CHILE 6
After leaving the Lauca National Park, we now headed towards Laguna Miscanti & Menique.
Stopping briefly to look at the San Pedro's 16th century church.
Arriving at Laguna Miscanti & Menique.
Views taken at Laguna Miscanti & Menique.
Laguna Menique
We came across this Ass in the heat haze out in the Atacama
Desert on our way to Laguna Miscante from San Pedro.
It was very wary and soon disappeared. Wild Ass has become
extinct in Chile
15 Chilean Flamingos Phoenicipterus chilensis were seen at Laguna Miscanti.
We broke our flight south, to visit Laguna Miscanti in the hope of seeing Horned Coot, a specie we missed when we visited Argentina.
We found 55 Horned Coots Fulica cornuta on Laguna Miscanti and Menique, with breeding taken place on Laguna Menique. Considered to be Near Threatned with the Chilean population at just 620 individuals. In the lake they construct a mound of rocks until it reaches the surface of the water and they then build their bulky nest on top of the rocks, and they are sensitive to water level fluctuations.
Horned Coots feeding young on Laguna Menique.
(Never taken so many pictures of a Coot before)
.
Adult Mountain Caracara Phalcoboenus megalopterus came flying in at Laguna Miscanti and landed briefly close to the car. Range High-Andean grasslands, wetlands and cliffs. 200-5000 m. They tend to be solitary unless at a carcass.
Golden Spotted Ground Dove Metriopelia aymara were common around Laguna Miscanti & Menique with at least 200 being seen.
Puna Miner at Laguna Miscanti
20 Rufous Naped Ground Tyrant - Muscisaxicola rufivertex were seen at Laguna Miscanti. Range: Dry pre-puna with bushes. Also rocky slopes and agricultural fields.
Spot Billed Ground Tyrant - Muscisaxicola maculirostris Range: dry Andean habitats, preferring rockier slopes. 0 in winter-3700 m. During our trip we saw 4 Spot Billed Ground Tyrants at Laguna Miscantiand they were also seen at Putre and El-Yeso.
We had now moved onto Laguna Laja National Park where we were camping for two nights here.
Orchids found at Laguna Laja National Park.
Maihueh cacti, found only at Laguna Laja and is almost extinct.
The local warden informed me that this is the last cacti still present
on the reserve.
White Browed Ground Tyrant - Muscisaxicola albilora Most abundant breeding ground-tyrant in Central Chile, and prefers moister areas. We saw 10 White Browed Ground Tyrants were seen at Laguna Laja. A very Wheatear stance.
Chucao Tapacuo - Scelorchilus rubecula Skulking in dense understorey such as bamboo or other shrubbery. If it enters open areas, it runs with its tail cocked. One of the star birds at Laguna Laja is the Chucao Tapacuo, we saw 3 along Trail B with 4 there the following day, also 6 at Nahuelbuta with many more being heard.
Austral Negrito - Lessonia oreas Highly migratory some reaching well to the north. Up to 6 Austral Negrito's were seen at Laguna Laja, and 50 were also seen in Patagonia.
Band-winged Nightjar - Caprimulgus longirostris The only regular nightjar in Chile. Range 0 to 3800m.
Varied habitat choice but requires some open areas. We were lucky to find a roosting Nightjar close to our camping site, and found it roosting along Trail B at Laja.
Spectacled Ducks - Speculanas specularis A pair of Spectacled Ducks photographed at Laja just as it was getting light, and these were the only ones we saw on our trip.
White Crested Elaenia Elaenia albiceps this Elaenia flew into our car injured but luckily after a short period of time it recovered and when released it flew away strongly. This specie has been sub-divided into two Chilean taxa which are separable in the field and may be different species. One of the commonest breeding birds in the country. The chilensia race were seen at several forest sites, whereas the race modesta was only seen in the dry open country. (Ridgley & Tudor, 1994).
Thorn Tailed Rayadito - Aphrastura spinicauda common in a variety of forests. Its range is central and southern Chile and adjacent Argentina. Two races spinicauda and fulva. The above bird would appear to belong to spinicauda due to its white underparts whereas fulva has buffy underparts. On our trip, Thorn Tailed Rayadito's were seen at 3 different sites with 5 at Laja & 15 at Nahuelbuta. Proved extremely difficult to photograph in the dark lichen forest at Laja.
Striped Woodpecker Picoides lignarius taken in poor light in the forest at Laja. Widespread but uncommon woodpecker of open forest and dense matorral. Range: 0 to 1500m.
We now moved onto Nehuelbuta National Forest Park ,with all its Monkey Puzzle Trees.
Views taken in Nehuelbuta Reserve.
David at Nehuelbuta, wondering where we should start looking??
Orchids found growing along the entrance road to Nehuelbuta.
Chimango Caracara Milvago chimango was seen along the entrance road to Nehuelbuta. Abundant, uses a variety of habitats including cities. Often seen in parties.
Fire-Eyed Diucon Xolmis pyrope Striking red-eye. Usually perches prominently in open forests, farmland and forest edge. Range 0-2000m. Recorded on our trip and seen at several sites and this one was photographed at Nehuelbuta.
Terrible picture of a Magellanic Tapacula Scytalopus magellanicus they keep to dense thickets including bamboo in wet temperate forests. Mouse like behaviour creeping close to the ground and even under debris. The above picture shows the bird looking out at us, and showing some white on the forehead which usually indicates a juvenile bird. They were calling throughout the day at Nehuelbuta but only odd birds were seen.
Adult Ochre-flanked Tapaculo Eugralla paradoxa Another Tapaculo of dense thickets including bamboo but also brambles and gorse. We found them very skulking and we only saw or heard them at Nehuelbuta, where we saw three.
Austral Blackbird Curaeus curaeus Common in forest edge, open woodland and also in urban gardens, and were seen at several sites during our trip.
Patagonian Tyrant Coloramphus parvirostris breeds in larger forests with a dense understorey. Often present where short snags or dead branches are present for perching on. Range 0 to 1000m. We found three Patagonian Tyrants along Forest Trail B at Nehuelbuta.
It was now time for us to catch a flight to Punta Arenas.
