Hello and welcome.

This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

This episode, which is number 112, is a From the Field episode,

and it's all about my recent experiences with the birds and birding in Patagonia. I was just there leading a

birding tour for about two weeks and it was marvelous and it's a great place to experience nature.

So I think this will be a fun episode to share my experiences and for you to learn a little bit

more about

Patagonia. Now since this is a From the Field episode, I am recording it in a, I guess you'd

call it a cabin. And I'm actually in Chile right now, in sort of south central Chile. After the

Patagonia tour, I went on my own to central Chile to do some exploring for a future tour here.

So I have a rental car. I've been driving around exploring and it's been really cool. Right now,

I'm in the lovely town of Puerto Vadas in the Lake District. And this is about as far south as I'm going to get before I fly home in a couple days.

So, depending how you define Patagonia, some might say I'm still in Patagonia,

even though I was recently in central Chile from Santiago to the coast, to the Andes, and the Central Valleys.

Anyway, since I'm recording this in this lodging,

there might be some ambient sounds.

I never know what's going to make it through my editing process,

but you might hear some dogs barking.

Or perhaps more interesting would be the birds that you might hear out there.

There are chimango caracaras, black-faced ibises, and even

...