Subject: [Tweeters] Off topic: Birds of Chile, south to north
Date: Dec 5 16:56:34 2017
From: Byers - byers345 at comcast.net


Hello Tweeters,

Bill and I returned from a 3-week birding trip to Chile at
the end of November. We started in Punto Arenas and worked our way north
birding on both and coast and in the mountains in each location. For me one
of the highlights was visiting Torres del Paine. There was nothing between
our little hotel, on an island in Lake Pehoe, and the mountains. Andean
Condors sometimes swooped right over the island and then vanished over the
show fields into the mountains.

Out of Valparaiso we did a pelagic cruise. This one did
nothing to improve my opinion of these adventures. However, we had taken
medicine and didn't get sick. The sun was out and the waves were awesome.
Our little boat bobbed like a little cork down one side of monumental waves
(Bill says they weren't that big) and then crept back up to the top only to
crash down the other side. I quickly decided to stash my camera and hold on
for dear life. Bill stood up and took pictures while the boat tossed and
heaved and he got covered in salt spray. Probably only one out of about
20-25 of his pictures were any good at all, but he took lots of pictures,
including 4 species of albatross. I was very impressed and I think some of
his pictures are phenomenal (wife bias here).

We spent several days driving up into mountains outside of
Santiago (8000-9500 ft) and then in northern Chile, the group visited Lauca
National Park. This park is basically a flat plateau with running water
ringed by amazing volcanoes. When we got to Putre, an Aymara village at
11,500 feet, I developed altitude sickness and couldn't go higher. But Bill
went and took pictures. By evening, after drinking coca leaf tea, I felt
much better. But I was a day late and we returned to Arica on the coast the
next day.

I am including two links: the first to just the birds we
got reasonably good photos of. Most are Bill's, but those taken with a
70-300 mm lens are mine. The second link is to some general photos of our
trip and scenic (Chile is a really beautiful country!)



https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421 at N07/albums/72157689569508744 bird
pictures



https://www.flickr.com/photos/29258421 at N07/albums/72157662936902728 scenics
for Chile



Charlotte Byers, Edmonds