Hyacinth macaws

These wonderful, amazingly colored birds are the hyacinth macaws (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, arara-azul), an endangered parrot species commonly found around this part of the Pantanal. Their distribution is strongly correlated with two palm trees on which they feed: the acuri-nut palm tree (Scheelea Phalerata) and the bocaiuva-nut palm tree (Acrocomia aculeata). And not less important for their survival is the manduvi tree (Sterculia apetala), a big soft-wooded tree in which they mostly build their nests.

Watching hyacinth macaws feeding on the ground at late afternoon always evokes a general: Wow ! Awesome ! Amazing ! Phenomenal ! Fantastic ! Terrific ! In short: simply unforgettable !

feeding on acuri nuts

And sometimes there are snakes

During the wet and hot months of October through April, snakes are more commonly seen. One of the most fear causing animals is the tropical rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus terrificus, Cascavel). This pit viper advertises itself by a loud shaking of it´s rattle at the end of the tail (see and listen to a red rattlesnake here!).

Their diet consists of small rodents and birds. Although encounters like these are rare, one should be cautious when walking around in the wild. However, rattlesnakes rarely bite unless provoked or threatened; and if treated promptly, the bites are rarely fatal.



Drumming on trees

This is one of the most amazing bird families in the Pantanal: the woodpeckers. The lineated woodpeckers (Dryocopus lineatus, Pica-pau-de-banda-branca) have strong bills for drilling and drumming on trees and long sticky tongues with bristles for extracting insects deep out of the wood. Listen to the drumming: MP3 by J.Minns
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male

female

Salinas and green

After many month of drought the rains are finally back to the Pantanal, the trees are fully covered in dark green leaves and the grass grows in lush colors ...
In this aerial photo you see 4 brackish water lakes, so-called salinas. They are a unique feature of this region of the Pantanal and contribute to the incredible bio-diversity of Fazenda Barranco Alto. Here we find extensive and representative patches of pristine gallery forest, savannas, grasslands, thick forests, a river, salinas, fresh-water lakes, marshes and reeds.

This leaves the Rio Negro Pantanal unrivaled among all other Pantanal sub-regions. This is one of the few regions in the Pantanal where you can see all of the mammals that occur in these wetlands. Following theses two links find our mammal list and bird list.



Pheasant cuckoo

This is a picture taken by our guest Mike Bailey of a pheasant cuckoo (Dromococcyx phasianellus, peixe-frito-verdadeiro, song). This is one of the most elusive birds around here. They are daily heard but never seen, a good view like this is something very rare.

Pheasant cuckoos are brood parasites, that means the parental care of eggs and young is provided by the host species like flycatchers and antshrikes.



Pampas deer

The Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus, veado-campeiro) is our easiest to see deer, because they inhabit the open grasslands. Although gray brocket deers are in greater numbers, they inhabit the bushes where they're harder to spot.
Now is the time when we see most of the young ones. The fawns loose their white spots two months after birth.

Pampas deer with fawn.
Father of the fawn.

Hudsonian Godwit

Today we had another first sighting: a Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica, maçarico-de-bico-virado). The bird was seen in the Salina Mara (location) amongst thousands of stilts and sandpipers. Their breeding habitat is the far north near the tree line in northwestern Canada and Alaska, also on the shores of Hudson Bay, hence the name. Both parents look after the young birds, who find their own food and are able to fly down to Brazil (more than 9'000 Km) within a month of hatching.
These birds forage by probing in shallow water like the many salinas on Fazenda Barranco Alto. They mainly eat insects and crustaceans.

Text adapted from Wikipedia.

Mixed flock, photo by Paulo.

Hudsonian Godwit and lesser-yellowlegs, photo by Paulo.

Two Jaguars

All together we've seen many dozens of these magnificent cats that reign the South-American jungles, but every time it's like the first time. Today it was two young jaguars (Panthera onca, onça-pintada). Totally relaxed they posed for 40 minutes on the banks of the Rio Negro, the Brazilian Pantanal's most pristine river, a river where you don't meet other boats and where speed is limited by the endless details of nature's beauty.


Pantanal swamp turtle

The big-headed pantanal swamp turtle (Acanthochelys macrocephala, cágado) was scientifically described as recent as 1984 (Rhodin et al., 1984); On these pictures is a young hatchling with an exposed head. When they grow older the shell overlaps the neck giving the turtle's head more protection. Note the big left-folded neck, hence part of the name.
They live in swamps and saline lakes and feed mostly on insect larvae. One of their main predators are crab-eating foxes (Cerdocyon thous, lobinho), like shown in this post: link

Photo by Adrian Testa

Courageous little butterfly !

The Julia butterfly (Dryas iulia, Júlia) has a very uncommon feeding strategy: 

by irritating a caiman's eye, the caiman's lacrimal glands produce a saline watery fluid to lubricate the eye surface. This fluid is rich in nutrients for the butterfly, which licks it up. This can be seen on many beaches along the rio Negro.






Ichthyophagous ich·thy·oph·a·gous/ˌikTHēˈäfəgəs/


Living in the shade of the astonishing giant otters, the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis, lontra) is a solitary carnivore that feeds primarily on fish, but they will eat many other living creatures. Over the years we've seen them eating even caimans and proboscis bats.
They are considered rare and shy animals but the ones that live around here are just the other way round: curious and audacious!

Brazilian spines




Today a neighbor came by and incidentally mentioned that he had just seen a Brazilian porcupine (Coendou prehensilis, ouriço-caixeiro) on the way over. After years living in the Pantanal, seeing several dozens of jaguars, pumas and other rare animals we still haven't seen any porcupines. The closest we got was finding their spines in the dense forest. Of course we rushed out to see the rarity and there it was, peacefully sleeping on fence wires.
Porcupines are arboreal and nocturnal rodents. They're covered with short, thick spines which are whitish or yellowish in color, mixed with the darker hair and protect them very effectively from predators such as ocelots.
Note the prehensile tale, it's reflective feet and the long clawed toes.

Jaguar's camouflage


This picture is to celebrate a week with wonderful cat sightings. It was an exceptional week, during a season where any sightings are scarce: 2 jaguars (called Sally and Wally) and 2 pumas, not just glimpses, but hour-long watching with behavior, hunting, fighting and more ...
This picture is of an untamed, non baited jaguar, totally wild. Seen on the banks of the Rio Negro, Pantanal. See location here: http://g.co/maps/34w25 

Disclaimer: any cat sighting is rare and should not be expected.


 
 
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