For Chile we decided to stay in one location for a long time, and we chose the town of Puerto Varas, near the very beginning of Patagonia. We also took small trips to other locations, such as the island of Chiloe, and to Volcan Osorno. After our month there was over, we stopped in the north at Putre, a town in the Andes for several days, so we could take a trip into the nearby Parque Nacional Lauca, a hotspot for high Andean wildlife, such as vicuñas, flamingos, rheas, viscachas, and more, all seen here.
Waterbirds abounded at Lago Llanquihue, (the lake by Puerto Varas) and Yellow-billed Pintails were common, sometimes with young chicks.
Silvery Grebes were also easy to see from shore, although harder to get a good view of, as they dove frequently.
On a side trip to an area to the east of the lake we found this Andean Fox (more commonly known as a Zorro Culpeo) wandering around a parking lot. It was not shy at all, and we were able to watch it for a long time.
Although South America is famous for its parrots, in the south there are only two species. This is the more common one, the Slender-billed Parakeet, which is also one of Chile’s 12 endemic bird species.
The South American equivalent of the muskrat, the coipo, was easily seen at a lake in the middle of a town. This one just sat on the bank and let us watch.
This Southern Caracara was perched on a tree branch over a road, and when we pulled over it continued sitting there and looking around.
On one stretch of the Rio Maullin near Puerto Varas we saw at least 10 Black-crowned Night-herons on the bank and in the water, allowing easy photography and viewing.
The Neotropic Cormorant colony at the lake where we saw the coipo allowed very easy photography, as there were around 75 birds in two trees.
In a forest reserve near the town we managed to see two species of sought-after tapaculos (secretive forest birds). This is the rarer one, the Black-throated Huet-huet, but this is generally the best view you could ask for, it standing out in the open on a log.
The other species of tapaculo was the Chucao Tapaculo, an inquisitive bird that would circle you in the forest, allowing brief views, but not running away,
Our only multi-day trip away from Puerto Varas was to visit the island of Chiloe. This Black-necked Swan greeted us as the ferry arrived.
Our first stop on Chiloe was the Monumento Natural Islotes de Puñihuil, well known for its colony of Humboldt and Magellanic Penguins. The mainland held abundant numbers of Kelp Geese, and this male afforded us wonderful views.
The colonies were mostly made up of Magellanic Penguins, like this one, but here and there several Humboldts appeared.
The huge Flightless Steamer-ducks were also easy to find on the coast. These huge ducks are simply so fat that their tiny wings cannot carry them into the air. We also managed to see a pair lead a line of chicks into the ocean, and even these young birds were able to maneuver the rocks and waves of the islands.
The female Kelp Goose is so different from the male that if I did not know they were the same species I would try to identify them separately.
Southern Lapwings, a type of plover, are common by Lago Llanquihue, but it can be hard to find them among the rocky shore.
An unlikely sighting in the middle of the Atacama Desert, this Vermilion Flycatcher provided nice relief to the brown desert landscape.
Chilean Woodstars are rare and Critically Endangered, with only 270-395 individuals left. This female gave an amazing view, and perched for at least a minute.
Croaking Ground-doves are extremely common in the Atacama region, and frequently take dust baths and sunbathe, as this individual is demonstrating.
This juvenile Mountain Caracara flew down to us and landed, clearly hoping for food, although it was a very nice visit.
The difference in birdlife at altitude realtive to sea level was such that during a half-hour lunch stop I was able to see around 4 new species, including this Blue-and-yellow Tanager, which attacked its reflection in one of our wing mirrors.
Black-hooded Sierra-finches were very common around the town of Putre, and we found one building a nest on the roof of one of the buildings at the hotel we were staying at.
One of our first sightings in Lauca was of a trio of Torrent Ducks, which specialize in feeding on fast-flowing Andean rivers. This is a male.
Lesser Rheas are another Lauca specialty, and on our first trip we managed to see 12 different birds. This is one of our first.
Llamas, although not wild, also abounded in the bofedales, or swamps, in the valleys. These are two babies, or crias.
We also spotted some familiar birds. This female American Kestrel gave us a very good view on top of a sign.
Seedsnipes, the “ptarmigan of South America” were less frequent, but we still managed to see several.
One of Lauca’s two species of tinamous, the Puna Tinamou is, in most opinions, more ornate than the Ornate Tinamou. This is a Puna, and although shy, several groups trotted across the road in front of our car.
Domestic alpacas also are easily seen here, and some of them actually have brightly colored tassels hanging from their ears.
The Las Cuevas area near the beginning of the main road, is covered with viscachas, a relative of the chinchilla. Most of them will just sit and let you watch them, but if they want to they can bound about the rocky slopes where they live with surprising agility and speed.
Yet another Lauca specialty is the Puna Teal, which frequents small lagoons and rivers in the park. Although their bodies are well camouflaged, their bright blue bills seem to undo the effect.
Giant Coots can be found in the thousands on the lakes. This one is transporting waterweed which it uses to build its huge volcano-like nest in the middle of the water.
Seeing flamingos fly in front of snow-covered mountains is a strange sight, but these Chilean Flamingos are common on the lakes, especially the huge Lago Chungará.
The lakes at this altitude are mostly saline, so the flamingos have plenty of delicious algae and plankton to filter through their strange bills.
Lauca’s most common small birds are the ground-tyrants, such as this Rufous-naped Ground-tyrant. We also saw Ochre-naped Ground-tyrant and the localized White-fronted Ground-tyrant.
When looking from a high viewpoint down on the lake, the coots cause the surface to become speckled with black, covering the entire shore area.
Giant Coots are not the only coots on Lago Chungará. Mixed in with the larger Giant Coots there is the occasional Slate-colored Coot, a common bird throughout the Andes. From the lookout you can actually distinguish the two by size alone.
Vicuñas complete the trio of camelids to be found in Lauca. After a day of driving, they become like features of the landscape, and nothing to be excited about.
We observed baby vicuñas battling with their necks, and whether this is just random play or practice for something later in life, we do not know.
When looking at a rock face in Lauca, at first you will see nothing. Then you will see one viscacha, then another, then another, until you realize that there are viscachas everywhere you turn.
the waves never cared about politics conservative, liberal – they would break the same way with the same force travel the same endless distance across open ocean
but now the waves know things are not the same and there’s little they can do – it’s so hard for them to make little wet hands to X out change
en verano wiry fuzzy young llamas and vicuñas kick their long camel-colored limbs across the altiplano like paper dolls with brass brad joints their more sedate mothers stand by all four feet gathered to a point as if balancing on a ball slanty-eyed supple viscachas huddle together under peach-colored rocks out of the rain then sprint straight up a slope to their next natural lookout everything goes green and around each verdant life there’s an even more brilliant rough ring of moss maybe made by fairies dancing or, then again, maybe just a peculiar habit of its growth which studs the hills and plains with living magic – food for all the fuzzies
watching how the raindrops bounce back into the air carrying more water with each one how the resulting rings spread and interfere it takes my breath away
or maybe it’s that we are immersed in hot springs watching clouds rise out of the fiery earth or that we are up so high all well and sparkling even when the world is slowing down
for all those reasons and a lifetime more I take deep quick breaths gazing at these three beloved faces each one lengthening toward age held by warm water not worrying about what’s next
una persona muy cariñosa wraps you into their warm presence ¡No te preoccupes! they say waving away your apologies and shortcomings pulling out the chair when you shift from foot to foot pouring the water for tea while you search for a word of explanation they read your face with a concerned smile patting the azure pillow behind you straightening the dahlia on the table thinking quietly about what you might need next settling on a way that later you’ll both be able to laugh about it all and you know when you cross that threshold next you will feel the wound of a cut cord the unspoken lack of their tenderness like turning away from a crackling fire and walking out into the night
crowned by a misleading white mop of icy bangs lulling you into thinking its heart has long gone cold and the fiery veins slipped into senescence but you can’t blot out its sleek steep black cindered sides perfectly sloped with that extra-regular cone no other peaks take, like the first time I watched a grey whale spout – exactly the same simple shape as a kindergartener’s drawing
for years (generations) it towers there quietly, a presence to greet as you go about life until one day it can’t go on living this lie the tension’s unbearable rivulets of sweat stain its snow it shakes with the knowledge of what it is and what it will do and then people will say without warning – a testament to how little attention they’ve paid and how volcanoes talk
a majority of the time when the minority warns you that you are behaving badly it is not only so but also you have revealed that you understand such a minority of the minority’s experiences that you have not only been careless but careless to the degree of warranting correction warranting notification of the nonsense of your nonidentification with the minority’s concerns and then in the majority of cases the major actions you must take are: first, do no further harm – do not defend your mostly indefensible ignorance; second, apologize for the wounds (intentional or un-) you have created or (more likely) further inflamed; third, apologize for the effort your edification has cost someone who undoubtedly has better things to do; fourth, listen attentively and humbly to the majority of this other viewpoint, even if you only see it by squinting; fifth, live your life differently, eyes a little wider, viewfinder a little more sensitive, field of view a little larger; sixth, help someone else from your frame of reference also see things with this new frame at least a majority of the time
en el bosque con las Cotes el agua canta por nosotros
the notes, rapid and green, clear away the cobwebs between ourselves leave us feeling like we’ve drunk from a cool spring freshen our eyes and still our thirsty tongues
we make ephemeral circles understanding nothing lasts understanding also joy is the honey that keeps us flying into the thistles
the most powerful thing I did today was share breath con un canelo and put a tiny, black, shriveled seed into the earth – now something might someday root
sitting with the pain of the world I stroke Syd’s flipper pat his back listen while the ocean pours out of him
it doesn’t matter so much where our brokenness lies where the blows came from how they were dealt
we most need to sit with each other’s pain bear witness to the immense hurt we sometimes cannot even name and recollect the strong resilient beings we are able to knit our fractured selves back together sometimes with even more abiding bonds if only we can remove our breastplates first and be vulnerable together
había otra vez in a thin country bound by sea and spines where ghost ships sailed and sirens still sang a race of tiny deer the size of tomcats with delicate antlers spotted sides and rounded bottoms
había otra vez in the pure rushing waters turquoise white and green a cat of the river half a man’s size playful and inquisitive its sensitive whiskers ever active and its cheeks always stretched into a grinning half smile
había otra vez in the dark forest where spiderwebs were like stairsteps ascending into sky an impossibly grand woodpecker so brilliant when it landed the alerce trees ignited and it dripped sparks across the beings of this country
of course this was all in a different time far younger than now when the land was still wild and the legends were true now all we feel is absence the cold shadow of loss where warm flesh once was
