[Leica] Birds

[jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)]

The Pantanal trip turned out to primarily being a birding trip, much to my
surprise. I was expecting something like Africa or India, but the paucity
of mammals meant that life manifested itself in an explosion of birds of
all shapes, sizes and appetites, who could exploit the forest canopy, and
the multitude of insects.

To start with, a few on the River Cuiaba, our regular beat: We found this
on a sandbank:

Chestnut-bellied Guan:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160814-6104.jpg.html

One of our boatmen, Berto, was an expert at manouvering the boat close to
small birds without disturbing them, including these two tiny kingfishers:

Green Kingfisher:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160816-7532.jpg.html

Amazon Kingfisher:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160817-10351.jpg.html

All the hotels and lodges we stayed in had trees and vegetation planted
specifically to attract birds into the property, and had strung out feeders
to encourage them down. The rest of the photographs here were taken on the
grounds of one or the other of the hostelries we stayed in.

Ahinga:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160813-5015.jpg.html

Guira Cuckoo:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160813-5274.jpg.html

Two of the Blue-fronted Parrot:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/Pantanal-20160819-15600.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160819-14477.jpg.html

The Bare-faced Curassow is a curiosity in the avian world, as it is the
female which is colourful, and the male that is drab!

Male:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160820-15991.jpg.html

Female:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/Pantanal-20160820-16418.jpg.html

It took me an hour of patiently inching forward, early one morning,
starting just before sunrise, to get close to this suspicious and jumpy
Crimson-crested Woodpecker:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/Pantanal-20160813-4389.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/Pantanal-20160813-4422.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/Pantanal-20160813-4448.jpg.html

This Black Vulture was hanging around as well:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160814-5596.jpg.html

Some smaller birds at the feeders:

Yellow-billed Cardinal:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160820-15793.jpg.html

Grey-fronted Dove:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160820-16220.jpg.html

Great Kiskadee:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/Pantanal-20160820-16108.jpg.html

Finally, the startling looking, silver beaked, blue eyed, black and yellow
bodied passerine bird called the Yellow-rumped Cacique:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Brazil/Pantanal/untitled-20160820-16239.jpg.html

Please see LARGE

Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome.

Cheers
Jayanand