Last morning walk

Tags

Brazil, brown-chested martin, caiman lizard, capuchin monkey, fork-tailed flycatcher, hornero, marsh deer, Pantanal, plumbeous ibis, saffron finch, woodpecker

As ever, I did not do the before breakfast walk, but I did join the party for a morning stroll in two kinds of forest, and then, via the lodge, into the open grassland.  I joined the party, yes, but most of the party fell away, leaving just Dave, Pete myself and the two naturalists to continue.  Why this mass desertion?  It had rained again overnight, and the forests were thick with mozzies and other bitey things. Really unpleasant for some.  I had Deeted, covered myself thoroughly, and had a cloth to used as a horse uses its tail. But I really enjoyed myself.

Join me, just looking around, usually not knowing what I was seeing, and clicking away at anything pretty.  You are spared the insects.

Capuchin monkey

Rufous hornero nest and ?owner

Mrs Dave joined us for the last part of our walk, in the grassland.

Hornero

Saffron finches

Fork-tailed flycatcher

Brown-chested martin

Silver-beaked tanager

Greyish saltator

Marsh deer

?Hornero

Ibis, probably Green

Yes, I really enjoyed those strolls.  The mozzies were only really bad for the first half-hour or so.

Here’s Dave Allen’s video of that Caiman lizard we saw the first day, eating a large snail (the lizard that is, not Dave).

Mainly Maxime

Tags

capuchin monkey, capybara, jacamar, jaguar, limpkin, Pantanal

Thanks to our wonderful boatman, Manuel, and his mates, we spent an hour with Maxime this afternoon, Wednesday 23rd September.  If you’d asked me, I’d have said 20-30 minutes, but my camera clock tells me otherwise.

We felt the odd spot of rain and heard the odd distant rumble of thunder.  When it came the rain was brief, but very hard.  It passed as quickly as it had arrived, and we wandered around a little longer in the boat, thankful for a somewhat cooler temperature.

Yes, I’d have said ‘Kingfisher’ too…

… but it’s a jacamar, a rufous-tailed jacamar

Capuchin monkey

Black-capped capuchin monkey, to be precise

This afternoon’s Capybara

Limpkin

 

Giant anteater, tapir…

Tags

Amazon kingfisher, black-collared hawk, capuchin monkey, capybara, caracara, chestnut-eared aracari, giant anteater, green ibis, Jabiru, rufescent tiger heron, tapir, toco toucan, vermilion flycatcher

Late afternoon and into dusk on Sunday afternoon, into the safari truck again. We were making for a specific spot, and en route saw birds new to us, and old friends:

Green ibis, as if green were not already my favourite colour

Chestnut-eared aracari

Caracara (not to be confused with the large rodent, the Capybara – we saw both every day)

The Rufescent tiger heron again

The stunning Vermilion flycatcher

Toco toucan

Jabiru

and Black-collared hawks

Then we parked, silent, at a respectful distance from a pool where animals were known to come to drink – on the other side – as darkness fell.  Thanks to just a moderately good camera, and a little computer-aided lifting (but, promise, no distortion), I am pleased to be able to record for my future reminiscing, most of the creatures we saw there in the gathering gloom.

Amazon kingfisher

Capuchin monkey

Two toco toucans

The extraordinary Giant anteater, about 2 metres from snout (to the left!) to tail

Bare-faced curassow

Tapir

On the way back it was dark, and we saw, ‘lamped’,

a better view of a tapir

…and the ‘cutest’ young Capybara – so far.