Written by Julie Hamilton (University of New Hampshire)
Team Aguila
On February 12, we left our field house in Cochrane to head east for the iconic Chacabuco Valley of Patagonia to conduct surveys on the threatened and native, Ñandú (Rhea pennata pennata) bird. The drive brought us views of impressive mountains and herds of guanaco (Lama guanicoe) as we made our way to our new base camp for the next few days at the Predio Militar El Baker. When we arrived at our temporary home, we were greeted by Claudio, a member of the ejercito, the Chilean military, and caretaker for the basecamp. He greeted us with delicious, homemade bread and hot coffee. Claudio showed us to our cabin where we would bunk for the next few nights. The next day brought an early morning bird survey a few minutes down the dirt road overlooking a lagoon and the Argentine side of the valley. There we sat and scanned for twenty minutes searching and listening for birds. The rest of the day called for exploration and discovery.
With no plans other than to see the area, we drove west down the dirt road to the Argentine border. After taking a quick photo to document the moment, we then returned down the road to choose a spot to get out and explore on foot. As we began to explore the beautiful Patagonian Steppe on foot, we were getting pricked and poked by the native plant species and marching high knees though bunch grass. We discovered massive red rocks, and amongst them were true signs of a puma (Puma concolor) being present in the valley. Clean, bleach white bones of sheep and hare dominated the grounds as we explored a puma den that we had discovered.
Puma Den. Photo by Shelby Sawyer.
Climbing further up the rocks we could feel the fierce heat and how the wind became more powerful than us as we could lean into the wind as far as our bodies would allow. Atop the rocks, we gazed in awe over the great Chacabuco before it was time to descend back to our cars and go meet Claudio, who had plans to show us some sights within the Predio Militar. Arriving back at base, we held a quick class before having Claudio lead us through the property to eventually stop and explore a small cave. As we approached the cave, a pearly white barn owl spread its wings and began flying above us. Gawking at this owl fly to and from its home amongst the cave rocks entertained the group for quite some time. Eventually it was time to walk back to camp and start dinner. After dinner, we celebrated Aidan’s 21st birthday with a hot, chocolate dessert (the Brazilian brigadeiro, a recipe from our instructor Samara) and a blazing fire.
Our backyard for a few days. Photo by Shelby Sawyer.
The next morning all the students woke up before the sun to return to the bird survey sight by the lagoon to watch the sunrise. With layers and plenty of mate we watched as the moon set and the sun rose. In its path the clouds overhead and surrounding mountains turned into bright oranges and pinks. When the first rays finally peaked over the mountains, we returned back to camp to get ready for the day. We had plans to meet Alejandra, a guardaparque, at the Puesto Ñandú Captive Breeding Center only a few minutes down the road. The center is located on land owned by Conservacion Patagonica (CP), an organization started by Doug Tompkins that puts efforts into conserving beautiful Patagonia.
Arriving to the center, we were greeted by Alejandra and given a tour of the facility. Alejandra taught us all she knows about the Ñandú and says that the center has goals to release all the birds back into the wild when they are ready. The Ñandú are a threatened species in Chilean Patagonia and the population in the wild is hard to distinguish. Past surveys have shown that there are around 30 Ñandú in the Chilean side of the Steppe and the breeding center plans to up that number when the time is right.
Seeing the ostrich/dinosaur-like bird up close was incredible. There was a section of the facility designated solely for juvenile Ñandú that were born in captivity. Because these few young ones are used to human presence, Alejandra allowed us to go in their cage with them and hand feed them. As we were told, Ñandú like shiny objects and this fact became evident when the chicks began pecking at our boots buttons and not the hand-picked clover we had right in front of their eyes. Many of us fell in love with the young Ñandú during this process and wish we could sit and feed them forever.
A young Ñandú pecking at Alice’s shiny buttons. Photo by Aaron Richards.
After our tour we went over details for the survey that we would be conducting the following day. On our way back to camp we surveyed, by car, to get a general census of how many Ñandú are in the area. On the ride back to camp we spotted close to 25 Ñandú which put us all in high spirits for the following day. Later in the day, AnneMarie and I, along with our instructors Shay and Scott, got to head back to the Captive Breeding Center to go over further details for the survey and meet the other half of our survey team, students from Cochrane High School. We got to meet and interact with the students as the instructors went over final details for the survey.
The goal for the following day was for each student from Cochrane to be paired up with a Round River student or instructor and conduct the transects together, with each transect line being 500 meters from the next. Pairing with the local students was a great way to practice our Spanish skills and meet new friends. The following day would hold some answers to our questions about the population of the Ñandú and if it is increasing or decreasing. We headed back to camp to have dinner and celebrate now Claudio’s birthday with homemade cake and cookies. Claudio’s hospitality is some that is incomparable to most.
Juvenile Ñandú. Photo by Shelby Sawyer.
The next day was another early morning as we headed to the breeding center where we would begin our census. With twelve individual transect lines, the goal was for all groups to start at 9:30 am at their respective transect lines and to follow the same compass bearing as we surveyed the area in a sweep, until we hit the fence indicating the switch from CP land to land owned by the ejercito. Throughout the day, groups reported to see multiple types or wildlife including armadillos, guanacos, and more than 30 Ñandú collectively. All groups were done with the transects by 3:00 pm and we all gathered back at the breeding center to enjoy snacks, juice, and multiple rounds of cards and Ninja. After much laughter and reluctant goodbyes to our new friends, it was time to return to our base camp. The following day we welcomed rainy skies as we packed up our base and said our goodbyes to Claudio.
Before leaving the Chacabuco Valley and returning home, we made one last pit stop to the lagoon. There we completed a quick quiz identifying plant and animal species. After the quiz, some of us were curious enough to walk barefoot on the clay surface that surrounded the lagoon. As we got closer to the water surface, we were sinking and slipping amongst the clay. After creating some interesting structures and chasing each other in the knee-high clay, we returned to the cars and made the beautiful ride once again back to our home in the always sunny Cochrane.
Knee deep in clay, getting moisturized. Photo by AnneMarie Backstrom.
Top photo: Playing with light. Photo by Aaron Richards.