The puma may rule the land in Patagonia, but the condor rules the sky. This is a large bird. Very large. With a nearly 11 foot wingspan and weighing upwards of 33 pounds, it is the largest flying bird in the world. We saw quite a few of them, but they only occasionally came down from on high for a closer look at us. This was one of those occasions.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/50000th of a second
I figured I’d keep going with the Patagonia photos for one more week before mixing in the rest of the world. We tracked parallel to this puma for about 20-30 minutes as she slowly made her way to a previously killed guanaco. Most of the shots I got of her were in profile, but occasionally she walked toward camera and graced us with a clear view amidst all that tall grass. You can see how easily they blend in with their environment.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second
This was the only owl that I saw while in Patagonia. A good find, no doubt, but he/she did distract me just long enough that I took my eye off the mother puma and her cubs that we had been tracking and they somehow slipped away without notice. Also known as the lesser horned owl, the Magellanic horned owl was originally thought to be a subspecies of the great horned owl, but now has been designated as a seperate species altogether.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second
It seemed each lake in Torres Del Paine National Park had its own unique shade of blue or green — due to the sediment in the water. A nice contrast to the Chilean flamingos, that although not everywhere, were a fairly common sight.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/800th of a second
I always try to grab a few slow-shutter panning shots when I can. Guanacos were so ubiquitous in Torres Del Paine that it made it easy to experiment. In this case, 1/15th of a second seemed to be the perfect speed.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/20 at 1/15th of a second
As I mentioned in a post last week, it rained a lot in Patagonia. In fact, almost the entire time I was there. But when the sun did peek through the clouds, it provided some dramatic light to go along with the dramatic scenery. In this instance, the shaft of light acted as both a spotlight and a backlight as the puma crossed in front of the massive face of Cerro Paine Chico.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
I had mentioned in a previous post that I saw a mother puma with three cubs. It was tough getting a good angle on the little guys, but they did take a quick break from their rainy nap to look up at the cliff that I was standing on. At least two of them did. You can just barely see the ears of the third cub over to the right (or that might be the mother). The cubs were about four months old and still had a bit of blue color to their eyes and spots on their fur.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second
There were several interesting birds that I was able to photograph in Chile. This was one of my favorites — the tufted tit tyrant. They were very quick, but I eventually captured a few shots displaying their characteristic head tufts.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/500th of a second
The centerpiece of Torres Del Paine is the grouping of mountains consisting of two massive peaks (Small Paine to the right and Large Paine to the left) the sharp points known as the horns tucked in behind, and the iconic towers that give the park its name (the towers aren’t visible in this photo but they are to the right of frame). More on the unique geology of these mountains in a future post but for now, another puma can be seen down below, as well as an unsuspecting guanaco just above the puma.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 120mm) ISO 800, f/4 At 1/1600th of a second
There are two species of fox that live in Torres Del Paine. The culpeo (or Andean red fox) and the more common Patagonian fox — also known as the South American gray fox. This is the latter. He was enjoying a good scratch after scavenging the remains of a guanaco carcass.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/640th of a second