Our second day in Chile started with a return to the Porvenir headland to try find the dolphins again, but once again we struck out with nothing being observed. There was a nice and confiding Short-billed Miner on the clifftop so that got some photos taken, but otherwise it was a short stop and then onwards.
It was a two hour drive to the King Penguin colony, the only one on the mainland and the only one in Chile. We anticipated that the birds would be distant and have to view only with optics, but in the end they were only about 20 metres away on the other side of a small channel. We got some great looks at the birds including an attempted copulation. In the end we could only stay an hour due to the way the site is managed, but it was a worthwhile visit.
In addition to the penguins, there were a few other birds to enjoy. Three Chiloe Wigeon landed on the side of the path and I had the first Correndera Pipits of this trip. Otherwise it was the usual species from this southern region of the Patagonian desert. When we returned to the park office there was also a young mouse hopping about, which we were told was an Olivaceous Field Mouse. It did not look well, so it wasn’t a happy sight.
The drive back to Ushuaia then consumed the rest of the day, taking the best part of five hours with the various stops for fuel. Fortunately the return border crossing was very smooth, taking very little time at all. We arrived in Ushuaia at 18:00 and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
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