23 August 2017 – at Colonia Carlos Pelligrini – away from it all

Image of the day – capybara rolled over to let this bird (one of several ‘cleaners’) do a bit of debugging. Symbiosis, anyone?

Slept very well, until woken by a particularly noisy rooster outside my chalet window, which was a change at least and a different kind of bird. Good breakfast accompanied by a bit of a drama as a neighbor back in the UK Whatsapped me that there had been nocturnal disturbances back home in Manchester and as I couldn’t get hold of F I was a bit worried throughout the day but it was eventually resolved and everything seems ok now.

The Chajá is known as the Southern Screamer in English – here’s why, perhaps

Took a morning launch out on the esteros again this morning – less dramatic than last night’s but fun all the same. Same lots of wildlife again, and got very close to some toothy yacaré (caiman) and lots of ridiculous looking capybara. Saw Marsh Deer too, and many birds (several lifers).

How do you photograph a coiled Yellow Anaconda concealed by reeds and grass? This one may well sleep for the next few weeks, as he seems to have his belly full.

Hot and sunny on the water, and ready for a long lunch – excellent food again – and then out with a reserve guide to see birds along the trails. Very hot, and a bad time of day for birding anyway, but it was good walking and talking and I learned quite a lot about the local wild life. Also saw a smaller deer, the Gray Brocket deer, both male and female – fairly close up as they didn’t seem that bothered.

Male Brocket Deer – with token horns that don’t look up to much

Female Brocket Deer

Back to the hotel for tea, siesta and dinner, more or less in that order, and to catch up with the blog, not to mention processing a large number of photos taken today. I had planned an early night, but there were so many photos to review that it didn’t quite work out that way.