Cristalino Jungle Lodge Highlights from September 20-28, 2011

 I'm in Alta Floresta again for just a day before returning to Cristalino Jungle Lodge for my last two weeks of guiding there. It's been an amazing seven weeks so far. I've seen about 460 species of birds – the latest addition being a pair of Mealy Parrots here on the ground of the Floresta Amazonica Hotel last night. But a majority of those species have been within a 7.5-km radius of the lodge itself. Can there be a more biodiverse spot of that size anywhere else on Earth?

I've been to Cristalino several times before – three times while leading tours to this part of Brazil, each time for only 5-8 days at a time – and once before on a two-month volunteer guiding stint as now. So I'm not seeing many lifers, as you might guess. But I had just two this past week – very exciting! The first was a Crested Eagle, a bird I've been expecting from one of the towers or the river all month long. This one was from the old tower:

The other lifer was a Rufous-tailed Attila, apparently a very rare migrant traveling back to SE Brazil where the species breeds. There is one other photographed record from this region.

Now for just a few mish-mash photograph highlights from this past couple of weeks:
Bothrops brazili, Brazil's Lancehead. Yes, this one is venomous!

Broad-eared Free-tailed Bat, Nyctinomops laticaudatus

Common Opossum – with babies in her pouch!

 Eurybia halimede on Bromelia balansae. This genus of butterfly has the longest proboscis of all.

The metalmark Mesene phareus. Amazingly, this one landed overhead – most land under leaves ankle high and fly before you can get close enough to photograph.

 

 Dwarf Caiman

 

Spectacled Caiman

 The metalmark Pandemos pasiphae.

A Ctenid (wandering spider) guarding her eggs in Brazil Nut shell.

Red-fan Parrot

South American Tapir

The metalmark Zelotaea phasma. It doesn't look like much, but it was very exciting to find a metalmark not pictured in the book. D'Abrera also says it's rare in collections.