Brazil. The Pantanal. So many birds……

Brazil has one of the richest bird diversities in the world with 1860 confirmed species.  During my time there I saw a few of them, and this post mostly consists of photos of the ones I was able to capture.  A few sunsets and scenes are thrown in for good measure 🙂

My first sighting of the birds below was at the lodge, and one of my personal rules in wildlife photography is to try to photograph at eye level.  Obviously this is rarely possible with birds but as these were walking around I lay on my stomach and shuffled around – a lot!

The Hyacinth macaws are absolutely beautiful birds and pretty easy to spot as they stand out so well. They also make quite a racket, so guides will often hear them and then know which direction to head in to actually see them. The first photo below is one of my ‘high key’ looks that I often like to achieve.

How’s this for being well camouflaged? Our guide stopped us near a group of trees and asked us to find a ‘hidden’ bird.  I had to have it pointed out to me!

Moving on to the river, we saw many other birds.  It is not easy photographing anything from a moving boat though!

We’d often zoom past this Jabiru stork’s nest when going to a jaguar sighting and I really wanted to stop to photograph them.  Jaguars took priority but there was one time when we weren’t in a rush so my wish was granted.

Another nest in another tree but I really like way the tree provides a natural frame to the nest.

Don’t ask me what these tiny birds are, as I have no idea!

We saw a lot of kingfishers whilst on the river.  I think they’re really pretty birds and there are five different kingfisher species in the Pantanal.

It’s only when you’re up close to a jabiru stork that you realise just how big it is.  They are one of the largest birds in the world and the tallest flying bird in South America, standing at about an average of 5 feet with a wingspan of 8 feet!   I am generally very bad at capturing birds in flight, and a photographer I know would describe and dismiss most of my photos as simply ‘a bird on a stick’.  Oh dear, he’s not wrong though 🙁 However I don’t find most British birds interesting enough to practice photographing them so I just don’t bother.  I would have failed miserably though if I couldn’t photograph a flying jabiru stork.  They are so  huge I could hardly miss.

At our final lodge there was another jabiru stork nest, and a lookout has been built nearby for a good eye level view of them.  When we were there, 3 chicks were being raised.

There would usually only be one parent in attendance, and as soon as one came back, the other one was “Right, I’m outta here.  Your turn to watch the kids”

Meandering around in the boat one day and we stopped by the river bank.  This one was only a few feet away and completely unperturbed by our presence.

3 of us got up early one morning to photograph the sun rising behind the nest and this is one of my favourite photos together with the cover photo for this post.

This tiny little jacamar was spotted whilst on a walk one day, and it kept darting into the air and returning to the same twig.  It was catching insects, and very deftly and swiftly too.  I put my camera on rapid fire, and was chuffed to capture a frame of it catching something. I know I know, it’s still a bird on a stick, but at least it’s an action shot!

We saw some absolutely beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the river.

 

And some great trees that look as if they could walk !

More pink Ipé trees, as I couldn’t resist photographing the stunning colours.

Back at our final lodge they put bird seed out each morning, and I particularly liked the bright red heads of these yellow billed cardinals with the matching wall behind them.

And finally, the bird photos I’m most proud of.  I took many many frames of this kingfisher.  Most were out of focus, or an empty patch of water as I’d missed the moment completely.  Again, a high speed burst and I nailed it. Twice !

That concludes my Pantanal blog. Brazil was a new country and a new continent for me and it didn’t disappoint. 🙂