Day 11 of the Pantanal of Brazil
Before breakfast, I photographed the sunrise behind the Southwild Lodge.
I got a daylight photo of the Jabiru nest.
We weren’t planning to hike into the small nearby forest until around 7:30 am. I took some photos on the lodge grounds and down near the river while waiting for the group to assemble and our hike to start.
I asked Fisher if this sign warning of Jaguars was serious or just to give the tourists a bit of excitement. He assured me that it was serious. Jaguars can be found almost anywhere in the Pantanal.
It was quite a leisurely stroll through the forest, stopping for a long time when we saw Howler Monkeys.
We then drifted slowly back.
We found some beautiful and interesting Amazon Motmots. Note the very extended tails.
Here are a few other birds we photographed on the way back to the lodge.
Near the lodge I took a number of photos on the grounds and down near the river before and after lunch.
That last butterfly has great camouflage.
This sign was posted in our bathroom. We saw a few of these tiny Hays Snouted Treefrogs on the walls of our room.
We enjoyed another boat ride in the late afternoon leaving at about 3:30 pm. I thought I saw a horse in the river far ahead. It turned out to be a huge Brazilian Tapir –- an animal that weighs around 660 pounds.
I asked Fisher if Jaguars could successfully hunt them. He said they could. The Tapir slowly made its way out of the river as we drifted nearby.
Our first bit of avian excitement was a Black-collared Hawk.
As we did the previous day, we were able to photograph Ringed Kingfishers splashing down and grabbing fish.
We found a pair of Green Iguana that appeared to be mating.
We saw a group of baby Caiman along the shore. Here is one of them.
And here is the mother staying nearby watching over them.
As we slowly headed home, we photographed birds flying and wading along the river.
Here is a Limpkin.
And a Black-collared Hawk.
A Cocoi Heron.
A Little Blue Heron standing in a tangle of branches along the river.
A Black Vulture flying just before sunset.
The sun was setting at 5:17 pm.
After sunset, we saw some Wood Storks flying and photographed a Roseate Spoonbill and a Jabiru Stork before we exited the boat at 5:40 pm.
