man i wish i could ride like this

owls!

I took Amalia out to the forest tonight to catch owls. A student here is studying them as part of a nation wide project studying their migration. These are Northern Saw-Whet Owls and they are currently migrating through on their way south for the winter. Apparently they are so thick here you can catch 20 in a night! So Amalia and I went out and caught a couple. Amalia wanted to take one home for a pet!

Halloween

I am a bit behind but here are some pics from Halloween. As you can see, the kids were a couple of dinosaurs.

First thing was to eat dinner, a mix of beens and yogurt means its time for a bath.

Don't take my picture...
OK, I'll smile!
I like to build towers and make them balance.
T-rex!
grumpy dinosaur.
Two dinosaurs.
T-rex considering the jackolanterns.
Triceratops and T-rex.
Triceratops raking leaves.
Grumpy T-rex.
Time to go trick-or-treating.

Amalia's soccer season

This fall Amalia had her first soccer season. She practiced most every evening and played on saturday mornings and was a member of the Green Gators. The team was dominated by two players, Amalia and Sammy. The rest of her teammates seemed only mildly interested in the game, while Amalia and Sammy ran around scoring goals. A typical game involved Amalia dominating on defense and still scored 2-4 goals while Sammy is a born striker and would score 4-6 goals. They were great teammates and had lots of fun together. The Green went undefeated!

Amalia and Sammy:

With the rest of the Green Gators:

Getting ready to go dribble around the opposition:

A cross between Mia Hamm and Lionel Messi!

Camilo

Thought I would post a few pics that Lisa has taken recently. Camilo likes to make faces, especially when he is eating. Here are some examples"

Happy:

Excited:

Tense:

Not sure what this is:

And here is one of the kids with Grandma Belden when she was visiting while I was in Brasil. Lisa took dozens of pics in this setting and this is the only one in which all three are smiling, looking forward, not struggling, etc. Its a good one!

Brasil

Been back from Brasil for a couple of weeks now. I was there for a bird conference and then took a few days to visit the Pantanal. The conference was in a place called Campos do Jordao which is a rich persons hideaway in the mountains outside of Sao Paulo. The town looks like a Swiss Challet and is similarly expensive. I didn't like it much. The Atlantic forest is amazing but little of it remains. After the conference I travelled with a friend, Leo Fusani, to the Pantanal. Lisa's mom came to visit while I was away to help take care of the kids. Her visit allowed me to take a few days and visit the Pantanal. The Pantanal is the largest wetlands in the world. Its an area the size of England and is 80% flooded in the wet season. We visited in the dry season. We flew from Sao Paolo to Campo Grande and then rode in a pick-up for 5 hours to the Fazenda Barra Mansa. We stayed there for 3 nights which really meant 2 full days. It was amazing. Below are some pics.

Here is a pic of Campos do Jordao. Looks like Switzerland but there are parrots flying around, just weird.

Driving to the Pantanal we spotted this giant anteater!

Check out the coati:

The banks of the Rio Negro were home to Capybara and Caimens:

Here I am with Leo and our guide, Antonio, is behind us in the boat:

I always like kingfishers:

Trogons are always a great bird to see:

Capybara everywhere!

Crab-eating fox!

Plush-crested jay:
Purplish jay:River otter!

As close as we came to seeing a tapir.

Or an ocelot:

But we did see this pigmy owl.

Caught a bunch of piranas. Check out the teeth!

Who is the boss now?

Wrangling a caiman. He was friendly!

Jabiru stork!
They are huge, about 4ft tall and 6ft wingspan.

How most people get to the fazendas. Much faster than driving.
Burrowing owl!
Southern caracara.
Red headed cardinal:
I'm on a horse, believe it or not!
Hyacinth macaws!
Big old tortoise!
Little bitty snake!
Pair of macaws!