Northern Pantanal in search of Jaguars (July 2023)

[janzin]

1 hour ago, Whyone? said:

 

@janzinYes indeed....I'm not sure how universally used the names are?   On the other hand, there are something approaching 200 identified and currently active Jaguars on the database we had access too....but back to the first hand (!)  some cats are rather more confiding than others - 'Ryan' and 'Shy' we saw most days and both were completely unbothered by the boats so you'd expect them to appear on more peoples 'sighted' lists.

 

Edit: Flicking through your (excellent) photo's, they do all look like different cats to the ones we saw.

What's more interesting is that none of the names you've mentioned, other than Merlin, are in the Jaguar identification guide put out by the Jaguar Identification project. Of course they can't have every cat in the guide but they do include the ones most commonly seen over many seasons.  I suspect that some of the guides use different names and sometimes make up names--just as I've found they do in Africa.

[Zubbie15]

Janet's question reminds me that I meant to ask, did your guides at the Flotel work with the jaguar ID project? Our guide on our recent trip would actually message the head of the project whenever we saw a jaguar he couldn't identify in the book, and she'd know right away. It was kind of cool, and interesting when she answered a couple of times that we saw a cat that was shy and hard to see.  It seems like a lost opportunity if everyone isn't working together. 

 

Lots of great pictures, but I'm most jealous of the tapir. We only saw two distant butts at night, never anything as good as you saw. 

 

 

[Whyone?]

@Zubbie15@janzin - a few points and recollections stirred by your comments and questions!

 

The guides never named Jaguars we saw whilst we were out on the river - this was always left for us to take and submit photos to the resident naturalist on the Flotel upon our return from each outing.  There was then a session each evening before the lecture showing 'our' Jaguars Vs database photos....with our photos added to the database.

 

Now the whole Jaguar naming / tracking process seems something of a sorry mess.  

 

Please bear in mind I am just relating one side (Southwild's) side of the story but....it seems that the owner of Southwild started this ID program some time ago and committed significant time and resources to building a database both identifying individual Jaguars and building 'family trees'.

 

It seems that this concept (and possibly more info, but I am not clear on this so let's leave it at that) was taken without consultantation and published as the Jaguar Guide, much to the chagrin of the Southwild owner - to the point he will not have copies of the guide on his property (I strongly suspect gusts carrying thier own copies would not be challenged in any way).

 

So, from this, I am pretty sure that sadly, and wastefully, the two bodies of work are now conducted independently of each other.  

Edited August 30, 2023 by Whyone?

[janzin]

Oh I have just got to laugh, this sounds so typical of Mr. Munn. But I don't want to side track your wonderful trip report with that sorry state of affairs, it's been discussed elsewhere ad nauseum

[Whyone?]

1 hour ago, janzin said:

Oh I have just got to laugh, this sounds so typical of Mr. Munn. But I don't want to side track your wonderful trip report with that sorry state of affairs, it's been discussed elsewhere ad nauseum

Ah!  I've missed that discussion, but it certainly sounds like this situation has history!

[Atdahl]

Excelling photos @Whyone?

 

It sure looks like a successful trip.  Love the otter shots especially.  Possessed is a good word for them.  I can still hear their crunching and whiny noises they would make as they ate.

[Whyone?]

Yes @Atdahlthey are certainly noisy and full of character...and quite possibly the ghosts of their evil ancestors!!!!

[Whyone?]

Transfer Flotel - Southwild Pantanal Lodge

 

With our time at the Flotel over, we transferred by boat back to Porto Jofre, and then by road to the Southwild Pantanal Lodge which took about 2 hours - a little longer than driving non-stop as there were a few distractions along the way!

 

Just out of Poto Jofre we saw these multi-storey Rufus Hornero nests bult into a convenient recess in a concrete telegraph wire post - apparently a new nest is built each year, so only the 'top floor' nest is active at any one time.

 

You cant have too many Toucan photo's!

 

Distant, but nicely framed by the Cambara tree, Black and Gold Howler monkeys

 

We'd passed 'Caiman Island' on the journey in - I posted a couple of photos earlier in this report - but as we passed on our return journey, I was surprised to see a Capybara snuggled up on the island with the Caiman.

 

Narrow-billed Wood Creeper...creeping on some wood!

 

Not the best of light, but this was our only sighting of this spectacular bird - Capped Heron

 

 

And finally, most definitely on my 'would love to see list' - an anaconda.....a Yellow Anaconda to be specific, and seemingly quite content to have me lying in the road pointing a camera at it.

 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

Southwild Pantanal Lodge

 

Our final stop on the Naturetrek 'Just Jaguars' tour was at Southwild's Pantanal Lodge - nice rooms, friendly staff, very good food and some 'interesting' photo opportunities.

 

 

 

Home for 4 nights.

 

Caipirinha's!

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

Jabiru Storks nest high up in (often dead) trees, so typically photos of them on their nest look like this...

 

However, here it is possible to get photo's of the birds on their nest more like this....Pink Ipe trees in full bloom was an unexpected bonus!

 

When we visited, there were no eggs or young, but the female spent most of her time on the nest whilst the male collected new nesting material...some of it really quite large!

 

Once a choice item had been selected, he'd carry it back up to the next

 

Upon arrival, the new item would be carefully inspected by the female and, if suitable, incorporated into the nest.

 

The birds would then mate

 

 

 

 

Sometimes the male would bring up softer material - typically reeds

 

He'd then scoot quickly down to water below and return with quite a significant quantity which he'd spread on the reeds - presumably to soften them in some way, but I really am just guessing here?

 

All in all, a very interesting way of whiling away time between activities.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

A little (!) clue as to how they make this possible....

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[offshorebirder]

Making me jealous with the Capped Heron and Yellow Anaconda @Whyone? - thanks for this trip report.

[Whyone?]

8 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

Making me jealous with the Capped Heron and Yellow Anaconda @Whyone? - thanks for this trip report.

My pleasure @offshorebirder- thank you for sticking with it.

 

I was really pleased to see both the heron and, especially, the anaconda - such an iconic South American animal.  

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[Zim Girl]

Fantastic sighting of the Anaconda.

You wouldn't have got me off the ground for ages - what a highlight!

[Whyone?]

1 hour ago, Zim Girl said:

Fantastic sighting of the Anaconda.

You wouldn't have got me off the ground for ages - what a highlight!

 

Ha! 

 

I know what you mean @Zim Girl and I was down at snake-eye level as long as my travelling companions would tolerate with the occasional need to move for passing traffic - ensuring that the snake was safe at the same time.

[Towlersonsafari]

another Hurrah! for the anaconda but all the photos are splendid @Whyone?

[Atdahl]

Great anaconda sighting!  

[TonyQ]

I really enjoyed the Stork sequence 

[Whyone?]

Thank you @Towlersonsafariand @Atdahl...its nice to hear that others are as excited by the anaconda as I was.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

Hi @TonyQ ...pleased to hear that you enjoyed the storks.

 

It was not for the faint hearted up the tower - limited to 2 people at a time (most people 'passed'!) and it most definitely moves about...a lot..up there!

 

I had an 'oh my goodness' moment....to acheive the correct line of sight to get the pink Ipe trees behind the birds, you need to be very low on the platform - I was on my knees, shuffling to the right looking through the camera viewfinder.  I happened to glance to my right and realised I was on the edge of the platform with nothing but thin air between me an a very rapid descent!

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

Time at the lodge, then not up the wobbly tower, was mainly spent walking and cruising up and down the river.

 

We did have one more very early start to try and find Giant Anteaters, but sadly no no avail.

 

Cruising on the river

 

Quite a few of the animals - birds, Caiman, Otters - have become used to being fed by the boat-men, providing photo opportunities which would otherwise be rather more difficult - I'm not entirely comfortable with this (more later)...

 

 

 

Giant Otters - geeky-techy camera note - my new R7 mirrorless body is equipped with Canon's spookily good amimal AI autofocus - it locks onto the eye of any animal - birds in flight included, and doesn't readily let go, which is great.  But....Giant Otters confuse it, and it locks onto their ears!

 

 

 

There were some nice sightings which did not involve enticement...

 

Can any one ID this bird for me please? Edit: Streaked Flycatcher (thank you @Atdahl)

 

Sayaca Tanager

 

Amazon Kingfisher

 

 

Anhinga

 

 

Green Iguana

 

(not very) Common Potoo

 

...and one of my favourites, young Tiger Herons, motionless in the nest as soon as they saw us - I'm sure the parent bird (above and out of shot) told them to 'make like a Potoo'!!!)

 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

OK, now for a bit of controversy...as the above few posts hopefully show, this lodge has gone out of its way to provide good / unusual photo opportunities.

 

The tower next to the Stork nest, I had no problem with - the storks were clearly used to it, it didnt seem to bother them in the slightest (if it did, I daresay they'd nest elsewhere) and it didn't interfere with their day to day behaviour as far as I could see.

 

Feeding animals on the river I was less comfortable with as it did change their behaviour.

 

in the evenings, before dusk, there was an opportunity to walk to a clearing about 1km from the lodge where chairs were laid out and a small area dimly illuminated.

 

Once everyone was settled, a few pieces of raw chicken were strategically placed and we sat, and waited....and waited.....and waited!

 

After 4 sessions, each roughly 2 hours each in the company of many biting insects we had seen a couple of Crab-eating foxes.

 

 

(More geeky-techy camera stuff - these and following shots were taken with an effective lens length of ~300mm at ~1/100th sec shutter and ISO8,000-12,400...modern cameras do handle high ISO remarkably well!)

 

On our 5th visit, the intended subject of this elaborate set-up showed herself:

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, whilst I was clearly a willing participant...I had the insect bites to show for it....and it is highly unlikely I would ever have seen, let alone been able to photograph a wild(ish) Ocelot elsewhere, I don't feel the same sense of achievement with these images as others I have taken (even though, on an organised trip with guides, the photo opportunities are still presented to you by their skill and knowledge.

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

We finished our time in Brazil with a few days in Rio (not before the excitement of arriving at Cuiaba airport and being told by Azul airways they had no record of our booking!)

 

We stayed in the somewhat bohemian Santa Teresa area - much faded grandeur was in evidence, but our small guesthouse (Casa Geranio) had been beautifully restored.

 

A few 'phone snaps...not necessarily al entirely wildlife related but I try in a few!

 

 

City view at dusk from Casa Geranio

 

 

 

Grafitti sculpture!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naturally we did tourist stuff like venturing up Sugarloaf Mountain to enjoy the view...

 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

Rio did have some wildlife, and I'll round this trip report off with a few pictures of the ridiculously cute and engaging Common Marmosets who have made the city their home:

 

 

 

 

 

Fierce Marmoset!

 

 

That's all Folks!

 

Thank you for reading 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Whyone?

[Towlersonsafari]

a very enjoyable  read and certainly  whets the appetite. I might give the wobbly tower a miss though!