The amount of water in Chile's lakes has been restored due to many rainfalls, which has led to the return of rare birds

Thanks to a number of rains in June and July, the water volume of the "El Yali" lake in the national nature reserve of Santo Domingo in Chile has been significantly restored. In particular, the two lagoons, called "Matanza" and "Colejuda", have been in a state of near dryness since mid-October 2018, but have recently returned with the recovery of rainfall, attracting many rare birds.

According to the Data provided by the Chilean Meteorological Agency, precipitation in the El Yali region was recorded as high as 77 mm in June and July 2020, according to the Chilean Meteorological Agency. "After a long drought, after several rains in June and July, the Area of the Matanza Lagoon reached 50 hectares, which is 26.31% of the historical peak area of the lagoon of 190 hectares." Sandro Bruzzone, regional director of Chile's National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), which manages the nature reserve, said.

"Colejuda, on the other hand, has also exceeded 16 hectares, which is about 70% of its normal area (22.62 hectares). This situation has also attracted the return of many rare birds. Recently, for example, our rangers were near this area and witnessed 30 Chilean flamingos. Previously, the Chilean flamingo had not been found in this area for a long time. He said.

Eduardo Riquelme, one of the directors of the El Yali Nature Reserve, stressed: "Both lagoons were dry before the rains in June and July. You can hardly see any water, and the drought is very severe. ”

The El Yali National Protected Nature Zone, managed by CONAF, is a wetland of international importance identified by the Ramsar Site and home to numerous waterfowl, including several rare species such as black-necked swans, flat-billed geese, Chilean flamingos, great cormorants, spot-winged cormorants and Dominican gulls.

Ignacio Miranda, another head of the area, said: "With the significant increase in the water area of the various lagoons, the ecological environment has improved, as have the populations of some aquatic birds such as ducks, bone-top chickens and partridges. Among them, the most striking thing is that some rare birds have also begun to settle here, such as the black-headed duck and the multicolored reed crane commonly known as the seven-colored bird. ”

(Editor: Lenny)