Four Saturday afternoon sketches and a video treat

Tags

black-collared hawk, capped heron, cocoi heron, Pantanal, wetlands, Whistling duck

Sketch number one: A great black-hawk retrieving a fish Sketch number two: White-faced whistling ducks.  Yes, I know they don’t seem to have white faces.  Must be the light, or the season, or something.Sketch number three: A Cocoi heron retrieving a fish The hawk used its talons, the heron its beak.

Sketch number four:  the line on the trees shows how high the waters rise in the wet season, perhaps 8 feet or so.

Yes, the fish were thrown by the boatmen.  But this video, again by Dave Allen, has no artifice.  It is of that gorgeous male Capped heron we saw courting the other day.

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Well we didn’t expect that!

Tags

black-collared hawk, caiman, capybara, cocoi heron, giant river otter, iguana, Jabiru, jaguar, Pantanal, ringed kingfisher, Transpantaneira, water hyacinth

An even earlier start this morning, Friday 25th September, as we were due to move about halfway back up the Transpantaneira to our third and final accommodation, for three nights.  So we had a final boat trip out to say goodbye to (representatives) of our river friends of the last few days.

Ringed kingfisher

Cocoi heron

Iguana

Good to see that the teenage Jabiru storks have two parents in fact

This caiman skeleton was about 4 ft long

Byebye capybaras

No jaguars this morning, so here’s Dave Allen’s reminder of our first encounter with Peter and Bianca on our first day in this area, as we gently moved off.

 

We didn’t stop much on the road, as we were rather short of time,

but absolutely had to take photos of the weeniest capybara ever, just six inches long. In due course we arrived at our last lodge, run by the same company that ran the flotel.The iced drink awaiting us on the veranda was so welcome, and we were soon whisked in for lunch.

After a siesta we went out for another … boat ride, in two smaller boats this time.  I for one hadn’t even realised that we were to be based on rivers for this last part of our trip.  There were many fewer other tourist boats. This one contains half of our party, plus naturalist and boatman.

These rivers were sometimes clogged with wild hyacinth, but at least it’s native here.

Black-collared hawk

We were not expecting to see jaguars during these last few days either.  We believed we were heading out to see a family of giant river otters.  And so we were.  But we were delayed – by two jaguars!  As we arrived, there they were, in Fiorella’s word, ‘copulating’! I just saw the end, as they rolled apart.  We stayed there for quite a while,

Tereza and unknown male

Tereza. Doesn’t it just do something to you when they look straight at you?

so were quite late for otter bedtime.  This little one definitely did not want to go to bed,and needed much persuasion from adults to do so.

So that was that.  Bedtime for all, we thought.  Then this happened:An adult came swimming directly to us, such that I found  myself, when it was about 5 feet away from me, adopting my standard very singsong ‘talk to the pets’ voice, saying ‘Hello …’  Then we realised what was going on, as another otter joined in.  These were habituated to humans, and took fish thrown into the water by the boatmen.

I wish I’d know this was going to happen, I would have been better prepared to take pictures. It was fun to see, but nevertheless some of us were left a little with the feeling that this was feeding time at the zoo, not natural, not what we’d travelled thousands of miles to see.  The otters weren’t complaining though.

Orange

Tags

caiman, cocoi heron, curassow, iguana, jaguar, kiskadee, orange-backed troupial, Pantanal

We saw many, many colourful birds in the Pantanal.  This, I think, was my very favourite.

Orange-backed troupial

I had a curious respect and admiration for this creature.

The Yacaré caiman is endemic to central South America

Somehow, the more colourful version is more appealing than the black, though I’m not sure that’s the right word.  Jaguars and anacondas like them whatever the colour – they eat them.

Truly attractive was the demonstration of synchronised drinking by Mr and Mrs Bare-faced curassow:

My bird book says ‘Song: low, hoarse, “e-ur” notes of pair, like grunting of domestic pigs.’

Iguana. They come in all shades of green, and sometimes lavender, black or even pink.

Cocoi heron

The walkie-talkies crackled, and we were off on one of our white-knuckle rides (I exaggerate a little, but the speedy rides were great fun!) to see an unknown jaguar found by one of the boatmen.

More screeching brakes, and our boat turned round!  Manuel’s eagle eyes had spotted a jaguar on the bank – and there were no other boats there.  Very satisfying, especially for the guides, that we were able to observe on our own for a while, before others – honour obliged Manuel – joined us.

It was Maxime again, we were told.  Just check those forehead markings!  Frustratingly, we had no idea where we were in respect to where we had seen him previously, a minor failing of the organisers to my mind. No matter, there we were, observing this beautiful creature once more.

Kiskadee. Some say it calls its name.

In due course, we went on to join others observing the original ‘unknown’ jaguar we had set off to see.  He (presumably it was a he) remained unknown, for this is all we saw for the 30-40 minutes we stayed there.  Definitely the least exciting of all our sightings!

But here is Dave Allen’s expert video of Maxime’s failed attempt to catch the capybara the other day.  You can hear the barking capybara at the end.

Thursday’s sunset.

A birdy morning

Tags

anhinga, cacique, capped heron, capybara, caracara, cocoi heron, giant anteater, giant river otter, green ibis, hyacinth macaw, Jabiru, piping-guan, purplish jay, rufous hornero, smooth-billed ani

Fearing we might be a little bored with jaguars (?!?!?!?!), the leaders decided – after consultation – that this morning we would not go in search of felines, but visit instead a very bird-friendly fazenda (farm). So, even earlier than usual, we set off with the faithful Manuel, this time turning right from the flotel. (Up-river I think, but the waters flow so slowly in that so-flat land that it was difficult to tell).

But before going any further, do you remember the giant anteater we saw a few days back?  Dave Allen was a fellow wildlife enthusiast on this trip.  A great birder, he personally saw 199 different species during our time in the Pantanal.  He was wielding a video camera for much of the time, and he has authorised me to share with you this excellent clip of our anteater encounter. Can you believe that such an animal exists?

We had hoped yesterday’s rain might mean it was a little cooler today, Thursday 24th September. In vain.

It was not long before we came across a small group of Giant river otters.  Those with fish were making it very clear they were not going to share.

Anhinga and Giant river otters

Shortly afterwards, the boat screeched – metaphorically – to a halt.  We had come to a phenomenon that neither of our naturalists had ever seen before: Capped herons courting.  What beautiful birds!

I wonder if she’ll like this twig

In case not, I’ll fluff myself up

and I’ll throw my head back and show her what my throat can do

Perhaps this pretty leaf will please her

Think I’m in with a chance here

I’ll go on ahead

but mustn’t forget that leaf…

We moved on.

Green ibis

Reflecting

Capybara and Smooth-billed ani

Cocoi heron and fish. We stayed to watch for a while, but he just didn’t seem to know what to do with such a great big catch.

Yellow-rumped cacique

When we arrived at the fazenda, we were stepping on to land for the first time for three days, though it seemed, in the nicest way, to have been much longer.  What a collection of avian masterpieces we saw there, including those noisy, noisy Hyacinth macaws once more.

Jabiru stork practising its arabesque

Rufous hornero

Who’s a cheeky boy then?

A reminder of the wonderful silhouette of a hyacinth macaw as it comes in to land

Caracara portrait

Chestnut-bellied guans, with caracara

White-tipped dove

Giant cowbird (BL)

Saffron finch

Blue-throated piping-guan

Caracara care

Greyish baywing

And there was a little extra treat in store at the river bank as we went back to the boat for our return to the flotel and lunch.

A very lucky capybara…

Tags

black vulture, capybara, cocoi heron, Howler monkey, iguana, Jabiru, jaguar, Pantanal, water buffalo

Off again for the afternoon boat ride.

Iguana (about 2 ft long) with replacement, boneless, tail

Howler monkey, male

Howler monkey, female

Look, no hands!

Cocoi heron

Cocoi heron

Black vultures. ‘They’ said that this bird defaecates on its legs to cool itself. As my bird book says this bird has yellow legs, I have to accept that ‘they’ were not kidding.

And then, thanks to boatmen’s walkie-talkies, we came upon Maxime,slowly making his way  along the small beach.

And then he froze.  For a long time.  Clearly he had seen something.

He waited.

We waited. He waited.

And then in a mad rush there was nothing.

We heard loud barking, just like a dog, the characteristic sound of a capybara who is very unhappy indeed. But he should have been happy:  he had escaped.

One very lucky cabybara

And Maxine went to climb out of the river,

before changing his mind, and continuing along the riverside.

We followed. So did lots of others.

… and so did lots of others

The jaguars are really not bothered by human attention, as long as a respectful distance is kept.

In due course Maxime decided to go ‘inland’, showing himself from time to time.  Jaguars love the river banks as places to cool off.

We continued on our way, vaguely making for home.

Impossible, almost, not to photograph this endearing animal, the capybara

It is entirely vegetarian

Two young water buffalo, playing. Wild animals, but introduced, not native.

How sweet is that, the youngsters trying to follow their parents up the bank?

Cattle tyrant on Capybara

 

Juvenile Rufescent tiger heron

Jabiru stork and small chicks

Juvenile Great black-hawk

The sun started to set,

and in due course we rounded the corner, past the ‘cormorant tree’,

Home to roost for the night

Nous aussi.

 

Families: Giant river otters, capybaras…

Tags

anhinga, cacique, caiman, capybara, cocoi heron, curassow, giant river otter, jaguar, kiskadee, piping-guan, roseate spoonbill, sandpiper, skimmer, southern screamer, trogon

Boat excursions from the flotel were every day from 7.00 am until 11.00 am, and from 2.00 pm until 6.00 pm.  This is the view from my window at 6.15 am on Tuesday 22nd September.These Blue-throated piping-guans were there every morning under what we called the cormorant tree (explanation later), but not when we returned.To our utter delight, shortly after setting off today, we came across a family of giant river otters, to our right as we meandered along a wide river.  Ten or eleven individuals in all, including four cubs, which were often carried in the mouths of adults. After a while they decided to cross the river in front of us, in search of one of their holts.

We continued on our way, seeing birds (and other creatures) we recognised, some we hadn’t seen before, and some I’m not sure of.

Unicoloured blackbird, male (confirmed by BL)

Cocoi heron

Caiman

Not so sweet, this size

Collared plover (confirmed by BL)

Mr and Mrs Southern screamer

Semi-palmated sandpiper (ID thanks to BL)

Black skimmers in context

Anhinga

Mr and Mrs Bare-faced curassow

Lesser kiskadee

Blue-crowned trogon (female)

Yellow-rumped cacique (weaves its nest)

Roseate spoonbills

We were always pleased to see these, commonplace though they were.

Team capybara

Grampa?

And in due course we found ourselves, along with Peter and Bianca, in almost exactly the same spot we had all been the previous day.  This time we got much better views of the beautiful female, with her much finer features. How long could she stand that heat? I wondered, and in due course she did move back into the shade.  Peter thought this could be an invitation.

Bianca

Bianca

Hopeful Peter, Bianca turning back to him

As we could hear from her vocalisations, he was smartly rebuffed, and when we moved to go back to the flotel for lunch, they had resumed almost the same positions as before.