The 3D lab

From winter to autumn… to summer!

Posted on April 10, 2015 by lembrechtsjonas

You will remember the dreadfull weather conditions at our field sites from one week ago and this post. You might also recall the beautiful autumn that followed these 40 centimeters of fresh and beautiful snow (here).

The weather kept improving, and temperatures kept climbing to a stunning 14 °C, which is – combined with sunny weather – impressively hot for a subarctic ecologist like me. The snow vanished rapidly and the deep blue sky gave Chile a complete summer make-over.

It was astonishing to go back to the same place from earlier that week and see how the landscape had totally changed. The ice and snow on this marsh on 400 meters in the hills had completely vanished in less than 4 days, and even our plots were almost snow-free.

For the fieldwork, this was a blessing, and I enjoyed peeling off all these extra layers of clothes while working in the warm grass. With caracara birds piercing through the blue air and flamingo’s in the lakes, we seemed to have been dropped in the true postcard-Chile.

The improved weather conditions truly helped finishing all fieldwork in time, which I can at the end of this trip proudly announce as a success story!

I am currently in a hotel in Santiago Airport. Due to persistent fog in Punta Arenas on the 8th and 9th of April, planes could not fly and my travels back got delayed. After a scary night without information in Santiago de Chile, I got now rebooked on the flight to Paris with only a delay of 24 hours. Ecology is truly an adventure…

Posted in Chile | Tagged Adventure, Animals, Birds, Chile, Ecology, Fieldwork, Gardens, Nature, Nature photography, Photography, Plants, Punta Arenas, Travel, Travelling, Wildlife | 3 Comments

The graveyard

Posted on April 9, 2015 by lembrechtsjonas

On our way south from Punta Arenas to the most beautiful of our mountain gradients, we drive along the beautiful coast of the street of Magellan. I hope to post about its beautiful nature in the near future, but now I wanted to show the most striking landmarks of this area.

Right out of the city center, you pass the rusting glory of what looks like the sad remainders of a much more important international port in the past. The water and the coast are covered with one rusty old ship after another.

It is a spooky sight to see all these once magnificent kings of the ocean rust to dust, falling on their side and slowly dissappearing underneath the waves.

In previous times, the harbour of Punta Arenas was considered to be one of the most important of Chile, at least before the building of the Panama canal. Since then, the city has been obliged to slowly shift its economy away from the sea.

I imagine the ships beached in Punta Arenas all through the 20th century as a sad reminder of these better times for the harbour. It turned out some of them got a new life as a breakwater, to reduce damage of the biting winds of Punta Arenas, but in general they seem to be completely forgotten.

The cormorants like these magnificent viewing points though, as they can dry their plumage on the poles and ropes. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to find information on these majestic pieces of wasted iron and steel, so I fear there story will stay a mystery.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Birds, Chile, Economy, Landmarks, Nature, Ocean, Photography, Punta Arenas, Ships, Shipwrecks, South America, Travel, Travelling, Water | Leave a comment

From winter to autumn

Posted on April 6, 2015 by lembrechtsjonas

When we arrived in Punta Arenas, we found a peaceful winter landscape in the mountains (see these pictures).

Winter seemed to have come really early in the mountains, so we were a bit worried about our fieldwork. But it seemed to be false alarm, because a few days, weather started to improve, and temperatures started to climb to ten degrees and more.

The snow cover made way for an autumn landscape, and the austral forest showed its best side with beautiful colouring that changed every day.

The fourty centimeters of snow quickly started to melt and the dominant white got replaced by orange. For our fieldwork, it is a blessing, as we could find back our plots more easily.

In the background, you can see the city of Punta Arenas, bathing in the sun on the shore of the street of Magallan, a view that keeps us company all through the fieldwork. The trees are the ever impressing southern Nothofagus trees. They are all bearded with lichens that give them a spooky appearance.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Chile, Ecology, Fieldwork, Forest, Nature, Photography, Punta Arenas, Seasons, South America, Travel, Trees | 3 Comments

Happy easter!

Posted on April 6, 2015 by lembrechtsjonas

We almost missed Easter with our hard work in Punta Arenas, but we managed to get the right atmosphere with some easter eggs.

Some were tasty, some were extremely beautiful, like these nice yellow Easter-mushrooms on the trees in the forest.

So, in between the fieldwork, we wish everybody a happy Easter from beautiful Patagonia!

Posted in Chile | Tagged Autumn, Chile, Easter, Ecology, Fieldwork, Mushrooms, Nature, Photography, Punta Arenas, South America | 4 Comments

I spy a little guy

Posted on April 5, 2015 by lembrechtsjonas

40 centimeters of snow. An angry wind that cuts through ten layers of clothes. Icy rain every two hours. The circumstances at the top of the mountains in Punta Arenas are far from ideal.

And still, surprisingly, there was some cute furry life around. While we were digging through the snow to find back our plots, a little mouse came out of his protective hole to get some late autumn feeding.

He kept us company during the whole fieldwork, nibbling from the grasses and running around on its cute little feet. It was a hearth-warming sight to see it beating the cold, like every proud little animal should!

So we pushed through, set the cold aside and finished two plots in one day, a major accomplishment on this high elevation.

– excuse me for the empty post from earlier –

Posted in Chile | Tagged Animals, Ecology, Fieldwork, Mammal, Mouse, Nature, Photography, Punta Arenas, Snow, South America, Travel, Wildlife, Winter | 5 Comments

Beauty and difficulty

Posted on April 3, 2015 by lembrechtsjonas

A quick report from the field, where adventurers are made! While last year on the third of April, temperatures in Punta Arenas were a nice and sunny 14 degrees, this year brought us… snow!

We drove up the mountain to our highest elevation plot and ended up in a beautiful fairytale world. Amazing views, the best natural beauty of Patagonia, but a little bit complicated for the fieldwork.

This picture shows a close-up of our plots at 450 meters, buried under ten centimeters of snow. But no worries, vegetation is still there beneath the snow and we are figuring out a good approach to get everything out!

To finish: yesterday wàs a very successfull day, as the data from the first – lowest elevation – plot look really promising for the research. Next days also should bring warmer weather again, so everything is gonna be fine!

Now: back to the field!