I usually visit Santiago about twice a year. The city itself is nice and fun, but one of my favorite things is that there’s pretty good birdwatching nearby. I consider anything within a two-hour drive of a city to be “day trip” worthy, and in that regard there is a lot to visit. Depending on where in the city you are staying, the base of the Andes can be a quick fifteen minute drive, and very fun to explore. Or you can go to some wetlands and parks near the center of the region, before crossing the coastal mountain range. Or you can drive all the way to the coast and have a blast there. In this visit I did not have time to visit the typical central wetlands (Batuco, etc.), though I have visited these in the past and really enjoyed them. I plan to do a trip there next time I’m here. But even though this trip was a bit short, I was able to make time to do a couple of trips and got to see plenty of new stuff. The main issue is that winter in Santiago is full of overcast days, where colors look pretty awful and you’re constantly forced to rely on high ISOs. Still, you have to make due with what you have.
The coast: Santo Domingo, Cartagena, El Tabo
A lot of people mention the Parque Tricao near San Antonio when they learn that you like birdwatching. The issue is that this aviary is basically a zoo: there is a large area full of exotic species surrounded by a big net. I don’t care for this sort of setup. I do not find caged birds to be particularly interesting, and I don’t consider taking pictures of them to count as bird photography. However, not far from Tricao there are a few wetlands that offer some of the best birding in the region. I took most of a day to visit three of them: the Humedal Maipo, the Humedal Cartagena, and the Laguna el Peral. To avoid traffic and get there as early as possible I left Santiago at around 6:30am. The original plan was to get to San Antonio at around 8am to visit the Humedal Ojos del Mar. However, I had a delay of around an hour because I forgot to get cash and let Google convince me that it was possible to drive there and pay for tolls using my credit card. What a mistake to think that. I was turned away at the last toll because it was cash-only, and I had to drive back to Casablanca to take out some. When I actually got to the coast it was already 9am, so instead I went straight to the main attraction in Santo Domingo.
Humedal Maipo
The lighting was particularly bad that morning. Everything looked gray and flat. However, even under these conditions this place is very pretty. And teeming with waterfowl and shorebirds! An insane amount of swans, wigeons, stilts, and so much more.
Humedal Cartagena
Laguna el Peral
The mountains: Lo Barnechea
Not far from my parents’ house there are a lot of parks and natural areas that are basically located at the feet of the Andes. In this trip I visited one that I had been to in the past, and one new one.
Tranque La Dehesa
This place is not particularly pretty. I’m not even sure it is open to the public. It is not in Google Maps, and I only found it through eBird. There is no sign outside noting that public entry is allowed, but there is nothing saying that it is prohibited either, so it is reasonable to think that you can actually go in. The reason I say it is not very pretty is that it is just very dusty, there is a little bit of garbage scattered throughout, and this time I noticed they were digging some ditches for some water pipes? Which would make sense because it is is a water treatment facility, and the artificial lagoon is the reason why there is good birding here. It is a magnet for coots, grebes, egrets, and lapwings.
Santuario de la Naturaleza el Arrayán
El Arrayán is a lot nicer than the Tranque. It is a little farther out, deeper into the base of the Andes. It’s got some nice picnic tables, and decent hiking and biking. One complaint that I have is that there is not that much signage, so by mistake I ended up doing a weird hike instead of the main one. It was still nice so no complaints there. But in the part where I went there were a lot of bikes zooming around, which did get very annoying. But it was a fun morning nevertheless.
eBird checklists:
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