In the Shadow of the Torres - finding puma in Chilean Patagonia

[jeffb]

I'm expecting to use my monopod as a walking stick when I go in late September.

[pomkiwi]

@janzin- you've been looking at Facebook 😁.  

@janzinand @jeffbI don't think that you ned to be concerned about the hiking. Most was easy apart from the first episode that I've described which to honest I think we nearly didn't bother with. We had another longish hike on our last day but the pace was generally slower and not as difficult. I also think that rather than following the puma as we did it would have been possible to use the car to get in front and intercept her. I think that @jeffb is correct - using a single walking pole or monopod would be practical but less sure about using a pair and managing a camera. I guess it's also about what you are used to.

Edited May 21 by pomkiwi

[pomkiwi]

Day 3 - “No landscapes”

 

Morale in our group was still pretty good. We were only half way through and had seen 3 different pumas even if none had really offered much of an experience as suggested by the brochures. One other larger group was getting somewhat more fractious however and all of the guides from all groups were clearly frustrated in their turn.

 

We started our day with J-P back above Laguna Armarga where we’d been on the first morning. J-P disappeared up a slope with the scope and as usual we stepped out of the car to capture some of dawn breaking.

 

 

When he got back to the car we bundled back in and he issued the instruction, “No landscapes” He didn’t want our attention elsewhere if it delayed continuing the puma search by not being ready to go as soon as he got back. Although clearly humorous it was a reminder that this was not Africa and that early morning cold was essential for using the scope.

 

It was another glorious morning and when J-P left us to our own devices we may have done a little guilty landscape photography but also saw a condor resting nearby and a pair of white fronted caracara picking over the remains of an old kill. J-P returned without good news and we went back to the area above Laguna Sarmiento.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within a few minutes of arriving at the top of the hill the radios were full of excited and very rapid Spanish. We raced off at breakneck speed to join various cars from 2 other groups and their trackers. Guides and trackers were clearly happy and relieved even if too professional to actually be offering high fives. One of the trackers had spotted a mother and her two cubs.

 

The next five and a half hours provided one of the best wildlife days I’ve ever had (spoiler - at least until tomorrow)

[pomkiwi]

Day 3 - Family time and facing an advancing puma

 

It took a few minutes to sort out what had now become a group of around 15 guests with half a dozen guides and trackers. On occasions during the day other individual clients and their guides seemed to drop in and out. In retrospect this was probably too many people (not that the pumas were at all bothered), with too much noise and some poor behaviour - jostling for position and walking in front of others etc.  Our small group had got used to our own company and enjoyed the silence so it was a bit of a shock!  Overall it was not a major issue and J-P did find us some peace and quiet at times during the day 😀

 

The pumas were moving up a small slope nearby and after a short walk we sorted ourselves out in a position to watch them. For a while we mainly saw puma rear ends but occasionally mum would turn and look in our direction.

 

They moved fairly erratically across the slope, one cub seemed to stick close to mum while the other went exploring more widely.

 

 

 

This seemed a pattern throughout the day but as the cubs look so similar I could never decide if one was generally more adventurous or whether they took turns.

 

At one point it looked as if one cub was going to try and jump at mum but clearly thought better of it.

 

The mother and one cub settled went up on to the ridge with mountains behind. Cue a lot of moving around of guests trying to line up ‘that shot’. It is something I’ve noticed repeatedly in photographic groups that when person appears to have got an optimal position the line tends to contract around them and bunch up. I don’t like being crowded and tend to stay at the end of a line - partly because I can be contrary (😂) but also for a good reason that will become clear in a while.

 

 

 

The second cub was sat on a rock close by. The cubs were moving around and kept coming close to mum as if to confirm they were close by.

 

 

 

 

One of the cubs moved up the rock behind mum and sibling and the the three settled into family portrait mode

 

 

Then mum began to move.

 

The second reason I choose to place myself at the end of any one is that faced with a wall of photographers an advancing animal will almost always go around one side or another - if you are at one end of the line you have a 50:50 chance of something quite memorable.

 

 

 

She kept coming and I kept zooming out. I was aware of the cubs following and had no problem complying with the urgently shouted instruction that nobody was to move.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The adult passed within about 5m of me followed by the cubs.

 

 

As they went past I couldn't fit them into the frame - at their closest they were all within 5m of me.

 

 

 

 

One of the cubs had to be discouraged from investigating J-Ps pack which was on the ground a couple of metre behind me. Mum quickly called the errant cub away.

 

 

 

This was the moment I began to breathe again.

 

 

A 50:50 chance had gone my way. It was now 12 minutes since we had first seen this family - we still had five and a half hours to go….

Edited May 21 by pomkiwi

[Towlersonsafari]

WOW! what an experience @pomkiwiand what photographs! 

[TonyQ]

A wonderful sighting, experience and superb photos 

[Botswanadreams]

Wow, I'm speechless. Your biggest dream came true. Congratulation.

[Atdahl]

Wow, what an awesome encounter!

[pomkiwi]

Time for a rest - both pumas and us

 

Once we had drawn breath we turned to watch the family wander past our vehicles with some nice backlit moments:

 

 

 

Once they were a reasonable distance away we followed them for another family portrait shot:

 

 

Then the mother headed downhill followed by the cubs:

 

 

 

We also headed downill to find her at he bottom of a small cliff. The light was very harsh and for the first time heat haze was a problem and the pumas were in and out of the vegetation.

 

 

 

 

We went back uphill and climbed into the cars to position ourselves opposite and it appeared that the mother was settling down in front of a small cave for a rest:

 

 

At this point J-P suggested we move further up the hill away from the other groups for our lunch break. We still had a good, if distant view of the pumas, and could move quickly if they did. It also gave us some time to enjoy the peace and quiet again.

[janzin]

wow wow wow! Puma cubs, so darn cute. What an incredible experience! Beats what you put on Facebook    5 meters (I had to calculate...that's about 15 feet...yikes.)

 

 

[pomkiwi]

Lunch Time

 

We headed up the hill away from the crowds and found a vantage point where we could not do any landscape photography  😂😂:

 

 

With the aid of a 1.4 teleconverter on the 180-600mm lens I could keep an eye on the pumas below:

 

Mum tried to settle but the cubs were exploring.

 

Eventually they came back to mum:

 

They then decided to climb back up to the top of the rock outcrop

 

As soon as mum settled the cubs wandered off to explore together

 

 

Eventually they came back to her:

 

Shortly afterwards they all settled to sleep.

 

In the meantime we found some guanaco after a diligent search from our positions lying in the sun:

 

The pumas all woke up again;

 

Mum then headed off and left the cubs in control of the rock:

 

The author was maintaining focus at all times of course:

 

Serves me right but just as this selfie was taken were were hurried back to the cars to catch up with the mobile pumas..

Edited May 21 by pomkiwi

[janzin]

so your first guide wasn't quite right when he said you wouldn't need that teleconverter   Good thing you had it!

[jeffb]

Absolutely fantastic! The puma shots we all dream of getting.

[madaboutcheetah]

Wow!! Amazing shots - thanks for writing this up!!  On my bucket list for one day .........  They look so relaxed and magnificent!!

 

What time of the year do you recommend a visit?  I don't know when i can pencil a visit as it's an incredibly long trip from India ...... 

[pomkiwi]

13 hours ago, janzin said:

so your first guide wasn't quite right when he said you wouldn't need that teleconverter   Good thing you had it!

I only used the T/C on this occasion. It was fine photographing the pumas across a cool valley that had been in shade much of the morning but essentially useless photographing guanaco at the same distance in the opposite direction as the heat distortion from the warm grassland caused soft and slightly blurred images.

[pomkiwi]

5 hours ago, madaboutcheetah said:

Wow!! Amazing shots - thanks for writing this up!!  On my bucket list for one day .........  They look so relaxed and magnificent!!

 

What time of the year do you recommend a visit?  I don't know when i can pencil a visit as it's an incredibly long trip from India ...... 

Thank-you.

I’m not an expert but I understand that the chance of seeing puma is much the same year round.

 

The weather is very changeable all year round but I was told that late autumn and winter tend to be less windy. The area is much busier in the summer - but far more places are open and many add on trips for other wildlife in Patagonia and Chile in general don’t seem to run in the winter.

 

i would recommend looking at Far South’s website and chatting with them about options.

 

[TonyQ]

I agree with @pomkiwiabout timing of visits. I think you are more likely to see cubs from about Jan/Feb onwards, but as @pomkiwisaid it can be busier.

One thing to consider as well is day length. Pumas are more active early in the day and late in the day. In November we were setting out at 05.45 for the morning session. Our guide said that in Summer you need to set out 2 hours earlier and finish in the evening much later. (rest in the middle of the day)

I think @pomkiwistarted out later as the day length was shorter.

[pomkiwi]

17 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

I agree with @pomkiwiabout timing of visits. I think you are more likely to see cubs from about Jan/Feb onwards, but as @pomkiwisaid it can be busier.

One thing to consider as well is day length. Pumas are more active early in the day and late in the day. In November we were setting out at 05.45 for the morning session. Our guide said that in Summer you need to set out 2 hours earlier and finish in the evening much later. (rest in the middle of the day)

I think @pomkiwistarted out later as the day length was shorter.

Yes - sunrise was at 9.20 and sunset around 18.15. In the summer we were told that they often return to the hotel for a rest in the middle of the day but that involves two extra drives of around an hour there and then back again (this obviously depends on which hotel you are staying at but I think that all of the Far South group tours use the one in Cerro Castillo).

[janzin]

Going in late November, we were told by our company (we are not using Far South as we wanted to include birding, and a serious birding guide, on our trip) that we'd have the option of returning to the hotel midday (same hotel as pomkiwi's) to rest or taking a picnic lunch and exploring other areas of the park. I guess we'll decide based on the weather and our exhaustion   One thing I'm hopeful for in late Nov/early Dec is a profusion of wildflowers--it will be spring down there.

[Kitsafari]

Awesome awesome awesome! that the pumas went your way. what an experience. 

[pomkiwi]

"No landscapes - without pumas!"

 

The interruption of our gentle afternoon was because one of the trackers saw the adult puma heading for some guanaco. By the time we got to the location the guanacos were unsettled - either because they'd seen the puma or possibly because of the number of cars that appeared. In any event we didn't see the puma. We went back up to check on the cubs:

 

 

A few minutes later the cubs left having been called by the mother. One of the trackers had spotted the group working its way up on to a small hill close by. We repositioned and enjoyed 20 minutes of excellent ladscape photography with some pumas intruding as they moved around on the ridge:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again mum went off and left one the cubs in control of the park:

 

[pomkiwi]

Facing an advancing puma - again

 

We had returned to the group of cars as the adult had not gone far and had gone in that direction. She had been lying in the rocks for a few minutes when she got up and started to move 

 

 

She moved quickly and smoothly down the slope

 

 

 

She stopped briefly and stared intently in our general direction:

 

 

Another brisk trot brought her closer:

 

 

 

Then she accelerated directly towards me:

 

She stopped briefly and seemed intently interested by something a little way away:

 

Then one bound and she was headed directly downhill again:

 

 

I was stood photographing across the back tray of our ute - at the last moment she veered around the back of the car:

 

Without breaking stride she darted between the cars and was probably only 3m / 10ft awayas she did so (if only I had that landscape lens close) :

 

 

 

She continued on and went behind a small hill close by.

 

 

It took a while for my heart rate to settle and longer for me to believe what had just happened....

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23 by pomkiwi

[TonyQ]

@pomkiwiwhat an amazing experience!

[jeffb]

Wow!!! Are you always a cat magnet, or is just pumas?

[janzin]

Wow!