Cristalino Jungle Lodge Report – August 24-30, 2011

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by Rich Hoyer on August 30, 2011 · 5 comments

in Birding Neotropics

I don’t have much time for a full report of this week at Brazil’s Cristalino Jungle Lodge, but it’s been amazing every day.

Yesterday morning, the first Zigzag Heron of the season (resident but rather silent and very hard to find during the dry season) flushed from under my feet while I was on my way to nourish the butterfly mineral lick on the beach (see the title photo). Everyone at the lodge got to see it.

Just a few days ago, word came over the radios of a Harpy Eagle perched next to the river just a few hundred meters upriver from the lodge. Most people got to see it during its 2 hour stay, including yours truly.

Here are a few other photo highlights:

Even rarer here than the Harpy Eagle, at the exact same spot, was this Turkey Vulture. Strangely, no one else was excited about it.

A Band-tailed Antbird, probably an immature male, just in front of the lodge.

 

A Ladder-tailed Nightjar seen from a boat two days ago.

Swallow-winged Puffbird is a common daily sight here.

Yesterday, even during a day off lounging on the lodge grounds (and mostly working on the computer) I managed to see a lifer, a rare White-naped Xenopsaris.

Photo at top: Zigzag Heron at Cristalino Jungle Lodge.

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Tagged as: Cristalino Jungle Lodge, Harpy Eagle, Ladder-tailed Nightjar, Rich Hoyer, Swallow-winged Puffbird, White-naped Xenopsaris, Zigzag Heron

Article by Rich Hoyer

Rich Hoyer is first and foremost a birder whose subconscious registers and identifies every bird he hears, even when he isn't birding. But he actually started keying out wildflowers , catching reptiles, and raising butterflies before he discovered birding at age 14, and has since branched out to enjoy photographing and identifying dragonflies, grasshoppers, spiders and almost anything else alive. For the past 13 years he has been leading birding and natural history tours for WINGS. Among his regular destinations are Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Jamaica. Originally from Oregon, he currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Rich has written 79 awesome articles for us.

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LZG2F6TL6W2OPUDJVPCTEIIUKA alex

    I’m ‘excited’ about the TV, certainly never seen one along the RC, there will be Burrowing Owls in the clearing next…

  • Chatterbirds

    That has to be the best shot of a Zigzag Heron I have ever seen. How often is Harpy Eagle seen at or near the lodge?

    • Birdernaturalist

      Thanks! Harpy Eagle hasn’t actually been seen by anyone actually standing at the lodge proper, but there has been about one sighting a week from somewhere along the Cristalino River so far. The one I saw was just upriver from the lodge, and the last one was about 1/2 mile downstream from the lodge just this past week, seen by four clients who were just on their way out after two full days at the lodge. Lucky!

      • Marcus I’Anson

        Hi Rich,
        Hope all is well with yourself and Tayler.
        I’d be very grateful for any shots of the Harpy and the Red fan Parrot you took while we were there,
        Many thanks, Marcus

        • Birdernaturalist

          Hi Marcus – Sure enough. It will take me a while to go through my 10,000 photos after I get home later this week. Tayler leaves just 10 days after me. We’re both doing great, and things continue to be exciting here. She’s now seen 3 Harpy Eagles!

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