A birdy morning

14 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by Musiewild in Photography, Travel, Wildlife

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Toco toucan

Two baby caiman

Quite sweet really, head about 2 inches wide

Marmoset

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.