On the 9^th I went to the Santiago airport to meet Rodrigo Tapia, my northern Chile guide who works for Far South Expeditions.  There I was joined by Peter and Felicity, Australian birders who would be my companions, along with Rodrigo, for the next 6 days.  The flight to Arica in the far north of Chile took over three hours, just to give you an idea of the north-south expanse of Chile.  We landed around noon and immediately began birding in the Arica area.

Arica is the northernmost city in Chile, just a few miles south of the border with Peru.  The driest desert in the world, the Atacama, surrounds Arica on three sides, with the Pacific Ocean on the west.  Arica serves as a seaport with large quantities of goods going to and arriving by truck from land-locked Bolivia over the mountain highway that lies in Chile but serves both countries.

Along the sea shore north of Arica we found numerous Peruvian Pelicans, Peruvian Boobies, Gray Gulls, Belcher’s Gulls, Inca Terns, along with a large number of migratory shorebirds, waders and seabirds familiar to North American birders.  West Peruvian Doves were abundant.  We left the coast and drove into one of the narrow valleys where we found Peruvian Meadowlarks, Chestnut-throated Seedeaters, Slender-billed Finches, and Chiguanco Thrushes.  The valleys seem very narrow, and their greenness is threatened, it seems, by the vast and enormous sand dunes that rise abruptly from the valley floors.

The next day found us in the Andes in the Aymara Indian village of Putre, elevation about 10,500 feet.  The buildings and street are very old and the streets have a gutter down the middle for drainage, making it a bit difficult to maneuver through.  But our hotel, the Hosteria Q’Antati, at the far end of the village, was fine and in fact the breakfasts served there were the best of the trip.  Dinners were at a nice little restaurant in the middle of the village.

Birding around the Putre area produced a good number of new birds, including great looks at an Ornate Tinamou, Bare-faced and Black-winged Ground Doves, Sparkling Violet-ears, Andean Hillstars (nesting under the eaves around our hotel), Giant Hummingbirds, Straight-billed and Plain-breasted Earthcreepers, a White-tailed Shrike-tyrant, White-browed Chat-Tyrants, Blue and Yellow Tanagers, Black-throated Flowerpiercers, Black-hooded, Ash-breasted and Band-tailed Sierra-Finches and Hooded Siskins.

The next morning we got an early start heading for the Surire salt pans, one of the most interesting sights in the Chilean Altiplano.  The “lake” is the site of extensive salt mining operations, but nonetheless hosts all 3 species of Flamingos found in southern South America: James (Puna), Chilean and Andean.  We were not disappointed.  All 3 species were in plain view as we drove around the lake, giving me an amazing opportunity to compare the 3 and ultimately, be able to distinguish among the 3 species quite readily.

The trip also provided great looks at herds of wild Vicunas, the odd looking rodents called Viscachas, featuring a squirrel like-body with rabbit-like ears, and several handsome Andean Deer.  At a stop early along the way we found numbers of Grey-breasted Seedsnipes and Andean Negritos. Later in the day we were treated to a somewhat distant view of Lesser (Puna) Rheas.  On the return trip a brood of Puna Tinamous (12 chicks with the parent, probably the male) made a close up appearance as they scurried along the side of the road and into the cover.

After a very long day we arrived back at Putre and our hotel and went out for a late dinner.  Tomorrow we would go to one of the other great attractions of the northern Chilean mountains, the Lauca National Park, the site of the highest lake in the world.  The trip to and the hike around the lake produced good looks at Puna Ibis, Giant and Andean Coots, Andean Geese, Andean Avocets, Andean Lapwings, Andean Flickers, and more.

The day was beautiful, with towering, snow-capped mountains, crystal-clear lakes and ponds, green tundra-like areas and lots of birds. We hiked along the shore of the Lake where we saw Andean Ruddy Ducks, the 3 coots, Puna Teal, Canasteros, Andean Negritos, and much more.  Andean Gulls, Andean Geese and herds of Vicunas provided close-up entertainment as I waited at a mid-point for the group to finish the hike, be picked up by our driver and return to Arica.  I regretted having to depart from these beautiful mountains.

Our pelagic trip did not produce many new birds, but we did see a number of Elliot’s Storm Petrels, Humboldt Penguins and a few Peruvian Diving Petrels.  The rest of our birding in northern Chile was centered around the valleys of the Arica area.  Among the interesting new sightings were Oasis Hummingbirds, a single Mountain Caracara, Peruvian Thick-knees, a Burrowing Owl, Chilean Woodstars, and Peruvian Sheartails.

To summarize my entire trip, I was able to identify about 215 species, including both central and northern Chile, of which 108 were lifers, to bring my world-wide total to 2,935.  The guides, both from Albatross and Far South, were excellent, personable and hard-working.  In particular, the office staff at Albatross was extremely helpful in organizing my last minute itinerary and setting up, in meticulous detail, my transportation and lodging requirements in arriving and departing Santiago.  I was impressed by the country of Chile itself.  It is clean, modern, well-governed and the people are hospitable and helpful even if you don’t speak much Spanish. I would go back again, perhaps next time to see southern Chile and its natural wonders.

On December 2 my guide from Albatross Birding and Nature Tours, Rodrigo Reyes, picked me up at my hotel in Providencia and we drove to the Lampa/Batuco area northwest of Santiago.  At these wetlands we found Coscoroba Swans, a single, laggard Andean Goose, 8 species of ducks, 3 grebe species, 4 heron species, several Cinereous Harriers and Variable Hawks, many Chimango Caracaras, 3 Coot species, several shorebirds, Brown-hooded Gulls, Correndera Pipits, and other species common in the area.

My favorite finds here were the Many-colored Rush Tyrants (which came close and showed off their amazing colors), the secretive Wren-like Rushbirds, Austral Negritos, Common Diuca Finches singing all around, a few Grassland Yellow-finches, many Yellow-winged Blackbirds, and colorful, red-breasted Long-tailed Meadowlarks.

We returned to Santiago to explore the urban park, Parque Bicentenario.  Although it is surrounded by the city, it boasts a surprising number of interesting birds.  Among them were a number of colorful Spot-flanked Gallinules, Plain-mantled Tit-spinetails nesting in a lamp post, surprisingly obvious Rufous-tailed Plantcutters (great name), Chilean Mockingbirds, and the ever present Rufous Collared Sparrows.  Here also we saw several Long-tailed Meadowlarks at close range.

On the 3^rd we drove southeast of Santiago to Lake Colbun and from there northeast to Vilvhes Alto where we spent the night.  The next day we hiked a long way among the wonderful trees in the Altos de Lircay National Park.  An old North American friend, California Quail, introduced to Chile long ago, were seen in several locations.  Among the new and interesting sightings were Picui Ground Doves, Chilean Pigeons, Chilean Flickers, Magellanic Woodpeckers,  Austral Parakeets,  a couple of Green-backed Firecrowns, Thorn-tailed Rayaditos, Dusky-tailed Canasteros, White-throated Treerunners, White-crested Elaenias, Fire-eyed Diucons, Chilean Swallows, Patagonian Sierra-Finches and Austral Thrushes.  We returned to Santiago for the night.

On the 5^th I was picked up at the hotel by a different Albatross guide, Paola Soublette.  We drove first to the Yerba Loca and Farellones areas east of Santiago where we spent the entire day.  Highlights were the Crag Chilias, the amazingly close and long view of a perched adult Andean Condor (plus a dozen or more overhead),  Black-chested Buzzard Eagles, Black-winged Ground Doves, a most cooperative Magellanic Great Horned Owl, great looks at a Giant Humming bird at the same time that we were looking at a Striped Woodpecker on its nest, Rufous-banded Miners, Scale-throated Earthcreepers, Cream-winged and Gray-flanked Cinclodes, Cordilleran Canasteros, a spectacular Chest-nut throated Huet Huet, perky Moustached Turcas in relative abundance, White-browed Ground-tyrants, Black-billed Ground-tyrants, Gray-hooded Sierra Finches, Mourning Sierra Finches, Greater Yellow-Finches, and Yellow-rumped Siskins.  A very productive day.

The next morning we left Santiago to drive down to the Rio Maipo estuary and to spend the day birding northward on the coast.  We finished the day at the seaside village of Quintero and spent the night at a beautifully located, older hotel with a view of the sun setting over the Pacific.  Not only was the view great, but the dinner at the Hotel’s dining room was among the best of the trip.

Along the way we found Black-necked Swans, Silvery Grebes (Occipatalis subspecies), Peruvian Pelicans, Peruvian Boobies, Red-legged Cormorants, Guanay Cormorants, a surprising (to me) Stripe-backed bittern, a Collared Plover, American and Blackish Oystercatchers, several common shorebirds, a single Gray Gull, Kelp Gulls, beautiful Inca Terns, South American Terns, Elegant Terns, a flock of thousands of Black Skimmers, a closeup Seaside Cinclodes, and one of the most interesting birds of the trip, Des Murs Wiretails (after a short but strenuous walk along the river bank in brush and mush).

On the 7^th I joined several other birders for a pelagic trip on the Pacific led by Rodrigo.  My new birds for this pelagic trip were Humboldt Penguins, Royal Albatross (Southern subspecies), Royal Albatross (Northern subspecies), numerous Salvin’s (Shy) Albatross, a probable juvenile Chatham Albatross, Westland Petrels, (close and plentiful enough to learn to distinguish them from the similar White-chinned Petrels).  Several other pelagic species that I have previously seen were somewhat common.  Among the “misses”, at least missed by me although seen by some of the participants, were Peruvian Diving-petrels and a possible Juan Fernandez Petrel.  We returned to shore about noon, had lunch and a short rest and then I joined Paola again for the trip back to Santiago, including some more birding along the way.  We saw many of the same species that we had seen the day before, some of them far better.

On my last day in central Chile, Paola drove from Santiago up to the Yeso Valley.  The main target of the quest was the iconic Diademed Sandpiper Plover.  Along the way we were able to find a few new trip birds, including Torrent Ducks, Band-tailed Earthcreeper, Crag Chilia, and Yellow-rumped Siskins.  The road was very rough, narrow and high.  Not only that but this was a holiday in Chile, and there were lots of vehicles vying for road-space.  Paola had her hands full and several times we had to stop perilously close to the cliff-edge to make way for opposing traffic.  Finally, we reached the Yeso Reservoir, and traveled on upward to the very end, where we hoped to find the Diademed Sandpiper Plover.  This required a very wet hike through in a soggy bog.  Along the way we encountered a nice flock of 20 or so Upland Geese, that were willing to allow us to pass nearby without flushing.  An hour or so into the hike, I spotted the target bird only a few feet from me, feeding in a shallow pool.  I spent the next half hour, simply gazing at this beautiful bird, time enough for Paola to try for a video in which both I and the bird appeared.  After a long and close look at this, one of the most beautiful of birds, we started back.  As we were leaving the bog we were fortunate to find another one of my top 2 targets of the trip: Seedsnipes.  Seedsnipes are a family found only in South America and primarily only in Chile.  I had never seen any species of this family and wanted to add it to my list.  A pair of Gray-breasted Seedsnipes circled us and gave us a relatively close view, before we had to depart to return to Santiago, and go down the awful road we had come up.

I wanted to buy some lapis lazuli jewelry for my wife, whose birthday occurred while I was in Chile.  Lapis lazuli, a semi-precious metal, is mined in Chile (and Afghanistan) and local artisans create some beautiful pieces.   Thanks go to Paola who took time out from our birding to take me shopping in the old market in Santiago.  (She did not think much of my original plan to find something at one of the airport shops).  The market was an interesting place to visit and we found a lapis lazuli butterfly pendant and earrings that I liked very much, and so does Barbara.

Sorry, I have no pictures to include in this Blog.  Maybe I will have some photos on my next trip, when Barbara accompanies me and exercises here photographic magic.

We left Porto Jofre on September 3 and proceeded back north on the Pantaneira toward Pousada Piuval, where we would spend the night before returning to Cuiaba for our flights back home on the 4^th.  Pousada Piuval is the most northerly lodge on the Pantaneira, located about 10 kilometers along the road and about 6 or 7 more by private road.  It is built on a 17,000 acre cattle ranch, and guests are given access by vehicle to the ranch for birding and viewing the many mammals to be found there.

The Pantaneira was as dusty and the bridges as worn out as when we drove south a few days before.  But the birds were as plentiful, and on the return trip we stopped along the way in search of more of the passerines than we had taken time for on the way down, because of the plenitude of the water birds that had been new to us on the way down.

We arrived at Piuval in time for an afternoon drive at the Ranch.  Among the birds seen this day, either along the road or at the Ranch, were these:

Sunbitterns

Long-tailed Ground Dove

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

Blue-crowned Trogon

Peach-fronted Parakeets

Large-billed Antwren

White-bellied Seedeater

Rusty-collared Seedeater

Saffron-billed Sparrow

Amazonian Motmot

At the ranch, a Brown Capuchin Monkey wandered across the open pasture, standing on its hind legs to look about for danger from time to time.

A South American Coati also made its way around a pond.

Field Guides is a good tour company.  The trip was well conceived and very well executed.  The two guides, Marcello and Pepe, were exceptional in all respects.  The part of Brazil that we saw, Brasilia and Mato Grosso in the west central part of Brazil, was diverse and fascinating.  The bird life and animal life is abundant. The vegetation is sparser and more conducive to finding wildlife than the denser jungle areas of the Amazon to the north.  The roads were not good, but that is the price one expects to pay to better experience the natural environment. Pests, such as mosquitoes, were few and far between, and malaria is not a concern in Mato Grosso.

I saw a total of 330 species of birds in Brazil, of which 160 were new life birds for me, putting my total species observed and identified world-wide to 2825.  Now, I suppose I will find the challenge of reaching 3,000 irresistable.  Chile is appealing.

Much of our time at Porto Jofre was spent on a boat looking for Jaguars on the banks of the rivers.  Birding took a back seat, but there were still plenty of birds to see along the rivers.  Our boats were comfortable, the rivers calm and the weather a sunny 103 degrees.  The scenery in and along the rivers was, to use an over-used term, gorgeous.

Our first morning on the river turned up empty of Jaguars. We started the morning with nice looks at nesting

Large-billed Terns

At the end of the hot morning I was exhausted and for the only time on the trip, I skipped the afternoon activities, took a nap, and birded around the Lodge.  Of course, afternoon on the River produced the group’s first Jaguar sighting of the trip.

As is the case in many areas where wild-life sightings are the objective, when a guide finds an animal he radios the other guides in the area, and they all converge.  This can be an unpleasant experience due to the jockeying for photographic advantage that goes on.

The next morning Marcello decided to abandon the main river and go in the opposite direction to a smaller tributary.  That decision was a very good one, because shortly after entering the tributary, two young Jaguars were spotted along the shore line.

We were the only boat in range, so the time spent observing them inter-act with each other, (licking, playing) was lovely.  The entire group was relieved that I, who had missed the first Jaguar, now could add Jaguars to my life list of mammals.

Later in the day, back on the big river, we were fortunate to find a fourth Jaguar.  This one was spotted by our boatman as it cooled itself behind a fallen tree in the shaded waters of the river, but this one did not stick around long and did not provide much opportunity for pictures, although the sighting itself was very satisfying.

The search for Jaguars was primary while we were at Porto Jofre, but the birding was also excellent.  Among the interesting species that we were able to see and photograph driving down the Pantaneira and after our arrival at Porto Jofre are these:

Hyacinth Macaws

Campo Flicker

Amazon Kingfisher

Egrets 

Maguari Stork

Rufescent Tiger Heron

Capped Herons

Cocoi Heron

Yellow-rumped Caciques

Orange-backed Troupial

Green and Rufous Kingfisher 

Southern Screamer

Nacunda Nighthawk   

White-wedged Piculet     

Buff-necked Ibis  

There were many Jabiru Storks.  This one was busy fishing for his dinner.

We saw this Jabiru Stork family high in the tree.

No photographic record of our time on the Pantaneira would be complete without a picture of the ever present Cayman.

The final installment of my blog of Brazil will cover the drive from Porto Jofre back to the north end of the Pantaneira, where we spent the night at Piuval Lodge and explored the surrounding ranch.

On August 30, 2015 we left Garden of the Amazon and drove south toward the Pantanal.  Midway, we stopped in Cuiaba to pick up one of our guides, Pepe, who a couple of days earlier had accompanied a guest back to Cuiaba from Garden of the Amazon due to a medical emergency.  The guest was OK, much to our relief, and he re-joined the tour at Cuiaba.  Lesson to be learned:  it might be wise to tour with groups who provide 2 guides.

Eighty percent of the Pantanal is located in west central Brazil with smaller areas in eastern Bolivia and eastern Paraguay.  The Pantanal contains about 70,000 square miles and it is the world’s largest freshwater wetland, 10 to 20 (depending on the source) times the size of the Everglades.  Every year it is flooded to several feet in depth from the rains (40-60 inches from November to March) and by runoff from the tributaries of the Paraguay River.  The Pantanal starts about 60 miles south of Cuiaba near Pocone.  The northern third of the Pantanal (approximately 80 miles) is traversed by the Transpantaneira Road.  This is a dirt road with 122 wooden bridges, most of which are in poor repair.  The road ends on a river bank, at the little village of Porto Jofre.  There is no bridge across the river.  The southern two thirds of the Pantanal is almost roadless, except for a short stretch at the south end.  Ninety-eight percent of the Pantanal is in private ownership, mostly cattle ranching.

Along the Pantaneira, in ranch-land a little far out for pictures, we spotted two Red-legged Seriemas.

This was the third of the three new bird families on my wish list for this trip.  We stopped for an evening of birding and good food at Curicaca Lodge (“Pousada Curicaca”) which is about 15 miles down the Pantaneira and about 3 kilometers off the road, accessed by a narrow dirt lane.  It is located in one of the few cattle-free areas of the Pantanal.  We birded around the Lodge that evening and the next morning.

Among the birds we saw at Curicaca were:

Blue-throated Piping Guan

Bare-faced Currasows

Gray- necked Woodrail

Tropical Screech Owl

Great Potoo

Pale-crested Woodpecker

Cream-colored Woodpecker

Laughing Falcon

Bat Falcon

Orange-winged Parrot

Yellow-collared Macaw

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

Purple-throated Euphonia

Plumbious Ibis

We saw a lot of birds the next morning as we walked along the private road.  Around 9:00 a.m. we boarded our bus and started south on the Pantaneira to Porto Jofre, about 60 miles away.  The road was very dusty. Many of the wooden bridges were not safe and must be bypassed by driving through the seasonally dry ditches at the sides of the bridges.  But the birds; Oh the birds!!!  I have never seen so many birds over such large landscapes.  At this, the end of the dry season, they are collecting at the nearly dried-out ponds and ditches along the road to take advantage of the fish and other aquatic creatures that are suffocating in the dwindling and hot pools.  Even the Cayman appear to be suffering the ill effects, as we saw a couple of dead and decomposing corpses protruding from the water.

The history of the Pantaneira Road is very interesting.  Prior to World War II the area was lightly populated and very poor.  During World War II, the local ranchers sold beef to supply the needs of the soldiers in Europe and Africa.  They did very well financially, and lobbied for a road.  The government proceeded to build the road, in part.  The south terminus of the road is at the Rio Sao Lourenco River at Porto Jofre, and there is no land connection crossing the river, or for many miles on south.  The only connection from the south is by river.  After the war, the demand for exported beef dwindled, and the influence of the ranchers dwindled accordingly, probably explaining why the road was not finished.

The Pantanal is still a source of beef (see local cowboys, or “Vaqueiros” along the road; the Spanish demonym, “Gaucho” is used in Argentina and in the very southern part of Brazil, but I think where we were, “Vaqueiro” would be the proper usage).

I learned that the cattle are primarily Zebu, or Indian Brahman, and almost all the cattle in the Pantanal are of the white to silvery gray variety, with the long, drooping ears, excess neck skin and back hump typical of their progenitors.  Heat and drought resistance is a valuable trait for survival in the Pantanal. During the rainy season, the cattle retreat to the closest available forested knolls or ridges that are barely above the water line.

We proceeded slowly south on the Pantaneira, stopping often to observe the rich bird life, and at about 6:30 we arrived at our lodge for the next 3 nights, the Hotel Porto Jofre. Tomorrow the emphasis on finding birds was to end, our days on the river would begin, and the principal focus of our outings would be Jaguars.