Fantastic beasts (and birds of Patagonia) and where to find them

[Judi Lynn]

Thursday, 03 Dec 2020 09:34 AM MYT

By Kenny Mah



Guanacos are probably the most commonly seen animal in Patagonia. — Pictures by CK Lim

TORRES DEL PAINE (Chile), Dec 3 — If you see no other animals in Patagonia, you will see a guanaco. Make that guanacos, plural. There’s never just one.

More than the breathtaking mountains, more than the beguilingly blue lakes, the guanaco is the mascot for Patagonia, especially the Chilean side here in wild, almost untamed Torres del Paine National Park.

Herds roam the grasslands in the thousands; though rightfully the collective noun for this southern cousin of the more famous llama is a pack, not a herd.

That word — “pack” — evokes a wilder imagery than a domesticated herd, and that is abundantly clear here as you wander around Patagonia. Wild imagery, and something deeper, older, calling you.

More:
https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2020/12/03/fantastic-beasts-and-birds-of-patagonia-and-where-to-find-them/1928395

[hatrack]

1. What, no Magellenic Woodpecker? Let me fix that . . .

[Judi Lynn]

3. Wow! That's a wonderful bird! What a photo. Have never seen a little face like that one's.

Thanks, so much, for adding this beautiful image. Impressive.

[hatrack]

4. IIRC, they're the South American analogue to the Pileated Woodpecker . . .

And they tend to hand out in forests of Alerce, which is the South American analogue to the redwood. Biological mirrors, almost.

[Judi Lynn]

6. That is good to hear. Didn't know they had something similar to the redwood forests.

It makes the Western Hemisphere sound even more interesting. Redwood trees are astonishing. That would be a true paradise for woodpeckers!

Thanks for the food for thought. Great way to start the day.

[hatrack]

7. Speaking of Patagonia, here's some bucket list material

Cochamo Valley, in northern Chilean Patagonia.

Imagine Yosemite Valley without people - that's kind of what it's like. Haven't been there yet, but someday . . . .

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[abqtommy]

2. Thanks! I actually know where Patagonia is since I looked it up once. Patagonia is an area

comprised of parts of the countries of Chile and Argentina. In South America...

[Judi Lynn]

5. Whoa! I didn't know it extended into Chile until seeing this article. It seems magical.

Have read about it for years, the part in Argentina, that is, as a site where they have discovered so many long extinct, very prehistoric critters, all kinds of dinosaurs, etc.

Congrats for beating us to that information. South America is amazing.

It's so strange the other Americas have been almost totally ignored by public information sources in the US. Looks as if the "We're No. 1" idea took over everything here!