Paraguay Day 11; Agua Dulche & Fortin Toledo

   We had another go at driving the road west of Agua Dulche this morning, and once again had a very enjoyable time, despite the few drops of rain that fell. It was more enjoyable for Max no doubt, who had brief views of a Jaguar that I missed despite being stood next to him, but birding highlights of Upland Sandpiper and a pair of brief Green-cheeked Parakeet kept our trip list ticking over.

  At 09:30 we found ourselves back at the Agua Dulche roundabout and decided to make haste and return to Filadelfia where we could have some nice comforts and be better positioned for the next phase of our journey. The road south was long, taking six hours in total thanks to the horrendous dust thrown up by moving trucks, which made the route incredibly dangerous at times. Still we made it, and had a good drive in the end with a showy Lesser Grison at the side of the road and a pair of Green-cheeked Parakeets showing well in the roadside vegetation.

  Once back in Filadelfia we struck for Fortin Toledo again, since our accommodation had been so nice. We had no reservation so turned up hoping for the best and fortunately were able to arrange to stay the night. We spent the evening enjoying the sunny garden with a pair of Brushland Tinamou strolling around the vegetables.  

Paraguay Day 10; Agua Dulche

   We awoke at 04:30 and set off on our morning drive not long after, hoping to encounter something on the road before sunrise. It was a fairly uneventful drive with a few Tapete seen and a couple of Crab-eating Fox before light broke. Fortunately the standout mammal of the morning came an hour after sunrise, when we spotted a distant Jaguarundi slowly crossing the road ahead of us. Although distant, it was my third cat of the trip!

  The birding itself was not bad either, with a couple of migrant species in Alder Flycatcher and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that crossed the road in front of our car. Lined Seedeater was new for the trip, although it did not show particularly well, and it was nice to see another Pale-crested Woodpecker here.

  At 10:00 we returned to the room as the day warmed up to see out the heat. After a nap and some lunch we went for a short drive on the road north of the village but the habitat was quite disturbed. That said, we still had a few nice birds, most notably the first Black-banded Woodcreeper of the trip, only my second ever. It was in the same tree as a Great Rufous Woodcreeper, allowing for a nice comparison between the two species.

  At the end of the afternoon we drove a few kilometres on the road heading east out of town but saw nothing new and after an hour we turned around and went back to the productive road heading west along the north edge of the national park. Once again the evening proved reasonably productive, although there were no new birds and mammals were limited to the usual Chaco Mara and guinea pigs.

  That was until 30 kilometres down the road, when it was almost dark, and we heard the commotion from the roadside vegetation which could only mean monkeys. After peering through the vegetation as best we could, we finally set eyes on at least three Pale Titi Monkeys, one of the parks most iconic mammal species and a worthy reward for our efforts today. The commotion that attracted us to them turned out to be a Great Horned Owl that had landed in the tree, and once it moved off the animals fell silent.

  The night drive was decent but unspectacular. We had brief views of a Tapir before it entered the vegetation and we had great views of three Crab-eating Foxes and two Tapete but otherwise quite limited. A Rufous Nightjar sat on the side of the road was a nice surprise after regularly hearing the species but not yet getting proper views of one. We returned to base at 21:30 and after doing my notes, went straight to sleep 

Paraguay Day 9; Cerro Leon & Agua Dulche

  We awoke early and set off to Cerro Leon again for some morning birding. We had hoped to get there very early but as expected the hour on the road produced some birds that slowed us down. It started as soon as we got out of the hotel, with a Barred Forest Falcon calling, although it never showed. And on the drive we picked up Greenish Elaenia, Mouse-coloured Tyrannulet, Hooded Tanager, Great Black Hawk and a Tucuman Pygmy Owl! An excellent selection for the morning drive. An Agouti was the only mammal we saw, but it was the first of the trip.

  The birding at Cerro Leon itself started at around 08:00 but was excellent, with all the target species we had hoped to find here being seen quickly. The Bolivian Slaty Antshrike was our main omission from our visit the previous evening, and we had phenomenal views of the pair this morning. Black-bellied Antwren and White-lored Spinetail both showed better as well, and there was a nice backup cast of birds. The mornings highlight was probably a Tortoise that we spotted on the side of the road as we were leaving.

  From the area called Cerro Leon to the next area we wanted to stay called Agua Dulche, it took us five hours driving on the dirt roads. For the most part the roads were not awful, but some stretches were very slow. A Lesser Grison that scuttled across the road was nice, but it didn’t slow down at all for proper views.

  Once we arrived at Agua Dulche, we took an hour for a nap before setting out for a afternoon/night drive looking for mammals. There were not many birds to target in this area, but we managed a couple of new species for the trip with White-eyed Parakeet and Laughing Falcon. The best new birds came on the night drive itself, when we had a chance encounter with a pair of Striped Owls close to the road, and taped in a Great Horned Owl at a known territory.

  The main hope for exploring this region was to find some rare mammals. The drive in the late afternoon produced dozens of Chaco Mara but little else until almost dark, when a dark shape we spotted sitting by the side of the road turned out to be a Puma! We had really wanted to see another cat species, and were thrilled! It sat and allowed us to slowly approach with the car, until it decided it had enough and got up and slowly walked into the scrub! The night drive itself could not match this thrill, but we still had two Pampas Fox and two Crab-eating Fox, as well as a single Tapete Rabbit! A brilliant start to our time in Agua Dulche.