016 - Patagonia: Sierra Baguales to Tierra del Fuego, Chile
January 20, 2016 - Patagonia: Tierra del Fuego, Chile
January 20-24, 2016 - Punta Arenas, Chile to Puerto Deseato, Argentina
January 25-26, 2016 - Valdes Peninsula and Las Grutas, Argentina
January 27-28, 2016 - San Antonio Oeste, Punta Tombo, and Bahía Blanca, Argentina
January 29-30, 2016 - Buenos Aires, Argentina


January 12, 2016

Today was a bit of a write-off as far as birding was concerned. We slept in a bit and enjoyed the comfort of the hostel we had stayed at, then walked over to the bus station to find transportation south to Talca. By the time we had arrived in Talca it was already late in the afternoon and so we found a place to stay and nixed any chances of going birding that day.

Chile happens to be a relatively expensive country to travel through. I think this room cost us around 70 Canadian dollars. What luxury....Similar accommodations in Panama or Colombia would cost about a quarter of the price!

We managed to find some not-horrible pizza for dinner then called it a night. The following day we planned on birding the Nothofagus forests about an hour outside of town.

January 13, 2016

Nothofagus is a genus of trees known as the southern beeches that are found in southern South America and Australasia. A particular nice tract of these beautiful trees can be found in Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay. Some of the interesting bird species found in these forests include Magellanic Woodpecker, Patagonian Tyrant, Patagonia Forest Earthcreeper, Chucao Tapaculo and Chestnut-throated Huet-Huet, yet another unique tapaculo species with a small global range.

We took the earliest bus we could out of Talca, though we did not arrive at the reserve until almost 9:00 AM. We paid our fees and checked in at the front gate, then continued hiking through the forest, dominated by the ancient beech trees.

Nothofagus forest - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, Chile

White-crested Elaenias, Thorn-tailed Rayaditos and White-throated Treerunners were by far the three most common species of birds found throughout these forests. But occasionally we encountered other birds, such as a single Patagonian Tyrant and a pair of Patagonian Sierra-Finches. Green-backed Firecrown is the default hummingbird in this part of Chile.

Adam birding Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, Chile

Chestnut-throat Huet-Huet turned out to be a fairly common species and we heard at least 11 different individuals. We did not have much luck initially in laying eyes on this skulky species, however. We also heard a few Chucao Tapaculos; they too remained out of sight.

While passing a small stream we heard the distinctive song of a Magellanic Tapaculo. If this species gets split, this will be an "armchair tick" for us, since the individuals in the high Andes which we observed in the Farellones may be considered a different species. While having very similar songs, the individuals in the high Andes occupy different habitat, are a little larger and darker, and lack the white crown.

Magellanic Tapaculo - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay

Birds were not the only organisms we were interested in, and I had a lot of fun chasing down and attempting to photograph the various lizard species. This one is Liolaemus tenuis, an endemic species to Chile.

Liolaemus tenuis - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay

Liolaemus tenuis - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay

Quite a few butterflies also vied for our attention. Unfortunately most of the colourful ones I neglected to photograph - this is the only butterfly that was captured by my lens during our hike.

skipper sp. - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay

We had heard that Magellanic Woodpeckers often respond to a double-tap sound created by tapping two rocks onto a hollow trunk in quick succession, which imitates an interaction call that the woodpeckers make. It certainly didn't work for us, but Dave had fun trying.

Dave trying to call in Magellanic Woodpeckers - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, Chile

One of the trails opens up to a little observation platform that provides a panoramic view of the park. We made sure to carefully scan for perched raptors, as there had been recent sightings of Rufous-tailed Hawk in the reserve. Rufous-tailed Hawk is a little known and extremely difficult to encounter species that is found in southern Chile and Argentina. I think it is one of the most over-reported species - nearly every birder that travels to Chile somehow manages to add it to their life list, yet almost no one manages photos! I am only a little skeptical ;)

Needless to say we did not find any Rufous-tailed Hawks here or anywhere also along our travels. Likely fewer than 1,000 individuals of this species remain in the wild.

Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, Chile

The overlook was a great spot to just hang out and eventually the birds did come to us. A big highlight here was watching a pair of Austral Parakeets fly past on several occasions. We also enjoyed what was a typical lunch for us - tuna on crackers.

We returned to the forest to continue our Huet-Huet search. Finally after tracking down a calling individual we were treated to very brief views as it ran across the trail. Not a chance for photos, however.

Several more lizards were easily seen in the forest - I've tentatively identified the first two as Liolaemus schroederi, but as usual, the caveat applies that I'm not positive. With the incredible diversity of Liolaemus lizards, many of which are coloured with muted browns and grays, identifications are not always easy.

Schroeder's Tree Iguana (Liolaemus schroederi) - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, Chile

Schroeder's Tree Iguana (Liolaemus schroederi) - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, Chile

This one is Pristidactylus torquatus, an iguanid that is frequently found in Nothofagus beech forests. Like most lizards found in Chile, this one is also endemic to the country.

Pristidactylus torquatus - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, Chile

Eventually we made our way back out of the reserve since it was now almost noon and we had some other places we wanted to check out before the day was over. Unfortunately we still had not encountered a Magellanic Woodpecker! We were in luck on our walk out - I thought I heard one call and stopped the guys. We waited and tried some playback. Two black shadows swooped in, landing on distant trees - they were Magellanic Woodpeckers!

Magellanic Woodpecker - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay

This species of woodpecker is in the Campephilus genus, which includes about a dozen species found in South and Central America. Of course, this is the genus that Ivory-billed Woodpecker is (was?) a member of. We watched the two female birds as they foraged and called back and forth, savouring the moment. Eventually they continued on, leaving us grinning from ear to ear. Our only regret was that the mid-day lighting was a little harsh for photography.

Magellanic Woodpecker - Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay

Declaring defeat with the Patagonia Forest Earthcreeper, we left the reserve and took a bus back to the main highway, then got off and attempted to flag down a different bus to take us to Lago Colbun. Lago Colbun is a man-made reservoir (the largest of its kind in Chile) that hosts a wide variety of water birds. Due to where the second bus dropped us off, we had a substantial walk to access the best parts of the lake.

the road to Lago Colbun, Chile

We did well at the reservoir, picking up Spectacled Duck, Andean Gull and Burrowing Parakeet, as well as a few other new species for us in Rosy-billed Pochard, Black-faced Ibis, White-winged Coot, Southern Caracara and Andean Gull. There were thousands of ducks, grebes and coots to sort through, making me wish that we had access to a good quality spotting scope. Dave's mini scope was better than nothing, however.

We were pretty hungry after making it back to Talca and indulged on a Chilean fast-food staple - completos. Copious quantities of avocado and mayonnaise seem to be required. To add to my theme of photos of unhealthy food we consumed on the trip.

A completos and a pint is a well-rounded meal

That evening we planned on taking an overnight bus south, hoping to arrive on Chiloe Island the following morning. While waiting for the bus, we made friends with this creature.

making friends at the bus station - Talca, Chile

It turns out that we were waiting for the bus at the wrong terminal, and by the time we realized our mistake, the bus had long departed. This screwed our plans and the thought was that we would be sleeping at the bus terminal (good luck finding an open hostel at this hour), but luckily a different bus was leaving only an hour or two later. We were lucky!

As dawn broke, we were surrounded by the luscious, rain-soaked forests of southern Chile. Our time on Chiloe Island will be the subject of the next post.

Dufferin Islands photoshoot

Today is only the first of March, yet the recent weather and subsequent bird sightings make it feel more like late March or early April. Here in Niagara Region many of the early spring migrants have already appeared, including large numbers of Killdeer, dabbling ducks, Turkey Vultures, blackbirds, and even the first migrant Northern Harriers. So before we get too far along in this early spring we have been experiencing, I wanted to make a post about one of the more popular winter birding locations here in Niagara.

Dufferin Islands is a natural area located very close to Niagara Falls. Popular among picnickers during the summer and light aficionados in the winter (to view many of the elaborate lit up structures as part of the Festival of Lights), Dufferin Islands is also a popular area to go birding. The shrubby areas and woodlands can be ok for migrant songbirds in the spring and autumn, but during the winter the feeder setup attracts a wide variety of the common woodland birds found in the area. In particular, Dufferin Islands is noted as a reliable location to see Tufted Titmouse, a species which is just at the northern extent of its range in southern Ontario and often a target species for birders visiting Niagara. On January 5 while birding the Niagara River with the Riley's, we made a quick stop at Dufferin Islands before walking over to the overlook above the falls. We ended up staying much longer than usual, as the cold weather and abundant food source meant that scads of Tufted Titmice and Black-capped Chickadees were constantly visiting the feeding area, along with a few Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Dark-eyed Juncos, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, Blue Jays and Northern Cardinals. Even the continuing male Pine Warbler dropped in for a few moments to brighten up the dull winter day. Below are a few of the photos from the impromptu photo shoot.

Blue Jay - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

male Pine Warbler - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Tufted Titmouse - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Northern Cardinal - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Tufted Titmouse - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

White-breasted Nuthatch - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

male Pine Warbler - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

female House Sparrow - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Red-breasted Nuthatch - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Tufted Titmouse - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

White-breasted Nuthatch - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

On February 5 I returned to Dufferin Islands to try to improve on my photos of a few species. It was nice to finally get a couple of decent-ish photos of American Black Duck and Mallard, two species I do not usually look at too closely.

American Black Duck - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

male (rear) and female (foreground) American Black Ducks - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Mallard - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Both Pine Warblers were easily found as well, providing stellar looks. The female in particular I had not photographed before this point.

female Pine Warbler - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

male Pine Warbler - Dufferin Islands, Niagara 

male Pine Warbler - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

female Pine Warbler - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Winter Wrens are curious little birds to observe as they scurry around, not unlike a small rodent, in search of morsels to eat. I find it is almost impossible to take a good photo of them! At least two have been overwintering at Dufferin Islands, their antics providing a modicum of entertainment. One day I will improve my photos of this species.

Winter Wren - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

And I will finish with some images of this Northern Cardinal, one of the more spectacular year-round residents found in Ontario, if one is judging based on the intensity of color.

Northern Cardinal - Dufferin Islands, Niagara

Northern Cardinal - Dufferin Islands, Niagara