Finally found time to edit part of the many images I took during my trip to Brazil. In this batch I will post the better photos I took in the Pantanal. I did try to document as many species as possible, but many of these photos aren’t worthy of blogging. All photos are on my eBird checklists and linked Macaulay Library account.
Most birds we encountered in the Pantanal were on Pantanal Nature boats searching for Jaguars. Bird photography conditions out of a boat are never ideal, but I did my best to produce some worthy photographs. Most species photographed off the boat are aquatic, or species that favour open or riparian forest. Additionally, we did a couple of drives through the campos around Porto Jofre and along the Transpantaneira road, and added a few species at the Panthera Brazil compound where we stayed.
Kingfishers were abundant along the Cuiaba river and its tributaries. We had five species, I got photos of four:
American Pygmy Kingfisher
Three tern species were seen along the river, mainly sat on sandbars:
Little-tern-like Yellow-billed Tern
The magnificent and vocal Large-billed Tern
Plenty of herons, egrets and allies too:
The bizarre-looking Capped Heron
Cocoi Heron
Rufescent Tiger Heron
Striated (Green) Heron – most were less bright than the Wales bird I saw
Jabiru – punk youngsters
Big daddy
Surprisingly few true shorebirds: Capped Lapwing
Very few ducks on the fast-flowing rivers. Good to see this without the eBird insult ‘(Feral)’: Muscovy Duck (Wild)
Quite many raptors along the river and tracks: Crested Caracara feeding on grubs – que super-predator!
Great Black Hawk – parent and infant
Infant – similar to the one cruising around North America at the moment
Black-collared Hawk
One of my most-wanted – Swallow-tailed Kite
Some exotic-looking South American stuff: Bare-face Currasow – crazy hair day
Blue-crowned Trogon (female)
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Great Ani in golden light
Guira Cuckoo
Stunning White Woodpeckers
Yellow-rumped Cacique – common and noisy
Yellow-billed Cardinal – very common
Grayish Saltator
White-headed Water Tyrant
Grayish Baywing feeding on mango fruit at the camp
The large Brown-chested Martin
And the small White-winged Swallow
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Common Pauraque – common on the Transpantaneira after dusk
Yellow-chinned Spinetail
Yoav Perlman
I have been birding since the age of 9, and from the age of 15 I started working professionally in birding. I have been working for the Israeli Ornithological Center since 1998. I was a member of the Israeli rarities committee between 2001 - 2007. I have an MSc in Ecology from the Ben Gurion University. I did my research on the ecology of Nubian Nightjars in Israel, and spent hundreds of nights with these fascinating birds. I lead tours in Israel, and especially focus on Nubian Nightjars obviously. I traveled and birded Asia extensively, and also Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and North America. I am married to my lovely wife Adva and father to two sons - Uri and Noam, and one daughter - Libby. Currently I live in Norwich, where I am starting a PhD project at UEA.
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