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Very early start this morning (5:30) but it takes a good 45 min. to get to the park on the bad road. There are sugar cane trucks on it 24/7 so they destroy it. Hard bumping along on such an early breakfast. But we started the morning seeing a tapir grazing in a cornfield, with a caracara grazing off ticks on its back. The tapir eventually laid down for the bird to work over its stomach. A small crab-eating fox slinked through the grass behind it (much better views later in the day). Lots of blue and yellow macaws (ho hum), a tree covered in yellow faced parrots with other parrots or parakeets coming and going as we arrived at the park.
Once in the park we transferred to a safari vehicle with tiers of seats, four per tier, to be able to see out over the 3-4' grass. Worked our way back to a gallery forest along a small river later in the morning as the temperature climbed. Walking into the forest was like walking into AC, but a narrow cement boardwalk offered limited viewing. Still we managed to see two of the endemics that are hard to see: a Russet-mantled Foliage-gleaner, and the White-browed Warbler that is normally found further north. One of the oddest birds today was a Red-legged Seriema, resembling a crane with red legs and bill, a spray of feathers on the top of its head and a distressed, disconnected call. Then there was the beautifully marked Whistling Heron which is painted in pastels: pink, yellow, light green.
Afternoon siesta then back out this afternoon. Some good birds while the clouds and thunder rolled in, letting loose a welcome storm. Beautiful complete rainbow afterwards in the wide open sky. We hung around the park until dark and successfully saw the White-winged Nightjar, which only occurs in the park and somewhere in Argentina. Then, because of the rain, the termite mounds started to bioluminesce. Fireflies lay eggs on the outside of the mounds. As the grubs mature, they wait for young termites to fly out of their nest. The rain stimulates the grubs to luminesce, attracting the termites, that the grubs grab and eat. Meanwhile, at night, the mounds start to have little green dots (the grubs) around their bases, which will multiply through the month of October in the rains. We were so lucky to catch a glimpse of it.
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