GUYANA - DAY 8 - JANUARY 22nd 2014

TRANSFER FROM SURAMA TO IWOKRAMA LODGE

We were up at 5am eating our breakfast before saying goodbye to the excellent staff at Surama and jumping onto the Bedford truck for the 4 hour journey to our next lodge.

THE BURRO BURRO RIVER AT SURAMA

 

Our plan was to visit the site of the Harpy Eagle for a second visit before travelling to Iwokrama. We took Gary the guide with is and he led the way through the forest to the same eagle’s nest as before. This time we had a much better sighting as we were prepared for the outcome of our visit. We quickly got a scope set up onto the nest and soon we were getting views of the juvenile bird. Only short glimpses were had of its head and neck before it took off as before but this time it landed just a few metres away. One lucky member of the group watched in the scope as it stood up and perched on the edge of the nest before flying off. We couldn’t find it again until it flew off for good being chased by Cayenne Jays.

Well we were all happy about getting sightings but would have liked more. Our walk back was punctuated by short stops to watch and listen for other species. Antbirds were the order of the day, we saw Rufous-chinned, Scale-backed and the beautiful White-plumed Antbird, what a little stunner that bird is.

OUR SECOND COCK-OF-THE-ROCK SIGHTING

Once back on the truck we made the short journey to Cork Woods to another Cock-of-the-rock leaking site. A much shorter walk through the forest took only 45 minutes and soon we were watching a single male bird. It looks extraordinary and although it is bright orange it is very hard to see in the trees.

From there we drove for another 3 hours to Iwokrama and along the way we added Rufescent Tiger Heron, Anhinga and as we approached the lodge we saw several Blue and Yellow Macaws. One very interesting sighting was made by me alone, we were watching an Agouti on the road ahead from the top of the truck and as the animal disappeared I scanned a little further ahead and saw a very large cat watching us from under an overhanging bush, I can't swear to it but I really think that I saw a Jaguar! It was very hard to judge the size of it and so I was convinced by the others that it must have been an Ocelot, who knows?

THE CABINS AT IWOKRAMA LODGE

At the lodge we settled into our rooms and had plenty of time to walk around the very extensive grounds, it was a wonderful place with cabins placed around a central lawn which ran down to the banks of the Esquibo River, we could see a good expanse of the river in both directions. We quickly noted several species in the bushes and around the buildings; Red-capped Cardinal, Silver-beaked Tanager, Red-throated Caracara, Chestnut-bellied Seedeater and many common species.

ANACONDA - FOUND AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

At 5pm we set for our evening search for the most prized mammal, the Jaguar. We loaded into two pick-up trucks and set off for the area where the most recent sightings had been made, but first we turned down a side track to look for a few birds. It was very quiet on the birding front and we only saw a few species. One new species was the Caica Parrot and that was it!

We continued along the road in search of the big cat and had no luck but we did find Spix’s Guan and a pair of Black Carrasow were on the road, as we drove back we found a couple of Tapirs in the roadside scrub and a Blackish Nightjar on the track. We had a late dinner and then an early night, it had been a long day.

 

ANACONDA - 4 METERS IN LENGTH