Travelling from Cuiaba to our first lodge at Pouso Alegre we made frequent stops wherever there were a few birds around and easily saw 110+ birds on our first full day in the Pantanal. The variety was immense from Southern Caracaras (above) to Yellow-billed Cardinals (below), but our first stop included American Pygmy-Kingfisher, Streamer-tailed Tyrant, Yellow-browed Tyrant, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Yellow-chinned Spinetail plus loads of Snail Kites, Great Egrets and Wood Storks that make up the usual Pantanal scene daily.
A couple of Red-legged Seriemas at the entrance to our lodge was a good omen and even in the heat of the afternoon the good birding continued unabated.
This smart pair of Chotoy Spinetails showed really well near one small pool that also produced Grassland Sparrow, Greater Thornbird and Yellowish Pipits.
Birds were simply everywhere with Ringed Kingfishers (above), Amazon Kingisher and Green Kingfisher on most pools making it 4 out of 5 Neotropical kingfishers on the first day.
Noisy Monk Parakeets gathered at their nests made in the base of Jabiru's nests while Little Woodpeckers, White Woodpeckers, Scaled Doves, Grey-crested Cacholotes, Narrow-billed Woodcreepers and Epaulet Orioles kept us busy.
Lesser (above) and Greater Kiskadees could be observed side-by-side on the same pool and as dusk fell we were deafened by the chorus of Chaco Chachalacas before the Pauraques came out to hunt by night. A wonderful place indeed.
