Chile Day 3 – 15 December 2015 – Tierra del Fuego
Having not had enough sleep for 3 nights, I was feeling a bit tired this morning when I was woken up at 6.00 am. We did some sea watching for an hour in Punto Arenas before boarding our ferry to Tierra del Fuego, from which we looked for sea birds for the two hour crossing. We saw lots of Black-Browed Albatrosses and one Magellanic Penguin. Although it was fantastic to see an albatross, I was hoping for a different albatross as I had seen Black-browed Albatross already in the UK.
After the ferry, we birded in the barren Tierra del Fuego, which means island of fire. We visited a lagoon north of the only town Porvenir, called Laguna Verde. Here we eventually got fantastic views of our target wader, the Magellanic Plover. This bird is vulnerable with little known about it. A recent ringing (banding) programme has started which is being funded by my friends at Waderquest, Rick and Elis Simpson. It felt awesome to see a rare bird that they were helping.
Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Tierra del Fuego
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig
Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Tierra del Fuego
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig
Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig watching Magellanic Plover on Tierra del Fuego
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig
Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Tierra del Fuego
Photograph taken by and copyright Rodrigo Silva, Albatross Birding Tours
Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Tierra del Fuego
Photograph taken by and copyright Rodrigo Silva, Albatross Birding Tours
Magellanic Plover
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig
Magellanic Plover
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig
Our hotel for the next two nights was lovely, in a converted old wooden house, which could have been in New England or Shetland.
Porvenir, Tierra del Fuego
Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig
Best birds of the day:
Flying Steamer Duck
Crested Duck
Magellenic Penguin
Black-browed Albatross
Southern Giant Petrel
White-chinned Petrel
Sooty Shearwater
Wilson’s Storm Petrel
Magellanic Diving-petrel
Chillian Skua
Magellanic Plover
Hudsonian Godwit
About The Author
Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At age 11 I started the popular blog Birdgirl, and at age 17 I became the youngest person to see half of the birds in the world.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Lyrical, poignant and insightful.’ - Margaret Atwood
This is my story; a journey defined by my love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.