Brazil Pantanal Trackers – In search of the Jaguar 2009

August 14th Hooray, hooray it’s a holi-holiday!

We left home on the 13.30 coach to Heathrow, which should have got us in by 17.30. However, snarl-ups on the M25 and elsewhere meant that we arrived decidedly later at around 19.00. Still, not to worry we had plenty of time to catch our flight at 10.05.

August 15th The queue is How long?! Cuiaba to Rio Claro Lodge Pocone

We flew with TAM Lineas – A Brazilian airline and I have to say we were both impressed by the service – well for £1000 per person flying economy you would expect good service would you not? That said, the in-flight entertainment was rather limited. We arrived on time in Sao Paolo early the next morning and had a three hour window to catch our onward connection to Cuiaba. Unfortunately with it being a domestic connection we needed to collect our bags and clear customs before proceeding to the gate. There were massive queues that seemed to snake back and forth through the airport and no help from the local authorities as we became somewhat anxious that we might miss our connection. I tried to remain calm, as Ian became increasingly panicky and we eventually got to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare.

Our connecting flight stopped at Campo Grande before Cuiaba and its eventual destination of Brasilia. The flight took about four hours, but we gained another hour as we passed through another time-zone arriving on time at 11.15. On arrival at Cuiaba it took a while for our bags to be offloaded and we were beginning to wonder if they were on their way to Brasilia. We needn’t have worried, everything arrived safely.

I was so relieved and elated to see Julio, our guide waiting for us in arrivals that I gave him a big hug! After introducing Ian (I had made all the arrangements for the trip) we were on our way. We stopped at a local supermarket to pick up some essentials for the camping part of the tour. This consisted of a bottle of rum, a slab of beer and a slab of coke (oh and some food and plenty of water).

From Cuiaba we drove directly until we reached the Transpantaneira highway at which point we slowed considerably to enjoy the wildlife that gathers in the ditches either side of the raised road. We started to see a range of birds and mammals including a variety of egrets, storks and herons. A full bird list is presented at the end, but highlights on the first day included , Red-legged Seriema, Jabiru, Roseate Spoonbills, Plumbeous Ibis, Buff-necked Ibis, Rufous-bellied Thrush and Rufescent Tiger-Herons (first sightings of these common but impressive looking birds).

Peach fronted parakeet

Black-collared Hawk

Red Legged Seriema

Southern Lapwing

Plumbeous Ibis

Buff-necked Ibis

Juvenile Snail Kite

Aggregation of Pantanal Caiman

Juvenile Rufescent Tiger-heron

Great Black Hawk

Jabiru

Roseate Sponbill

Along the road we also came across our first family group of Capybaras and a family of Brown Capuchins at a roadside bar. We stopped here for a while for a rest and a drink and I spent a bit of time photographing a one-eyed capuchin amongst others. The plan was to wait here and then spotlight for crepuscular animals on the way to the Rio Claro lodge- our base for the first few nights. We headed on our way again and as it started to get dark an Agouti jumped out onto the road but just as quickly dove back into cover again. Julio then spotted something moving on the left hand side of the road, I caught a brief glimpse of the tail and back end of a greyish looking cat- a Jaguarundi! We also came across a pair of Crab-eating Foxes- but they were too distant to photograph.

We got settled into our nicely appointed lodge and it quickly became apparent that Ian and Julio had a lot in common, particularly their love of music. In the evening Julio got a jamming session together and we had a wonderful time listening to him play his acoustic guitar and occasionally joining in with a song or two.

The singing was interrupted by a call outside that sounded for all the world like a couple making love on bed with a rusty spring! Julio quickly located the culprit- a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl. Now I have seen some small owls in my time but this one was tiny! What a cutie! Sadly he flew off before I could get my camera on that occasion.

Rufous-bellied Thrush

Brown Capuchin- old one-eye

Southern Caracara

Chestnut-bellied Guan

16th August- Rio Claro Lodge – In search of Giant Otters

After a good night’s sleep we were awoken before dawn to the dulcet tones of Rufus Horneros and Chaco Chachalacas. As the sun began to creep about the horizon I decided to have a wander around the lodge. I was able to see some spectacular new lifers including a couple of pairs of Bare-faced Curassows and three Burrowing Owls sitting on fence posts. Food is put out for the birds around the lodge. This attracts flocks of Yellow-billed Cardinals, Shiny, Bay-winged and Giant Cowbirds, Saffron Finches, Purplish Jays and the colourful Nanday Parakeets. Also in the trees were Glittering throated Emerald, Crested Oropendola, and Yellow-rumped Cacique.

Glittering-throated Emerald

Yellow-billed Cardinals

Nanday Parakeet

Toco Toucan

Great Potoo

Fuscous Flycatcher

Black Collared Hawk

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper

Saffron Finch

After breakfast Julio took us birding in some local woods alongside the river. We were lucky enough to see four Toco Toucans in a single tree, the first of many seen on our trip. This was in stark contrast to one of Julio’s previous trips where a gentleman had really wanted to photograph a toco toucan and they had only seen one on the whole trip.

Julio also showed us a Great Potoo, sitting on a tree. I had no idea they were that large! We also saw our first Vermillion Flycatcher- a stunning little bright red bird and three species of Antshrike- Giant, Great and Variable, along with various woodpeckers (one he called Yellow-patch, but which I've yet to conclusively identify and Smoky-brown-Julio's term for a more commonly called Little Woodpecker) and a Black-banded Woodcreeper.

We returned to the lodge for lunch and cooled off by having a swim in the pool before Ian went for a lie down and I did a spot of painting. Later that afternoon Julio took us on a boat trip along the river to look for the giant otters, but we didn’t see them on our first outing. We did, however, see our first troop of Black Howler Monkeys- but they were quite distant. This became the theme for these primates. We also saw a good variety of waterbirds, including the beautiful rufescent tiger-heron, three different kingfishers (Ringed, Green and Amazon Kingfisher), Green Ibis and the jabirus. As well as lots of Caiman.

As it got dark, we stopped at a roost of Great and Snowy egrets, Neotropical cormorants and Bare-faced Ibis watching as the birds came in to settle down for the night. Then on our way back the sky was filled with hawking nightjars. There may well have been other species in the flock but for the purposes of this report I’ve noted these down as Nacunda Nighthawk.

That evening we had another music fiesta! Who’d have thought I’d be doing karaoke along to Bon Jovi and Pink Floyd accompanied by Julio on acoustic in the middle of outback Brazil! Even Ian was encouraged to have a quick pling.

Anhinga (darter)

Cocoi Heron

Rufescent Tiger-Heron

Ringed Kingfisher

Julio- Jaguar Tracker, multilinguist, Rock legend, pilot, Cowboy..

Ike drinking a Caiapirinha

17th August Rio Claro Lodge – Otter-fest!

I was up early again and this time managed to get some photos of the bare faced curassows before breakfast. Breakfast itself consisted of a good spread, including a variety of very tasty cakes.

Just as we were on our way to the boat I turned to wait for Ian only to see a tree full of Chestnut-eared Aracaris- this, along with toco toucan was one bird I really wanted to see and what a stunner it is! After taking a few shots of these beauties we boarded the small motorboat for our trip along the Rio Claro in the search for giant otters.

We saw a few new birds, but as I forgot my notebook I might not have noted down all of them. They included Blue-throated Piping Guan, Sungrebe, Amazon Parrot, Blue-fronted Parrot, Yellow-headed Caracara, Picazuro Pigeon and Scaled Dove.

It was getting quite late into the boat trip when we saw our first fleeting glimpse of a large otter, but this lone animal turned out to be a Neotropical Otter, not a Giant River Otter- still much more impressive than our own otters and a delight to see. Further on the Otter-fest continued with another tantalising glimpse of a small family of Giant River Otters. But as soon as they saw us they were off. In an attempt to encourage them out into the open, Julio played a recording of territorial growls and whistles to see if that would get a rise from the resident group. However, this group of four obviously decided that discretion was the better part of valour and kept a low profile. Julio knew of a second, larger family in the area and we went off in search of them. Unfortunately they were a no show.

Ian was just packing up his camera when Julio spotted the original pack of otters that we had seen before, swimming away. Once again, Julio tried his recording and this time we got a response as the group of six started whistling, squealing and growling in a show of force against the supposed intruders. The rest of his family sought cover whilst a large dog otter came closer to inspect us, lifting his head and neck right out of the water, giving us a nice view of the pale patches on the throat, which are to otters as distinctive as a fingerprint. Satisfied we posed no threat he soon slipped away under the water. Wow! Giant Otters were one of the key mammal species I wanted to see on this trip and this was the start of several brief encounters throughout our safari.

By now it was getting towards lunchtime and the temperature was getting rather hot, so we headed back to the lodge, surprising a caiman as Julio punted the boat up onto the bank. It seemed like a good a chance as any to test out my underwater camera and housing so we spent a few minutes trying to film the caiman. Sadly the water was too murky to get any good underwater film, but we did get an interesting eye-level perspective at the surface.

After a quick swim and just before lunch some capuchins dropped into the lodge by the restaurant. I spent a bit of time photographing these entertaining primates. They were encouraged to hang around by the lodge staff who put out some bananas. This is an activity that Julio frowns on somewhat. He believes that wild animals should be allowed to be truly wild and should not be fed, because it alters their behaviour and makes them dependent (at least to a certain degree) on the people.

It is an interesting moral dilemma whether to encourage wildlife as close to the visitors as possible to try and guarantee an encounter by providing food. It’s widely accepted in the UK and around the lodges that feeding the birds is beneficial, but when food is used to attract monkeys the benefits and consequences are more complex. Julio told us of an instance where another lodge used to encourage howlers and capuchins by feeding them from a tower hide. People would be encouraged to provide fruit and water to the monkeys. One lady was moved to tears by feeding the monkeys some water. Unfortunately one monkey went looking for some fruit in a bag and threw the rest of the contents over the side- including a rather expensive camera! We did not get close to howler monkeys on our trip, so perhaps they are not fed from the tower hides anymore. There are some interesting points regarding the above observations and jaguars, which I will come onto later.

Bare-faced Curassow- Male

Bare-faced Curassow- Female

Chestnut-eared Aracari

Sungrebe

Giant River Otter

Brown Capuchin

Rufus Bellied Thrush

The plan for the afternoon was to head out on a game drive along the Transpantaneira Highway. Just as we were heading out we could see the sky darkening on the horizon. We spent some time photographing the Burrowing Owls and as we did so the wind started to really gust as the storm-front arrived really swiftly. A Greater Rhea braved the elements and we passed another tree-full of aracaris and toucans. Other new birds included Undulated Tinamou, and Epaulet Oriole. We once again stopped at the bar on the highway to watch the Capybaras whilst we waited for the worst of the storm to pass.

Whilst we hung out at the bar we encountered a string of other, rather damp-looking groups stopping to use the facilities. Most of the people who dropped in seemed to completely blank us, despite us offering a cheery greeting. We deduced that one group of Spanish visitors was not happy because of one member of the party, a photographer complaining that they were moving around too quickly. Ian and I were extremely thankful that for once we were not part of a larger group tour. Booking your own guide is definitely the best way to travel! Another French group turned up, barged past us and only one person stopped to say hello. Oh well, maybe it was the weather getting everyone down- it’s not supposed to rain at this time of year!

On the way back we had a successful spotlighting experience with three Crab-eating Foxes and a very fleeting glimpse of a Brazilian Rabbit (Tapeti). Then we caught the eye-shine from another Great Potoo, alert and watchful on a dead tree, until it flew off into the night. Best of all was when we turned down the track leading to the Rio Claro Lodge where Julio spotlighted an Ocelot! Through my binoculars, I had good clear views of this little spotted cat (I say little, but for an ocelot it seemed quite big), walking in the open for perhaps a minute or two before it skulked off into a patch of longer grass. Fantastic! But sadly there was no way I was going to be able to get a photo at that range in the dark.

After dinner entertainment consisted once again of Julio and the other guitarists playing accompanied by a guy with a big trumpet made out of steer horns.

Purplish Jay

Burrowing Owl

The approaching storm

Evening entertainment

August 18th – Happy birthday to me and a slight slip up..

It was my birthday and at 6 am we took another boat trip. Julio hoped we might be able to get better views of the Giant Otters before they left their holt. It was a good idea but unfortunately the otters didn’t play ball. Still it was a nice way to spend the morning and we caught a fleeting view of a Sunbittern in flight showing off the pattern on its wings and shiny cowbirds and chopi blackbirds on the feeders back at the lodge. I spent a bit of time photographing the Silver-beaked Tanagers that were also at the feeders and after breakfast we left the lodge for our drive down to Porto Jofre and the start of our Jaguar search, proper.

The drive to Porto Jofre was like an extended game drive in itself as the standing water either side of the road attracts large flocks of birds. We picked up several new species including two Marsh Deer, a party of South American Coatis, a brief view of a Red Brocket Deer, Black-capped Heron and the odd-looking Southern Screamer. At one point we stopped at some abandoned buildings, and Julio pointed out a nest of Great Horned Owls- two chicks could be seen on the nest. We also saw Rufus-tailed Jacamar, White faced Whistling Duck, American Pygmy Kingfisher. An interesting find was a Yellow Anaconda on the highway. We spent a bit of time photographing this pretty snake and Ian even had a go holding it while Julio took some photos for his blog.

Amazon Kingfisher

Snail Kite

Neotropical Cormorant

Silver-beaked Tanager

Bay-winged Cowbird

Shiny Cowbirds

Giant Cowbird

Giant Cowbird

Savanna Hawk

Grey Necked Wood Rail

Southern Caracara

Porto Jofre Lodge

Arriving at this rather extensive lodge we added more birds to our list including one I had been hoping to see, the spectacular Hyacinth Macaw! The Pantanal is one of their last strongholds and they are relatively easy to see around the lodge. The lodge is built by the river so some of the rooms (including ours) had riverside views. The gentleman in the next room over from us had had good views of jaguar that day so that was encouraging, but we didn’t have plans to go out on the river that afternoon as Julio needed the time to prepare for the camping.

At the far end of the lodge is the restaurant and games room with pool tables. To the right of that is a nice little swimming pool and beyond that is a very picturesque lake full of giant water lilies which attracts a good variety of birds. Whilst Ian had a rest in the air conditioned room, I had a nice dip in the pool, followed by some birding around the lodge. I saw several new species including Tropical Kingbird, Guira Cuckoos, Rusty-collared Seedeater, and two resting Nacunda Nighthawks. The grounds also have a very tame population of Southern Caracaras.

I forgot to take a spare battery with me and my other one was giving out so I headed back to the room to pick up a fresh one before heading back out again to watch the macaws coming in to roost. Ian was sitting outside, so after a quick change I was on my way again. I didn’t get far though as I slipped in some rather sticky mud and landed on my camera, covering it and the TCON17 converter in the process! Ian did a fine job clearing up the mess I made but there was clearly still some mud in the zoom lever mechanism as it felt very gritty to the touch and still doesn’t work as smoothly as it used to. I also made the mistake of trying to wash off the mud on the TCON but did not realise that it wasn’t watertight. The next day it had fogged completely so was unusable for most of the trip!

This and clouding skies meant that I missed the best of the light and the birds coming into roost. That evening was quite quiet- Julio seemed quite tired so we all got an early night.

Pantanal Caiman

Neotropical Cormorant

Southern Screamer

Black Crowned Night Heron

Julio with the anaconda

Ian Holding the Anaconda while Julio takes the photo

Marsh Deer

Rufus Tailed Jacamar

Young Great Horned Owls

Common Kiskadee

Nacunda Nighthawk

Wattled Jacana

Pantanal Caiman

Giant Waterlillies

Rusty-collared Seedeater

Vermillian Flycatcher

Squirrel Cuckoo

Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

August 19th OMG it’s a Jaguar!!!!

Whilst it is possible to get lucky and see a jaguar on the Transpantaneira highway, the most reliable area in the North Pantanal is around Porto Jofre where the Jaguars come down to the riverbanks to sunbathe when the weather is hot. This was therefore the first day where we had a reasonable chance to find a Jaguar, and the day did not disappoint! We packed for our camping expedition and boarded Julio’s boat.

We got lucky straight away with a nice sighting of another Neotropical Otter. This one showed better, clambering out of the water onto a sandbar. Next we passed another sandbar full of Black Skimmers - a bird Ian was really hoping to see.

Neotropical Otter

Black Skimmers

We then took a side channel off the main river and came across two boats full of people who were staring intently at the riverbank. Julio cruised in for a closer look at what they were viewing. His suspicions were correct, it was a magnificent male Jaguar which Julio estimated to be around 9 years old. Pantanal Jaguars are the biggest Jaguar subspecies and this male was huge and looked very powerful! I’ve seen lions, tigers and leopards and I would say he was comparable in size to a small tigress or lioness. He had clearly been in some fights in his time and had a small wound on the inside of his left front quarter. At first our views were somewhat impeded by the other viewers, and it was very difficult to get a properly exposed photograph owing to a sunlit log and the jaguar being in deep shade. But we bided our time.

Some of the lodges in the area give the Jaguars pet names, apparently there is one called “Jack” for instance. An Italian photographer from one of the other boats asked Julio whether he knew this cat’s name. Julio replied that he didn’t name the cats, although he has known this individual since he was a cub. He does not believe it is right to name a jaguar out of respect for the animal. Who has the right to give a pet name to an animal revered as a God anyway? The three of us had a discussion about this later on. I personally feel it is a useful way for people to tell a story about an animal. By naming it, you give it an identity and it helps to relate it to other animals, be they rivals, family members or whatever. But it should be done with respect and should, I think, reflect some characteristic of the animal, like with the leopard, “Half Tail”, in Big Cat Diary.

Several other groups arrived and the sighting turned into a bit of a free-for-all, as boats jostled for position around the bank. The Jaguar got rather unsettled at one point as he started to feel penned in with the boats surrounding him. He expressed his displeasure by giving a few annoyed roars before he settled down again. Julio told us that this was becoming more of a problem as more tourist boats now operate in the area. The Jaguars are quite tolerant, but only to a point, and there needs to be some ground rules established, otherwise sightings of jaguars along the banks could become less frequent. Julio told us that he has actually noticed a rather worrying trend in the animals’ behaviour in that they already seem to be coming out into the open less than in previous years.

We also heard some disturbing rumours about attempts to feed jaguars in the hopes of guaranteeing a sighting. I will not go into any detail because this is only hearsay and there is no hard evidence to back this up. All I will say though is that, given the right weather conditions, the Jaguars seem to be happy to show well by the river banks and as long as viewing is conducted sensitively there should be no need to find ways of artificially encouraging the cats to change their behaviour.

A beautiful Male Jaguar!

As boats came and went, we remained and achieved some amazing views and finally got some amazing photos. We stayed with the Jaguar for 2 ¾ hours, sharing cervezas with another group of Brits as we toasted our success (and whilst the Jaguar dozed in the shade). After we finally tore ourselves away from the handsome cat we caught a glimpse of a group of Giant Otters. We also came across a party of Black Howler Monkeys and all this excitement was before lunchtime!

Dragonfly

Green Iguana

Black Howler Monkey

Cooling off with caiman

We came across a dead caiman and Julio took a closer look. I think he wanted to check whether it had died of natural causes, it transpired that a Jaguar was the culprit- there were twio holes in the skull where the Jaguar had bitten down into the Caiman's brain, killing it. It had also eaten the stomach area but left the limbs intact.

We found a nice sandbar and sat in the river together to cool off while we ate our sandwiches. As we bathed we had an odd sensation on our skin as fish nibbled at us, picking of any dead skin. Sharing the water with us was also a caiman further along the sandbar. I tried to sneak up on it with my underwater camera but it wasn’t having any of it. Southern Caracara and Black Vultures waited hopefully for any scraps, but they were sorely disappointed.

A caiman killed by a jaguar

Note the two holes in the skull- teeth marks!

Enjoyiong a well-earned break in the 3 Irmaos river

As we headed on our way to camp, we stopped to photograph some capybaras and arrived at our camp a short while before sunset. Our site was the garden of a local couple, Senor Carminda and Donna Maria. They were both very welcoming but didn’t speak word of English. The facilities were understandably basic with an outside-loo-come-shower, a single storey residence and a chapel. We pitched our tents in the garden and quickly covered up as swarms of mosquitoes started to descend on us. Then went inside and had some coffee. Ian wasn’t looking too good, I think he had too much sun. Julio headed off to a local fishing lodge to get some ice before dinner. We were going to use the shower, but Ian said he couldn’t find it- turned out to be in the toilet – he’d just missed it!

Capybara

Dinner consisted of rice and buffalo jerky and a pacu stew made with bananas. Pacu is a type of fish, related to the piranha. It’s quite tasty (despite the fish heads) but very bony. It was dark by 18.30 and the grass lit up with flashes from Fireflies. When Julio returned, we finally found the shower. Then after a quick rum and coke, it was time to hit the sack. It was only about 19.30, but there is nothing else to do except hide from the insect swarms.

We hadn’t put the flysheet on the tent because Julio advised us that it would help us keep cool and anyway it never rains at this time of year. Famous last words! The first time we tried to settle we started to feel little water droplets and quickly realised it was raining! So there was a mad dash to cover the tent and get our gear inside the chapel.

I was just settling down again, when I got a shock as something wet and slimy landed on my thigh. I grabbed my torch and found that it was a little yellow frog! After evicting the amphibian, I once again tried to get some sleep. Ian managed to get off to sleep, which was good because I think he needed the rest.

Then it seemed that, just as I was drifting off to sleep the resident cockerel started crowing at goodness knows what time! Abandoning the thought of getting any more rest, I got up to use the toilet to find a Cane Toad on the path on the way back to the tent. Then the Chacochacalacas started up….

August 20th Biting flies and overcast skies

After an eventful night I was up before dawn but Ian had a lie in so I spent a bit of time birding around the lodge. A flowering tree attracted Yellow-rumped Caciques, Crested Oropendolas, Solitary Cacique and Orange-backed Troupials, additionally Green-winged Saltator, Black-capped Donacobious, Masked Flycatcher, Monk Parakeets, Buff-winged Swallow. There was also a Fork-tailed Woodnymph flitting from flower to flower.

Monk Parakeets

Epaulet Oriole

Yellow-rumped Cacique

Orange-backed Troupial

Rufus Hornero on it's oven-like nest

After a leisurely breakfast we headed out on the boat. Due to the cold front moving in the weather was overcast which meant that it was not good at all for sighting jaguars. Needless to say our search proved fruitless on that front and we spent time watching the birds, including Black-capped Heron. We stopped for a rest on a sandbar and spent a bit of time just drawing in the sand. We didn’t see much else before lunch, which we took on another sandbar. We rested for a while enjoying the rice, jerk buffalo meat and manioc flour, observed hungrily by the caracaras and black vultures. After eating our fill we left the rest for the birds, who descended rapidly to scavenge our leftovers. It quickly became apparent that there was a pecking order for the scraps, with the feisty caracaras beating up the larger vultures.

We headed off on our way and this time came across some more Giant Otters. One was on the bank in some cover happily munching on a piranha. Then from further away several other otters started squealing and growling which got his attention and he swam off to meet up with the rest of his pack as they all swam away from us. Later on, we came across the same otter family again, but they didn’t stick around, continuing their journey along the river.

Fork-tailed woodnymph

Greyish Saltator

Baby capybara

Green Iguana

Black-capped Heron

Julio then took us to a secluded spot to search for birds. He noticed some fresh jaguar tracks in the area and briefed us on what to do if we should happen to come across the cat whilst in the area. We found a very rare bird for the area, a Helmeted Manakin, as well as Undulated Tinamou, Cream-coloured Woodpecker, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Band-tailed Antbird, Variable Antshrike and Great Antshrike. Unfortunately for us it wasn’t just the birds that liked this spot but also the horseflies and mosquitoes and despite wearing insect repellent clothes and deet we got bitten to death. One horsefly bit Ian on the back of the neck, he swatted it and in return it flew over and bit me right on my little finger! The bite drew blood and was very painful for a while, but thankfully it didn’t swell up too much. Finally Julio slipped in the mud on the way back to the boat so we decided to call it quits for the day! We enjoyed another nice meal with our hosts back at camp and then had another quiet night in our tents.

Giant River Otter

Rufus Tailed Jacamar

Cream-coloured woodpecker

Female Band-tailed Antbird

Red-billed Scythbill

August 21st Broken cloud and breaking wind!

Another wet night and we awoke to clear(ish) skies which sadly didn’t last long, although the cloud was more broken than the day before. A spot of early morning birding around the camp produced Red-billed Scythbill, three Chestnut-eared Aracaris, Greyish Saltator, Common Tody Flycatchers, Bananaquit, Little Woodpecker, and a Golden-Green Woodpecker. Birding round the camp was extended as Julio decided that it was too windy and overcast to take the boat out in the morning. So we had a leisurely breakfast and spent some time socialising with Carminda and Maria. An interesting discovery was that jokes about breaking wind seem to cross language borders! The silent but deadly variety in the UK is know to the Portuguese as a “church fart”. We had a nice lunch at camp and spent a bit of time trying to photograph the hummingbirds in the garden. We then headed out on the boat for the afternoon at around 13.30.

Greyish Saltator

Sayaca Tanager

Chestnut-eared aracari

Palm Tanager

Black fronted Nunbird

Golden-green Woodpecker

Tropical Kingbird

We passed a sandbar with some nice Large-billed terns, yellow-billed terns and Black Skimmers, before turning into a side channel. Julio told us that he saw three jaguars on the banks of this channel the week before, but we were not so lucky. He switched off the engine and let the current take us slowly down the river, paddling occasionally to steer us away from the banks. Julio set up some fishing rods and handed one to Ian. The plan was to try and catch some fish for the next day’s dinner. Julio used fruit to fish for Pacu. Whilst he gave Ian some steak with which to fish for Piranha! To catch Piranha you use steak covering a hook. The rods were makeshift jobbies made from bamboo. When you feel a nibble on your line you have to jerk the rod up to snag the fish. Ian had a go and managed to catch himself four Yellow-bellied Piranha and he also almost caught a Pacu. Julio dispatched three big Pacu for the table before Ian decided that fishing really wasn’t the sport for him. Julio said haw saw a trogon, but it was too distant for me to really get a good look at and we then headed back to camp, passing a roost of black capped herons on the way. We also came across a caiman that had caught a fish.

When we got out onto the main river we saw a flock of nighthawks hawking for insects. By that point the clouds had started to roll in again and it was threatening to rain. Julio told us that the weather was quite a-typical for the time of year. It’s fairly common for there to be a day or two of cloud because of a cold front coming from the Antarctic but it has not rained in August in Julio’s memory. But this year the rains came later than usual. Another thing that we heard was that the rivers are silting up and there are some places that you can now cross on horseback that would have required a boat a few years ago. We were beginning to think that this would be the end of our jaguar sightings- with the weather having turned. Julio was very relieved that we had made a sighting on the first day, it took the pressure off somewhat and we were able to just take each day as it came. But as it turned out we needn’t have been concerned.

Female Fork-tailed Woodnymph

Yellow billed tern

Black Skimmer

Large billed tern

Black-capped Donacobious

Julio with a Pacu

Ian with a piranha

August 22nd Sunbitterns are a good omen!

We awoke to patchy cloud before dawn thanks to the noisy cockerel. I took a wander down to the boat to discover a Sunbittern. I hoped that was a good omen for the weather and it certainly seemed to be. I also saw Masked Gnatcatcher, and a pair of Unicoloured Blackbirds.

Amazon Kingfisher

Roadside Hawk

The weather was good enough to take to boat out and we covered some areas in the morning that the lodge boats frequented. As we came across a couple of boats in one stretch of the river, we spotted some Giant Otters again. I heard someone on one of the other boats asked their driver if a splash in the water was one of the otters, but then this boat and the other one left. I’m not sure why, but I guess they thought the otters had gone. Or maybe they just didn’t have the patience to sit quietly and wait. We did and we were treated to the sight of three otters. The first one we saw came out of the water and disappeared into his holt, he then reappeared followed by two others, who all entered the water and swam off.

Giant Otter

Striated Heron

Some time later we saw another boat speeding off so we followed them, to find a crowd of boats watching a female Jaguar! The first view we got was of her leaving a sandbar then disappearing into thicker cover, walking along the riverbank, as everyone followed. I managed to get some footage of her walking between patches of cover, and the birds making a commotion helped to reveal her position when we couldn’t see her. At one point she sat down for a few moments before becoming restless and moving on. Julio estimated that this female was about 6 or 7 years old.

The gorgeous female Jaguar

After walking some way she then tried to settle down under a tree. She was watching the boats warily. There were quite a few boats by that point as word had got around, and they were spaced out along the river in front, alongside and behind the Jaguar. I don’t think she was comfortable with so many boats and you could see her wariness in her body language. She groomed herself half-heartedly before getting up and walking off again. Finally she did settled down for a while providing the onlookers with clear views for a short time. We actually got some good photos of her, before slowly the current carried us downstream and out of position. By the time we got back the Jaguar had apparently had enough of the attention and had headed back into the bush away from the river.

I guess at this point the lodge boats called it a day and headed back to the lodge for lunch. We had brought our packed lunches so could be out all day. We also headed off but doubled back a while later just on the off chance that she had returned; unfortunately not. So we decided to go to the sandbar for lunch. We had a dip in the river and threw our leftovers to the vultures and caracaras and I spent some time filming the spats between the birds.

We were so pleased with our two sightings that we thought the only way this trip could be even more wonderful was if we had spotted a Jaguar with Julio on our own, without any other boats around. Little did we know then what the afternoon would bring!

Black Vulture

And just when we thought it couldn't get any better- Young love in the swamp!

After lunch we headed off to the same spot we birded at the day before. The plan was to do some birding, but we discovered that this wasn’t going to be a good plan. As we paddled down the shallow creek towards the sandbank at the end Julio spotted a Jaguar sitting there. I looked through my binoculars and much to my surprise discovered that there were actually two Jaguars sitting side by side. At first Julio thought it might have been a mother and cub. But as we got closer we quickly discovered that it was a courting couple. We kept a respectful distance and settled down to watch them. They were both watching us, the female took more interest in us than the male- who we assumed was tired after servicing the female at some point before we arrived. As the male settled down for a nap, the female got up and came a bit closer, sitting down on the edge of the sandbar and watching us curiously.

A while later, the male stood up and walked over to a shadier spot before lying down again. Julio estimated that the couple were about 4 years old. The male will guard the female while she is in oestrus and then the female is left to raise the young alone. Some time later the young female stood up and sauntered over to her partner, growling seductively and brushing her head and body against his. It was clear that the male was in no state to service her so soon after their last coupling, so the female settled down next to him affectionately rubbing her head against his. We stayed and watched them for a while longer and then slowly, carefully, Julio backed the boat out of the creek with his paddle.

23rd August Farewell my friends! Camp to Hotel Porto Jofre

It had rained in the night and I was once again awoken at ungodly O’clock by the cockerel. I managed to take a record shot of the sunbittern before heading back to bed for a while. After breakfast we packed up our gear and said fair-well to our hosts. As a token of thanks we left them our little wind-up torch which I hope they will find a use for. Overcast skies and a cool breeze meant our journey back to Porto Jofre was uneventful and we arrived at the hotel in time for lunch.

We had an afternoon of relaxation after a much-needed shower. I put this to good use having a swim and then spending the rest of the afternoon photographing the Hyacinth macaws and other wildlife around the lake. Before dinner we played a few games of pool whilst listening to heavy metal on Julio’s laptop. We also viewed some of the jaguar footage that Julio took. The only new bird was a Grey-headed Tanager.

Toco Toucan

Monk Parakeet

Hyacinth Macaw

Monk Parakeet

Large-billed Tern

Rufescent tiger heron

Green Kingfisher

White winged swallow

24th August - A trio of Tayras and a sinister sight.

Today was basically another transit day where we drove from Porto Jofre to our last base of the trip Pousada Piuval back in Pocone. We stopped frequently to look at and photograph birds and other wildlife. The first stop we made was at the last place we stopped on the way down, where the Great Horned Owls were nesting. This time they young had fledged and we found them in a nearby tree. Julio also found me a few new birds:

Creamy-bellied Thrush, Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Ruddy Ground dove, Lineated woodpecker, Maguiri Stork and a Little Blue heron were all seen en route as was a distant flyover of a pair of Blue and Yellow Macaws. On the road we saw a fleeting coati and a capuchin. We stopped next for a congregation of waterbirds including Black-capped Heron.

Later on we took lunch at an abandoned research station which was rather eerie. One of the rooms had a caiman partly dissected on an examination table and I dared not look too closely at the jars of pickled specimens. It was as if everyone had just suddenly vanished. According to Julio the funding for the research had suddenly run out and the place had been abandoned. I photographed a Crimson-crested woodpecker and some Guira Cuckoos before we moved on. We also saw a Plumbeous Ibis and mate on a nest and another Great Potoo.

Great Horned Owl

Scarlet-headed Blackbird

Guira Cuckoo

Plumbeous Ibis on nest

A short while later we had a real treat. Running around on the road in front of us was a Tayra, a mustellid that looks like an overgrown pine martin crossed with a wolverine. First one came trotting up towards us, so we stopped the jeep and watched. It came closer, backed up, came closer again, ran back away again and then came forward again. Soon another one joined the first one from beside us and we saw a third to our left. The third one was more shy and stayed in the cover of the bushes. Julio told us that this was only the second time this year that he had seen tayras. So we felt really privileged.

We continued on our way and it started to rain. We stopped at the bar that we visited before, near the Rio Claro lodge for a coffee and a break. Then we continued on our way to our new lodge. We stopped again because a bridge was being repaired so we had to wait a while. There were a couple of howler monkeys in the vicinity. A Little Blue Heron was seen at one of the many congregations of waterbirds. Finally we arrived at the track leading to the lodge. We kept a lookout for giant anteaters on the way in, but sadly we didn’t see any.

We finished off the evening with a few songs accompanied by Julio on guitar. But I think we were too tired to remember most of the lyrics!

Thrush-like wren

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

Wood Storks and Maguiri Storks

Tayra

Roseate Spoonbill

Ringed Kingfisher

Great white egret

Large-billed Tern

Lesser Kiskadee

Little Blue Heron

Limpkin

Snail Kite

The bar

25th August – A head for heights – Tower hides at Piuval.

This was our last full day before heading home. We went for a walk in the morning, it was rather overcast so we didn’t see many birds but those we did see included, Campo Flicker, White-rumped Monjita, White-headed Marsh Tyrant, Crane Hawk, Red-crested Cardinal, Long-tailed Ground Dove. We also saw a few agoutis and a coati near a tower hide. We climbed to the top of the tower hide- Ian had reservations as he doesn’t like heights but he made it to the top and at least I enjoyed the views.

After lunch we had a little break and did a bit of birding around the lodge, seeing White-tailed Kite, Cattle Egret, Solitary Sandpiper and White-backed Stilt. Julio also showed us a Chalk-browed Mockingbird which Ian was really excited to see (NOT). We finished up the afternoon with a boat trip on the local lake starting with a visit to a roost site for egrets. Then there was another tower hide to traverse- this time across a rickety bridge over a marsh, which creaked ominously under Ian’s weight. We saw a Tegu lizard, Agoutis, coatis and capuchins. But sadly no anteaters. After dinner we sang a few songs and watched two Crab-eating Foxes amble through the grounds.

Campo Flicker on a termite mound

White Rumped Monjita

Blue-throated Piping Guan

Sayaca Tanager

Agouti

Red-crested Cardinal

Campo Flicker

Smooth-billed Ani

Bare-faced Ibis

Chalk-browed Mockingbird

Campo Flicker

Sunbittern

Tegu

Egret roost

Great Antshrike

Canopy Tower

Rufus Cachalote

Solitary Sandpiper

26th August - Terrific Trogons and fond farewells

Julio asked us what we’d like to do on our last morning. He said he could sort us out with a horse-riding trek or we could go for a walk and do some more birding. Ian had already had his fill of adventure and new challenges so, considering his fear of heights and inexperience of riding we decided to opt for the gentler option of an early morning walk. It proved to be a good choice. We were out at 06.30 and the first thing we came across was a large party of Coatis. So we stopped for a while photograph them. On the other side of the track from the coatis in a small copse of trees Julio pointed out a group of Pantanal Marmosets so I finally managed to get some good views of this elusive little monkey, Sadly they were too fast for me to get any photos.

We then went through a wooded area and a bird fluttered onto a branch, I looked up and was surprised to see that it was a female Blue-crowned Trogon, and then we saw the male on a nearby branch. He showed well until a car passed us and they both flew off out of sight. We also saw a Giant Antshrike. On the way back we passed the coatis again and then two Whistling Herons took off ahead of us. We had a small breakfast then packed before heading off on our long journey home.

South American Coatis

Blue-crowned Trogon

Amazon Parrot

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

As a final treat, Julio took us to a traditional Chuhascaria restaurant. This is an all you can eat barbeque. What happens is, you are given a card which is green on one side with the words “Sim, Por Favor” and red on the reverse which says, “Nao Obrigada”. As long as you keep the green side up, the waiters will come to the table and offer all different cuts of cooked meat on massive skewers. You take a pair of tongs, point to the bit you want and they carve it off for you. The meats on offer included different cuts of beef, like steak, brisket, fillet mignon, chicken, pork, sausage, marinated lamb etc. A massive spread of accompanying sides and desserts are also available. I’m amazed this style hasn’t caught on elsewhere.

The restaurant was literally just round the corner from the airport so after we had eaten our fill Julio took us there and checked us in for our flight before we said our final goodbyes. I was really sad to be leaving, not just because we had a fabulous holiday but because I felt like we were leaving a good friend behind. One day I hope we will return to this wonderful country and renew our acquaintances.

Tegu

Rio Piuval Lodge

Link to even more photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8773601...7622174180742/

List of birds:
American (Greater) Rhea
Undulated Tinamou
Chestnut-bellied Guan
Blue-throated Piping Guan
Chaco Chachalaca
Southern Screamer
Bare-faced Curassow
Red-legged Seriema
Neotropical Cormorant
Anhinga (Darter)
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
White-necked Heron (Cocoi Heron)
Little Blue Heron
Whistling Heron
Striated Heron

Black Capped Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Rufescent Tiger Heron
American Wood Stork
Maguiri Stork
Jabiru
Bare-faced Ibis
Plumbeous Ibis
Buff-necked Ibis
Green Ibis
Limpkin
Roseate Spoonbill
Muscovy Duck
White-faced Whistling Duck
Grey-necked Wood Rail
Wattled Jacana
Sungrebe
Sunbittern
Southern Lapwing
Pied Plover
Solitary Sandpiper
White Backed Stilt
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Yellow-headed Vulture
Snail Kite
Great Black Hawk
Savannah Hawk
Black Collared Hawk
Roadside Hawk
Crane Hawk
White-tailed Kite
Southern Caracara
Yellow-billed Tern
Large-billed Tern
Feral Pigeon
White-Tipped Dove
Picazuro Pigeon
Scaled Dove
Long-tailed Ground Dove
Ruddy Ground Dove
Amazon Parrot
Peach-fronted Parakeet
Blue-fronted Parrot
Monk Parakeet
Nanday Parakeet
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet
Hyacinth Macaw
Blue and Yellow Macaw
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
Burrowing Owl
Great Horned Owl

Nacunda Nighthawk
Great Potoo
Green Kingfisher
American Pygmy Kingfisher
Amazon Kingfisher
Ringed Kingfisher
Rufous Tailed Jacamar
Blue-crowned Trogon
Glittering-throated Emerald Hummingbird
Fork-tailed Woodnymph
Yellow-throated Woodpecker
Little Woodpecker
Golden-green Woodpecker
Green-barred Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Crimson-Crested Woodpecker
Cream-coloured Woodpecker
Campo Flicker
Red-billed Scythebill
Black-banded Woodcreeper
Narrow-Billed Woodcreeper
White-fronted Nunbird
Black-fronted Numbird
Toco Toucan
Chestnut-Eared Aracari
Rufous Hornero
Wren-like Thrush
Rufous-bellied Thrush
Creamy-bellied Thrush
White-necked Thrush

Unicoloured Blackbird
Scarlet Headed Blackbird
Red-breasted Blackbird
Purplish jay
Squirrel cuckoo
Guira Cuckoo
Crested Oropendola
Yellow-rumped Cacique
Solitary Cacique
Orange Backed Troupial
Giant cowbird
Shiny cowbird
Bay-winged cowbird
Chopi Blackbird
Black –capped Donacobious
Sayaca Tanager

Grey headed Tanager

Palm Tanager
Silver-billed Tanager
Bananaquit
Green-winged Saltator
Greyish Saltator
Epaulet Oriole
Smooth-billed Ani
White Headed Marsh Tyrant
Pied Water Tyrant
Masked Gnatcatcher
Pale-breasted Spinetail
Rufous Cachalote
Cattle Tyrant
Lesser flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Boat-billed Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Vermillion Flycatcher

Fuscous Flycatcher
Common Tody Flycatcher

Chalk-browed Mockingbird
Yellow-billed Cardinal
Red-Crested Cardinal
Buff-winged swallow

White-winged Swallow
Giant Antshrike
Variable Antshrike
Great Antshrike

Band-tailed Antbird
White-rumped Monjita
Helmeted Manakin
Rusty-Collared Seed-Eater
Saffron Finch

Total:149 species

List of Mammals and other animals

Jaguar x 4
Ocelot x 1
Jaguarondi x1
Tayra x3
Giant River Otters
Neotropical Otter
South American Coati
Crab-eating foxes
Brazilian Rabbit (Tapeti)
Agouti
Capybara
Red Brocket Deer
Marsh Deer
Black Howler Monkey
Brown Capuchin
Pantanal Marmoset
Bat species

17 species

Caiman
Tegu
Green Iguana
Gecko sp.