Belluda Caño and Dorado River
The fog was sitting over the river ahead of us when we awoke early, in preparation for our regular six o'clock departure with birders. We had needed to tie off along the bank last night earlier than planned, once the fog sets in here in the Amazon rain forest, one doesn't try navigating the constantly-changing river channel. We had started up again around 3:30am when the fog lifted, so were underway at dawn, close to our morning resting place already.
The birders caught sight of yellow-headed parrots, black-crested antshrikes, woodstorks, kingfishers and white-eared jacamars along with many species we now considered old friends, such as the spectacular black-collared hawks, white-winged swallows and Ringed kingfishers. We actually tried to get the skiff up the stream that gives its name to the area: Belluda Cano, but although there was enough water beneath us, and a few extra inches on either side of the skiff edges, the branches and trunks caught in the bed did not allow us free passage. So instead we sat there for a good while, listening to the sounds of the forest waking up, identifying a lot of them by sound, and finding the mystery of the unknown voices intriguing.
After breakfast we set out a bit below Belluda Cano in order to access the forest along three different trails. Some folks chose to walk gently for a couple of hours, listening to the stories of life growing up in the rainforest; others along another trail whispered the entire way, stood around a lot listening, and identified some good forest species of birds such as antbirds and woodpeckers. A brief sighting of the southern Amazonian squirrel was had, and whiffs of mammal dung wafted through. Later we found out a troop of howlers had moved off ahead of us, in utter silence of course.
Another group called the Adventure Bushwhackers travelled more quickly and covered more ground but stopped for some exciting sounds. These were followed to the tree where the blue-and-yellow macaws were perched!
The afternoon was spent travelling up the Dorado River looking for wildlife. The light was perfect, soft, and sounds came through with clarity: the gravelly sounds of mealy parrots and the burbling of nunbirds became cricks and croaks from frogs and squeaks from nightjars. Caimans were searched for...and found! A little one provided a lesson on caiman natural history. The searchlight picked out an Amazonian bamboo rat (a.k.a. Opossum) which quickly scuttled out of sight, as did the squirrel monkeys when they realized they had been spotted.
An adventurous outing returned us late and happy to our home-away-from-home. On to the next!
