Last week a walk to No Man’s Land gave us Brambling, yet another wintering Dartford Warbler, hiding owls, a brief view of a Hen Harrier and the compulsory Kite flypast. This weekend we’re up in Yorkshire. A stop off on the way found us distant Cranes and a stonking Tawny Owl (the only owl of the four species that are there at present). A trip over to see family in Ilkley provided a bonus in the form of two Otters swimming up the Wharfe. Only my second English Otters and the first in Yorkshire.
Owls
Our first long walk of the year, 23 miles to Burpham and the Burgh, was easier than expected, helped by the fact that the ground was frozen, and so the usual mudbath through the Dover was easier to walk through. A glorious, but cold, day gave us distant Bewick’s Swan and closer Cattle Egret at Burpham, but the raptor frenzy that others have had at the Burgh of late was not as hoped for. A long and cold wait for anything of interest was eventually rewarded just after 4 pm, when first three Barn Owls and then a Short-eared Owl came out to play. Three hours walk through the dark felt a lot better after that.
Sabs
Sabine’s Gull is one of my favourite gulls, and I’ve only seen it twice in the UK, and immature birds at that. The lure of an adult across the border in Hampshire was too much to resist this afternoon. The bird showed fantastically, at close range, and to complete things, the low sun was perfect and the wind was in the ideal direction for flypasts.
Christmas raptors
Merry Christmas!
The pre-Christmas freeze brought waders to the brooks behind us, but they left with the thaw. Other than that there’s little around to photograph other than raptors. The White-tailed Eagle is one of the birds “re-“introduced into the Isle of Wight. Plastic or not, they’re magnificent birds.
Patagonia
And down we went to Patagonia, crossing to Tierra del Fuego for a night and then back to Torres del Paine (via the scenic route).
There are many more (and larger and better quality) on my OneDrive (there’s a link from the Chile 2022 page in trips).
Central Chile
Some pictures from the Central Chile part of our trip.
There are many more (and larger and better quality) on my OneDrive (there’s a link from the Chile 2022 page in trips).
Northern Chile
Finally, I’ve ploughed through far too many pictures and now can put far too many online. There here are a few from the northern part of our trip to Chile.
There are many more on my OneDrive (there’s a link from the Chile 2022 page in trips).
Worth the wait
In 1982 a young lad watched in wonder when the BBC’s Flight of the Condor series went to Torres del Paine. It immediately became a dream to go there, but obviously it would never happen.
40 years later, today was the day, and it was just as good as I had dreamed as a 14 year old! (And there were Condors).
Heading South
We continue to anger the weather gods, with our one cloudy day being when we were in the mountains with allegedly breathtaking views, followed by two dead calm days for our crossings to Chiloé, meaning that the seabirds were also non-existent. We’re now at Puerto Montt airport waiting for our evening flight to Punta Arenas before we go to Tierra del Fuego tomorrow. There are less scenic airports.
Things are picking up
After a couple of cracking days in the Vilches area, we cleaned out the available species and had some fantastic birds to boot.