January 18
Our plan for today is to try a catch at the site that Riccardo staked out two days ago when he had several thousand birds roosting in the Salicornia. But first we spend time cleaning the cannons of debris and remnant gunpowder. Residue can dramatically affect the performance of the cannon and cause a misfire. We also need to construct the new keeping cage in the event that we catch lots of Hudsonian Godwits. That's certainly out intent, along with catching more Red Knots, and it would be great to mark more of these fantastic birds.
Until recently, the migration ecology of this species has been a mystery. After adult birds finish breeding they stage in large numbers in James Bay just before migrating south. Along the migration route they are seen only in small groups of ~100 or so. Nowhere near the 1000s that are seen regularly in James Bay. They aren't seen in these numbers again until they reach the breeding grounds in southern South America. We regularly see a flock numbering about 1000. Many thousands are common along the pacific coast of Chile, especially around a large island called Chiloé. The rest of the team is heading there after we're done in Tierra del Fuego. Unfortunately, I won't be accompanying them. Duty calls as does my family. I sure do miss them.
We're done with the prep chores by 12:00 and we're off to the catch site. The salicornia site is expansive with many potential locations for birds to roost. Its hard to believe that we can entice birds to roost in a small area in front of the net, but that's not the worst of our problems. The intertidal zone here is a conglomerate of hard dry mud and cobblestone and digging a trench to lay the net in to set the cannons with a pair of small shovels is back breaking work. The work is made even harder by the fact that there are now only seven of us left on the team. Carmen and her daughter Antonia left last night for Santiago and Sergio and Gabrielle followed suit the morning.
An hour later we finish and start to gather salicornia to camouflage the net. While we do this, a flock of Hudsonian Godwits and Red Knots land nearby and start to roost. They're about an hour early and we rush to finish and get away from the net. Tension runs high and as we're wrapping up the flock takes off.
Slightly deflated, the team sets out to find the birds and get them back to the catch area. I take off in the truck and go south along the beach and Riccardo goes north on the ATV. Thirty minutes later and neither of us have seen any birds. This is as good a time as any for lunch and regrouping except I have the lunch in the truck and I'm 5 km down the beach and Larry doesn't want to drive back down the beach. After much deliberation over the radios we resolve the issue – I drive on a dirt road behind the beach and someone will come up from the catch area to pick it up. I return to my former location and eat lunch. Now the waiting begins. An hour or so goes by and I don't have any radio contact with the rest of the team. My efforts to contact them are in vain. All I get in response to my calls is static and an occasional mixed of garbled and unintelligible words. This is not good.
As I wait several small flocks of knots fly past me. I try to call in my observations but get no response. Now I'm really concerned about what to do. How will I know if they make a catch. We're short handed so my absence will be a problem. I debate whether to slowly make my way back up the beach. If they have birds in the catch area, I could spook them. I decide to sit tight when I hear Larry on the radio to Humphrey and Riccardo about having birds near the net and how they should set about to get twinkle them into the catch area. Then the radio goes silent again. Now I'm really worried.
I contemplate getting out of the truck to see if the reception will be better when I hear the familiar cadence of Larry counting down, 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . fire! I tear down the beach as fast as I can without flipping the truck on the sloping beach. From a distance I can see the net undulating from the birds trapped underneath. It looks from my vantage point like a really good catch. I make it to the site just as the team is putting on the covering cloth. This is a lightweight, dark colored fabric to is placed over the net. The darkness under the covering cloth tends to calm the birds down while they are removed from the net.
We make quick work of clearing the net and getting the birds into the keeping cages. A count of birds going into the keeping cages suggest that we caught about 200 individuals – all Red Knots. Now the fun begins. The team organizes itself and we begin to process the birds. It's now 6:30 PM and we don't have much time to get the job done before it gets dark. We certainly can work in the dark with our headlamps but it just makes the job a little more difficult.
Four hours later and we're done and not a minute too soon. The sun is setting and the visibility is decreasing rapidly. Final tally – 201 Red Knots, about 15 of which are retraps of individuals caught and marked in previous years in Delaware Bay, Argentina and Chile. In the twilight we gather up the equipment and head home for dinner. Humphrey promises one of his sumptuous pasta concoctions which never disappoints. Tonight there'll be plenty of celebrating and recounting of the events leading up to the best catch ever in Tierra del Fuego. Surprising given that they were likely the most difficult of conditions ever as well. What I learn over dinner is that Humphrey and Larry had put decoys out to entice birds to the catch area. However, no matter how close they were able to twinkle the birds to the net they would never into range to be caught. Finally, Humphrey walked between two roosting flocks that were situated near the net, walked into the catch area and removed the decoys. Within minutes he and Larry were able to twinkle the birds into the catch area. The rest is history as they say. Sometimes it just works out that way.
January 19
Larry, still relishing yesterday's triumph, decides to give the team the day off. Riccardo, who owns his own bird tour company, agrees to take Steve, Jerry and me out to find some good birds We're going to a cross the straits and bird a freshwater wetland, which should yield a host of good birds. Riccardo tells us that this habitat is rare in the arid Patagonian steppe, especially in the Tierra del Fuego region. The possibility that they will be dry looms, but for me it will just be great to get out and look around. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As we wait for the ferry we bird the pasture lands adjacent to the Visitors Center. There are dozens of Rufous-collared Sparrows and Austral Negritos, a small tyrant flycatcher of the steppe. We also see several Long-tailed Meadowlarks. This species is similar to our meadowlarks but with a long, blackbird-like tail and a flaming red breast. Very quickly we get Gray-hooded Sierra Finch, a bird that looks like any Emberizid finch but is thought to be more closely related to Tanagers. Next we lock onto a Cinnamon-bellied Ground Tyrant. As their name suggests ground tyrants are flycatchers that make their living on the ground. Like most flycatchers, they perch and wait for their quarry, but they are after ground dwelling insects rather than aerial insects northern latitude flycatchers typically hunt. We also get good looks at Short-billed Miner, an unusual bird reminiscent of Horned Lark, with its jaunty walking, insect-stalking gait. Miners are terrestrial furnariids (ovenbirds, foliage gleaners, leaf tossers, true woodcreepers) and as their name suggests, miners make their nests in holes along creek banks or in burrows. Just before the ferry arrives we turn up a Scale-throated Earthcreeper, another furnariid, but they have long, decurved bills like thrashers. Pretty good for openers.
On the ferry ride we see several Rock and Imperial Cormorants, Kelp Gulls and scattered Magellanic Penguins. The highlight is a pod of five Commerson's dolphins (www.cms.int/reports/small_cetaceans/data/c_commersonii/c_commersonii.htm). This is a small, short-nosed species that is black with striking white sides.
Soon after we disembark from the ferry we are driving on a dirt road that winds what appears to be dry wetlands. This is not good. In the arid steppelands of Patagonia, water is a magnet for wildlife – and we're looking for the magnet. Flocks of Upland Geese start to dot the landscape and a few miles down the road wet areas start to appear. We several Southern Lapwings, South American Snipe and Correndera Pipits as we travel the road further into the wetland. Riccardo stops the car abruptly and jumps out. "Ruddy-headed Goose" he yells. This is a globally threatened species that Riccardo has been surveying in the region for several years. Closer inspection reveals several family groups among the flocks of Upland Geese.
We move on to the main wetland area and hit the jackpot!! On one of the larger ponds is a flock of 12 Chilean Flamingos. What a great bird!
This is the most widespread of the three flamingo species and is high on my "most desired" list for this trip. As the excitement dies down we start to scan the small ponds and see small flocks of Spectacled and Silver Teal, Red Shoveler, Yellow-billed Pintail and Chiloe Wigeon. The larger ponds have many White-winged Coot foraging among the water weeds. We see several Southern Caracara coursing over the wetlands, but excitement crests again when we spot two Aplomado Falcons soaring overhead. We work the wetlands hard and then push on to some of the drier areas. We head up some of the low hills that rise out of the steppe and get great looks at Mourning Sierra-Finch and Patagonian Mockingbird, both life birds for all except Riccardo.
We realize that we're running out of gas quickly and head out of the wetlands complex to find some. Not an easy task in these sparsely populated areas in southern Patagonia. We find a small town but there isn't a gas station. This could be trouble. We stop and Riccardo gets out to find someone to ask about gas. He comes back to say that a resident of the town will lend us 20 liters (about 5 gallons) if we agree to bring back the same later today. This is a no brainer. We fill the tank and head off about 30 miles down the road to the nearest gas station. On the way we see Cinereus Harrier. At the station we spot an Aplomado Falcon perched on top of a telephone pole and an American Kestrel in a small tree. Not bad!!
We head back to the small town and return the gas and then head back to the ferry. It's been an eventful day but it's time to get back. Riccardo is heading back to Punta Arenas and we need to drop him at the ferry to catch a ride. After we cross the ferry we decide to bird some of the pastureland we've been driving through everyday as we travel to and from Bahia Lomas. We are quickly rewarded with good looks at Least Seedsnipe, a medium-sized shorebird that has a finch-like bill. Strange. As we drive on we see scattered flocks of Baird's Sandpipers. We stop the car near a sheep watering hole and watch Austral Negritos, Rufous-collared Sparrows and Gray-headed Sierra-Finches. It's getting late and we head out but there's one more surprise. Along a long fence row we come across a pair of Chocolate-vented Tyrants and its fledgling foraging. What a great day!
As we head out we meet up with Larry and Humphrey who have been scouting for birds to trap tomorrow. They've seen some possible opportunities and are heading out to check one more. Tomorrow will be another interesting day.