Guyana - Where Rainforest Meets Savanna

[michael-ibk]

2 hours ago, Csaba said:

Not sure what the probability of getting a high-quality sighting is in Guyana compared to some other locations?

 

Thanks @Csaba. You mean Harpy Eagles. There are some known nests as I understand, but I'm not sure how suitable for photography they are. 

 

2 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

I am jealous of the Hoatzin

 Thanks Nathan. Hoatzin is certainly much easier I think - possible in several countries I think. 

[inyathi]

@offshorebirder

I didn’t go to look for Hoatzins, when I was in Guyana, as I’d seen them before, and there wasn’t time to squeeze it in, besides Guyana, Sacha Lodge and the Napo River area in the Ecuadorean Amazon is a good place to see Hoatzin, Lake Sandoval in the Peruvian Amazon is another good place, as always it depends what other birds and wildlife you want to see as well, besides the Hoatzin, when deciding where you should go. 

 

@Csaba

With Harpy Eagles it all comes down to timing, you really need to visit a nest site at just the right the time, when you know that there will a chick in the nest, and that the adults will be around, if the chick is well grown and at the point of fledging, then you should have a very good chance of at least seeing the chick, either on the nest or in the tree near the nest, in that period when the chick is just starting to learn to fly, it may move from the nest into the surrounding tree, as it's taking short practice flights. At the nest I visited in Iwokrama Forest in Guyana, there were no birds there, all I found was a tail feather on the ground, but if I’d been there at just the right time, I likely have seen one. When I visited another nest at the Alta Floresta Hotel in Brazil on the way to Cristalino Lodge, I was just unlucky, there were no eagles visible and obviously none around, as there was a troop of White-whiskered Spider Monkeys there very close to the nest tree, I know it was bad luck, because a German guest who’d stayed at the Alta Floresta Hotel, before arriving after us, at Cristalino Lodge, had seen the eagles. The hotel is part of the same set up, we had gone to the hotel just to sort out our check-in for the lodge, and have a quick look for the eagles, but had not stayed there, had we stayed the night there, then perhaps we would have seen the eagles, but the block of forest at the back of the hotel isn’t much bigger than a postage stamp, so really giving yourself a slightly better chance of seeing the eagles, would be the only reason to stay at the hotel, if you’re going to Cristalino, there are other Harpy nests that you can visit in Brazil and likely in other countries, really you need to know exactly when they will be breeding at the nest, you want to visit, and then time your trip around that, to ensure that you are at the nest at the optimum time and then hope that you are not unlucky.

[jeremie]

@inyathi

@offshorebirder

Hoatzin are also everywhere on the banks of the yacuma river in the "pampas" area of Bolivia. Just need to take a flight to Rurrenabaque and take a tour with one of the many travel agent. 

Caracoles Eco Lodge (Bala Tours) and Mashaquipe are good and serious operators. 

 

The Pampa area is great to visit during the dry season (August-September-October) when the water is low, all the animals converge to the river plus the migrant birds are present. In this season, you have caimans and capybaras everywhere, in much higher densities than on the Cuiaba river of Pantanal, plus the pink dolphins. Unfortunately, giant otters are not anymore present. Jaguars are sometimes seen. Tapirs are present. Different macaws and monkey species guaranteed (squirrel monkeys, owler monkeys, capuchin monkeys... Endemic titis are present but I have not seen them). On the way I have seen sloth, rhea and giant ant eaters twice. At the lodge, southern tamandua and porcupine. 

 

The best is to combine with 4-5 days at Madidi National Park where I have seen huge herds of white-lipped pecaries, collared pecarries, spider monkeys, macaws everywhere. I have also seen giant otters and one amazing jaguar with a kill, and a puma in an early walk (still dark) in the jungle, but you have to do adventurous out of the beaten tracks stuff to see them. Best lodges are the farest from Rurrenabaque: Berraco del Madidi and Chalalan. The way by boat to reach the lodges is just amazing. Loved it!

Edited September 10, 2023 by jeremie

[Csaba]

8 hours ago, inyathi said:

@offshorebirder

I didn’t go to look for Hoatzins, when I was in Guyana, as I’d seen them before, and there wasn’t time to squeeze it in, besides Guyana, Sacha Lodge and the Napo River area in the Ecuadorean Amazon is a good place to see Hoatzin, Lake Sandoval in the Peruvian Amazon is another good place, as always it depends what other birds and wildlife you want to see as well, besides the Hoatzin, when deciding where you should go. 

 

@Csaba

With Harpy Eagles it all comes down to timing, you really need to visit a nest site at just the right the time, when you know that there will a chick in the nest, and that the adults will be around, if the chick is well grown and at the point of fledging, then you should have a very good chance of at least seeing the chick, either on the nest or in the tree near the nest, in that period when the chick is just starting to learn to fly, it may move from the nest into the surrounding tree, as it's taking short practice flights. At the nest I visited in Iwokrama Forest in Guyana, there were no birds there, all I found was a tail feather on the ground, but if I’d been there at just the right time, I likely have seen one. When I visited another nest at the Alta Floresta Hotel in Brazil on the way to Cristalino Lodge, I was just unlucky, there were no eagles visible and obviously none around, as there was a troop of White-whiskered Spider Monkeys there very close to the nest tree, I know it was bad luck, because a German guest who’d stayed at the Alta Floresta Hotel, before arriving after us, at Cristalino Lodge, had seen the eagles. The hotel is part of the same set up, we had gone to the hotel just to sort out our check-in for the lodge, and have a quick look for the eagles, but had not stayed there, had we stayed the night there, then perhaps we would have seen the eagles, but the block of forest at the back of the hotel isn’t much bigger than a postage stamp, so really giving yourself a slightly better chance of seeing the eagles, would be the only reason to stay at the hotel, if you’re going to Cristalino, there are other Harpy nests that you can visit in Brazil and likely in other countries, really you need to know exactly when they will be breeding at the nest, you want to visit, and then time your trip around that, to ensure that you are at the nest at the optimum time and then hope that you are not unlucky.

 

I get the feeling that Brazil is the best bet if you're solely interested in harpys. South Wild Lodge, which is a few hours from Alta Floresta, "guarantee" that you will see one if you stay there for a few days. 

 

Quote

SWA is the only lodge in the world that guarantees viewing of Harpy Eagles, but it might require 2-3 days of patience. Most seasons, we offer Harpy viewing at eye level from our own easy-walk-up towers, as featured in October 2020 Nat Geo.

 

I'm not sure what form this guarantee takes.

[shazdwn]

Late to the party but another thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable report and gorgeous photos. Some incredible birds sighted despite sometimes difficult circumstances