• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Uganda 2013

Musiewild's blog

~ An occasional blog, mainly photos

Musiewild's blog

Daily Archives: 04/10/2015

Walks round and about the lodge

04 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by Musiewild in Photography, Plants, Travel, Wildlife

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Brazil, caiman, cattle tyrant, chaco chachalaca, coati, hyacinth macaw, marmoset, monk parakeet, Pantanal, peach-fronted parakeet, Pouso Alegre, rhea, rufous hornero, tega, toco toucan

Most mornings we were up around 6.00 am, sometimes earlier. Today, Sunday 20th September, some went for a short guided walk before breakfast;  I just wandered around a bit on my own for a few minutes.  I, and no doubt everyone else, had been woken by the noisy ‘hoarse, harsh cackling’, to quote my bird book, of these:

Chaco chachalacas - on my roof

Chaco chachalacas – on my roof

They were everywhere we went in the Pantanal, and it was rare that their characteristic loud calls, instantly recognisable, were not, at least faintly, somewhere in the soundscape.  Others tired of them, but I never did.

You practically tripped over cattle tyrants.  Where people were, they were.

P1130464

Hyacinth macaws, the second heaviest member of the parrot family, are globally endangered, but they are seen quite frequently in the Pantanal, and have adopted some of the lodges at which to settle and breed.  Their squawking is just slightly more musical than that of the chachalacas.

P1130489 (800x600)

P1130488 (800x541)

After our early breakfast, we all went out for a walk,

P1130533 (800x584)

in this sort of terrain, which would be flooded in the wet season.

P1130578 (800x546)

It was a pleasure to see the occasional flower, or flowering tree, but given that it was the end of the dry season, it was not surprising that we saw few at all during the nine days.

P1130511 (800x600)

We didn’t see many coatis either. They are about the size of a domestic cat, and here is my best picture of a very distant one.

P1130517 (800x534)

P1130521 (800x590)

Toco toucan

P1130534 (800x509)

Two baby caiman

P1130540 (800x600)

Quite sweet really, head about 2 inches wide

P1130557 (800x600)

Marmoset

P1130573 (800x505) P1130587 (800x593) P1130596 (800x576)

P1130602 (800x534)

Thousands of snail shells were at our feet.  Once snails have bred and left their eggs in the ground to develop in during the next wet season, they are a valuable part of the food chain, nourishing especially birds like snail kites, but many other creatures as well.

P1130597 (800x618)

These shells are all empty.

Back at the lodge, before and after lunch we just sat or wandered around, observing the many creatures to be seen within 50 yards or so

P1130634 (800x528)

A tega lizard. Picture of what he did next (poop) on request.

P1130655 (800x574)

Chaco chachalaca and mango

P1130667 (800x560)

Monk parakeets

P1130669 (800x681)

Peach-fronted parakeet. Sadly the mangos were not ripe enough for our digestions.

P1130722 (800x606)

Rufous hornero

P1130728 (800x588)

Red-crested and yellow-billed cardinals

P1130690 (800x600)

Rheas were unconcerned at our presence and one could approach quite close to them.

P1130695 (800x600) P1130701 (800x600) P1130715 (800x619)

Time for a siesta.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

  • Norway 2022/23 – 12, An even quieter morning, though not without a degree of anxiety
  • Norway 2022/23 – 11, A quiet day
  • Norway 2022/23 – 10 New Year’s Eve
  • Norway 2022/23 – 9, Turnabouts and changes
  • Norway 2022/23 – 8, Hammerfest
  • Norway 2022/23 – 7, Kirkenes
October 2015
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Sep   Dec »

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015

Blogroll

  • Avalon Marshes 'Hands on Heritage'
  • Londonsenior
  • Salmon Brook Farms
  • The Jaguar
  • Tootlepedal's blog

Recent Comments

Musiewild on Norway 2022/23 – 5, Boxi…
Musiewild on Norway 2022/23 – 4, Chri…
Hazel Anne Priestley… on Norway 2022/23 – 5, Boxi…
Hazel Anne Priestley… on Norway 2022/23 – 4, Chri…
Musiewild on Norway 2022/23 – 3, Chri…

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Musiewild's blog
    • Join 195 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Musiewild's blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: