Here's an Idea of Who We'll See...

A trio of Roseate Spoonbills...




In Portuguese it's called a duck,
but in English it's known as an Orinoco Goose...




I'll show you the close-ups later...
See how big the Jaburus are compared to the boat?
That's a Black Skimmer passing by.




Bathing beauties...
A group of Saffron Finches...




A Burrowing Owl...




The ever-elusive Hoatzin, or "Neymar" as I like to call them...
(Just google "Neymar hairstyles" and you'll see why.)




A rare glimpse of the Great Black Hawk...




This little fish is known as the "Peixe-agulha," or Needlefish,
though it doesn't appear to have teeth like others by that name.
The ones I've seen are about 5 inches long.



I see you lookin' at me, lookin' at you...




Freshwater stingrays are everywhere.

FYI: When entering the river, you must shuffle your feet to avoid stepping on a stingray & getting a spike through your calf or foot.

I wonder who we'll see this year? Hopefully, I will be able to get a little closer to some of the more standoffish storks & herons. I still haven't seen a puma, although I did get some shots of its tracks through our camp on the first night of our last camping trip. (What a rush!)

I also finally captured a few shots of a freshwater dolphin last year, but they were only of a flipper! It looked like the boto was waving at me. I realized that they don't only toy with fishermen, but the paparazzi, as well. I will try my best to get a better pic this year.

It looks like this will be the last post until the third week of July. Feel free to explore the archives to see if there is something you missed. Comments won't show up right away, since they will only be moderated when I return. For those of you in the U-S-of-A, I hope you have a great & safe 4th!

See you soon!

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Fabulous Feathers and Marvelous Masks - Carnaval in the Country

During Carnaval this year, I got to see all of the colorful displays and fancy feathers without all of the noise.

Well, except for the fight I witnessed between a couple of Caracaras and a Seriema defending her nest...




...and the pair of talkative "Mulatos" (Yellow-chevroned Parakeets) that freaked whenever someone came around the side of the house. (They had recently invested in a cozy nest, conveniently located right under the roof tiles over the rear bathroom.)


...then there was the group of Toucans that seemed to have a comment for everything, as they observed us from every angle of the property...



...and the Southern Lapwings (Quero-quero) whose full-time job appears to be that of sounding the alarm. Once we have our home, I may opt for a pair of these to live in our yard, as opposed to getting a guard dog.


Only the "Pica-pau-do-campo" (Campo Flicker, or Ground Dwelling Woodpecker) couple seemed to go about their business in silence.



The "Curicacas" (Buff-necked Ibis) pretty much kept to themselves, not really minding the presence of anyone else.


One surprise was the Whistling Heron ("Maria-faceira") couple that was feeding right behind the house. The owner of the farm said he had never seen this type of bird around those parts before.

When he saw the pictures, he thought that I’d stumbled upon them in one of his fields, but they were, in fact, only about 25 yards behind the porch where we'd been hanging out all weekend. Apparently, they were keeping it low-key, as no one ever heard them whistle...

(Sorry for the quality of the pics! It was near dusk, so the lighting wasn't quite right.)

One of the most beautiful songs I heard all weekend was performed by the Saffron Finch (Canário da Terra) - I could listen to these little beauties all day long.


There were a few instances when these stunners really strutted their stuff, to let me know that I had approached too closely. That was my cue to put my own fancy footwork to use, and back up to a safer distance.

All in all, it was a very colorful & exciting holiday weekend.





(To enlarge pics, right-click and open in a new window.)