Chile Day 12 – 2nd January 2016 – Lampa and Batuco Wetlands

This morning, Fernando our brilliant guide from Albatross Birding, met us at our airport hotel at 6.00 am for a full day of birding.

We drove to two wetlands, firstly Lampa and then Batuco Wetlands.

The key species for the morning were the Black-headed Duck and Rosy-billed Pochard. The ducks were too far away to photograph.

Cinereous Harrier

Thistles common in this area

We then waded through deep water at several locations, looking for South American Painted Snipe. However, the problem was that areas were either too deep in water or too dry. It was been better for the Painted Snipe in November, but as we moved around, each area was too dry. Fernando explained that the area was not managed for the birds who live here and this was a big problem. There were no Painted Snipe here as the fields had been drained dry.

After a morning here, Fernando drove us back to our hotel for the night, which was really lovely. We actually had a few hours to relax before an early dinner and an early night. Fernando was picking us up at 5.30 am, so we needed to be packed and ready for our flight home.

Best birds of the day:

Black-headed Duck
Rosy-billed Pochard
Cinereous Harrier