So this was it, a trip we'd all been waiting for, for a very long time. Pre-Covid in fact and there were 11 very excited birders today. So, after last night’s overnight flight to Santiago, Chile we arrived this morning and checked in to the Holiday Inn Hotel based at the airport. It had been a long haul getting here but we’d made it and as this was purely an arrival day we, of course, went birding. With Dan & Michel from Canada already here and out birding in the hills north of Santiago, Chile, the British and Swedish contingent were eager to get their bins on something today. Anything really! With Laguna Caren a mere 15 minutes cab ride away it was just too much to bear!
We spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering along the shoreline not expect too much as it was early afternoon and rather hot & windy but we ended up doing pretty well. An easy walk scanning the lagoon and surrounding bushes began with a pair of Diuca Finches flying into a nearby tree, with Picui Ground-Doves and West Peruvian Doves also being noted early on. A Variable Hawk patrolled a hillside, whilst a few Chilean Swallows flew overhead. A pair of Striped Woodpeckers gave close views in some leafy small trees and a Chilean Elaenia appeared briefly, plus a few Neotropic Cormorants were noted flying over the water. The strong wind certainly didn’t help us but definitely kept the temperature bearable, and it really didn’t bother a Giant Hummingbird perched right on top of a dead tree. A large open field held a pair of Long-tailed Meadowlarks and up to 8 Southern Lapwings too.
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| Great Grebe |
At a bend in the lagoon we scoped a few Great Grebes, with an adult and 3 large chicks being seen. As we scanned the far bank a White-winged Coot was spotted, followed by several Red-fronted Coots, some Yellow-billed Teal were present and further scanning revealed at least 4 Yellow-billed Pintails, a Cocoi Heron and a Snowy Egret. We kept on scanning and eventually a Plumbeous Rail was seen and on the walk back a pair of Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetails, so a pretty satisfactory couple of hours.
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| Let the drinking begin... |
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| The view from Sky Costanera is awesome |
With a few hours still spare before dinner a few of us headed into downtown Santiago and visited Sky Costanera, the tallest building in South America and gives superlative views across Santiago. It was a perfect end to our first day in amazing Chile and we celebrated with some local beer and mojitos!
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