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On August 16, we witnessed what has to rank with one of the most incredible wildlife experiences I’ve ever had. Cheryl and I were on a trip with 6 other nature photographers and our leader. We had been in the Pantanal area of Brazil for about a week with 5 days along the Cuiaba River near Porto Jofre, looking for Jaguars and other photo ops. Our daily routine was breakfast at 5:30 AM and we took off on boats from 6 till about 11AM, lunch at noon at the lodge, then on the boats again 3PM till dark. Our group has 3 boats so just 3 people per boat so plenty of room for photo gear, etc. Over several days we had seen 10-12 Jaguars. Some were very good photo ops, some poor photo ops, some just glimpsed.

There are several lodges in the area and it is a popular place to visit for folks hoping to see Jaguars, so much like Yellowstone National Park, a crowd can gather when some significant wildlife is seen, but instead of car jams to see a Grizzly such as Yellowstone, this can be boat jams for a jaguar. I have seen as many as 22 boats, 70-100 feet off shore with lots of people in each boat taking photos of a sleeping Jaguar. BUT…that is not the end of the story! We were often in more remote areas of the rivers and inlets and streams more or less on our own looking for birds, etc., so lots of times there are no other boats around. The boat drivers all have radios, so if a Jaguar is seen, other boats are informed. We move 20-25 miles up and down the river to explore, so many times other boats are not close enough to arrive while a Jaguar is in view.

My limited Jaguar experience is that some are just sleeping and/or resting and mostly ignore the boats in the river. Others are walking though the edge of the forest near the river and when a boat becomes visible, the animal just vanishes back into the forest. This morning at about 7:30 AM our three boats were in an out-of-the way location, a mile or so apart. The boat I was in was photographing a Great Black Hawk when one of our other boats called us on the radio to say they had a Jaguar swimming in the river, apparently hunting, so we headed to that area. Apparently the Jaguar, with just its head visible, swam up to loafing Yacare Caimans and pounced onto a caiman which was about 6 or so feet long. The Jaguar and the caiman thrashed in the water with the Jaguar biting into the skull of the caiman. That is about the time our boat arrived, after the Jaguar had mostly subdued the caiman, but the caiman was still thrashing about. The Jaguar was up against a high dirt bank, still mostly in the water with a firm grip on the skull of the caiman and the Jaguar was not letting go. It was very dark and under heavy foliage and vines so I was shooting at 4000 and 6400 ISO but that was my only choice. Eventually the Jaguar was able to work itself and its prize away from the vines and it drug the caiman out of the water and up the dirt bank and eventually back into the forest to enjoy its catch beyond the curious and amazed eyes of the human observers. The caiman was as large or larger than the Jaguar. All I have to say is that a mature Jaguar is an incredibly powerful predator and watching this whole 15 minute episode is something I’ll not forget. What a beast!

This entire series was shot from a boat, perhaps 40 feet off the bank with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II and a Canon 100-400 IS lens in case anyone is interested.

Cuiaba River,
near Porto Jofre,
Pantanal,
Brazil
16 August 2017

before and after closing the retreat entrance. tried to use a small stick to mimic an insect walking by. it did not work as she moved up to the entrance and grabbed each side of the wall and pulled it closed. very cool to watch!

Photograph of a Lapwing incubating its eggs, for which in 1895 Reginald Badham Lodge (1852–1937) received from the Royal Photographic Society the first medal ever presented for nature photography. Hosking and Lowes stated their belief that this was the first photograph of a wild bird.
This work is in the public domain.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lapwing_incubating_its_eggs_-1895-_Reginald_Badham_Lodge.jpg
I would be grateful if you could help me clarify any information about this photo.

This was an extremely rare sighting for Squamish first spotted by Wally Fletcher during the Squamish Estuary Monthly Bird Census. This seal was first sighted in Puget Sound near Seattle Washington earlier in the year then later in Steveston British Columbia where it was tagged on its flipper ( B310 ). It was observed swimming and sunning itself on a wharf at the end of Cattermole Slough near downtown Squamish only for only one day then disappeared. Judging by its normal habitat it was a long way out of range which is the Bering Sea. I have good video of the seal ( You-Tube video https://youtu.be/QO8osHlLzh0 ) if that will help with identification.

Would love some input on this dumped "pet" at Beacon Hill. iNaturalist's algorithm suggested Common Thread Turtle (Mauremys sinensis) as the species, and it does resemble that. My personal experience does not extend beyond native turtles in Canada and Red-eared (Pond) Slider.

Drama. These guys all normally get along pretty well, but here a squirrel decided to start something and nearly got kicked in the head as reward. Moments later they were back to munching sunflower seeds side-by-side again.

A large canvas of my bear photo hung in the BC Legislature. Our local MLA claimed it helped pursued the Premier to totally ban Grizzly Bear trophy hunting in BC. Keep shooting photos, they can make a difference !