Hello folks, I have not blogged in quite some time but I finally felt motivated to show some of my local photography covering the local wildlife here in Isla Negra, Chile I shot this past couple of weeks. First off, California Quail were introduced into Chile in 1864 as poultry and over the decades the plump colorful birds have spread throughout many parts of Chile including here in Isla Negra.
The quail are very shy and when they took a break from their grazing they headed into a shady area with the lookouts keeping in eye out for predators.
Like most game birds, these quail are very timid and I imagine having to put up with packs of roving homeless dogs constantly flushing them out of their hiding places and the feral cats waiting to ponce upon them at any moment has a lot to do with their shyness. I actually witnessed a feral cat attempting to sneak up on this covey this morning and disrupted its intended assault.
They are very difficult to photograph as they are either zooming about and when they land they tend to stay in the shade.
Sometimes, the Green-backed Firecrown perches on flowers to feed rather than hover and are able to recall not only nectar locations among less rewarding flowers, they are intensely territorial and have been noted to chase birds as large as caracaras away. Green-backed Firecrown
Quintral plant
The Quintral plant(Tristerix tetrandus) also known as the 'Popular quintral' is a parasitic plant that the Green-backed Firecrown likes to hang out and eat from and one sits right next to our house so I was able to photograph them at will.
Along with the bird life in the area interesting insects also migrate out of the canyon and come onto our property like this Acanthinodera beetle, the Peach beetle and the Chilean Rose Tarantula.
Chile 
Acanthinodera beetle
The beetle was about half the size of my fist and moving pretty fast when I photographed it and then flicked it back to whence it came down into the canyon.
Chilean Rose Tarantula
Chilean rose tara
I was introduced to the The Chilean Rose Tarantula(Grammostola rosea) also known as the rose hair tarantula, the Chilean fire tarantula, or the Chilean red-haired tarantula, when I came across a giant in the old house we tore down on the property. The beast was as big as a small plate and this species is one of the most common species of tarantula in the United States and Europe where they vend them in the pet trade. The Chilean locals call them, "Arana pollito(chicken spider) because they are very timid and would rather run they stick around to fight.
This funny looking Peach Weevil came climbing across the gravel on its way to our front door when I put photographed it.
We also have a family of Chilean Hawks that reside in the large Cypress tree in our front yard and they are a funny bird as when they come in to roost at the end of the day they take turns buzzing other nests in the neighboring trees and then get buzzed back by the other hawks as well.
Chilean Hawks roosting in Cypress Tree Isla Negra, Chile
We have a lot of lizards on our property with a very lovely Blue-green Smooth- throated Lizard which hangs out in the sun and the, what I 'think' is a Curico' Smooth-throated Lizard that runs along the wood fence.
Curicó Smooth-throated Lizard
And of course, there are feral dogs everywhere and this box of puppies was spotted at the local feria where they sale everything from fruit and vegetables to tools and hardware supplies really cheap. I call it the "off of the back of the truck market".
