Day 6 of the Pantanal of Brazil
This was a transition day: moving from our first three fairly large, upscale lodges to a small, more laid-back lodge in Porto Jofre, where we would spend three full days viewing Jaguars. Although this lodge was smaller and less elegant than the others. It was my favorite, perhaps because it was more casual.
After breakfast on this sixth day, we hiked through the small wooded area along the river at the Rio Clara lodge, stopped at a hotel for lunch, and then paused along the Transpantaneira for some photography before arriving at Berço Pantaneiro lodge in Porto Jofre,
Before sunrise, I was out photographing the colorful sky and the Jabiru nest.
I headed down to the river at dawn.
A Scaly-headed Parrot was feasting on a large fruit.
At breakfast we parked our cameras on empty tables. I had the smallest long lens, but I also brought a second camera body. (I also used my iPhone a lot — especially on the longer boat rides.) Both of my cameras are on the back left of the front table. Others normally carried their camera by holding the tripod foot on the lens rather than using neck straps. Because I often had two cameras in action most of the time, I used straps to hold one while photographing with the second camera. The khaki hat is mine.
After breakfast we hiked through the woods along the river. Here is Fisher looking for monkeys.
He found an Azura’s Capuchin monkey.
We saw male and female Pale-crested Woodpeckers, spending 30 minutes trying to get decent photos of these shy birds. The males have the red cheek.
We also found some Short-crested Flycatchers.
The early sun peeked through a beautiful large tree with the river just behind it.
The Red-billed Scythebill has an amazingly long, curved bill that gives it its name.
Heading back, I walked a little ahead of the group and found a Squirrel Cuckoo with an elongated tail.
Here are some photos I took on the lodge grounds before we checked out around 9:30 am.
Around 10:30 am we arrived at an elegant lodge with a beautiful swimming pool. We had an overly-long wait for lunch. It was very hot, and I wished I had worn shorts this day. Wandering the grounds I photographed a Saffron Finch on the ground and Nanday Parakeet in flight.
Fisher found two well-camouflaged Ferruginous Pygmy Owls. Can you find them in this photo?
There was a parent (left) and youngster (right) sitting on nearby branches.
While waiting for lunch, I also took photos of Blue-crowned Parakeets,
a Grayish Batwing,
two Palm Tanagers,
and, looking straight down at a small river using my iPhone, some Caiman lounging in the sun.
After lunch we stopped at an area along the Transpantaneira with some old buildings.
There we found a Great Horned Owl very high in a tree.
We were able to get some photos of a very beautiful pair of Chotoy Spintail, another bird with a long tail.
A bit farther along the Transpantaneira, we stopped for more bird photography.
We briefly stopped to let some cattle move by.
And a view down the long, dusty, bumpy, boring, flat Transpantaneira. You can see one of the 122 bridges in this photo. This a small one.
We arrived at the Berço Pantaneiro, a small lodge owned by a husband and wife, Daniel and Kelly. Fisher with Kelly is working out room assignments.
The photo below shows a partially covered outdoor seating area, and beyond it the kitchen and buffet area. To the right of the kitchen was a cooler with beer. You just ticked off what you drank from a pile of sheets nearby and settled up the last morning.
Before dinner we walked down the road to view the docks in Porto Jofre where we would board our boat in the morning.
There was an Amazon Kingfisher sitting on a boat.
While walking back I took a few photos with my iPhone.
A jaguar was waiting to greet us at the entrance to the lodge.
