Much of our time at Porto Jofre was spent on a boat looking for Jaguars on the banks of the rivers.  Birding took a back seat, but there were still plenty of birds to see along the rivers.  Our boats were comfortable, the rivers calm and the weather a sunny 103 degrees.  The scenery in and along the rivers was, to use an over-used term, gorgeous.

Our first morning on the river turned up empty of Jaguars. We started the morning with nice looks at nesting

Large-billed Terns

At the end of the hot morning I was exhausted and for the only time on the trip, I skipped the afternoon activities, took a nap, and birded around the Lodge.  Of course, afternoon on the River produced the group’s first Jaguar sighting of the trip.

As is the case in many areas where wild-life sightings are the objective, when a guide finds an animal he radios the other guides in the area, and they all converge.  This can be an unpleasant experience due to the jockeying for photographic advantage that goes on.

The next morning Marcello decided to abandon the main river and go in the opposite direction to a smaller tributary.  That decision was a very good one, because shortly after entering the tributary, two young Jaguars were spotted along the shore line.

We were the only boat in range, so the time spent observing them inter-act with each other, (licking, playing) was lovely.  The entire group was relieved that I, who had missed the first Jaguar, now could add Jaguars to my life list of mammals.

Later in the day, back on the big river, we were fortunate to find a fourth Jaguar.  This one was spotted by our boatman as it cooled itself behind a fallen tree in the shaded waters of the river, but this one did not stick around long and did not provide much opportunity for pictures, although the sighting itself was very satisfying.

The search for Jaguars was primary while we were at Porto Jofre, but the birding was also excellent.  Among the interesting species that we were able to see and photograph driving down the Pantaneira and after our arrival at Porto Jofre are these:

Hyacinth Macaws

Campo Flicker

Amazon Kingfisher

Egrets 

Maguari Stork

Rufescent Tiger Heron

Capped Herons

Cocoi Heron

Yellow-rumped Caciques

Orange-backed Troupial

Green and Rufous Kingfisher 

Southern Screamer

Nacunda Nighthawk   

White-wedged Piculet     

Buff-necked Ibis  

There were many Jabiru Storks.  This one was busy fishing for his dinner.

We saw this Jabiru Stork family high in the tree.

No photographic record of our time on the Pantaneira would be complete without a picture of the ever present Cayman.

The final installment of my blog of Brazil will cover the drive from Porto Jofre back to the north end of the Pantaneira, where we spent the night at Piuval Lodge and explored the surrounding ranch.

On August 30, 2015 we left Garden of the Amazon and drove south toward the Pantanal.  Midway, we stopped in Cuiaba to pick up one of our guides, Pepe, who a couple of days earlier had accompanied a guest back to Cuiaba from Garden of the Amazon due to a medical emergency.  The guest was OK, much to our relief, and he re-joined the tour at Cuiaba.  Lesson to be learned:  it might be wise to tour with groups who provide 2 guides.

Eighty percent of the Pantanal is located in west central Brazil with smaller areas in eastern Bolivia and eastern Paraguay.  The Pantanal contains about 70,000 square miles and it is the world’s largest freshwater wetland, 10 to 20 (depending on the source) times the size of the Everglades.  Every year it is flooded to several feet in depth from the rains (40-60 inches from November to March) and by runoff from the tributaries of the Paraguay River.  The Pantanal starts about 60 miles south of Cuiaba near Pocone.  The northern third of the Pantanal (approximately 80 miles) is traversed by the Transpantaneira Road.  This is a dirt road with 122 wooden bridges, most of which are in poor repair.  The road ends on a river bank, at the little village of Porto Jofre.  There is no bridge across the river.  The southern two thirds of the Pantanal is almost roadless, except for a short stretch at the south end.  Ninety-eight percent of the Pantanal is in private ownership, mostly cattle ranching.

Along the Pantaneira, in ranch-land a little far out for pictures, we spotted two Red-legged Seriemas.

This was the third of the three new bird families on my wish list for this trip.  We stopped for an evening of birding and good food at Curicaca Lodge (“Pousada Curicaca”) which is about 15 miles down the Pantaneira and about 3 kilometers off the road, accessed by a narrow dirt lane.  It is located in one of the few cattle-free areas of the Pantanal.  We birded around the Lodge that evening and the next morning.

Among the birds we saw at Curicaca were:

Blue-throated Piping Guan

Bare-faced Currasows

Gray- necked Woodrail

Tropical Screech Owl

Great Potoo

Pale-crested Woodpecker

Cream-colored Woodpecker

Laughing Falcon

Bat Falcon

Orange-winged Parrot

Yellow-collared Macaw

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

Purple-throated Euphonia

Plumbious Ibis

We saw a lot of birds the next morning as we walked along the private road.  Around 9:00 a.m. we boarded our bus and started south on the Pantaneira to Porto Jofre, about 60 miles away.  The road was very dusty. Many of the wooden bridges were not safe and must be bypassed by driving through the seasonally dry ditches at the sides of the bridges.  But the birds; Oh the birds!!!  I have never seen so many birds over such large landscapes.  At this, the end of the dry season, they are collecting at the nearly dried-out ponds and ditches along the road to take advantage of the fish and other aquatic creatures that are suffocating in the dwindling and hot pools.  Even the Cayman appear to be suffering the ill effects, as we saw a couple of dead and decomposing corpses protruding from the water.

The history of the Pantaneira Road is very interesting.  Prior to World War II the area was lightly populated and very poor.  During World War II, the local ranchers sold beef to supply the needs of the soldiers in Europe and Africa.  They did very well financially, and lobbied for a road.  The government proceeded to build the road, in part.  The south terminus of the road is at the Rio Sao Lourenco River at Porto Jofre, and there is no land connection crossing the river, or for many miles on south.  The only connection from the south is by river.  After the war, the demand for exported beef dwindled, and the influence of the ranchers dwindled accordingly, probably explaining why the road was not finished.

The Pantanal is still a source of beef (see local cowboys, or “Vaqueiros” along the road; the Spanish demonym, “Gaucho” is used in Argentina and in the very southern part of Brazil, but I think where we were, “Vaqueiro” would be the proper usage).

I learned that the cattle are primarily Zebu, or Indian Brahman, and almost all the cattle in the Pantanal are of the white to silvery gray variety, with the long, drooping ears, excess neck skin and back hump typical of their progenitors.  Heat and drought resistance is a valuable trait for survival in the Pantanal. During the rainy season, the cattle retreat to the closest available forested knolls or ridges that are barely above the water line.

We proceeded slowly south on the Pantaneira, stopping often to observe the rich bird life, and at about 6:30 we arrived at our lodge for the next 3 nights, the Hotel Porto Jofre. Tomorrow the emphasis on finding birds was to end, our days on the river would begin, and the principal focus of our outings would be Jaguars.

We joined the Field Guides Jaguar Spotting: Pantanal & Garden of the Amazon Tour in Cuiba, the capital of the state of Mato Grosso, about noon on August 26^th.  After lunch we boarded the bus to drive about 75 miles north to Garden of the Amazon, near San Jao do Rio Claro.

The drive took much longer than expected.  The bus had some overheating problems and the road, especially in the agricultural area, which was most of the way, was badly pot-holed.  Nevertheless the drive was interesting particularly because of the agricultural practices observed along the way.  My farm background always comes to the fore when I travel in a foreign country, as I try to see what sort of farming is going on there.  The northern Mato Grosso is heavily cultivated with very large fields of crops including soybeans, cane, cotton and corn, as well as some other crops I could not identify.  There were no farmsteads.  The owners live away from their land.  As it was late winter in Brazil, many of the fields were in the stubble stage, but with evidence of recent ginning of the cotton, with many large round bales stacked on the edges of the fields.  The terrible road condition through this area was easily attributable to the heavy trucks loaded with ag products that used the only highway available, causing great damage and dust along the way.  Smoke rose on the horizon, as burning of the stubble remains a common practice.  Progress here was truly at a snail’s pace.

One of my target birds for this trip was the Greater Rhea.

The Greater Rhea is one of the two species belonging to the Rheidae family, similar to the Ostriches of Africa, which represented one of the three South American families that were missing from my life list and which I could reasonably expect to see on this trip. One of the others, the Crescentchest of the Melanopareidae Family I had already seen at the Nacional Forest near Brasilia.  I had no reason to worry, because these very large birds were common along the road and in the fields.  Our guides said that they are protected by the farmers because they consume many insects that are harmful to the crops.  So early on, I had ticked off two of my three primary targets, leaving for a future day to find only the Seriema as a representative of the Cariamidae family.

Garden of the Amazon is a small, family owned lodge built on the Rio Claro.  For those geographers who like to know such things, the Rio Claro, flows into the Rio Arinos, which flows into the Rio Juruena in the northerly state of Amazonia, where it merges into the Rio San Manuel and becomes the Rio Tapajos, which empties into the Amazon.  There are at least a dozen Rio Claros in the Amazon basin. This Rio Claro looked like a pretty big river to me.  Imagine the Amazon, with over 60 direct tributaries, many of which have a half dozen or more sub-tributaries.

Our days at Garden of the Amazon were quite evenly divided between river cruises and walking the trails around the Lodge.  An early morning extra outing for a few of us to attempt to see a Zigzag Heron resulted in hearing one, but it never came in view, to my chagrin.  Around the Lodge were Capybarras

and thousands of butterflies.

A highlight of one of our river cruises was this Anaconda, which was trying to absorb some heat from a sandbar.  How long is it?  Estimates varied between 12 and 15 feet, but as the trip wore on, it grew to 20 feet or more.   🙂

Birds, including new life birds, at this area were too numerous to list.  Barbara was busy with her camera, but many of the birds were spotted high in the trees looking into the sun.  Not ideal for photos.  Some of the photos are here:

Blue-necked Tanager

Blue & Yellow Macaw

Spotted Puffbird

Swallow Tanager

Red-bellied Macaw

White-winged Swallow

Black-bellied Antwren 

Turquoise Tanager

Masked Tityra

Paradise Tanager 

Umbrella Bird

Cocoi Heron

Pink-throated Becard   

Lineated Woodpecker  

Pied Puffbird 

Chestnut-eared Aracari 

Gould’s Toucanet

We spotted a marmoset peeking at us from behind a tree.

Looking into the sun at this monkey high in a tree made an interesting silhouette.

Barbara and I were in Brasilia from August 20-26.  The primary purpose of our trip to Brasilia was to spend time with our Brazilian friends whom we first met almost 30 years ago when they hosted Barbara and one of our daughters as part of a Friendship Force exchange.  In the interim we have hosted one of their sons, one of their daughters, and a grandson here in West Des Moines.  The return visit was all that we could wish for.

We were picked up at the airport by their grandson, Pedro, and then treated to a fine breakfast at their home on the morning of our arrival.  Pedro drove us to check in at our hotel for an afternoon of rest after the long day and night of travel from Des Moines, through Atlanta to Brasilia.

The next day, and several additional days, Pedro (or, on his day off, his Uncle Bruno) drove us about Brasilia to show us some of the attractions of the city.  First stop was the Presidential Palace with its expansive grounds.  During the week we enjoyed visiting many of the highlights of Brasilia, including the Cathedral (breathtaking beauty, inside and out),

the Square of the 3 Powers,

and my favorite, Itamaraty Palace, where Angela Merkel and her German entourage had been feted the day before.

Over the next few days we visited Congresso Nationale, the beautiful J.K. Bridge over Lake Paranoa, the Sanctuario dom Bosco and several other striking examples of Brasilia architecture, much of it designed by Oscar Niemeyer.  The view from the tv tower gave a good overview.  They treated us to a boat tour of the city from the lake which gave us a whole new perspective.

The family held several gatherings for us at their homes in order that we could more fully enjoy their company and their cuisine, including a true southern Brazil barbecue.  We walked in the parks and enjoyed learning of the design and development of Brasilia as a unique, planned capital.  It is an amazing place.

I had arranged in advance to hire a local bird guide, Jonatas Rocha, who spent one day birding with us in the Parque Nacional De Brasilia, just a short drive north of the city, and with just me for a second day in the close-by National Forest.  Pedro provided transportation and acted as interpreter for our first day, and the second day I went with Jonatas in his one-passenger pickup, and we were able to enjoy a productive day of birding although he spoke no English and I no Portuguese.  Jonatas is a very good guide and I would recommend him to anyone considering a day or so of birding in the Brasilia area.  He was referred by Birding Pal.

Jonatas had emailed me lists of the birds found in the Parque and in the Forest before we left the States so that I could prepare better for our outings.  I made a list of those that were not likely to also be found later on our Fieldguides Tour in the Cuiaba area.  In the two days of Brasilia birding, I managed to add 37 birds to my life list.  The highlights among my new life birds were the rare, elusive and very local Brasilia Tapaculo, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Squirrel Cuckoo,

Collared Crescentchest, Southern Antpipit, Curl-crested Jay, the local warblers (White-striped, White-bellied, Flavescent), Rufous-winged and Variable Antshrikes, Black-capped Antwren, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Russet-mantled Foliage Gleaner, Pale-breasted Spinetail, a Greenish Schiffornis, several species of Eleanias and other Flycatchers, Pale-breasted and Eastern Slaty Thrushes, Black-goggled and Guira Tanagers,

Yellow-bellied Seedeaters, Wedge-tailed Grass Finch, Black-throated Saltator, Grassland Sparrow and Purple-throated Euphonias.

On the morning of August 26^th we flew from Brasilia to Cuiaba to join the Fieldguides Tour of the southernmost part of Amazonia and the Pantanal in search of birds and Jaguars.

Herman picked us up at 7:00 a.m on December 11^th and we enjoyed the ride through historic Cartaga, traffic-bound San Jose, and the coast mountains, arriving about noon at Villa Lapas, our final destination.  Although we arrived at noon, as scheduled, the Hotel enforced a misguided policy of not allowing us to check into our rooms until 3:00 p.m. (They were not anywhere near full).  We managed to clean up and change clothes in the public rest rooms on premises and walk the hanging bridge trails from 2:00 until about 5:00.

The next morning we started early again, driving the short distance to Carara National Park.  Almost immediately we could hear the raucous calls of Scarlet Macaws.  Within minutes we were observing multiple pairs of Scarlet Macaws as they squabbled raucously over nesting hole claims, and otherwise made their presence well known.

A troop of Spider Monkeys ambled along among the topmost branches of the jungle, pausing from time to time to taste the flowers.

We also spotted a Capuchin Monkey high in the leaves, but he stayed hidden from our camera lens.  This brought to three the species of monkeys that we saw, and, in the case of the Howler Monkeys, heard.

After the walk at Carara we returned to the hotel grounds, which are quite extensive, for some unguided birding and some rest.  The air conditioning in the rooms was most welcome, as the humidity and heat hit us hard after experiencing the coolness of the interior mountains for the prior 4 days. After siesta, we took a riding tour of the local villages, the sea shore and the farms, all the while looking for birds. Not much new was seen, but there were a few interesting shorebirds and other water-oriented species along the shore, and other interesting species in the country-side.

Among the more interesting birds seen during our stay at Villa Lapas were several Bare-throated Tiger Herons, Magnificent Frigatebirds, two Caracara species, Laughing Falcon, Crested Guan, Orange-chinned Parakeets, a Blue-throated Goldentail, and Blue-crowned Motmots.

Also found here were Barred and Black-hooded Antshrikes, Blue-crowned and Long-tailed Manakins, Rufous-naped Wrens, Yellow-crowned Euphonias, a Long-billed Gnatwren, and others, for a total of about 75 species, none of them, however, new to me.

Costa Rica is a beautiful, friendly, country.  I can’t think of a better place for a beginning birder to initiate his or her out-of-country birding experiences.  This second visit to the country was as comfortable and enjoyable as my first, over 10 years ago.

We arrived at Savegre Mountain Lodge in mid-afternoon on December 9^th.  This is an attractive facility with excellent and extensive gardens surrounding.  Hummingbird feeders and a couple of other feeding stations attract a good variety of birds so that a mid-afternoon arrival is blessed with some interesting birding despite the lateness of the day.

After a bit of birding we freshened up in our “Junior Suite”, where I was able to start a fire in the fireplace to dispel the chill.  When we went to dinner we were met by our assigned guide for the next morning, Melvin Fernandez, who suggested we make a very early start in the morning in order maximize our chances of seeing our target bird, Resplendent Quetzals.  We readily agreed to meet him at 5:45 a.m.  He reviewed my list of never seen birds that can be found in the area (about 35), and indicated he would make an effort to find as many of those as possible, after the Quetzal outing.

Next morning, after a short drive from the Lodge, we climbed a steep but short trail to settle in on a ledge overlooking an extensive valley and a nearby fruiting tree which attracts the Quetzals to their breakfasts.  It did not take long for a female Quetzal to show up at the tree, where it remained for the entire time we were there.

A half an hour or so later, a male Quetzal also flew into the tree and Adam was able to get a number of pictures of this beautiful bird.  Several others were seen flying at a distance.

The male Quetzal is arguably the most beautiful bird in the western hemisphere.  When I was a child in country grade school, there was a stack of old National Geographic magazines in the “library”.  In one of them I found a picture of a Quetzal, which I cut out of the magazine and took home to paste in my scrap book.  It was the prettiest bird I had ever seen and I thought that if I could ever see one in the wild, I would have achieved Nirvana.  I did see a couple of them when I was at the Monte Verde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica over 10 years ago, but the weather was wet and foggy and the sighting was not very satisfying.  This time was different, with beautiful morning sunshine, crisp and dry air and close-up views of both sexes of this iconic bird.  We were very happy to achieve success with this, our number 1 target of the trip.

Melvin then led us on a long but manageable hike in the forest and along a small river.  At the end of the day, I had seen 19 new species, by far the most of any of our stops.  Melvin had memorized my list after a few minutes of looking at it the night before, and he succeeded in finding far more of them than I had ever anticipated.  He is a great guide.

Among the new birds were the lovely little Flame-throated Warblers, Black-cheeked Warblers, a Wrenthrush (Zeledonia), Sooty-capped Bush Tanagers, Yellow-thighed Finches and many more.  New Hummingbirds were Volcano and Scintillant Hummingbirds and Gray-tailed Mountain-gems.

Early the next morning we were met at the lobby by German (Herman) Vargas, our driver/guide who had delivered us to Savegre and who would accompany us for the remainder of the trip.  The last stop on our tour would be Villa Lapas Hotel near the Carara  National Park, along the mid-Pacific coast of Costa Rica.  There we hope to find Scarlet Macaws, our number 2 target bird of the trip.

Days 3 and 4 in Costa Rica were occupied by travelling to Rancho Naturalista in the Tuis-Turrialba region of the Talamanca Mountains.  The staff, headed by birder extra-ordinaire, Harry, welcomed us and we were quickly seeing many Hummingbirds attracted to the lodge by feeders and observable at very close range.

Hummingbirds seen included three new life birds for me, Green-breasted Mangoes, Snowcaps and Red-footed (the new name is Bronzy-tailed) Plumeleteers.  Others present, many in substantial numbers, included Green Hermits, Little Hermits, Violet Sabrewings, White-necked Jacobins, Green Thorntails, and Violet-crowned Woodnymphs.

Other hummingbirds found at Rancho Naturalist were Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, Green-crowned Brilliants, and Purple-crowned Fairies (12 species in all).  Aren’t the names amusing?  And often very descriptive.  The hummingbirds were definitely the highlight at Rancho Naturalista.

My first sighting of a Snowcap (a hummingbird) occurred as dusk was descending soon after our arrival, and three of us followed Harry into the even darker woods where we looked down into a deep ravine with a number of small pools.  As we watched from above, both a male and a female Snowcap came to bathe in the pools, dipping in and out like dragonflies.  Another excellent sighting at the pools was a very cooperative Tawny-throated Leaftosser, which kept us entertained with its bathing forays into the shallow pools.  Darkness finally forced us to return to the lodge for a delicious dinner, (especially the dessert) served family style to the 8 or 9 guests.

The feeders outside the lodge attacted many lovely birds including both species of Tourcans and this Collared Aracari. 

Early in the morning of our departure day, we walked to a large canvas that was stretched between some trees and lit with bright lights during the pre-dawn hours, attracting hordes of moths and other insects, which, in turn brought in a good number of forest birds looking for an easy meal.  These included a couple of new birds for me:  Plain-brown Woodcreepers, and Tawny-chested Flycatchers.

Rancho Naturalista produced a total of 73 bird species, of which 10 were new to me.  On the way to our next Lodge on the morning of Day 5 of our trip, we stopped at Mirador Quetzales.  This was a stop both for lunch and to hike the mountains in the area for a couple of hours, primarily for the purpose of seeing a Resplendent Quetzal, just in case we were to miss them at our next lodge, La Selva, where sightings are generally more predictable. The hike was taxing and did not produce a Quetzal although we did see a good number of other birds.

We arrived in mid-afternoon at Savegre and we were pleased and surprised at the beauty of the gardens and general setting.  Part 3 of my Costa Rica report will describe our excellent experience at this lovely facility.

Days 1 and 2:  Selva Verde Lodge, La Selva Biological Station, and the Sarapiqui River.

My son-in-law, Adam, and I went to Costa Rica on December 5^th to spend 8 days birding in 4 locations.  Our first stop was the Selva Verde Lodge near La Selva and the Sarapiqui River.  We were doubtful of taking our scheduled boat tour on the river because heavy rains the week before our arrival, (and while we were there) had caused the river to rise, and as we saw the brown, swirling waters speed past our lodge, we were somewhat fearful of it.  Our guide, Ivan, assured us that the boat we would be on was river-worthy and that it was covered so that we would not be drenched from above during the tour.  We trusted his judgment and we were very glad we did.  The river cruise was the highlight of our visit to La Selva.

In addition to the many birds seen during our morning cruise on the River, we were treated to great views of both Three-toed and Two-toed Sloths, hanging out high above the River.

Green and Orange Iguanas appeared clinging to the trees along the river.  The birds included a lovely Rufescent Tiger-heron, several Green Ibis, a Long-tailed Tyrant (my first), Mangrove Swallows, Buff-rumped Warblers, a Black-cowled Oriole, and many others.  Notably absent: crocodiles, perhaps out of view due to the high water.

Back at the Lodge, large numbers of birds and animals were attracted to the banana feeder just outside the dining area, where we could sit with our coffee or tea and observe their coming and going at close range.  Among the more spectacular of these were the Black (Chestnut) Mandibled Toucans.

Passerini’s, Blue-Gray and Palm Tanagers, Olive-backed Euphonias, Yellow-crowned Euphonias, and numerous other birds competed for the bananas at the feeder, but were usually out-performed by the Coati and the numerous Variegated Squirrels who knew where to come for an easy meal.

A visit to the La Selva Biological Station (in the rain) produced the new bird of the trip for me, a Snowy Cotinga, unfortunately at a distance and in mist. Peccaries showed up as we completed our rain-drenched tour.

Heliconias Island was on our agenda, and we arrived early afternoon, to intermittent rain and a generally disappointing experience, probably the least interesting destination of the entire trip.  Following our truncated and soggy walk around the deteriorating premises, our driver/guide took a side-trip “off the beaten track” in the agricultural country-side on a successful foray to find a rare and endangered Great Green Macaw.

On the pathway between our rooms and the dining area we encountered several Green Poison-arrow Frogs.

In summary, this was a very good destination with good facilities, good guides and good food.  We listed a total of 90 birds during our 2-day visit (probably a low count due to the constant rain), of which 4 were life birds for me: (the Snowy Cotinga, Great Green Macaw, Long-tailed Tyrant and a Long-tailed Hermit).  The mammals and frogs provided added interest. The lesson we learned is that rainy weather should not dampen the spirits of a couple of intrepid birders.