By Izzy Anderson from The University of Vermont
Our trip began with an eventful travel day from our basecamp in Cochrane, Chile to El Silencio Campground in the Jeinimeni Sector of Patagonia National Park. We had a long drive, but gorgeous scenery and a couple of fun stops along the way kept things interesting. Our first stop was directly off of Route 265, right next to Lago General Carrera as the lake is referred to in Chile, or Lago Buenos Aires as it is referred to in Argentina. At first I thought we were just stopping for a bathroom break, but as soon as we piled out of our vehicles we scrambled up a steep slope for some beautiful views. From this vantage point we could even see a surface glacier on a peak across the lake. This was the first glacier I have seen so far this semester, and the sighting crossed an item off my Patagonia bucket list. A bit later we made a stop in the town Chile Chico. We had the chance to explore and stopped in at a few stores, including an outdoor store and an empanada store – both highlights!
Our first full day in Jeinimeni started with training for magellanic woodpecker, or carpintero, surveys. These surveys were the purpose of this trip; during our surveys we swept forested areas, searching for nesting cavities and carpintero activity. We recorded comprehensive data which will be used to assist with conservation decisions related to the protection of carpinteros.
On this first day our entire group of nine students and three instructors worked together to complete a practice transect in the morning. After lunch we split into two groups and completed our first official transect. In terms of carpintero sightings, the practice transect was uneventful, but on the afternoon transect our group found two nesting cavities and spotted a pair of foraging carpinteros. We watched a mating pair forage together for insects in downed woody debris. We were able to watch for long enough to observe their behaviors. We noticed that the male would fly to and from one area to another to continue foraging, and the female would always follow, a few seconds behind. This might be indicative of each bird’s role within their mating dynamic and it was also indicative to me of how little I, as a brief observer, know about the complexities of the lives of these carpinteros. As we continued transects, we saw several other pairs of birds, but none were as memorable as this first sighting.
The majority of our time on our second, third, and fourth days in Jeinimeni was occupied by our transects. Each day we ventured further from our campsite and got a more in-depth look at the area we were in. There are several exceptionally significant ecological events and learning moments that define these days for me.
On our third transect day, we stumbled upon the nesting site of two Austral parakeets. The parakeets were extremely noisy and impossible to miss. We pulled out our binoculars and watched them entering and exiting their nesting cavity. Their noisiness might have been a sign that they had eggs or a chick inside and were upset with us for venturing so close. The beak shape of austral parakeets prevents them from carving their own nesting cavities, and so they are reliant on the foraging cavities of carpinteros to build their nests. This reliance is indicative of the importance of carpinteros as a keystone species in lenga forests. Having this opportunity to observe and learn about the vital connection between these two bird species drove home the importance of the conservation work that we are doing. Our fourth, and final transect brought us through a memorably unique ecosystem. For the majority of this transect we bushwhacked through dense renoval, or new growth lenga forest. Up until this day, we had seen small patches of renoval, but we had never traveled through it for any significant distance. The new growth trees were densely packed together, and I remarked that this could easily be the setting of a beautifully set horror movie. Carpinteros cannot live in renoval and so we saw very little sign of them on this day. The trees that we walked through in the renoval were likely up to around 100 years old. Thinking about the time frame required to restore old growth lenga forests feels daunting, but it also highlights the importance of the conservation work that we are contributing to.
Outside of our transects, our time was defined by our academic coursework and by making the most of the beautiful location that we were fortunate to have spent a week in. Most of our activities were also defined by the cold temperatures of Jeinimeni, which were some of the coldest we have experienced so far here in Patagonia. On the very first night we arrived in Jeinimeni there was a significant patch of snow at our campsite. As soon as all of us had gotten out of vehicles and witnessed the snow, a friendly, but fierce snowball fight broke out between us students and our instructors. Later, after completing our first transect, all of the students jumped off of a small bridge by our campsite into Lago Jeinimeni. Even just watching other people jump made me chilly – the water was absolutely freezing! It was definitely the coldest water I have ever swam in. I only jumped into the water this one time on our trip, but most of the other students were much braver and faced the cold water multiple times (especially Caroline, who loved the jump and swim more than anyone)!
Our time in Jeinimeni was undeniably fun and rewarding. On our final day we were all sad to leave, but proud of the work we had done and the memories we had made.