March 01, 2016
Today was our last full day in the north of the island. We had an action packed day planned including a six hour scan at Quetalmahue.
We woke up early and drove to Mar Brava - one of our favorite parts of the island. The Pacific Ocean waves were breaking with a touch of fury and the distant cliffs rose out of a foggy mist. We had the playa and dunes to ourselves.
We had two targets: one on the beach and one in the dunes, plus G wanted to bird the humedales there as well. We headed out onto the beach to look for Snowy Plover - a resident breeder all along the Pacific Coast - but this is one of the southernmost breeding population. We had seen one last year, but failed to find any when we came here a couple of weeks ago. We took about five steps in the sand when I noticed some birds closer to the tide line. Thinking they were just the common Baird’s Sandpipers, I pulled my binoculars up to check. “Oh, Plovers!” I was looking at a Southern Cone specialty, the Two-banded Plover. G deftly scanned around the individuals I had spotted and found more plovers - including our target Snowy Plover! We enjoyed their crisp white plumage and discussed aging and sexing the species before we hurried back to the dunes.
We’d done well quickly finding our first target, so we had some time to search for the next one - the Common Miner. G had seen them in central Chile, but I’ve never seen them. Mar Brava is literally the only place to see them on Chiloé and is the southernmost population in coastal Chile. It’s scientific name roughly translates to ground nuthatch based on their characteristic behavior of walking on the ground to forage. We walked through the dunes seeing lots of Correndera Pipits and a few orchids and left empty handed for the the humedales.
We drove along the road stopping often looking at the birds. As G watched a Red-fronted Coot out his window, I turned to look at the beautiful pair of Southern Caracaras out mine. There. Perched up on a small mound near the Caracaras - a small bird with a decurved bill. I knew immediately that it was a species I’d never seen before (though less confident it was the miner). G confirmed the ID - Common Miner. We got the scope out and walked up the road and got fabulous looks at a pair foraging until it was time to go scan. We still had work to do!
Work went well again, G refound a female we’ve seen here often - giving us five observations on her. Tired and happy we drove back to our last night at the research station.
We went for one last lovely walk through the forests and trails birding. We wanted to see our current nemesis - the Chilean version of a nuthatch called the White-throated Treerunner. We found the area where one of the biologists here had told us would give us our best shot. Nada.
As we were walking, G spotted an Austral Pygmy-Owl 10 feet away from him. It flushed and as we were looking for it I ended up walking right underneath it - when we finally noticed it again. It was another incredible sighting with the species. Plus, it was great to spend some time with some of the more common species for likely the last time - Chacao Tapaculo, Black-throated Huet-Huet, Striped Woodpecker, and White-crested Elaenia.
We head south tomorrow to do our last scans in the central part of the island. Wish us luck!
Today was our last full day in the north of the island. We had an action packed day planned including a six hour scan at Quetalmahue.
We woke up early and drove to Mar Brava - one of our favorite parts of the island. The Pacific Ocean waves were breaking with a touch of fury and the distant cliffs rose out of a foggy mist. We had the playa and dunes to ourselves.
We had two targets: one on the beach and one in the dunes, plus G wanted to bird the humedales there as well. We headed out onto the beach to look for Snowy Plover - a resident breeder all along the Pacific Coast - but this is one of the southernmost breeding population. We had seen one last year, but failed to find any when we came here a couple of weeks ago. We took about five steps in the sand when I noticed some birds closer to the tide line. Thinking they were just the common Baird’s Sandpipers, I pulled my binoculars up to check. “Oh, Plovers!” I was looking at a Southern Cone specialty, the Two-banded Plover. G deftly scanned around the individuals I had spotted and found more plovers - including our target Snowy Plover! We enjoyed their crisp white plumage and discussed aging and sexing the species before we hurried back to the dunes.
We’d done well quickly finding our first target, so we had some time to search for the next one - the Common Miner. G had seen them in central Chile, but I’ve never seen them. Mar Brava is literally the only place to see them on Chiloé and is the southernmost population in coastal Chile. It’s scientific name roughly translates to ground nuthatch based on their characteristic behavior of walking on the ground to forage. We walked through the dunes seeing lots of Correndera Pipits and a few orchids and left empty handed for the the humedales.
We drove along the road stopping often looking at the birds. As G watched a Red-fronted Coot out his window, I turned to look at the beautiful pair of Southern Caracaras out mine. There. Perched up on a small mound near the Caracaras - a small bird with a decurved bill. I knew immediately that it was a species I’d never seen before (though less confident it was the miner). G confirmed the ID - Common Miner. We got the scope out and walked up the road and got fabulous looks at a pair foraging until it was time to go scan. We still had work to do!
Work went well again, G refound a female we’ve seen here often - giving us five observations on her. Tired and happy we drove back to our last night at the research station.
We went for one last lovely walk through the forests and trails birding. We wanted to see our current nemesis - the Chilean version of a nuthatch called the White-throated Treerunner. We found the area where one of the biologists here had told us would give us our best shot. Nada.
As we were walking, G spotted an Austral Pygmy-Owl 10 feet away from him. It flushed and as we were looking for it I ended up walking right underneath it - when we finally noticed it again. It was another incredible sighting with the species. Plus, it was great to spend some time with some of the more common species for likely the last time - Chacao Tapaculo, Black-throated Huet-Huet, Striped Woodpecker, and White-crested Elaenia.
We head south tomorrow to do our last scans in the central part of the island. Wish us luck!