The Owl and the Pussycat

The Magellanic Horned Owl was one of the birds we were really excited to see. Several years ago, a major forest
fire reduced the habitat where this bird can live, so they are less abundant than they once were.
Our excellent bird guide patiently looked through the area where they often spend the day, and found this one.

This morning's delight: this young puma -- a huge cat that's the local top predator. Pumas weigh around 200 pounds. 

A little after we spotted the cub, its mother and her other cub showed up. On the hillside below, we could
see a recently-killed guanaco that they were probably about to feed on.

Yesterday we watched this male puma several miles from where we saw the family. He appeared to be injured,
as we saw him there again several hours later, and they don't usually sit still. He was no longer at the spot today,
and we hope he was not in trouble. Our guides reported the sighting to the rangers. Outside the park, ranchers
sometimes shoot the pumas despite protections they are supposed to have.

We have seen much more ! Flamingos are just starting to arrive here after their spring migration.

The local version of the meadowlark has a red breast. In North America,
the breast is yellow.

It's been a beautiful day, with some rain but quite a bit of sunshine. We started the morning with this rainbow outside the
dining room during breakfast.