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"Conce" is the third largest city in Chile and is a very good place to bird. Many places are accessible by bus, but not all. The places you visit will depend on the time you have. There is no key bird to be seen here as much as a wide variety of species. Conce is a good base to visit nearby well know sites such as Laguna del Laja (near Los Angeles) and Cordillera Nahuelbuta (near Angol). The main geographic feature of Concepción is the Bio Bio River, the longest and most voluminous river in Chile. It is the dividing line between the Black-throated Huet Huet (south of the river) and the Chestnut-throated Huet Huet (north of the river), the latter being a sought after endemic. It turns out that there are old records of Huet Huets from Concepción itself, these would have to be Chestnut-throated. I don't know if Chestnut-throated Huet Huets still live in the Conce area, but you could try the park by Victor Lamas road, it is a long shot but you never know. Beware of thieves, this is a city park.

Hualpencillo and the Mouth of the Bìo Bìo River

Map of Concepcion
  1. Bìo Bìo River
  2. Bridge
  3. Colondrinas Road
  4. Refinery
  5. Fenced in Pond
  6. Estero de Lenga Inlet
  7. Marsh with Ducks

Detail

Map of Concepcion (Detail)
  1. Cormorant Rocks
  2. Parking Lot
  3. Top of Hill
  4. Research Station Pond
  5. Ocre-flanked Tapaculo

In Chile, you can be assured that birding at the mouth of any large river is worthwhile. The Bìo Bìo is no exception, it is a good concentration area for shorebirds and a good area for looking for seabirds. Look at the map included below as this area is sort of tricky and only readily accessible with a car. You may be able to get buses that take you to the large industrial complex here and walk to the better birding areas, but I am not experienced doing this area by bus. Basically, you need to take the Camino Golondrina west either from hwy 154 or Avenida Colon. Eventually you will find yourself sandwiched between the large PetroDow chemical plant on your right (north) and the ENAP refinery on your left (south), just get past this and you will see a fenced in pond on your right (see map), right after PetroDow. This pond has the following interesting birds.

WHITE-TUFTED GREBE
Common, breeds.

RED SHOVELER

CINNAMON TEAL

YELLOW-BILLED PINTAIL

LAKE DUCK
Lots displaying usually.

SPOT-FLANKED GALLINULE

RED-FRONTED COOT

SPECTACLED TYRANT
Prepared to be wowed by a flycatcher.

GRASS (SEDGE) WREN
Probably a good species, may be split from Sedge in the future.

YELLOW-WINGED BLACKBIRD
Common.

WREN-LIKE RUSHBIRD
Listen for a weird ticking call.

Also the Nutria, well known as an introduced mammal pest in the southern United States is native to this site. It looks like an overgrown Muskrat, or thin tailed Beaver.

The road keeps going to the mouth of the Estero de Lenga. It is a promising looking site, but I have not yet seen much here. Maybe it has been bad luck, its worth looking at just in case.

Now turn yourself around and go back to where PetroDow and ENAP are, once you are past ENAP (now on your right) you will see a road going south, this is the road that takes you to the mouth of the river. Before you reach the mouth, you will come across some wetlands on you right and then the southern extension of the Estero de Lenga estuary. This is a good area to bird. The wetlands are full of ducks, but the habitat also looks good for SOUTH AMERICAN PAINTED SNIPE and STREAK-BACKED BITTERN, both of which I have not seen here but I bet they are around. In addition look for the following:

GREAT EGRET

SNOWY EGRET

CATTLE EGRET

SPECKLED TEAL

YELLOW-BILLED PINTAIL

CHILOE WIGEON

CINNAMON TEAL

RED SHOVELER

VERSICOLOR (SILVER) TEAL
A rare bird in the country, it can be here in small numbers.

ROSY-BILLED POCHARD
Another possible, I have not seen it here but it is present just a few km. Away so look for it.

CINEREOUS HARRIER

RED-GARTERED COOT

WHITE-WINGED COOT

WHITE-BACKED STILT

Ok, now that you have had your fill of ducks continue on the road to the mouth of the Bìo Bìo.
Eventually you will see a museum on your left and after a bit a pond on your right. This is a University research pond and may have good birds, stop to check it out. The key bird you will want to see at this site is the nearly endemic OCHRE-FLANKED TAPACULO. The tapaculo can be seen right by the road when you stop at the pond, also it is found along a small turnoff to the right after the Fishing and Hunting Club restaurant that is further along the road. In this part of Chile the tapaculo takes stands of bamboo as well as dense Blackberry. You will have to be patient for this bird, but try spishing it often gets them really worked up. The more common MAGELLANIC TAPACULO is also present here, so be aware of this. Traveling further will eventually lead you to the north shore of the Bìo Bìo River (1). The sand bars here and the shore can host a number of shorebirds, gulls, terns and skimmers. Eventually the road continues to a parking lot (2) that overlooks the Pacific Ocean as well as the mouth of the river. This is a good vantage point to look for seabirds, shorebirds, gulls and cormorants which usually perch on the rocks(1) just north of the parking lot.

Birds to look for at the Bìo Bìo River mouth

BLACK-BROWED ALBATROSS

SOOTY SHEARWATER

PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER

* CHANCE FOR MANY OTHER PELAGICS IN THE RIGHT WEATHER *

MAGELLANIC PENGUIN

PERUVIAN PELICAN

PERUVIAN BOOBY

GUANAY CORMORANT

RED-LEGGED SHAG

IMPERIAL (BLUE-EYED) SHAG

BLACK VULTURE

TURKEY VULTURE

SOUTHERN (WHITE-BACKED) STILT

* POSSIBLE FOR THE SOUTHERN PLOVERS IN WINTER *

BAIRD'S SANDPIPER

SANDERLING

WHIMBREL

KELP GULL

FRANKLIN'S GULL

BROWN-HOODED GULL

PARASITIC JAEGER

BLACK SKIMMER

ELEGANT TERN

SOUTH AMERICAN TERN

SNOWY-CROWNED TERN

As you were approaching mouth, you may have noticed a road going up to the right (north), this road goes up the hill to an overlook (3) of the river mouth. Its worth going up, if the road is not too bad, and looking at the ocean from up there. Note that you should avoid going to the south shore (Boca Sur) of the Bìo Bìo river mouth as this is a poor and rough neighbourhood.

Other sites near Concepción

Coronel and Lota, to the south. The bay at Coronel is great for seabirds and terns. It can fill up with terns here and that brings in jaegers, lots of them, as well as Chilean Skuas. Look from Coronel or the point to the west. Be aware of the possibility of theft in this heavily urbanized area.
Penco to the north east. Penco is a good site to look for Collared Plovers, particularly during the non-breeding season. Walk to the Andalién river mouth (west of town) to see concentrations of shorebirds, gulls, terns, jaegers and skuas. For the very adventurous, you can walk from Penco all the way to Talcahuano along the south shore of Concepción Bay. Here I have encountered lots of shorebirds, including Rufous-chested Dotterel, Least Seedsnipe, Short-eared Owls, Burrowing Owl, gulls and terns galore, Scale-throated Earthcreeper, Common Miner etc. You need to get a boat to take you across the Rio Andalién. There is usually a guy there that will do it for a small fee. Then you walk along the beach going west for several miles. At the other end you will encounter a big dump. This place always made me a bit nervous as it has its set of attendant poor people picking through the rubbish. Given that you are in the middle of nowhere, with optical equipment, it is possible that some of these people could take advantage of the situation. But once again, my experience is that they have ignored me. On the Talcahuano side, there are large concentrations of shorebirds during migration. It is not unusual to see thousands of Sanderling and Whimbrel at the right time of year.
Laguna Grande San Pedro, to the south across the "Puente Nuevo" bridge. This lake is a pretty good birding spot where one can see a good selection of birds, but nothing too unusual. There is a park on the north shore where you can scan the lagoon. Also walk in the neigbourhood to the east and you will find an access point (walking through a gate and past a house) to a trail that borders the northeast shore of the lake. This trail eventually takes you to a small marsh. Here you can see Plumbeous Rails, from the native vegetation up the slopes you can hear and see: Black-throated Huet-Huet, Chucao Tapaculo, Ochre-flanked Tapaculo, Magellanic Tapaculo, Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Patagonian Sierra Finch, Black-chinned Siskin, Austral Blackbird, Green-backed Firecrown etc. Look at the lake for coot flocks, White-tufted Grebe, Great Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe and Silvery Grebe in winter. The park at the north end has Austral Pygmy-Owls, and in the reeds by the shore you may see Streak-backed Bitterns. There is also a trail that begins a few blocks west of the park and skirts the west shore of the lake. This is also good for birds.
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