BRAZIL – Panatanal Jaguars and the Amazon Rainforest.

24 July – 7 August 2010 (Cuiaba / Cuiaba).
Led by Colin Bushell.

Mato Grosso has so much to offer birders as it is blessed with vast wetlands and large tracts of Amazonian rainforest. We’ll begin our journey in the Pantanal watching Jabirus, Sunbitterns, Hyacinth Macaws and large gatherings of herons, egrets and storks right next to our hotels in this birding paradise. We’ve been visiting the Pantanal for more than ten years now and in recent years we’ve encountered Jaguars during our birding excursions along the Transpantaneira and from boats on the banks of rivers as we watched Bare-faced Curassows, Chestnut-bellied Guans, Agamai Herons, Sunbitterns and Nanday Parakeets with Band-tailed Nihthawks gatering to feed over the river as dusk fell! We’ll devote time to search for Jaguar, mainly in the Porto Jofre area, although we have seen them further north nearb the Rio Pixaim as well.

We’ll also spend some time in gallery forest in search of Helmeted Manakin, Pale-crested Woodpeckers and much more before our stay at the spectacular tablelands of Chapada dos Guimaraes where Cerrado birds take centre stage. Horned Sungem, White-rumped Tanager, Collared Crescentchest and White-eared Puffbird are just a few of the birds typical of this rarely visited habitat and we’ll make a special effort to see these during our stay here.

Our grand finale will be the Amazon at Cristalino Jungle Lodge. Cristalino is a beautiful lodge set just off the black waters (no mosquitoes) of the Rio Cristalino in the Amazon of Mato Grosso. We’ll enjoy superb birding on a fine network of trails through floodplain and terra firme forest, amazing canopy views from a platform (Kawall’s Parrot a real possibility here) and enjoy access to riverine habitats by boats.

We’ll stand a good chance of seeing ant swarms with the attendant antbirds (including Bare-eyed Antbird). Other possibilities include Pompadour Cotinga, Red-necked Aracari, Black-girdled Barbet and maybe we’ll chance upon a group of Dark-winged Trumpeters here. Cristalino is easily reached from Alta Floresta by our private bus (1 hour) and boat (45 minutes). Comfortable chalets with private facilities and plentiful good food, warm weather and great birding makes Cristalino an unforgettable Amazonian experience.

Group size: Limited to 8 participants.
Price: £2995.00 per person (Cuiaba / Cuiaba).
Single room supplement: £250.00.
Includes: All transportation and transfers with the group from Cuiaba into the Pantanal, Chapada dos Guimaraes and to Alta Floresta and Cristalino, accommodation from day 1 to the morning of day 14, all meals from lunch day 1 to breakfast day 14, services of Toucan Birding Tours leader and local guides, gratuities to local guides, drivers.
Not included: International airfare, airport departure tax, beverages with meals, drinks (water will be available on the bus), and gratuities to hotel staff, phone calls, and items of a personal nature.
Tour Leader: Colin Bushell.

ITINERARY
The Mato Grosso tour begins and ends in Cuiaba with flight connections with Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. We can arrange airport transfers and overnight accommodation in Cuiaba prior to the tour, so please contact the Toucan Birding Tours office for information.

Day 1. We’ll leave our Hotel in Cuiaba this morning (see above) but we’ll be in no hurry to get to our lodge. Our journey will take us into the Pantanal and we’ll have plenty of excuses to stop on the way. Any pools of water will be worthy of inspection as we have seen Southern Screamer, Brazilian Teal, Muscovy Duck, Jabirus, Roseate Spoonbill and Plumbeous Ibis not far from Cuiaba. Birds are seemingly everywhere in the Pantanal with Snail Kites on most fence posts and White Woodpeckers and Campo Flickers prolific in the borders of the fields. We shall be alert for the raucous calls of the magnificent Hyacinth Macaw as we near our lodge as they are quite common in this area. Small birds will not go unnoticed though as the roadside ponds are good places to find Chotoy and Yellow-chinned Spinetails whilst scanning across the tall vegetation may reveal the presence of the superb Scarlet-headed Blackbird. We may get time to look for Tropical Screech-Owl or Great Horned Owl in the evening.

Day 2. Hyacinth Macaws call noisily as we stir this morning and after early morning coffee we’ll take a pre-breakfast stroll around the Pantanal ranch. The yard of the ranch is a good spot to see the impressive Great Rufous Woodcreeper as well as Grey-crested Cachalote. Greater Rheas strut across the open grasslands and distant flocks of whistling-ducks and Brazilian Teal fly around in the distance.  As we travel to our second lodge Whistling Herons, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Snowy and Great Egrets and the giant Jabirus are present on roadside pools and we’ll hopefully locate Southern Screamer, Maguari Stork and Sunbittern during our journey as well. Stopping in any woodlots for any roving passerine flocks we may locate Green-backed Becard, Blue-crowned Trogon, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, the bizarre Pale-crested Woodpecker, Planalto Woodcreeper, Rufous Casiornis, Planalto Slaty-Antshrike and Chestnut-vented Conebill.

Day 3. Using our comfortable lodge as a base we’ll explore gallery forest along the Rio Pixaim. Black-collared Hawk, Sungrebe, Rusty-backed Spinetail, Mato Grosso Antbird, Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher and the incredible Helmeted Manakin are among our targets today. A diligent search may reveal Red-billed Scythebill, Large-billed Antwren, Fawn-breasted Wren, Band-tailed Antbird or maybe an American Pygmy-Kingfisher. Toco Toucan, Rufous Cachalote, Golden-collard Macaw and the scarce Black-hooded Parakeet can be seen in the more open areas and as we cruise along in our boats we may see Common Piping-Guans (both the red and blue-wattled varieties!), Green & Rufous Kingfisher whilst Giant Otters are a distinct possibility here (we have seen them on our previous three visits). After lunch we’ll pack up ready for our drive to Porto Jofre, birding along the route. Nights in our comfortable Pantanal hotel.

Days 4 & 5. Two days birding in the Porto Jofre area. Hyacinth Macaws nest in the grounds but we will devote our time in search of the magnificent Jaguars that are regularly seen in this area. Exploring the river by boat, we’ll keep a sharp eye out for one of these beautiful cats and although not guaranteed, we have a realistic chance of seeing Jaguar here, illustrated by our brace of encounters on consecutive days in 2008. Naturally we’ll see plenty of birds too that may include Black Skimmer, Large-billed Tern and in the late afternoon and early evening Nacunda and Scissor-tailed Nightjars and Common and Great Potoos are possible. Overnights Porto Jofre.

Day 6. We’ll finish the Pantanal section of our tour today, heading back to Cuiaba. Then it’s off to Chapada dos Guimaraes and the scenery becomes more and more spectacular as we approach the tablelands. Our hotel sits at the periphery of the plateau with a breathtaking view across the Cerrado. We should get time for some Cerrado birding before heading for the viewpoint to watch the pre-roost gathering of Blue-winged and Red & Green Macaws as well as Great Dusky and Biscutate Swifts. Overnight in Chapada.

Days 7 & 8. In the transition between the Cerrado and the Amazon rainforest, the Guimaraes plateau acts as the dividing line between the Paraguay and Amazon River basins. It forms an ecosystem of great ecological interest and fascinating geological formations. The Cerrado is one of the South American lowland endemic centres for birds and we shall spend the first day mostly in this habitat. Some Cerrado specialties here at Chapada include White-eared Puffbird, Curl-crested Jay, Grey Monjita, Rufous-winged Antshrike, White-rumped and White-banded Tanagers, Black-throated Saltator, Coal-crested and Blue Finches. The monotonous song of the Collared Crescentchest will attract us to this charming tapaculo and we will cover the area in search of the tiny long-tailed Horned Sungem. Recently we have found Rufous-sided Pygmy-Tyrant here but these seem to be sporadic in their occurrence at Chapada. The Amazonian influence is evident with our records of Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Swallow-wing and Red-bellied Macaw but understandably these birds are scarce here at the southern edge of their range.

Birding in the semi-deciduous and gallery forest we may be rewarded with Cinnamon-throated Hermit, Yellow-ridged Toucan, Lettered Aracari, Blue-crowned Motmot, Ochre-cheeked Spinetail, Plain Antvireo, Southern Antpipit, Sirystes, Fiery-capped, Helmeted and Band-tailed Manakins, Planalto Tyrannulet, White-lined, Guira & Grey-headed Tanagers, Pectoral Sparrow and Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper. Overnight in Chapada.

Day 9. This morning we’ll make the short journey back to Cuiaba. We’ll fly from Cuiaba on the late morning flight to Alta Floresta where a representative from Cristalino Jungle Lodge’ll meet us. After a short while we’ll be outside the town and on our way to the Amazon! Our bus journey is little over an hour but we’ll stop en route to the Rio Teles Pires at a palm swamp where we’ve seen Sulphury Flycatcher and Point-tailed Palmcreeper in the past. Eventually we’ll make it to the river where we’ll board our boats for the short journey to the lodge. The lodge is located along the majestic Cristalino black water river and only reached by fluvial transport in this pristine Amazonian rainforest site. Cristalino now has the richest species list for all Amazonian Brazil with over 470 species recorded. We are staying right next to the forest with access its super trail system, bamboo patches, canopy platform and crystal-clear Rio Cristalino. The food here is almost as legendary as its birds! We’ll have a look around the clearing on arrival as it’s a good place to see Black-girdled Barbet (a lodge speciality), or Red-necked Aracari.

Days 10 - 13. We may well awake to the rather creepy sound of a calling Zigzag Heron and as darkness turns to daylight more forest birds will become evident as they greet the dawn with their calls and songs. Exploring the well-kept forest trails we will accumulate an array of poorly known forest birds from between the River Tapajos and Xingu. We will search the bamboo for Rufous-capped Nunlet, Manu Antbird, Chestnut-throated Spinetail, Peruvian Recurvebill, Dusky-cheeked Foliage-gleaner, Dusky-tailed Flatbill, Striated Antbird and Ornate Antwren. Passing flocks may contain a stunning male Rose-breasted Chat as well. Cracids are well represented here and we should see Red-throated Piping-Guan and Razor-billed Curassows near the forest edge at the river. Amazonian Umbrellabird can be heard “booming” and with luck we’ll encounter a group of Dark-winged Trumpeters out on the trails.

Exploring the various trails we’ll have opportunities to see many of the Amazonian “wants” on the most experienced Neotropical birder’s wish list. These include Curve-billed Scythebill, Snow-capped Manakin, Chestnut-belted Gnateater, Blue-cheeked Jacamar and Cryptic Forest-Falcon. Walking a trail with Brazilian Tinamous whistling in the depths of the forest, we’ll reach the canopy tower. This tall structure has two platforms and the uppermost is superb for parrot observations. This is the best place to see Red-fan Parrot and White-bellied Parrot can be seen from here as well. On one morning we’ll take a trip out to the “Serras” (rocky outcrops covered in deciduous forest) that have a distinct avifauna of their own. This is the place for Natterer’s Slaty-Antshrike, Brown-banded Puffbird and Rufous-winged Antwren. Other trails accessed by boat can lead to sightings of Crested Quetzal, the recently described Kawall’s Parrot and Flame-crested Manakin. On the way we may hear a Glossy Antshrike calling from riparian growth, or we may see a Brazilian Tapir in the river.

We’ll try to locate a fruiting tree, as this strategy has proved very successful in the past. We have seen Red-necked and Curl-crested Aracaris, Black-girdled Barbets, White-browed Purpletuft and Spangled Cotinga in one tree using this technique! Noisy alarm calls from antbirds will alert us to a nearby ant swarm where Bare-eyed Antbird, Black-spotted Bare-eye and much more may be found. Walking through vine tangle forest may lead us to a Collared Puffbird sitting quietly.

Day 14. After a last morning birding at the Cristalino Jungle Lodge we’ll head back to Alta Floresta. Maybe we’ll see a Sungrebe from the boat but this is not the end of our birding here. One back in Alta Floresta we’ll explore the forest in the grounds of our hotel where we’ve seen Crimson-bellied Parakeet and Rufous-necked Puffbird in the past. Overnight Hotel Floresta Amazonica.

Day 15. Some last birding in Alta Floresta before the transfer to the airport where we’ll catch our flight to Cuiba.

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