Up for 5.30 breakfast with fruit, yoghurt, bread, scrambled and ranchero eggs and tea. Then we loaded up the cars, we were in car one with Chris and Nick. We headed west and the plan was to head to Km190 and stop for a scan and wait to see if anything turned up. We had a stop for Turquoise-fronted Amazons, Grey Brocket deer and again for Jaguar tracks and then cruised gently along looking out for anything that might appear.
Just before 8 something was spotted on the road a long way down the track, checking with bins it looked like a cat but did look dark so the original thoughts were probably Jaguar, the animal then turned into the Chaco, but did come back out with a smaller animal, as the animal turned it became clear it was a Puma. The next 10-15 minutes were magic as the animals interacted, crossing the road, disappearing and reappearing, on one occasion it looked like a bit of a fight, then the animal crossed the road, went into the forest and didn’t come back out. (long way away and heat haze!)
We drove on with a stop to see if a Jaguar would appear. DW and CT found a family of the Bolivian endemic Bolivian Slaty-backed Shrike. Moving on we drove a while, then turned round to start the journey back. A quick stop had 2 Pale Titi monkeys which worked their way through the trees. There were a pair of Little Woodpeckers and a Pearly-vented Tody Flycathcher and a little further on we had another stop for 3 banded Armadillo, which was pottering along the road towards us. It was the just like a clockwork toy and a real pleasure to waqtch. It went into the grass so Jose walked along, extracted it and brought it back to show us, before releasing it on the road, where it trotted off into the grass, and on into the Chaco.
As we continued our drive back we had stops for Black-tailed Marmoset, which went through the trees very swiftly, and a Crab-eating fox, which insisted on trotting down the roads for a while, before diving in the bushes and resting.
After another super lunch, we spent a bit of time checking out the butterflies that were around a puddle created by a dripping pipe. We then went for a short walk round a circular track with a few birds to see. I then went back to sort out my pictures, re-charge the phone and get myself a cup of cinnamon tea.
We set off for the afternoon at 3.30 heading straight to the place that the Jaguarundi was seen this morning. On the way we had a brief crossing of a tapir, another 3-banded Armadillo and there were several parrots.
Three Buff-necked Ibis flew over and we hung around the airport for half an hour or so, before turning round and beginning the drive back.
As the light was going, the head and spot lights came on and we began to pick up eye-shine, most of which were Nightjars. One pair, however, turned out to be a Crab-eating fox, we moved closer and then stopped and the fox just came closer and closer, until it sat down about 10 feet away. It sat and looked st us until we decided it was time to move, and even then it didn’t go until the car was almost on top of it.
Back for supper and then the log and bed.
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