More on REGUA later (where it was a little quiet by recent standards), but let's start in the Pantanal where the drive in produced the usual 100+ species day.
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| The "official" start of the Pantanal south of Pocone. |
We left the city of Cuiaba straight after breakfast seeing many bird species before getting on the Transpantaneira. Black-collared Hawks (above) were perched over ponds with Snail Kites, small groups of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks mingled with Muscovy Ducks, Southern Screamers "yelped" from the marshes and great close-up views of Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures (below) were enjoyed without leaving the bus.
Our first main stop after the main gate produced both Red-crested (above) and Yellow-billed (below) Cardinals, Grey-necked Wood-Rails, the endemic Chestnut-bellied Guans and of course plenty of Jabirus.
Many species later we reached the approach road for Pouso Alegre lodge. We were already late for lunch and this Sunbittern (above) didn't help our cause!
The lodge is a great place to watch the world's largest (and one of the rarest) parrots - the Hyacinth Macaw.
After lunch I popped out while others rested. The place was alive with birds, even in the heat of the day. Greater Rheas (above) strutted around just outside the lodge yard and many birds fed in the shady areas in the grounds.
White-tipped Doves (above) are common and unlike their forest dwelling counterparts, easy to see in the Pantanal. Eared Doves are not so easy to see in the northern Pantanal but a good flock of around twenty assembled nearby.
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| Eared Dove. |
I also found the tiny endemic Long-tailed Ground-Dove (above) as the clouds rolled in. With the promise of rain I headed back to the lodge watching Solitary Sandpipers (below) on the pools.
This very tame Green Ibis showed how the plumage tones change in the sunlight, looking quite dull one minute ......
....... and nice and glossy green as the sun broke through once again.
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| Buff-necked Ibis. |
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| Monk Parakeet |
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| Chaco Chachalaca |
