A family of Brazilians arrived late yesterday and has the room above us, one they request every year. But we see very little of them so it is still almost like we have the place to ourselves. We told Fabiano we weren’t interested in the day’s schedule of kayaking – not kayaks actually but poorly constructed canoes – in the heat of the day, nor in fishing for piranhas from the dock. Instead we convinced him to take us early morning birding on the river.
The full moon was still shining at 5:30 AM and the cool air and the bathtub temperature water created a low fog over the river. The perfume of night-blooming flowers surrounded us as Fabiano shined his spotlight on a capped heron and the common potoo, a species of nightjar. But as the sun rose spectacularly all manner of birds appeared, including a number of glittering hummingbirds. The stillness was broken by the squawking chaca chachalakas and screeching parakeets, all underscored by the racetrack roar of howler monkeys. All in all we have seen about a quarter of the bird species in the Pantanal, including 44 that are new to us. Connie is slowly but steadily closing in on Number 3,000!
