wildlife – Page 10

Away from the river …

After two nights on the Pixaim river we headed to the very lovely Araras Lodge, an absolute jewel in the Pantanal.

There are several lagoons adjacent to the lodge and a boardwalk that takes you through some fine forest to a tower. From the top of the tower you have a view of the surrounding plains as well as the nearby forest canopy. The wildlife abounds.

There is also a bar just a short and pleasant walk from the lodge. A good place to haunt during the hottest part of the day … if you can drag yourself away from the pool.

The forest yielded Olivaceous, Great Rufous, Straight-billed and Planalto Woodcreepers, Cream-coloured Woodpecker, Blue-crowned Motmot, White-wedged Piculet and many more. Plus Capuchins, Marmosets and Azara’s Agouti. Around the lodge it was necessary to keep the birds off your plate!

Some of the stars (click on the photos for a better view) …

Chestnut eared Aracari.

Hyacinth Macaw.

And next … to the bar at breakfast time. The best excuse ever!

Pantanal at night …

When darkness falls there is a changing of the shifts. The same habitats are exploited by a different suite of animals, sometimes in a different way.

Over a few nights of spotlighting we compiled quite a list of night birds and mammals.

Birds included the Pauraque, Spot-tailed Nightjar, Nacunda and Band-tailed Nighthawks, Great and Common Potoos, Boat-billed Heron and Great Horned Owl.

Mammals included Crab-eating Fox, Crab-eating Racoon, White-lipped Peccary, Red Brocket and Marsh Deer, Tapir and Fishing bats.

Of particular note was the Brazilian Rabbit. How do you tell a Brazilian Rabbit from a common rabbit? By careful inspection of its pubic region, of course.

The most spectacular find was on our last evening when we had excellent views of an Ocelot.

Unfortunately, I have no photos taken at night to share but I did come across a Great Horned Owl at its day time roost …

Creatures of the Pixaim River …

A couple of days of river cruising turned up Marmosets, Capuchin and Howler Monkeys. Capybara were common, Marsh and Red Brocket Deer were seen occasionally. The Giant Otter chose to spend a little time watching us each day …

Yacare Caiman and Green Iguana represented the reptiles, and so did the Common Tegu. At first glance this appears to be a Varanid, a family that is well represented in Australia, in fact it’s not that closely related … another case of convergent evolution.

Snakes were mainly absent. Where was my Anaconda? This one let us have a good look, I’d be delighted if anyone can identify it for me …

Birds are plentiful along the river, they included Black-capped Donacobius, Undulated Tinamou, Bare-faced Curassow, Blue-throated and Red-throated Piping-Guan, Hyacinth and Yellow-collared Macaw and Sungrebe.

Star of the show … Sunbittern.

Oh, and there goes another Piranha, this time in the talons of a Great Black-Hawk …

Santuário do Caraça …

The continuing saga of my recent trip to Brazil …

Leaving the not quite visited Serra da Canastra National Park in flames behind us it’s another six hour road trip to the Santuário do Caraça. This is a beautiful 17th century seminary set in a stunning mountain setting. The sanctuary covers a little over 11,000 hectares and is home to the Maned Wolf and Masked Titi monkey as well as birds of the Atlantic forest. It’s about two hours drive here from Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais and Brazil’s sixth largest city, getting on for 2.4 million people, weekends and holidays are best avoided.

The accommodation is simple but comfortable, meals are provided in the refectories, alcohol can be purchased. The church is fully functional and a place of pilgrimage.

Walking paths quickly get you to lush forest or up to heathy scrub. If you are a birdwatcher preparing for a visit don’t miss this post.

Another regular guest is the Maned Wolf, or lobo-guará because of its reddish fur. After dinner a tray of food is set out for it in front of the church doors, a priest calls “Guará” and in it comes … within an hour or three if you’re lucky. They are solitary beasts not pack animals, they come one at a time and they are quite unconcerned about the tourists and their flash photography but maintain a sharp lookout for other wolves. The food tray has fruit and meat on it. Interestingly the fruit was the first to go on the evenings I was there.

The birding was fabulous, the list included Velvety Black-Tyrant, Cliff Flycatcher, Blackish Rail, Serra Antwren, Biscutate Swift, Swallow-tailed Cotinga, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Hyacinth Visor-bearer and Large-tailed Antshrike. Dusky-legged Guan and the Rufous Gnatcatcher posed for their photos.

Guianan Squirrel and Masked Titi Monkey presented themselves for inclusion on the mammal list.

It’s hard to predict the highlight of a trip. This Brazil trip provided many and lived up to expectation in every respect. Caraça, though, was really special. I could go there for many reasons, I don’t believe in god but I do believe he commissioned some wonderful works, the setting is magnificent and the other creatures on hand to share it with … splendid.

Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra …

Twelve hours on the road will get you across the state of Minas Gerais from Caratinga to São Roque de Minas, site of the closest hotel to the Canastra National Park.

The great attraction of this part of Brazil is the Giant Anteater, not easy to find anywhere this is where your chances are best. The park opens at 8 am … unless of course it’s on fire.

A major grass fire was ripping through the park, it was closed for the two days we were in the neighbourhood. Not an unfamiliar situation for an Australian.

There is a stream at the foot of the range with some remnant forest and not too far away the private Reserva Natural da Cachoera do Cerradão. The birdlife is prolific and colourful. Another primate graced us with fair views, the Maked Titi Monkey.

The contest for the most beautiful bird in Brazil would be a very difficult one to judge but at the Reserva we saw both the Pin-tailed and Helmeted Manakins, both would be in with a chance.

And wandering across the countryside a distant Giant Anteater …

Muriqui …

Next stop on the Brazil foray was Caratinga, specifically to see the Northern Muriqui.

These are the largest South American (non-human) primates. There are fewer than 1000, they are restricted to the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil and because of fragmentation of the forests the remaining Muriqui are languishing in small isolated groups. The best studied group are to be found on a private reserve – Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Feliciano Miguel Abdala, in the state of Minas Gerais. All praise to its owner.

The Muriqui has long limbs and a long prehensile tail. They swing through the trees with great agility eating mainly young leaves and fruit They live mixed-sex groups of between 8 and 80 individual which are not particularly territorial or aggressive. Females tend to give birth to a single offspring during the May – September dry season. Male offspring remain with their natal group. Females disperse to join other groups once they have reached adolescence at 5 – 7 years.

We found a female with a baby and an older sibling almost immediately and later a group of twenty or so.

We spent a long time with the Muriqui, but as is always the case, time in the field is always rewarded. The day yielded 44 species of bird and three more primates … Buffy-headed Marmoset, Brown Howler and Black Capuchin. Plus a Nine-banded Armadillo made a brief appearance, it’s rare to see these at all and most sightings are at night.

And the wildlife …

… treated me very kindly.

The South American Coati, Nasua nasua, is quite common at Iguaçu. It is a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae). They are about 30 cm tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 2 and 8 kg. Males are much bigger than females and once mature live a solitary life except in the mating season. Females and young tend to travel in bands with their tails raised. They are equipped with powerful claws and sharp teeth, the long tail is not prehensile. Their snout is capable of quite a range of movement.

The Black Capuchin is less intrusive in its habits. It is a primate, of course.

One of the rarest and most spectacular birds that I saw on the trip was the Black-fronted Piping-Guan, Aburria jacutinga, crippling views …

Cataratas do Iguaçu …

The Iguaçu river arises on the inland side of the Brazilian coastal range. Water that falls on the other side of the watershed doesn’t have far to travel to the sea, but the Iguaçu heads west through Paraná State, becomes the border between Brazil and Argentina and after 1,320 km it empties into the Paraná River at the point where the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet, the Triple Frontier. The Paraná goes on to collect the Paraguay River and later the Uruguay River forming the Río de la Plata which empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Buenos Aires. It is the second longest river system in South America.

Not far from the Triple Frontier the Iguaçu drops with spectacular force over the edge of the Paraná Plateau.

The edge of the falls is 2.7 km long and the flow is interrupted by islands. The most spectacular point is the Devil’s Throat (since I am standing on the Brazilian side, the Garganta do Diabo).This is a long and narrow chasm 82 meters high, 150 m wide, and 700 m long. It collects about half of the river’s flow.

The area surrounding the falls is protected by national park on both the Brazilian and Argentine side. There is a gorgeous old hotel on the Brazilian side …

Turning right about 120 degrees gives a view of the falls …

Walkways from the hotel take you down hill slowly to the foot of the falls. An elevator! will take you up to a car park to catch a bus back if you want. For those with more vigour it’s not that arduous a walk back.

The forest around the falls is rich in wildlife. We encountered Coatis, Black Capuchin monkeys and Azara’s Agouti. Don’t feed the wildlife – remember Brazil does have rabies although Amazon bats and urban dogs are the main vectors. The bird list grew rapidly and included Red-rumped Cacique, Surucua Trogon, Toco Toucan, Plush-crested Jay and Chestnut-eared Aracari just to mention the more spectacular. And the butterflies were doing their best to rival the birds.

Great Dusky Swifts congregate in immense numbers above the falls and roost behind the curtains of water.

There is no one spot that permits a view of all the falls. The experience has to be put together in increments. To see the falls from one side only would be to sell yourself short, so tomorrow it’s off to Argentina.