We had long wanted to do a bird and nature watching tour of Chile but although we have travelled quite extensively in South America we had never made it to Chile apart from a brief day trip from Argentina and a stop at the Chilean Antarctic base.
We did think about doing a predominantly birding trip with most of it guided but costs were just too great so we ended up going for a tour with a local company “Milidon.cl” who we were put in touch with by “go local” (we had used this group before). We just had guides / shared leaders on certain tours and fitted in with other local tours or did it ourselves.
The broad tour which we tailored was called “Natural Wonders of Chile”. We dealt with Lorena who pretty much met all our needs and was in regular touch via whatsapp during the whole trip.
We started in Santiago after a direct BA flight from London. We had 4 nights in Santiago with two days birding with Birds Chile, one to El Yeso and one to the Pacific Coasts.
We then had 4 nights in the Atacama but with only one afternoon dedicated birding, we did pretty well by going on generalist tours and doing our own thing when there.
Next up was Puerta Varas in the Lake District where we had another 2 days with Birds Chile; one at Alerce Andino and one on Chiloe Island, we then had a week in Patagonia on various nature tours organised by Patagonian Planet, with overnights at Puerto Arenas and Puerto Natales before spending a couple of days at the coast.
We missed a few birds but overall the numbers we achieved were at the top end of our projections.
In Santiago we stayed in Vitacura, which was a nice area which we felt safe to wander around in, we were happy to take the metro and buses to get around (need a BIP card you buy from a metro station before travel).
Santiago
Day 1 - Our first day after our long flight was short, we went to a local park with a small pond and added a few trip birds, Black-necked Swan, Austral Thrush, Monk Parakeet, Chimanga Caracara, Yellow-winged Blackbird, Spot-winged Gallinule and then a surprising Grey-flanked Cinclodes before then doing a little sight-seeing in the centre.
Day 2 – First of two days with Carolena from Birds Chile, Carolena was an interesting guide, she was a Marine Biologist at Vina del Mar University, had a TV show and guided in her spare time. She told us immediately that Sandpiper Plovers had not been found at El Yeso this year after huge snowfalls in the winter but we would look anyway, all other targets would be possible. We first stopped for Moustached Turca and saw a couple of birds well but I just couldn’t manage a decent photo as the closest bird only showed well when I was the wrong side of the road. Still great views for us and we quickly stopped for and called in another endemic the Crag Chilia, which was much more photogenic, we the headed up to the end of the paved road and went onto a ranch with some marshy land, this was the first place we tried for the Diademed Sandpiper Plover but as we had been warned we didn’t find the birds here, or beyond the reservoir, Carolena did say that she had been successful recently in the Taito area of the Atacama and to just scan ever bit of green there.
Still we were seeing quite a few new birds including Black-fronted Ground-Tyrant, Buff-winged Cinclodes, Black-winged Ground-Dove, Yellow-rumped Siskin and a nice Grey-breasted Seedsnipe,
other birds added were Giant Hummingbird, California Quail, Grey-hooded and Plumbeous Sierra Finch. Next stop was a waterfall just before the dam and we had White-sided Hillstar, and probable distant Mountain Parakeet (not counted as seen well later), our first Andean Condors of the trip and Chilean Swallow. It was then a wait for the mining traffic to stop before we could get past the reservoir but while waiting we were visited by a confiding Rufous-banded Miner.
View attachment rufous banded miner.JPG
Once parked up we tried unsuccessfully for the plover but did get the tricky Creamy-rumped Miner, a Scale-throated Earthcreeper, and Cordilleran Canastero. That was pretty much it for birding until we stopped for some Greater Yellow-finch being harassed by American Kestrels. Not a bad first day with more lifers than we had hoped for and an Andean Mouse.
Day 3 – Carolena had asked if we still needed Humboldt Penguin, Yes, a bogey bird with weather, bandits and mechanical breakdowns getting in the way on previous trips to possible spots in Peru. That being the case we would head first to a beach near Concon (Chigagua) where some birds were still present at a colony, before working our way south down the coast to Vina del Mar. On the beach we were seeing loads of Whimbrel, Sanderling and American Oystercatchers before we saw a key target a Seaside Cinclodes, then a few Surfbirds and a Blackish Oystercatcher before we were close enough to the off shore rocks to see our first group of Humboldt Penguin (about 20 or so), or the rocks were also Peruvian Pelican and Peruvian Boobies and we also had the treat of a tiny little Marine Otter and 2 types of starfish before we left the beach.
Next up we stopped at an estuary reserve being run by a group of Carolena’s students. Nothing new but we did get great views of Franklin Gull, Red-Gartered Coot, Elegant Tern, Coscoroba Swan, Lake Duck, White-tufted Grebe and Black-necked Stilt. Last stop before lunch was a private reserve by some rocky headland about 10 miles north of Mantagua – we firstly got good views of Chilean Mockingbird,
View attachment chilean mockingbird cu.JPGBurrowing Owl, Long-tailed Meadowlark and Austral Blackbird before we got to the area Carolena was targeting, before any playback or prep suddenly a Chilean Tinamou just flew across our path and flew right ahead of us for about 30 meters we all saw the bird really well and all saw it land when we got to the patch of vegetation on the cliff we couldn’t find it, but we were glad we had seen a tricky species; on the walk back to the car we saw an endemic Chilean Pacific Lizard.
We then drove to El Humedal de Mantagua for lunch and some further birding. This wetland reserve could have occupied a full day but we were only after a couple of birds. The wetland held Baird’s Sandpiper, Yellow-billed Pintail, Great Grebe, Red-fronted Coot, Cocoi Heron, West Peruvian Dove before we got one of our targets a Spectacled Tyrant, the main target wouldn’t give itself up to us despite us all sitting on the ground in the same bush as it and calling it for ages, but the endemic Dusky Tapaculo stayed as a heard only. We did though add a Fire-eyed Diucon, Rufous-tailed Plantcutter and Common Diuca-Finch
and finished with off here with a Giant Hummingbird.
Our last stop was at Carolena’s office in Renaca (University is closed for summer), we had already seen the main target the Seaside Cinclodes but got better views, and good photos of very close up Inca Terns and some South American Sea-lions. We dropped her off at Vina del Mar and headed back to Santiago with the driver.
This was only a couple of days before the major forest fires which killed 131 people and destroyed lots of housing and caused a major evacuation of the area. Fortunately, she and her family were OK but some students near the estuary reserve lost their houses.
Day 4- Our last day in Santiago was a normal tourist day of Museums, Cathedrals and Parks and we didn’t add any new birds.
We did think about doing a predominantly birding trip with most of it guided but costs were just too great so we ended up going for a tour with a local company “Milidon.cl” who we were put in touch with by “go local” (we had used this group before). We just had guides / shared leaders on certain tours and fitted in with other local tours or did it ourselves.
The broad tour which we tailored was called “Natural Wonders of Chile”. We dealt with Lorena who pretty much met all our needs and was in regular touch via whatsapp during the whole trip.
We started in Santiago after a direct BA flight from London. We had 4 nights in Santiago with two days birding with Birds Chile, one to El Yeso and one to the Pacific Coasts.
We then had 4 nights in the Atacama but with only one afternoon dedicated birding, we did pretty well by going on generalist tours and doing our own thing when there.
Next up was Puerta Varas in the Lake District where we had another 2 days with Birds Chile; one at Alerce Andino and one on Chiloe Island, we then had a week in Patagonia on various nature tours organised by Patagonian Planet, with overnights at Puerto Arenas and Puerto Natales before spending a couple of days at the coast.
We missed a few birds but overall the numbers we achieved were at the top end of our projections.
In Santiago we stayed in Vitacura, which was a nice area which we felt safe to wander around in, we were happy to take the metro and buses to get around (need a BIP card you buy from a metro station before travel).
Santiago
Day 1 - Our first day after our long flight was short, we went to a local park with a small pond and added a few trip birds, Black-necked Swan, Austral Thrush, Monk Parakeet, Chimanga Caracara, Yellow-winged Blackbird, Spot-winged Gallinule and then a surprising Grey-flanked Cinclodes before then doing a little sight-seeing in the centre.
Day 2 – First of two days with Carolena from Birds Chile, Carolena was an interesting guide, she was a Marine Biologist at Vina del Mar University, had a TV show and guided in her spare time. She told us immediately that Sandpiper Plovers had not been found at El Yeso this year after huge snowfalls in the winter but we would look anyway, all other targets would be possible. We first stopped for Moustached Turca and saw a couple of birds well but I just couldn’t manage a decent photo as the closest bird only showed well when I was the wrong side of the road. Still great views for us and we quickly stopped for and called in another endemic the Crag Chilia, which was much more photogenic, we the headed up to the end of the paved road and went onto a ranch with some marshy land, this was the first place we tried for the Diademed Sandpiper Plover but as we had been warned we didn’t find the birds here, or beyond the reservoir, Carolena did say that she had been successful recently in the Taito area of the Atacama and to just scan ever bit of green there.
Still we were seeing quite a few new birds including Black-fronted Ground-Tyrant, Buff-winged Cinclodes, Black-winged Ground-Dove, Yellow-rumped Siskin and a nice Grey-breasted Seedsnipe,
other birds added were Giant Hummingbird, California Quail, Grey-hooded and Plumbeous Sierra Finch. Next stop was a waterfall just before the dam and we had White-sided Hillstar, and probable distant Mountain Parakeet (not counted as seen well later), our first Andean Condors of the trip and Chilean Swallow. It was then a wait for the mining traffic to stop before we could get past the reservoir but while waiting we were visited by a confiding Rufous-banded Miner.View attachment rufous banded miner.JPG
Once parked up we tried unsuccessfully for the plover but did get the tricky Creamy-rumped Miner, a Scale-throated Earthcreeper, and Cordilleran Canastero. That was pretty much it for birding until we stopped for some Greater Yellow-finch being harassed by American Kestrels. Not a bad first day with more lifers than we had hoped for and an Andean Mouse.
Day 3 – Carolena had asked if we still needed Humboldt Penguin, Yes, a bogey bird with weather, bandits and mechanical breakdowns getting in the way on previous trips to possible spots in Peru. That being the case we would head first to a beach near Concon (Chigagua) where some birds were still present at a colony, before working our way south down the coast to Vina del Mar. On the beach we were seeing loads of Whimbrel, Sanderling and American Oystercatchers before we saw a key target a Seaside Cinclodes, then a few Surfbirds and a Blackish Oystercatcher before we were close enough to the off shore rocks to see our first group of Humboldt Penguin (about 20 or so), or the rocks were also Peruvian Pelican and Peruvian Boobies and we also had the treat of a tiny little Marine Otter and 2 types of starfish before we left the beach.
Next up we stopped at an estuary reserve being run by a group of Carolena’s students. Nothing new but we did get great views of Franklin Gull, Red-Gartered Coot, Elegant Tern, Coscoroba Swan, Lake Duck, White-tufted Grebe and Black-necked Stilt. Last stop before lunch was a private reserve by some rocky headland about 10 miles north of Mantagua – we firstly got good views of Chilean Mockingbird,
View attachment chilean mockingbird cu.JPGBurrowing Owl, Long-tailed Meadowlark and Austral Blackbird before we got to the area Carolena was targeting, before any playback or prep suddenly a Chilean Tinamou just flew across our path and flew right ahead of us for about 30 meters we all saw the bird really well and all saw it land when we got to the patch of vegetation on the cliff we couldn’t find it, but we were glad we had seen a tricky species; on the walk back to the car we saw an endemic Chilean Pacific Lizard.
We then drove to El Humedal de Mantagua for lunch and some further birding. This wetland reserve could have occupied a full day but we were only after a couple of birds. The wetland held Baird’s Sandpiper, Yellow-billed Pintail, Great Grebe, Red-fronted Coot, Cocoi Heron, West Peruvian Dove before we got one of our targets a Spectacled Tyrant, the main target wouldn’t give itself up to us despite us all sitting on the ground in the same bush as it and calling it for ages, but the endemic Dusky Tapaculo stayed as a heard only. We did though add a Fire-eyed Diucon, Rufous-tailed Plantcutter and Common Diuca-Finch
and finished with off here with a Giant Hummingbird.Our last stop was at Carolena’s office in Renaca (University is closed for summer), we had already seen the main target the Seaside Cinclodes but got better views, and good photos of very close up Inca Terns and some South American Sea-lions. We dropped her off at Vina del Mar and headed back to Santiago with the driver.
This was only a couple of days before the major forest fires which killed 131 people and destroyed lots of housing and caused a major evacuation of the area. Fortunately, she and her family were OK but some students near the estuary reserve lost their houses.
Day 4- Our last day in Santiago was a normal tourist day of Museums, Cathedrals and Parks and we didn’t add any new birds.
