Aug 10--Hotel Pantanal Norte to Pousado Rio Claro

Monday, August 10, 2015

Hotel Pantanal Norte to Pousada Rio Claro on the Transpantaneira

Spearhead

After breakfast, we thanked Nelson and said good-bye to the wonderful Hotel Pantanal Norte. Though each of us had a window seat with a vacant seat next to us, we’d rotated positions throughout the tour. I began in a front seat and thus ended in one this morning; thus, I was in perfect position to see two snakes in the road: a Fer de Lance (I’d seen many in Ecuador) and a Yellow Anaconda stretched across the dirt road sunning. The Fer de Lance was small and dead—they can weigh up to 13 pounds and get as long as 5.5 feet. We did not get off the bus for the Fer de Lance.  We did get off the bus for pix and a closer look at the anaconda, though. Certainly is a large snake. The top two pix are with my cell phone camera.

On either side of the road were the ever-present piles of sunning caiman, their mouths agape. We stopped again at the abandoned research station for a pitstop and in the process birded a bit near it, seeing Masked Gnatcatcher (1), Fawn-breasted Wren, Yellow-collared Macaw (2), White-winged Becard (3), Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (4)—the parakeet flew into its nest hole in a small tree. 

Shortly after this, Marcelo stopped the bus and all piled off again to bird the edge of the road. We were looking for an American Pygmy Kingfisher — only 5” long — to complete our kingfisher species. And we found one! There was no shade cover at this stop, however, so I quickly returned to the bus. The rest could take the relentless sun for only a short period also, so the stop was short but successful. 

There were rafts of wild Bougainvillea, and the telephone poles were again dripping Monk Parakeet nests and crowned with Hornero nests. The Hornero nests look like primitive clay ovens. We also saw several flocks of Monk Parakeets in trees. When the green flock flies out it looks like the tree is shedding its leaves.

A tree full of monk parakeets

After crossing 97 of the 122 bridges on the Transpantaneira, we hung a right and traveled a couple of miles down a narrow side dirt road (with three small bridges on it) and arrived at Pousada Rio Claro.

We were assigned our rooms, Kathy’s and mine on the river side of the pousada, with a field between us and the river. In the field were several Southern Caracaras, Southern Lapwings, and Buff-necked Ibis. We showered, took a short siesta, and then explored the grounds a bit before a so-so lunch. Pousada Rio Claro is a working ranch as well as a lodge.
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Louis and Marcelo played a game of billiards, and Danalee and I chatted in the shade of a combination outdoor Internet/recreation room. We talked bicycling. Danalee and Pierre had been on two ExperiencePlus bicycling tours in Europe and I had ridden the length of the Danube River with ExperiencePlus the year before Rick retired and turned the business over to his two daughters. It is a super bicycle touring company based stateside in Colorado with its European headquarters in Italy. 

After this respite, we all birded the grounds a bit before walking to the boat dock where we boarded a boat for out last jaunt on the river. On the grounds we saw Scaly-headed (1) and Turquoise-fronted Parrots 2); Peach-fronted (3), Blue-crowned (4) and Nanday Parakeets (5), as well as many Yellow-billed Cardinals and Cattle Tyrants. Note that when a bird is described as “fronted” that means the patch of color above its beak, not the color of its breast or front. Also, Florida is now home to growing populations of Monk and Nanday Parakeets. Notice the Nanday’s red “socks.”

On the river, Marcelo was intent on finding an Agami Heron. It was crazy hot and he again took us back in water-iris-clogged areas where the motor boat was not designed to go. Its engines were repeatedly clogged with water iris. Eventually the pilot turned off the motor and Marcelo pulled, poled, and paddled us into a dead-end area under thorny vines and roots where we sat for half an hour or so trying to call in the Agami Heron. This was evidently a spot where Marcelo had seen one on a previous tour. I was sitting next to Dan, and he and I were ready to jump out of the boat and swim for it -- caimans be damned -- the boat seats were so terribly uncomfortable. But, we endured. Marcelo did too, but was unsuccessful so we did not see the gorgeous bird. 

We saw a Black-collared Hawk in a riverside tree. Marcelo and our boat driver were prepared. The driver threw it a fish and the Hawk swooped down and snagged it almost before the fish left the guy's hand. Marcelo with his burst shots captured the moment. Though I do not have his photograph and the ones below are from the Internet, I'm betting that it's the same bird, conditioned to expect a thrown fish.

We also got a good look at a Jabiru nest hanging out over the river. We have seen these nests everywhere, but in this one, one of the adults had its wing stretched out to shade the eggs or young. My camera is just not powerful enough to get a good shot of this nest, but click on the pic below or any of the photos and you will be taken to an enlargement. The beautiful photo of the jabiru silhouetted against the orange setting sun is from the Internet.

We returned to the pousada just before dinner. There were quite a few tourists in the dining room. At the table next to us was a young couple who were in the process of moving to Brazil for their jobs. She was a talker and claimed that they were “professional birdwatchers.” Later Marcelo wondered how this could be if they were moving to Brazil for their jobs but they did not get paid for their "professional" birding efforts.

After dinner we boarded the bus to go night birding, searching for the eyeshine of Common Potoo (left), Great Potoo (right), and Common Pauraque (bott). We were 100% successful. Marcelo even called one distant Great Potoo, whose eyeshine we could see plainly across a field, right to the little cecropia tree in front of us as we stood at the edge of the road. Yes, potoos are funny-looking birds, having the smallest beak of any bird, but also having a very wide mouth. They are clothed in camouflage, appearing for all the world like tree bark. So is the Pauraque camouflaged, and so too does the Pauraque have a small bill and huge mouth fringed with "whiskers" for scooping up night-flying insects. See below.