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- May 24, 2015
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I went to Brazil to visit the wilderness and the wildlife. The first stop was in the Amazonian forest biome. Cristolino State Park in the state of Mato Grasso, is a large area of unspoiled Brazil. Access is limited, not many trails. Travel is mostly by speed boats up the many waterways. The Cristolino Reserve is privately held land that borders the state park and has accommodations, where we stayed. There are no roads to the reserve, so we had to take a boat ride to reach the lodge. From the lodge, there are a series of trails that give access to the bottom level of the forest. We hiked almost all of the trails in the reserve. They are quite narrow with limited visibility. The best trails were the two that led deep into the forest and ended at canopy towers 50-60 meters in the sky. Climbing these towers provided great views to the world of the primary and secondary canopies. The other main method of viewing the area was from the boats. Going up and down the river turned up different wildlife encounters with each session. Here are some pictures I took during this portion of the trip.
Cristolino is famous for its wildlife, especially birds. There was a great variety of birds to be seen, overhead, on the ground, in the water and deep in the forest.
Blue Headed Parrot
Red Throated Caracara
White Winged Swallow
Green Ibis
Tapirs can be spotted at the rivers edge in the shady spots.
A closer look reveals some personality and some troublesome bugs.
Brazil has a great variety of butterflies also. They are hard to photograph but this Turquoise Emperor held still, just long enough.
The bird sitings kept surprising me. This is the first bird I have seen with decorative, in this case , striped, legs.
Sungrebe
Ringed Woodpecker
These bugs photobombed this picture of a Sunbittern.
On the trails, jaguars and peccaries are the main hazards. We were in a canopy bird blind when over 75 peccaries traveled
within feet of us deep in the forest. They leave a strong odor that lingers, coming and going.
The best viewing access is from high atop the canopy towers. They are usually placed near some fruiting forest trees, attracting a big variety of creatures.
Scarlet Macaws at eye level
Macaws
Spangled Cotinga
Troops of monkeys can be heard long before they are seen, as they make their way thru the tangles.
A colorful variety of noisy parrots are found in the highest parts of the canopy.
White Bellied Parrot
These Red Necked Aracaris are related but separate from toucans
Back on the river we saw some more familiar sites.
River Otter
We also found some small bats parked above the water.
On a river beach these butterflies were feasting on a salt lick
One late afternoon we hiked deep into the forest where a blind was set up near a set of bird baths. When these shy low forest birds came out, I thought for sure someone had drugged my water bottle.
Bare Eyed Ant Birds
White Crowned Manakin
Snow Capped Manakin
I will make a separate TR for our next stop in the Brazilian Cerrado (Savanna).
Bye bye ( tchau tchau in Porteguese) until later.
No, that is not a self portrait. That was a Brown Bearded Saki Monkey waving to us.
If you are not tired of bird pictures there are a lot more on my flickr page from this portion of the trip.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/14821634@N05/albums/72157719799348451
TV
Cristolino is famous for its wildlife, especially birds. There was a great variety of birds to be seen, overhead, on the ground, in the water and deep in the forest.
Blue Headed Parrot
Red Throated Caracara
White Winged Swallow
Green Ibis
Tapirs can be spotted at the rivers edge in the shady spots.
A closer look reveals some personality and some troublesome bugs.
Brazil has a great variety of butterflies also. They are hard to photograph but this Turquoise Emperor held still, just long enough.
The bird sitings kept surprising me. This is the first bird I have seen with decorative, in this case , striped, legs.
Sungrebe
Ringed Woodpecker
These bugs photobombed this picture of a Sunbittern.
On the trails, jaguars and peccaries are the main hazards. We were in a canopy bird blind when over 75 peccaries traveled
within feet of us deep in the forest. They leave a strong odor that lingers, coming and going.
The best viewing access is from high atop the canopy towers. They are usually placed near some fruiting forest trees, attracting a big variety of creatures.
Scarlet Macaws at eye level
Macaws
Spangled Cotinga
Troops of monkeys can be heard long before they are seen, as they make their way thru the tangles.
A colorful variety of noisy parrots are found in the highest parts of the canopy.
White Bellied Parrot
These Red Necked Aracaris are related but separate from toucans
Back on the river we saw some more familiar sites.
River Otter
We also found some small bats parked above the water.
On a river beach these butterflies were feasting on a salt lick
One late afternoon we hiked deep into the forest where a blind was set up near a set of bird baths. When these shy low forest birds came out, I thought for sure someone had drugged my water bottle.
Bare Eyed Ant Birds
White Crowned Manakin
Snow Capped Manakin
I will make a separate TR for our next stop in the Brazilian Cerrado (Savanna).
Bye bye ( tchau tchau in Porteguese) until later.
No, that is not a self portrait. That was a Brown Bearded Saki Monkey waving to us.
If you are not tired of bird pictures there are a lot more on my flickr page from this portion of the trip.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/14821634@N05/albums/72157719799348451
TV
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