GVI Patagonia, July 2009

GVI PATAGONIA NEWSLETTER

Fall/Winter Expedition April-June 2009 (092)

Overview

Expedition number 11 has been successfully completed!With 5 ten-weekers, 1 first five-weeker and 2 second five-weekers, GVI Patagonia was back foranother round of data collection for our main project partners Lanín National Park, NahuelHuapi National Park and scientists from the Universidad de Comahue. As well as the helpinghands of our volunteers, the expedition was also supported by our 6 staff, 2 Land Rovers, 1trailer and 2 dogs.Through the work of the GVI Patagonia expedition volunteers and staff, we have completeddata collection that would have otherwise not have happened and we managed to carry out thisfield work despite the sometimes harsh conditions of Patagonian fall/winter.This time of year is always a hard one for GVI Patagonia. The weather is not the best, varyingfrom sun to rain and snow, sometimes within a day. And not only are we cold and wet, but theplans often change due to road and track conditions that continuously alter, sometimes withinhours.It takes a lot to dedicate your time to come and experience Patagonia in this time of year!Thanks a lot for your help!

Expedition Training

Starting in our La Lipela base camp, the new volunteers worked their way through the 8 dayexpedition training phase, which included science training, lessons on how to be comfortablycold, wilderness navigation, camp craft, expedition stoves and how to cook delicious meals onthem, first aid/CPR, backcountry sustainability, group management, expedition communicationequipment and much more.After the initial days in the camp, we packed ourbags and trekked west into the hills of Nahuel HuapiNational Park. Putting the training into practice,everybody had a chance to test their kit, get usedto their backpacks and trekking with their “house” on their back. All went well, and we returned backto the base tired, soaking wet from rain and with abig smile on our face.

Photo: Training trek

GVI Patagonia, July 2009

Condor Census

Back again in the world of one of the largest flying birds of the world, we headed out tocomplete two regional condor censuses (one at the start andone at the end of the expedition). Starting from our basecamp in La Lipela, the expedition split into groups of 3-4people to survey at 4 different condoreras (resting places of condors). All survey sites were in the transition zone betweenthe Andes mountain range and the steppe area to the west.For the two nights at the sites, the survey teams completedlast-light and first-light censuses, flapping monitoring andalso collected feather and pellet samples beneath thecondoreras. The amazing weather of the end of expeditioncensus - blue skies and very cold clear nights – might havecontributed to the amazing number of close to 130 condors.With some very icy bivi bags, these were probably two of theclearest nights under the countless stars of Patagonia duringthe entire expedition!

Photo: Adult Andean condor

Lanín National Park Projects

This was our first visit to Tromen after a fire had destroyed large areas east of this part of Lanin National Park this March. Luckily the important forests for the cachaña parakeets werespared by the fire, as were most of the locations for our wild boar transects.During the two weeks, the expedition worked on several projects in this area:Starting with an araucaria seedpredation study, 30 kg of hand-marked seeds were placed underalmost 40 araucaria trees in threeforests in Tromen. Two additional setsof seeds were placed as control groupsin an enclosure near to CañadonGrande. After allowing nature(especially rodents and wild boar) todo its (their) work, the sites wererevisited after almost 2 weeks toevaluate the predation of these seeds.

Photo: Survey team with Vulcan Lanín

The wild boar transects that were started more than three years ago were also repeated,adding another set of data to this study. With an abundance of signs on the transects, thegroups were busy measuring and collecting samples.With packed bags, the expedition split in two and trekked to the valleys north of Tromen tocomplete two five-day circuits with red deer population studies and more wild boar transects.Unfortunately the weather turned and the groups soon found themselves with very limitedvisibility and the first snowfall of the winter. With deer hiding in the thickets, some of the

GVI Patagonia, July 2009

volunteers were lucky to see a family of almost 30 wild boar crossing the trail in front of them.The trip was cut short and the groups returned to the warmth of the information centre inTromen to dry out.During the entire time in Tromen, the group also completed cachaña behavioural studies,noting sightings of flocks and their behaviour in the forest.

Condor Projects

Based in Fragua - the abandoned school house on Estancia San Ramon - it was now all aboutthe birds! Splitting into two groups, one group of the expedition completed last and first-lightcondor censuses at Fragua Grande Condorera, close to thecamp, while the other group headed out to collect data for theraptor project. The data collected will hopefully allowscientists of the Universidad de Comahue a betterunderstanding of the relation of humans and raptor species aswell as their relative abundance.Apart from amazing landscapes and many birds, we also gotto witness a dry creek turning into a raging four meter widestream with all the rain that fell in a few days. After severaltries to find a crossable spot failed, transects on that part of the valley were delayed until the water levels were back tonormal.

Photo: Last light survey at Grande

Lago Steffen and Lago Roca (Nahuel Huapi N.P.)

The heavy rains continued for almost a week, many important roads and bridges were severelydamaged and the region even declared astate of emergency.Our plan had been to move the expedition tothe Tronador area of Nahuel Huapi NationalPark to revisit some wild boar transects wehad started last February. Luckily the planwas delayed due to the weather. The dayafter our scheduled arrival in Tronador,enormous amounts of water and ice from theglacier, collected in the lake beneath, brokethe bank and flooded the entire valley. Theaccess to Pampa Linda was destroyed, andthe people in what had been our plannedcamp were airlifted to safety.

Photo: Lago Roca

Well, plan B worked, and we eventually made it to the two other lakes, Lago Steffen and LagoRoca. There, both groups worked with the local park rangers on wild boar surveys. At LagoRoca, we also finished building a boar trap that was constructed by the park with materialsdonated by GVI. Once the water has retreated from the site selected for the trap, parkscientists will try to trap wild boar to collect data.