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.

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.

It’s very, very hot today

Tags

caiman, caracara, giant river otter, great black-hawk, green kingfisher, Howler monkey, iguana, Jabiru, jaguar, Pantanal, smooth-billed ani, striated heron, tree frog, wood rail

6.45 am, Wednesday 23rd September, and we’re longing to get going in the boat for its refreshing breeze.  As we wait…

This was the ugliest, biggest, scariest caiman we saw the whole time – and it was right beside the flotel, bankside, every morning

This Striated heron close by was not the least bit concerned

We moved off, but soon stopped for a while.

Impossible not to stop and watch yesterday’s family of giant river otters at their morning ablutions

The cream markings on throat and chest are individual to each otter

‘Giant’ means about 6 foot in length, full-grown

After jaguars, these otters were what I most wanted to see, and I wasn’t alone.

We have an appointment with Bianca.

Jabiru

So have others.

Rent-a-crowd

We didn’t stay very long after Bianca disappeared into the undergrowth, having other delights in store.

Grey-necked wood rail (confirmed by BL)

A little too close for these binoculars’ focus

George sporting the natty butterfly

Howler monkey

Black-collared hawk

? Smooth-billed ani (probably, says BL)

Jabiru and older chicks

This green iguana crawled out of the lower part of the nest

This one was near but well away from it

Caracara

Green kingfisher, female

? Juvenile Great black-hawk preparing for…

… take-off

Pete modelling a very chic tree frog, which had fallen on to our eagle-eyed boatman, Manuel

Close-up of tree frog

Caracara, high up in tree, with snake

Despite the heat, the morning’s outing was over quickly, though as ever we were pleased to get back to the air-conditioned flotel, a delicious lunch, and a short siesta.

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.