Trans-Pantanal Highway
We remained at Pousada Piuval for the morning, although our first birding
location was a culvert on the Trans-Pantanal Highway near the entrance to
Pousada Piuval. There was a lot of bird activity here, and by 7:15, I had
seen approximately 50 species. Our #1 target here was the Scarlet-headed
Blackbird, but it was not the first lifer for me. The
Rusty-collared Seedeater took that honor, soon followed
by some Scarlet-headed Blackbirds. A
couple of Yellow-collared Macaws flew by. Dave spotted a
Grassland Sparrow in the weeds. Even had it stayed in
the open, there wasn't much time to look at it as other birds were
demanding our attention, eventually including
Greater Thornbird and
Chotoy Spinetail.
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| Capybara |
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| Chotoy Spinetail |
Chotoy Spinetail display |
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| Amazon Kingfisher |
Scarlet-headed Blackbird |
Black-collared Hawk |
We then drove back in the pousada's grounds to a birding location we
visited yesterday. Pretty soon I had my 2000th world bird,
Suiriri Flycatcher. We continued to
bird on the property, finding Large-billed Antwren,
Yellow-rumped Cacique,
and Fuscous Flycatcher. A bird originally called out
as a Myiarchus was revealed as a Rufous Casiornis
when it got in better light. I'd missed this bird at Cristalino, and was
glad to catch up. Someone spotted a woodpecker that disappeared. We were
looking for it when we found a Straight-billed Woodcreeper,
then we refound the Pale-crested Woodpecker.
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| Chaco Chachalaca |
White-rumped Monjita |
Bare-faced Ibis |
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| Toco Toucans |
Unicolored Blackbird |
White-headed Marsh-Tyrant |
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| Greater Rhea |
Plain Tyrannulet |
Brown-crested Flycatcher |
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| Fuscous Flycatcher |
Pale-crested Woodpecker |
Eventually we headed back to the lodge. We didn't get far before seeing
a couple of Red-legged Seriemas, the closest relatives
of the extinct terror birds.
See also here.
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| Red-legged Seriema |
Tufted Capuchin |
After lunch, we left Pousada Piuval and headed south on the Transpantaneira, the
Trans-Pantanal Highway. At the end of the day we would reach our (and final) lodge,
Pantanal Wildlife Center.
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| Transpantaneira |
When we got to a particularly birdy area, we
got out of the bus and walked the road. This wasn't a place to find a lot
of lifers, but rather a place of photo ops, a place to view the abundance of
the Pantanal, including Great Egrets, Wood Storks, Jabiru, and other waders, etc.
There were also an incredible number of Caimans. The only new trip bird
for me here was Little Blue Heron.
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| Along the Transpantaneira |
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| Jabiru |
Neotropic Cormorant |
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| Limpkin |
Cocoi Heron |
Large-billed Terns |
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| Cocoi Heron |
Savanna Hawk |
Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures |
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| Rufescent Tiger-Heron |
Cocoi Heron & Fish |
Yacare Caiman |
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| Laughing Falcon |
Ringed Kingfisher |
Monk Parakeet Nests |
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| Kite & Terns |
Crane Hawk |
Yacare Caiman |
Finally, we turned down the road to the Pantanal Wildlife Center
(Fazenda Santa Tereza). We stopped on the way to bird, adding
Black-hooded (Nanday) Parakeet to the list.
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| Monk Parakeet |
Black-hooded Parakeet |
Black-hooded Parakeets |
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Black-hooded &
Peach-fronted Parakeets |
Savanna Hawk |
Grayish Saltator |
My bird total for the day was 115 species, including 12 lifers. The trip
total increased by 16 to 544 species (540 seen), with 325 lifers.
Pantanal Wildlife Center, Pantanal