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Showing posts from November, 2018

Bermuda Trip Report

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Greetings! Allison Black and I are recently back from 5 full days in Bermuda, where we were in search of Bermuda Petrels (AKA Cahows), among other things! Yes, we succeeded in seeing the birds, including a seawatch that tallied 25+ individuals! Unfortunately, both of our boat trips were canceled due to weather, so we were unable to see them up close and personal. Though not a classically hardcore birding trip (we mixed birding and relaxation), I put together a brief report for independent traveling birders who are looking to do Bermuda on their own. It is meant to be just a starting point. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to email me. Of course, for those wishing to truly maximize their time with the petrels, I would recommend joining Bob Flood's "Cahow Experience" tour. Contact him via http://www.scillypelagics.com/. I have not taken his tour but have heard fantastic things and have no doubt that this is the best way to observe this specie

Pantanal 2018 - One last Jaguar search, and north up the Transpantaneira

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Oct 27 (PM) We spent our last evening on the river in search of more mammals. We ended up 3-for-3 on Jaguar searches...or more like 4-for-3, since we would see two cats this afternoon. One, a thin young female, was cruising the water's edge for prey. Alas, no luck there for her. Later we would only briefly view a large male that stayed out of the open. Photos of the female below. hey, life is good Oct 28 After breakfast on the boat we said our good-byes to the crew and disembarked at Porto Jofre. A pair of HYACINTH MACAWS was feeding in the palms near the dock. Hyacinth Macaw We made our way back about two-thirds the length of the Transpantaneira to the Pousada Rio Claro, where we would stay for one night - our last night in Brazil. your typical Transpantaneira bridge Nanday Parakeets were the stars here. Nanday Parakeets In the afternoon we took a walk around the grounds followed by a boat trip up the Rio Claro. We ended our final

Pantanal 2018 - To the Paraguay River and (almost) Bolivia

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Oct 25 This morning we would continue towards the west and then turn north onto the Paraguay River. The scenery really began to change here. Accustomed to a very flat landscape, hills and mountains were now visible to the west. Sergio spotted a LEAST BITTERN peeking up through the tops of marshy riverside vegetation. Raptors really took to the air mid-morning, and glancing upward paid off in the form of a dark morph adult WHITE-TAILED HAWK. Had never before seen a dark morph before! Least Bittern White-tailed Hawk (dark morph adult) immature Rufescent Tiger-Heron Bare-faced Curassow Wattled Jacana on giant lily pad Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks Hyacinth Macaws Straight-billed Woodcreeper Brown-crested Flycatcher Later that afternoon we would set foot on land for the first time in a while, at the Acurizal Reserve on the west bank of the Paraguay River. Safe from jaguars here, we could actually walk around a bit. The forest here w