13 Jan 23 - Argentina - The Tierra Del Fuego National Park

There was a change of pace for my second day of Birding in the Ushuaia area. The first day had seen a two hour drive North to Rio Grande, followed by a fair bit more dirt track driving looking for Austral Canestero & Magellanic Plover. It was good to have got the long driving day behind me & have a day pottering around the nearby Tierra del Fuego National Park. I teamed up for the day with Steve Preddy, who was one of my cabin mates on the forthcoming Antarctica trip. It was the first time I met Steve, but we had chatted on the phone after he got in touch in the UK.

Great Grebe: This is the navasi subspecies which occurs in Southern Chile & Argentina

The National Park doesn't open until 09:00 and there was time for a lazy start to the day, before I picked Steve up about 08:15 from his B&B accommodation. We quickly sorted the payment to the Park and were heading off to one of the eBird hotspots, Sendero Cerro Guanaco, to look for Patagonian Tyrant. Despite spending the morning looking, we failed to find any. They can be a tricky species to see and it's a species I have missed before in the Ushuaia area, as well as, in Chile. But there were a few other species to keep us occupied.

Great Grebe: This looks like another Grebe species with strong pair bonds

Great Grebe: There are two young chicks on this adult's back

Great Grebe: The chicks are good at hiding under the parent's wing

Night Heron: Immature. This is the obscurus subspecies which occurs from North Chile & North-central Argentina to Tierra del Fuego

There was a walking trail from the car park through the woods alongside the large Lago Roca lake, which spans Argentina & Chile. There was a reasonable number of Birds along the trail, but there wasn't a large variation of species.

There was some reasonable-looking forest along the trail

Another forest shot

Thorn-tailed Rayadito: This is the nominate spinicauda subspecies which occurs from central Chile & adjacent West Argentina to Tierra del Fuego

Thorn-tailed Rayadito: They are a gorgeous species

Thorn-tailed Rayadito: With few species in Tierra del Fuego they fill the niches that Tits would do in the UK

White-crested Elaenia: This is the chilensis subspecies which occurs from the Andes of Bolivia to Tierra del Fuego. The Southern population is migratory & they migrate North to Brazil

White-crested Elaenia: The chilensis subspecies is a monotypic split in waiting when I move to IOC taxonomy

White-crested Elaenia: Like a number of other Elainias, they have a pale crown stripe which can be tricky to see at times

Austral Thrush: Adult. This is the magellanicus subspecies which occurs from Southern Chile & Argentina to Tierra del Fuego

Austral Thrush: Immature. The immature Austral Thrushes have spotted breasts

Austral Thrush: Immature

Austral Thrush: Immature

Patagonian Sierra-finch: This is the patagonicus subspecies which occurs from central Chile & Argentina to Tierra del Fuego

Patagonian Sierra-finch: Typically, the individuals by the car park were more approachable

Patagonian Sierra-finch: The russet mantle separates this species from Grey-hooded Sierra-finch which also occurs in the Tierra del Fuego area

Patagonian Sierra-finch: Immature

After giving up on the Patagonian Tyrant hunt, there was time for a quick look around other parts of the National Park.

There were some good lakeside marshes

The mountains were never far away

Spectacled Duck: This monotypic species occurs in forested regions of Southern Chile & Argentina

We spent mid-afternoon having a look for some Ashy-headed Geese which were still a Tick for Steve, but had no luck. Eventually, we had to leave as I needed to return the car by 17:00.

The End of the World Train: This trainline is the closest line to either of the poles. It was originally built in 1909 as a train line from Ushuaia to a penal colony. It remained in use until the penal colony was closed in 1947. It reopened as a historic tourist train line in 1994

Magellanic Woodpecker: This superb artwork made a dull sided building look a lot more interesting. Fortunately, I had seen a couple of Magellanic Woodpeckers on my first trip to Argentina

I had an evening in the bedsit to pay some bills & tidying up emails, as I knew I would have no wifi connectivity once I got on the Plancius. The ship does have a limited wifi, but it is expensive & I also knew I would rather be on deck than using the expensive wifi.

19 Mar 18 - Chile: Parque Nacional Chiloe

A number of ad-hoc stops along the road to Parque Nacional Chiloe from the Pan American Highway had been very successful with excellent views of Black-throated Huet-huet & Chacao Tapaculo. I decided to carry on to the coast to see what the habitat in the National Park was like. This would give me a better idea of where was the best place to spend the rest of the late afternoon & evening. The Park turned out to be a wide coastal beach with rough scrub vegetation behind it, along with some forest paths. There was a constant movement of Sooty Shearwaters along the coast & I gave up looking after the first hundred in a few minutes. There was a stiff coastal breeze & no shelter. The sandy beach was too far from the nearest point I could drive the car & use it for shelter. There was a small chance that a prolonged seawatch might have produced a Tick, but the plan for the day was to focus on Tapaculos & I clearly wasn't I was going to find any on the beach. There were a few species including Common Diuca-finches, Rufous-collared Sparrows & Long-tailed Meadowlarks in the scrubby areas.

The scrub behind the beach at Parque Nacional Chiloe: The Pacific Ocean is just visible beyond the beach

Common Diuca-finch: This is a widespread species in Chile & Argentina which just crosses into SE Brazil

Common Diuca-finch: This must be a juvenile with the fluffy feathering around the nape

Rufous-collared Sparrow: This is one of the most common & widespread Passerines in Latin America, but one I like as it is a good-looking species

Long-tailed Meadowlark: One of the good things about Chile is there aren't too many options for anything seen

Long-tailed Meadowlark: The identification is even easier when it turned to face me

There was a woodland trail, but there were a lot of noisy people on the trail, so I decided against that option. After a general look around the area, I opted to slowly return to Castro, with a few more roadside stops. This was the better strategy with a number of species new to the trip seen on route back.

Ringed Kingfisher: This is the common Kingfisher in Chile

Fire-eyed Diucon: This is a typical Tyrant Flycatcher: sitting still & looking around a lot for the next snack

Fire-eyed Diucon

White-crested Elaenia: This individual has a 'sweet-tooth' & has developed a liking for Blackberries

Austral Blackbird: Looks like a juvenile Austral Blackbird which has been attracted to a Common Diuca-finch (I can't find anything else that fits with this rusty vent) feeding at the road edge

Black-chinned Siskin: This is the only Siskin in the South of Chile

Finally, I arrived back at Castro. I was keen to find places to look at the wide channel near Castro, as one party of Birders had bumped into Chilean Dolphins. They didn't specify where they had seen this small Dolphin. I found a few places to view the channel, but I didn't have the time in the plan to allow a proper search. With limited time, it was no surprise that I failed to see any Chilean Dolphins. However, I did see a number of Birds, including some Black-necked Swans.

Black-necked Swan: They occur from Southern Brazil to Chile & Argentina

Black-necked Swan: The black neck makes them an easy species to identify

Black-necked Swan: Juvenile. This individual has black wing tips indicating it hadn't moulted its primaries from its juvenile plumage

It was dark by the time I reached Ancud. After some dinner, I was back out looking for Rufous-legged Owls. I had no success, but there were other sites along my route so I gave up after an hour of looking.