• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Torres del Paine 23rd February to 2nd March (1 Viewer)

Arbu

Well-known member
I went hiking in the Torres del Paine in February - here's a quick trip report.

23rd Feb. I walked up towards Cerro Paine. This wasn't very successful – there was so much wind as I got higher that I got to a point where I could no longer walk against it, so had to turn back. The only birds of note were a pair of Chilean Flickers not far from Hosteria Torres.

24th Feb. I walked around to Campamento Italiano. There were several Striped Woodpeckers at the campsite in the morning. Also some Austral Canastero a mile or so out of the camp.

25th Feb. I walked up the Valle del Frances. I didn’t see anything of note going through the trees, but once above the treeline I found a White-bellied Seedsnipe and some Yellow-Bridled Finches.

26th Feb. Walked up to Campamento Grey. Didn’t see much apart from some Flying Steamer Duck on Lago los Patos.

27th Feb. Walked up to Campamento Los Guardas. Saw some Magellanic Woodpeckers and a Chilean Hawk. Took the boat down to the south end of the lake and stayed at Campamento Pingo.

28th Feb. Walked up to Salto Rio Pingo. Another Chilean Hawk and a pair of Green-backed Firecrown.

1 March. A nice Rufous-tailed Hawk sitting in a tree by the campsite. Good views of a Magellanic Tapaculo just below the campsite. I walked across country from Lago Grey to Camping Rio Serrano on the advice of a guide who said that there was a path, even though it wasn’t shown on the map. Well I found a good path but unfortunately it ran straight into Laguna Marco Antonio and didn’t go round it. I carried on through the bush but it was very heavy going and I didn’t get to Rio Serrano until late. Anyway the lake held a pair of Spectacled Duck. And I found an Austral Pygmy Owl, two more Chilean Hawks and a Skunk.

2nd March. Took a boat down to Pto. Toro. More Spectacled Duck and a Ringed Kingfisher.

Also there are lots of Condors all over the park. And of course the scenery is stunning.

If anyone’s thinking of going there, I would say that Torres del Paine has some great birds but you have to work quite hard to find them, particularly the high altitude and forest ones. My Lonely Planet guidebooks seemed to focus just on trekking and failed to mention that the best area for wildlife is on the south-east side of the park. I only discovered this having walked right to the west, so I think I may have missed out on a few things that I might have seen there in the more open habitat (and I think it’s the best place to see a puma). If you want to see the place well you need to do some trekking on the north side of Lago Nordenskjold to get some altitude and spend some time south of this lake to see the steppe. It’s not that easy to move between the two, and really to see the place comprehensively I think you need about two weeks. I’m rather feeling that I’d like to go back…

Photos attached.
 

Attachments

  • Austral Pygmy-Owl 2.JPG
    Austral Pygmy-Owl 2.JPG
    134.9 KB · Views: 140
  • Chilean Flicker.JPG
    Chilean Flicker.JPG
    218.5 KB · Views: 123
  • Ringed Kingfisher 1.JPG
    Ringed Kingfisher 1.JPG
    128.5 KB · Views: 124
  • Rufous-tailed Hawk 3.JPG
    Rufous-tailed Hawk 3.JPG
    151.9 KB · Views: 127
  • White-bellied Seedsnipe 5.JPG
    White-bellied Seedsnipe 5.JPG
    157.3 KB · Views: 138
Interesting report. Is it just me or does the seedsnipe bear a passing resemblance to a ptarmigan? Parallel evolution in wild open habitat?

Allen
 
Oh yes, it was very reminiscent of a grouse. Not just in appearance but also in the way it moved over the ground and pecked at plant shoots and berries.

There are other examples down there too. The Thorn-tailed Rayadito is a lot like a Tit species, the White-throated Treerunner is a lot like a treecreeper and of course penguins and auks are very similar. I suppose you have similar habitats to northern temperate ones, but widely separated.
 
OK, the tail is quite grey, the bird has a prominent supercilium and it was probably too large for rufous-tailed. So I guess it must have been a juvenile Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle. It was the pale tips to its wing feathers that made me think it was Rufous-tailed. Anyway, thanks, that's part of the reason why I post trip reports here - in case it raises any lingering misidentifications.
 
... Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle...

Entirely correct. Disregarding size which obviously cannot be used with any level of reliability when dealing with a photo, several things exclude RT Hawk; almost entirely black (no suggestion of barring) secondaries & tertials (this only shown by dark morph RT Hawk. Barring can also be very difficult to see in some other plumages, but not an issue when having a photo of this quality), black throat (only shown by dark morph RT Hawk), very distinct rufous edging to wing-coverts, rich rufous auriculars & eyebrow, relatively heavy & long bill, etc. The problem, of course, is that several of these things vary in the Black-chested Buzzard Eagle (both individually, and depending on moult and exact age), and in any case most of them aren't useful for separating it from the Variable Hawk. No wonder this species and age often confuse.
 
Last edited:
Here's a map of where I went, showing the locations of some of the wildlife seen. I do not recommend the route south of the Austral Pygmy-Owl location!
 

Attachments

  • Torres del Paine.JPG
    Torres del Paine.JPG
    144.7 KB · Views: 123
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 15 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top