Venezuela: Hato Pinero New Year Dec 27, 2009—Jan 04, 2010
Posted by Jeri Langham
Jeri Langham
Jeri M. Langham has a Ph.D. in plant ecology from Washington State University, and after 38 years as a professor of biological sciences at California State University ...Related Trips
As a trained ecologist, I believe Hato Piñero is a world-class example of how cattle ranching and conservation can go hand in hand. They even have a research station where scientists from around the world stay while conducting studies in the varied habitats available here. However, if you have been thinking about this tour for several years, make sure you go this December, as it may be the last one! The Venezuelan government takes over the ranch in February of 2010. The equally large Hato Cedral was taken over several years ago, but the tourism activities continue to be offered. We are told, and hope, that the same will be true for Hato Piñero.
In spite of being the driest of my 23 years of leading our New Year tour on this 200,000-acre ranch, we had the very best of all years with mammals, seeing 16 of them and twice driving away from an ocelot after watching it hunt for 20–30 minutes…even better, seeing my first jaguar—simply FANTASTIC! Since no hunting has been allowed for about 60 years, the night excursions by spotlight can produce wonderful sightings. But, daytime sightings are also exciting, like this year's jaguarundi "jogging" down the road ahead of us, the 30+ white-lipped peccaries crossing the road, and the two tayras we saw on separate days while birding a trail along the edge of Caño San Jerónimo. The birds are also spectacular with daily sightings of Yellow-knobbed Curassow, Sunbittern, Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Scarlet Macaws, Jabirús, and Hoatzins. In our five full and two half-days we encountered 218 species of birds. A good example of what awaits you on this marvelous ranch can be found in the following excerpts from the journal I write during every tour and later mail to all the participants.
At 7 a.m. we boarded our air-conditioned bus and drove to Aeropuerto de Caracas near the town of Charallave where our big prop plane was waiting to deliver us almost to the front door of Hato Piñero. Soon we were on the ground looking up at lifer King Vultures…a wonderful omen. The feeder off the front porch immediately produced Red-crowned Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, and Burnished-buff, Palm, and Blue-gray tanagers. We walked over to the research buildings, seeing a huge colony of leafcutter ants and my first cannonball trees in bloom. Among our best birds on the walk were Black-throated Mango and Zone-tailed Hawk, but we saw about 20 other species as well, including great looks at Venezuelan Troupial, which is Venezuela's hallmark bird, like the Bald Eagle in the US. Back at the porch we photographed a very cooperative Crane Hawk that may have been looking for the bat that flew out several times from under a tile roof shingle.
At 3:30 p.m. we embarked on our first of many afternoon safari truck rides. Our safari truck driver Daniel and spotter Gertrudis have the routine down pat. We leave in the mid-afternoon heat and return in the cool of evening. Spectacular daytime species were Great Potoo, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Scarlet Ibises, and Scarlet Macaws. My owl call imitations were especially fruitful today as many small groups that came in to investigate gave us new birds ranging from tiny flycatchers to the amazing Crimson-crested and Lineated woodpeckers. Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Mouse-colored Tyrannulet, and Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant were some of the usually tough-to-see birds that cooperated. We reached Laguna Alta by Los Cerritos in late afternoon and had fantastic views of a Russet-throated Puffbird and then Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl just before reaching the lake. You watched the wonderful Scarlet Ibis groups that flew by us on their way to the night roost along with numerous other species, our first water-loving capybaras (the world's largest rodent), and Southern Lapwings. As darkness descended, we enjoyed refreshments and various kinds of fresh cold fruits. While spotlighting, we had great looks at a few Common Pauraques, White-tailed Nightjars, and an impressive Spectacled Owl. After dinner, we did our first list in the bar and learned that our total was 91 species seen plus 3 that were only heard…a great way to start our tour!
The road to Manglarito produced great looks at Sharp-tailed Ibis, Spot-breasted Woodpecker, Scaled Piculets, and a calling Little Tinamou. Tonight's spotlighting was great. We spent about 20 minutes with a Black-and-white Owl and heard two Tropical Screech-Owls. These were followed by the best treats of the night, which were the full body, side view of a Brazilian tapir walking parallel to the road, and 20 minutes of watching and photographing a pair of ocelots. What an incredible day!
For only the second time in my 23 years of leading this tour, the road south to Manglarito had been opened up after being flooded during the rainy season. With only a short break for lunch and siesta, we headed off in the heat of the afternoon. Not long after reaching the northern part of the road through this vast deciduous forest tract, I finally got my first look at a JAGUAR, or TIGRE as the natives call it. All were able to watch it before it rounded the next corner and disappeared into the woods. Talk about euphoria! There were spontaneous high fives all over the truck, with smiles from ear to ear. Before long, we emerged from the dry forest into a vast grassland with scattered clumps of trees and lots of palms around the huge water impoundment of Manglarito. Here there were more dainty Fork-tailed Flycatchers. A tremendous amount of controlled burning had taken place. As we reached the first part of the elongated water impoundment, Fork-tailed Palm-Swifts began to swirl above us and we had a quick but good look at Green-rumped Parrotlets. Soon we could hear the White-faced and Black-bellied whistling-ducks that would take to the air like a swarm of bees. One highlight was seeing a Jabirú catch and eat an eel. We were soon enjoying refreshments, cold fruit, and other snacks as we waited for dusk. Spotlighting back to the ranch brought more looks at hundreds of nightjars and nighthawks, including a female White-tailed Nightjar that I was able to catch when it flew up near me. I showed you the little comb on its longest claw. We had one last big treat on the way home…another ocelot sat in the grass at the edge of the puddle near where we had seen two a few days ago. As usual, for our last dinner a huge piece of beef had been grilled over an open wood fire for us.
I love early mornings on the open Venezuelan Llanos and wanted to get to the Scarlet Ibis roost before the birds departed. It worked, and we were able to find a White Ibis in with the hundreds of ibises, egrets, and other species in the roosting trees. I love all the activity at dawn and watching the birds leave the roost area for the day. The Horned Screamer perched at the top of a big tree really showed off its horn in the scope view. An Amazon Kingfisher perched by the water's edge near our truck. I am still amazed that we saw four of the five kingfishers even though the drought prevented us from taking the boat ride this year. From here we worked our way to the Matahey forest road. The small pond was covered with two species of whistling-ducks and we saw all six species of ibises that are possible on the ranch. Once in the forest, we picked up a Gray Hawk and lots of small forest birds. The prize, however, was the male Lance-tailed Manakin that flew to an open perch eight feet away. The photos should be terrific. My biggest surprise today was the Ornate Hawk-Eagle soaring with many vultures as we drove back to the ranch. I have only seen one here in the previous 22 years. It was our last new tour species and thus a magnificent farewell bird.