I’ve just returned from my first visit to Chile in three years, and somehow I’ve managed to process photos in record time! It probably helps that I’m still ignoring my winter Yellowstone images, and I’m skipping my usual Yellowstone spring visit (originally I was scheduled to leave tomorrow). That’s given me a bit more leeway to concentrate on my most recent collection.
It’s not a huge collection of images. In past years, I’ve split Patagonia photos into puma and non-puma galleries, but this time we just have a single gallery of 103 images. This is due in part to slightly fewer sightings (14 individual cats) and some mixed weather early in the trip. Yet, it was a really fun experience with another wonderful group of clients. And it felt so good to be leading an international trip again.
As always, you can jump straight to the gallery to see all the photos. A short preview follows.
A couple of our standout early puma encounters involved this family. I had last seen the mother on the final day of my 2019 trip, when she was a young, independent cat just learning the ropes on her way to adulthood.
My clients and I had a chance to walk with the family as they explored their territory.
It was the experience that really set the tone for the trip!
This was my first time landing photos of the White-throated Caracara.
We usually see culpeos during my Patagonia trips. This canid species is most closely related to other South American foxes (which are in a separate genus from the world’s other foxes, and are more closely related to wolves!).
After many trips, this was my first time seeing the Lesser (a.k.a., Magellanic) Horned Owl. It’s recently been classified as a separate species from the Great Horned Owl.
We witnessed several female pumas sharing food on this trip. In this case, the older female tolerated the presence of her past cubs (to an extent) while there was plenty of food to go around.
This male, despite not having reached peak adulthood (he was only four-and-a-half years old) was still quite massive… especially with a belly full of guanaco meat.
Once again, we saw Torrent Ducks during our trip. The females provided some brief, closer passes as they took off upriver.
This was my first time photographing this small but impressive bird. What a beauty!
This female, known as the Sister, posed for me many times back in 2016, the first time I saw her. I was not sure whether she was still alive (as a nine year old), so it was great to see her again.
A Southern Crested Caracara perches before the famed Horns of Paine.
Torres del Paine is more than just a great wildlife destination. It’s perhaps even more famous for its mountain landscapes. The Towers and Horns of Paine provide endless dramatic photo opportunities. This was our final morning before departing the park.
This tiny owl is always a goal on these trips. We had a couple of different encounters, with nice backgrounds to boot. One owl actually arrived in the hotel parking lot as we were packing up to go on our final morning!
I photographed a herd of backlit guanacos through long grass while lying on my belly.
We had a couple of close encounters with these handsome birds in the mountains near Santiago.
View the full Patagonia 2022 gallery (103 photos).
If you are interested in joining me on my next Patagonia adventure, the 2023 trip still has open spots!
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2 Comments
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Max
Thanks for sharing your beautiful images of your trip. I hope some day to accompany you on one of these trips, but for now your photos bring me there. My favorite is the black and white of puma with incredible background.
Thanks again,
Mike Whittaker-
Author
Mike, thanks for the feedback! Next trip is next year (obviously), and most likely after that would be 2025. If there’s substantial demand for 2024, I may change my mind.
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