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Chile, Land of Condors and King Penguins
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<blockquote data-quote="Jos Stratford" data-source="post: 3518250" data-attributes="member: 12449"><p><strong><u>18 December. Humboldt Pelagic.</u></strong></p><p></p><p>Day of the pelagic! Quintero dock 6.30 a.m., <strong>Peruvian Pelicans</strong> lounging about, <strong>Guanay Cormorants</strong> passing over. A Dutch couple, myself and two Chileans board the boat, destination the cold waters of Humboldt Current, one of the world's great seawatching localities. Sun just rising, we chugged out past the Quintero headland that I had sat upon a couple of days earlier, <strong>Inca Terns</strong> and <strong>Peruvian Boobies</strong> now flying past the boat, a <strong>Northern Giant Petrel </strong>sitting on the sea.</p><p></p><p>A small detour as fins appeared a little to our north, a pod of <strong>Risso's Dolphins </strong>the result, soon after followed by a <strong>Fin Whale</strong>. Small numbers of <strong>Peruvian Diving-Petrels</strong> were now zooming by (far less than I had seen off the headland however), followed by a couple of small flocks of <strong>Red Phalaropes</strong> rising off the water. We were now in the 'bird zone', <strong>Pink-footed Shearwaters</strong> over the place, <strong>Sooty Shearwaters </strong>plentiful too. A couple of <strong>Chilean Skuas </strong>passed by, then a shout went up, our first albatross of the day – an adult <strong>Salvin's Albatross </strong>riding the waves to our stern. Soon there were more, <strong>Salvin's Albatrosses</strong> by the dozen, <strong>Black-browed Albatrosses</strong> also appearing in similar numbers. Loads of <strong>Pink-footed Shearwaters</strong> now, plus the twin pair of <strong>White-chinned Petrel</strong> and <strong>Westland's Petrel</strong>. Close in, identification of these two was actually rather easier than I had expected, the dark-tipped bill of the latter easy to pick out in most.</p><p></p><p>At some point around here, it was time to dump the chum. Overboard went a rather fragrant mix of fish oil, offal and and chopped fish, in came a marauding pack of albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels! Slowly chugging along tipping out the chum, the next 30 minutes or so were impressive – at a range of as little as a metre or two, huge<strong> Salvin's</strong> and <strong>Black-browed Albatrosses </strong>squabbling with all the <strong>Pink-footed Shearwaters<strong>,</strong> Westland's Petrels</strong>, etc, to gobble down as much as possible as quickly as possible! <strong>Wilson's Storm Petrels</strong> danced at the edges of the flocks, the head of a <strong>South American Sea Lion</strong> suddenly popped up in the middle. In the middle of all of this, two notable highlights, both fairly brief unfortunately. First, a <strong>Buller's Albatross </strong>coming to investigate, flying in from the south, making a single mid-distance pass before evaporating away never to be seen again, then in rather dramatic fashion a pterodroma petrel appearing right above our heads. Two or three circuits of the boat, straight through the chum pack, then it was off ...<strong>Juan Fernandez Petrel</strong>. Good one.</p><p></p><p>With a moderate amount of swell, the skipper then decided it was time to head back towards the coast – a little disappointing as we were scheduled to stay out an hour or so longer. Still opportunity for more birds however as we headed in. Encountered a few <strong>Red Phalaropes</strong> again as we neared the inshore, but far less expected was a <strong>Great Shearwater</strong> milling around with <strong>Pink-footed Shearwaters</strong>, this being a vagrant to Chile. As we reached the sheltered waters of Quintero Bay, we looped around to look in vain for Humboldt Penguins ...did see all three species of coastal cormorant however, plus <strong>South American Sea Lions</strong> resting on buoys and my first <strong>Sanderlings</strong> of the trip, a flock of 60 on a mooring.</p><p></p><p>Back on land by midday, <strong>Kelp Gulls</strong> and <strong>Peruvian Pelicans</strong> sitting around the quayside.</p><p></p><p>Meandered back towards Santiago in the afternoon, attempting to find wetland areas in the Estero area. Not entirely successful with most areas hot and parched, water a notable scarcity. Areas that have held Painted Snipe in the past were basically dust bowls and the best area I found could best be described as slightly damp at its heart rather than wet! Hardly surprisingly, <strong>Cattle Egrets</strong> were the closest I got to waterbirds in the marsh, while a nearby stream did little better with several <strong>Red-fronted Coots</strong> being the main attraction. Lots of <strong>Chimango Caracaras</strong> however, a swirling flock of them containing at least 180, plus two <strong>American Kestrels</strong>, a mass of <strong>Yellow-winged Blackbirds</strong>, two male <strong>Spectacled Tyrants</strong>, a <strong>Warbling Doradito</strong> and 12 <strong>Correndera Pipits</strong>.</p><p></p><p>In the sweltering sun, I soon gave up on trying to find a reservoir that seemed to be isolated by fenced off lands, so headed into the neaby Santiago and checked into a hotel near the airport, <strong>Monk Parakeets</strong> in attendance.</p><p></p><p>And with that so ended the first part of this trip to Chile, next morning would see me on a plane to the wilds of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, something I was truly looking forward to.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jos Stratford, post: 3518250, member: 12449"] [B][U]18 December. Humboldt Pelagic.[/U][/B] Day of the pelagic! Quintero dock 6.30 a.m., [B]Peruvian Pelicans[/B] lounging about, [B]Guanay Cormorants[/B] passing over. A Dutch couple, myself and two Chileans board the boat, destination the cold waters of Humboldt Current, one of the world's great seawatching localities. Sun just rising, we chugged out past the Quintero headland that I had sat upon a couple of days earlier, [B]Inca Terns[/B] and [B]Peruvian Boobies[/B] now flying past the boat, a [B]Northern Giant Petrel [/B]sitting on the sea. A small detour as fins appeared a little to our north, a pod of [B]Risso's Dolphins [/B]the result, soon after followed by a [B]Fin Whale[/B]. Small numbers of [B]Peruvian Diving-Petrels[/B] were now zooming by (far less than I had seen off the headland however), followed by a couple of small flocks of [B]Red Phalaropes[/B] rising off the water. We were now in the 'bird zone', [B]Pink-footed Shearwaters[/B] over the place, [B]Sooty Shearwaters [/B]plentiful too. A couple of [B]Chilean Skuas [/B]passed by, then a shout went up, our first albatross of the day – an adult [B]Salvin's Albatross [/B]riding the waves to our stern. Soon there were more, [B]Salvin's Albatrosses[/B] by the dozen, [B]Black-browed Albatrosses[/B] also appearing in similar numbers. Loads of [B]Pink-footed Shearwaters[/B] now, plus the twin pair of [B]White-chinned Petrel[/B] and [B]Westland's Petrel[/B]. Close in, identification of these two was actually rather easier than I had expected, the dark-tipped bill of the latter easy to pick out in most. At some point around here, it was time to dump the chum. Overboard went a rather fragrant mix of fish oil, offal and and chopped fish, in came a marauding pack of albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels! Slowly chugging along tipping out the chum, the next 30 minutes or so were impressive – at a range of as little as a metre or two, huge[B] Salvin's[/B] and [B]Black-browed Albatrosses [/B]squabbling with all the [B]Pink-footed Shearwaters[B],[/B] Westland's Petrels[/B], etc, to gobble down as much as possible as quickly as possible! [B]Wilson's Storm Petrels[/B] danced at the edges of the flocks, the head of a [B]South American Sea Lion[/B] suddenly popped up in the middle. In the middle of all of this, two notable highlights, both fairly brief unfortunately. First, a [B]Buller's Albatross [/B]coming to investigate, flying in from the south, making a single mid-distance pass before evaporating away never to be seen again, then in rather dramatic fashion a pterodroma petrel appearing right above our heads. Two or three circuits of the boat, straight through the chum pack, then it was off ...[B]Juan Fernandez Petrel[/B]. Good one. With a moderate amount of swell, the skipper then decided it was time to head back towards the coast – a little disappointing as we were scheduled to stay out an hour or so longer. Still opportunity for more birds however as we headed in. Encountered a few [B]Red Phalaropes[/B] again as we neared the inshore, but far less expected was a [B]Great Shearwater[/B] milling around with [B]Pink-footed Shearwaters[/B], this being a vagrant to Chile. As we reached the sheltered waters of Quintero Bay, we looped around to look in vain for Humboldt Penguins ...did see all three species of coastal cormorant however, plus [B]South American Sea Lions[/B] resting on buoys and my first [B]Sanderlings[/B] of the trip, a flock of 60 on a mooring. Back on land by midday, [B]Kelp Gulls[/B] and [B]Peruvian Pelicans[/B] sitting around the quayside. Meandered back towards Santiago in the afternoon, attempting to find wetland areas in the Estero area. Not entirely successful with most areas hot and parched, water a notable scarcity. Areas that have held Painted Snipe in the past were basically dust bowls and the best area I found could best be described as slightly damp at its heart rather than wet! Hardly surprisingly, [B]Cattle Egrets[/B] were the closest I got to waterbirds in the marsh, while a nearby stream did little better with several [B]Red-fronted Coots[/B] being the main attraction. Lots of [B]Chimango Caracaras[/B] however, a swirling flock of them containing at least 180, plus two [B]American Kestrels[/B], a mass of [B]Yellow-winged Blackbirds[/B], two male [B]Spectacled Tyrants[/B], a [B]Warbling Doradito[/B] and 12 [B]Correndera Pipits[/B]. In the sweltering sun, I soon gave up on trying to find a reservoir that seemed to be isolated by fenced off lands, so headed into the neaby Santiago and checked into a hotel near the airport, [B]Monk Parakeets[/B] in attendance. And with that so ended the first part of this trip to Chile, next morning would see me on a plane to the wilds of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, something I was truly looking forward to. [/QUOTE]
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