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Our fourth Jaguar emerges from the grass with its eyes fixed on its prey. This was a fantastic tour for these big cats, complementing some exciting and very diverse birding. (Photo by guide Marcelo Padua)

I have to admit that I always get a little nervous at the start of the Jaguar Spotting tour. After all it takes quite a bit of confidence to name a tour after one of the world’s rarest cats, and although they are pretty reliable in the northern Pantanal, there are plenty of stories of people who have visited the area and missed them. But that was not the case for us, as we saw not only one but four of these magnificent cats on our tour. However, let me get back to telling you what a great time we had with Jaguars after I fill you in on the many other great experiences we had leading to those sightings.

Our tour started with some fantastic sightings: on our way to Gardens of the Amazon we had our first looks at Red-legged Seriemas, one of the most iconic birds of the Cerrado, and we spotted a juvenile Crowned Eagle just by the road -- I can't tell you how many times I had been there and yet never seen a Crowned Eagle by the road! I can only assume that this young bird was wandering around in search of a place to establish a territory. It was certainly a great start to our tour, as were the days that followed at Gardens of the Amazon, with great looks at Spotted Puffbird (the first record ever for the lodge), male and female Cone-billed Tanagers really close to us, the usual late-afternoon show of Blue-and-Yellow Macaws, and some wonderful views at some really nice antbirds such as Black-faced Antbird, Spix’s Warbling-Antbird, and Chestnut-tailed Antbird.

We then packed our bags and headed off to the Pantanal -- after all that is where the Jaguars were, and we eager to see them! But first we made a stop for a night at Rio Claro in order to break the long journey that leads to the very end of the Transpantaneira Highway, and in order to allow plenty of time for us to bird along the way. This paid off big time with great looks at Chestnut-bellied Guan, Nanday Parakeet, Ferruginous Pigmy-Owl, Bare-faced Curassows, Rusty-backed Antwren, a very nice Giant Anteater spotted by Linda as we drove out of the lodge and -- a particular highlight of the tour for everyone -- a Howler Monkey giving birth, something we would have easily overlooked if it had not been for Martha’s keen eyes. At the end of the day as we arrived at Porto Jofre we were welcomed by Hyacinth Macaws flying around the place, and we savored the memories of a far-above-average day in the Pantanal.

Now it's time to get back to the story of those cats -- those big spotted cats! Our first Jaguar came unexpectedly and more quickly than usual. We were all standing on the deck getting ready to board the boat at first light when our boatman got a message on the radio saying that a Jaguar had been spotted just five minutes away from the lodge. We all jumped in the boat and blasted to the spot, arriving just in time to see the Jaguar briefly before it snuck into the bushes. We were all somewhat dizzy with the experience -- none of us had expected this to happen so suddenly and so briefly, but we had seen a Jaguar in the wild and we were all ecstatic. Then our boatman told us that just the day before a pair of Jaguars had killed an Capibara up the river, so we decided to go upstream to look for this pair, a mother and an almost fully grown juvenile, and as we had hoped they were on site and so we watched them sitting there at very close range, yet almost invisible as they sat in the shade in the bushes guarding their precious kill. We watched them for quite some time before leaving as more boats started to gather around us to see the cats.

The following day was dedicated to birding the surroundings of our lodge, and we had great looks at Toco Toucans, Fawn-breasted Wren, Chestnut-eared Aracari, White-naped Xenopsaris, and a very cooperative Great Potoo, among other species. It was a truly spectacular day, but deep down inside we all seemed to be thinking about one thing: we all wanted "the" look at a Jaguar, you know, the one imprinted in the backs of our minds, the one where we would be able to close our eyes and still see it. Sure, we had seen three Jaguars and we all felt privileged and happy to have done so, but we also knew they were out there on the river and we all wanted at least one chance of getting a bit better view.

So we set out once again in search of these magnificent animals. We left the lodge early in the morning and headed straight out to where we had seen those two Jaguars. There they were once again, sitting in the shade, the dead Capybara nowhere in sight yet its presence made obvious by the smell. We found a good place to anchor and wait and then it happened. One of the Jaguars got up and walked out into the sun and stared at each one of us before lying down on the bank to sun itself totally out in the open -- our gamble had paid off!

After we all had quenched our thirst for Jaguar and nearly filled our memory cards, we went on along the river until we came across a group of Giant Otters, watching them for a while as they went along the river and getting an amazing insight into their ecology and behavior. That was when I spotted another Jaguar upstream. The animal was sitting on some grass, and although it was relatively in the open we could barely see it, but experience has taught me that Jaguars do not stay in the open for too long in the midday sun, and so we anchored once again to see what was happening. We did not have to wait long as the Jaguar darted out of the grass and jumped from the bank into some reeds, killing a Caiman right before our eyes and dragging it into the forest. No one could have hoped for anything more!

On our last day we had very different weather as a cold front rolled in, affecting our day's birding and costing us several species we had hoped to see in the area. But we still managed to find an amazing pair of Red-legged Seriemas that came so close to us that we could hardly fit them into our binoculars. Not a bad finale!

I enjoyed myself every step along the way of this tour, and I hope you did too. As we say in Brazil, "Um abraço!"

--Marcelo

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 348 bird taxa and 17 mammal taxa