NATURE ROCKS

Esta é uma pequena homenagem ao dia mundial do Rock!!!!

Brazilian yeti!

Another week looking for more wildlife images in the Panatanal begins.! The mission now is to record more scenes of the Giant River Otter's life, above and under the water :) let's do this!

have a great week!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Kea ora

The kea (Nestor notabilis) is a large species of parrot found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. Check out my facebook album and learn a little bit about this amazing bird. Feel free to leave a comment or add an info about the Kea or New Zealand.

Take a look: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150358271237836.371398.653687835&type=1&l=f53125b080

A WILD RIDE THROUGH PANTANAL - UNDERXMAG 7

The new Underxmag now available and with a article I wrote about the Brazilian Pantanal, the largest wetland on earth.
A WILD RIDE THROUGH PANTANAL
By Cristian Dimitrius

You can dowanload the English edition with this article for free at: http://underxmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/underx_eng07w.pdf

Enjoy!

Cristian Dimitrius

Meeting the Jaguar

This time I went deep in the jungle of the Brazilian Pantanal looking for the beautiful Jaguar. The Pantanal is one of the biggest floodable land with the biggest bio-diversity of South America also considered an important biosphere reserve. The total area is around 240,000 square kilometers and is situated in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.


Is really a paradise for wildlife lovers. But our main reason to be there was to find Jaguars. And we did it.The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere. Weights are normally in the range of 56–96 kilograms (124–211 lb), but larger males have been recorded at 159 kilograms (350 lb).
The Jaguar is a largely solitary, stalk-and-ambush predator, and is opportunistic in prey selection. It is also an apex and keystone predator, playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating the populations of prey species. It has also the most powerful bite among the other big cats.


We spend 10 days looking for it and we had 2 brief encounters and 1 encounter that last for at least 2 hours. Definitely the Pantanal is the best place on earth to find these animals and film them!

Finding the Anaconda

Bonito, Brazil. After seven long days looking for the great Anaconda, we were finally about to get our close encounter. We spent most of the week searching rivers, estuaries, swamps, and sluggish streams. And up to that point, we spotted only a few individuals from far away. Anacondas in the wild spend most of their time in rivers hunting for their food. This giant snake is an excellent swimmer, but it also climbs on branches to dry off. They are solitary creatures, shy, and not easily seen. In the swamps and bogs where they thrive, Anacondas are very well camouflaged. To further the difficulty just locating a specimen, the team’s main goal was to film a big anaconda underwater! Each time we spotted one from the boat, within seconds, it would get away. So we decided to get out of the boat and flow with the currents in the stream. This approach seemed better, and I enjoyed the fresh water dive. For about a hour I found caimans (a miniature looking alligator), piranhas, and various fish both large and small . . . but no Anacondas. Suddenly our spotter from the boat yells, “There’s a huge Anaconda right in front of you!” I put my face underwater and the monster revealed itself on the limit of visibility; he was a green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus), about 19 feet long. The sensation of being underwater with this animal was amazing because I knew that the Anaconda is one of the largest and most powerful snakes in the world. It kills its prey by constriction, or squeezing, but only aquatic and amphibious animals such as small mammals, fish, caiman, birds, ducks, and turtles. Contrary to Hollywood, humans are not part of their “typical” diet. My big Anaconda was swimming slowly at the bottom and at first didn’t get upset with our presence. Feeling a bit confident I tried to get closer so I could get a better shot, but the animal changed its natural route and came towards me. I had forgotten that they are easily angered. My heartbeat increased immediately as I began to regret my move. However the magnificent animal continued on its way and quickly got into the bushes, disappearing from our view. What an amazing encounter!

Pictures

Before our underwater encounter we found some small individuals hanging on the trees

After 7 days we dove with a 19 feet long Green Anaconda

We also found the huge Jau, a fresh water fish with 5 feet long...

Crabs

and Fresh water sting rays

Our team planing the search: Lawrence Wahba, Amos Nachoum, our guide Juca and me.


Next week I'll be in Roatan, Honduras....stay tuned for daily trip reports.

The Sacred Ibis

After long hours of driving from East to West, crossing the whole country of South Africa, I arrived in a little city on the Western Cape called Montagu.
In the following morning I woke up early and took my camera for a walk. While exploring the surroundings, I stumbled upon a very curious place in the middle of the city. I was seeing a small ecosystem, inhabited by unique species of birds.
It reminded me of the famous Brazilian Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland in the world. However, this “little Pantanal” was just a strip of land with a small lake in the middle. It was totally void of people, and ruled by several species of birds. For a naturalist it was an amazing view! I quickly identified a few species such as Herons, Cormorants, and the magnificent Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus). This huge bird resides in marshy wetlands and mud flats. It feeds on various fish, snakes, frogs, and other water creatures, as well as insects. The adjective "sacred" comes from Egypt, where it was venerated. During their migration, the Ibis would arrive in Egypt which occurred at the same time as the Nile flood season. This fact is one of the explanations as to why the Egyptians revered the Ibis, because the Nile’s natural flooding would make agriculture possible enabling Egyptian survival. According to historians, these birds were invoked against incursions of serpents, one of their favorite foods. They were often mummified as a symbol of the god Thoth.
Nowadays things have changed . . . The Ibis has been hunted for its meat and feathers, almost to extinction. Because of this, the Ibis and several other species, is now protected by the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds. Here in the little city of Montagu, they are respected. The people became used to them and the city has now a new point of interest. I confess that was a very interesting thing to see and I had a few good shots that morning.

Two Sacred-Ibis flying over the South African city of Montagu

Some of them bring little twigs to build their nest

The Ibis nests in tree colonies, often with other large wading birds such as herons.

Every single twig is inhabited

A Heron prepare for landing...or treeing

Sacred Ibis and Herons are close relatives. Both of them are wading birds and belong to the Ciconiiformes Order.

Cormorants are also found in this little piece of land...

...together with many other small birds.

And all this biodiversity lives side by side with human beings, within the city, harmonicaly.