All good things must end so we began the journey back to Campo Grande on Day 14 taking some nice stops on the very birdy section of the Pantanal just outside of Porto Jofre.
Little Woodpecker - male.
Variable Oriole
Mato Grosso Antbird
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet - when a tree looks to be in fruit, pay attention as it usually will be crawling with birds.
Brown-chested Martin
Snail Kite
Rufous Hornero
At one point we discovered a muddy field next to the Transpantaneira that was chock full of day-roosting Nacunda Nighthawks!
Every so often a Screamer or some other bird would walk through the fields and flush some of the nighthawks but it was tough to get on them before they landed again.
Nacunda Nighthawk
Long-winged Harrier
Cinereous-breasted Spinetail - the guide clearly was keeping a few crowd-pleasing tricks up his sleeves.
Straneck's Tyrannulet - this was one of the few birds that was flagging as rare on the eBird lists and the guide heard a couple during our time in the Pantanal. The "eye-brow" is more pronounced on this bird compared to the more common Plain Tyrannulet.
Masked Gnatcatcher
Short-crested Flycatcher - I feel as though we began to dismiss most of the Myiarchus Flycatchers as Short-crested and in looking at range maps, I am wondering if some could have been Dusky-capped. I just have to assume the guide was doing a good job of listening.
Subtropical Doradito
Rusty-collared Seedeater - I previously was under the impression that most seedeaters were a bland bunch. Brazil reset those impressions to include some pretty darn snazzy seedeaters.
Peach-colored Parakeet
Limpkins were very common and I was completely neglecting them so I snapped one obligatory photo.
Snail Kite - despite their abundance they were still one of my favorites by the end of the trip.
Rusty-collared Seedeater
Maguari Stork
Great Horned Owl - we visited a grove of trees with a honey bee operation within the grove. I am not sure if the owls chose it as a nesting site so that other birds would leave them alone, or just they were the biggest trees around.
The fledglings! So cute.
A young White-tailed Hawk soared over us.
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Rusty-backed Spinetail
Orange-headed Tanager - we continued to pick up some new species even on the last full day which led me to wonder how many more could I reasonably pick up if I went back. The Pantanal is one of those destinations that will end up not being a one-and-done. I will go back for sure!
For lunch we visited the Hotel Pantanal Mato Grosso again as a convenient half way stop. I spent my time mostly walking the nearby trails.
Blue-crowned Parakeet
Roadside Hawk with some time of blackbird.
Greater Thornbird
Rufous-fronted Thornbird
Rufous-fronted Thornbird with its complicated nest.
Snail Kite
Orange-backed Troupial
Rufous Hornero on its trademark "oven" nest.
Crested Caracara
The rest of the drive to Campo Grande was uneventful and we had a nice dinner at the hotel to commemorate the end of the trip. In the morning we flew to Sao Paolo and had a day room at the hotel while we waited for our red-eye flights. I didn't want to waste time stuck in the hotel, so I got in a cab and headed to a nearby city park called Parque Bosque Maia. I would not recommend it unless you bring a body guard or know some kung fu. I walked some of the trails and saw some disturbing scenes of prostitution and drug use and there were all kinds of paraphernalia discarded on the trails. I only took my camera out of my bag when I saw a decent bird and I had several shady characters following me when I did but I just walked to the police station and they stopped.
That being said, I did pick up a couple coastal forest birds.
Creamy-bellied Thrush
Plain Parakeet
My last bird was a good one. We had seen several of them on the trip but always briefly and I never got a picture until this day.
Swallow-tailed Hummingbird
WOW! What a great trip. I definitely would recommend it. Next time I go to Brazil, I may make it a family trip and just rent a car. As long as you stay out of the big cities, it seems totally safe and friendly.
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