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At dawn on July 21, 2011, I began the long trip via Atlanta and Brasilia, arriving in Cuiaba a few days early for what turned out to be a most enjoyable two-week tour of the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil with Mark Pretti Nature Tours. Led by Mark, our group of nine had a fabulous time visiting three distinct areas of the state, including the Pantanal (at the Pantanal Wildlife Center and Pousada Piuval), Amazonia (at Cristalino Lodge), and Chapada dos Guimares (at Pousada do Parque). The group was a delight to travel with, and Mark is exceptional at weaving the stories of how everything in nature is linked through multiple relationships into a grand whole (Ask him to tell you the story of the fig wasp sometime.). Brazil was a delightful place to travel, with very friendly people and good infrastructure, and the only place I've been south of Texas that didn't have insane drivers. State Department Travel Advisories made it sound like crime was rampant there, but maybe because I spent no time in the bigger cities, just wasn't an issue anywhere we went. As usual, I tried to limit the number of pictures shown here, but ended up with more than normal. Deleting quite a few as we went along, I ended up getting home with more than 1800 pictures, which were first boiled down to 450 and then further cut to the 282 shown here. They're presented pretty much chronologically, except for grouping all 73 of the butterfly pictures on pages 5 and 6. All were taken with my Nikon D90 and cleaned up later with CaptureNX. Did my best to try to label them correctly, and can easily fix them if anyone spots mistakes. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see a larger image of any of the pictures in a new window. |
A couple of us arrived in Cuiaba a few days before the rest of the group and spent time together poking around Cuiaba and looking for a few birds. One morning, we visited Mercado do Porto, a fun open air market, and then the zoo on the nearby university campus. The next morning, we visited the large Maes Bonifacio Park for some great birding and a few pictures, and a couple of times we checked out the birds at a landscape nursery near the Diplomata Hotel where we were staying. | ||||
Chilies at Mercado do Porto, Cuiaba |
Red-legged Seriema (zoo) |
Striated Heron (zoo) |
Jabiru (zoo) |
Green-barred Woodpecker (zoo) |
Marmoset |
Blue-crowned Trogon |
Squirrel Cuckoo |
Barred Antshrike |
Lineated Woodcreeper |
Rufous-tailed Jacamar |
Bare-faced Ibis |
Rufous Hornero nest |
Peach-fronted Parakeet |
Campo Flicker |
Early on Tuesday morning, it was off to the Pantanal, stopping along the way for our first looks at huge numbers of wood storks, Jabiru, several egrets, and loads of caiman. At the Pantanal Wildlife Center for the first couple of days, we took several amazing boat rides and a few walks, seeing a nesting Jabiru, the resident hyacinth macaws, and all five of our target kingfishers. | ||||
Buff-necked Ibis |
Lesser Kiskadee |
Red-capped Cardinal |
Guira Cuckoo |
Snail Kite |
Wattled Jacana (immature) |
Jabiru |
Southern Caracara |
Snail Kite |
Cocoi Heron |
Limpkin |
Southern Caracara |
Caiman |
Ringed Kingfisher |
Southern Caracara |
Savannah Hawk |
Ringed Kingfisher |
Ringed Kingfisher |
Marsh Deer |
Roadside Hawk |
Great Egret |
Great Egret |
Boat-billed Heron |
Black-capped Donacobius |
Ringed Kingfisher |
American Pygmy Kingfisher |
Caiman |
Caiman |
Giant Otter |
Giant Otter |
Mole Cricket |
Toad |
Toad |
Toco Toucan |
Pantanal Sunset |
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