I had booked an eleven days
birding holiday with Birdfinders in the Atlantic Rain Forest of Brazil, which
was to be my first experience of Neotropic birding.
I started the journey to
Brazil on January 22nd, leaving home at about 10:30 to catch a train
to St Pancras in London at 10:59. I
arrived at St Pancras and the caught the tube to Paddington where I transferred
to the Heathrow Express and arrived in plenty of time for the scheduled flight
Paris Charles de Gaulle where I was to take another flight to Rio de Janeiro at
23:20. On booking in at Heathrow I was
asked if I would transfer to an earlier flight as the later one was oversubscribed,
which meant I arrived in Paris two hours early.
Another five in the group
arrived in Paris on the later flight, Brian Smith and Tony Wardell from
Nottingham, David Gibbs from Bristol and a couple, Werner and Brigette Witte
from Germany. We border the flight to
Rio in time for a scheduled take off but we then sat on the aircraft for ninety
minutes whilst some equipment was checked out.
We eventually got underway but arrived in Rio about ninety minutes late.
After passing through
immigration and collecting our baggage we were met by a driver from the Serra
Dos Tucanos Lodge, which was to be our base for the whole of the trip. Darren and Sue Sefton, who had arrived a
couple of days earlier from the UK and Alan and Lois Richardson from Main in
the US also joined us there. Whilst
backing the bags we had several Magnificent Frigatebirds and American Black
Vultures over head and a Boat-tailed Flycatcher and House Sparrows in the carp
park. We were soon on our way to the
lodge, which lies to the northwest of Rio and approximately 120 kilometres from
the airport. We saw many more
Magnificent Frigatebirds and American Black Vultures close to Rio and also
numerous Neotropic Cormorant, a few Great Egrets and five Southern Lapwings but
very little during the rest of the journey.
On arrival at the lodge we
were created by Andy Foster who was to be our guide during the visit. After a drink and unpacking we had a briefing
regarding our stay and then spent the remainder of the afternoon in the garden
of the lodge experiencing our first rain forest birds. It was quite warm and we had a tremendous
thunder storm during the later afternoon, which was what I believed would be
the norm, however this was to be the only rain of the trip. There were several
bird tables with bananas placed on them and other bananas were hung to trees
close by and in another area and the lodge there were also hummingbird
feeders. Forty-three species were
recorded during the afternoon with the confines of the garden and one
White-thighed Swallow had not been recorded before. I had recorded fifty species since arriving
in Brazil with thirty-eight being new birds, which was an excellent start to
the holiday.
Rufous-thighed Kite
Slaty-breasted Wood-rail
Saw-billed Hermit
Saw-billed Hermit
Social Flycatcher
Blue-and-white Swallow
Southern House Wren
Bananaquit
Female Green Honeycreeper
We made an early start on the
24th, which turned out to be the norm, and headed off to Pio
Caladonia. This was to be the toughest
day of the holiday where we were to climb about four meters over quite a short
distance. It proved too much for some,
including myself, and four of us stopped about half way before making our way
back down after some lunch. Only five of
the six actually made it to the top and I did miss several good birds and
insight it would perhaps have been better if we I done this after a few days of
acclimatizing for a few days. Heights of
the visit included White-eyed Parakeet, Plovercrest, Brazilian Ruby,
Yellow-eared and Yellow-browed Woodpeckers, Mouse-coloured Tapaculo,
Swallow-tailed and Black-and-gold Contingas, Yellow-legged Thrush and Diademed
Tanager.
We regrouped back at the bus
and called at Sao Bernardo on route where we had some superb views of two
Red-legged Seriemas and a good variety of other birds.
Despite not managing to get to
the top of the path it had been quite a successful day with fifty-five spices
recorded and another thirty four new birds.
Velvety Black-tyrant
Chalk-browed Mockingbird
Rufous Hornero
Swallow-tailed Continga
Red-legged Seriema
Red-legged Seriema
Red-legged Seriema
On Friday 25th we
headed for Reserve Ecologica de Guapiacu, which is a wetland reserve that was
established in 2002. The area is
surrounded by some good scrub and woodland but we initially focussed on the wet
areas. There were plenty of birds in
evidence with several Brazilian Teal and a Muscovy Duck on the water and there
was also White-faced and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks present. Common Moorhen were quite numerous as were
Wattled Jacana and there were a few American Purple Gallinules. A Guira Cuckoo provided some nice views and
both Great and Smooth-billed Ani were present.
As we walked further around the edges a superb Fork-tailed Flycatcher
flew over. This was followed by
frustrating views of a Rufous-sided Crake, which could be observed through the
reeds but it was never easy as it appeared briefly on several occasions. A Black-capped Donacobius was just the
opposite providing superb views over quite some time and a female
Chestnut-backed Antshrike also obliged close by. The temperature began to rise quite quickly
and the woodland walk was not so productive in what were rather unpleasant
conditions. We must have heard at least
five Sooretama Slaty Antshrikes but not one came into the tape. By mid-day the heat was almost unbearable and
I was feeling a little unwell as I had yesterday. As we left the reserve we had a couple of
Whistling Herons in a damp meadow and had recorded fifty-three species.
Muscovy Duck
Brazilian Teal
Whistling Heron
Striated Heron
White-headed Marsh-tyrant
Black-capped Donacobius
Black-capped Donacobius
Broad-snouted Caiman
After some lunch at the lodge
the plan for the afternoon was to visit the close by Cedae Trail. I was having second thoughts about going as I
was feeling a little queasy but eventually decided I would go. It was the right decision as we recorded
thirty-three species and probably walked no more than half a mile. Some of the highlights were Spot-billed and
Saffron Toucanets, Oustalet’s Tyrannulet, Orange-breasted and Buff-fronted
Foilage-gleaners, Palin and Streaked Xenops, Plain-winged, Olivaceous,
White-throated, Planalton, Lesser and Scaled Woodcreepers and Chestnut-crowned
and Chested Becards and six Tanagers, including a Red-necked and six
Flame-crested, which turned out to be the only ones of the trip.
Red-necked Tanager
The following were taken at the lodge.
Maroon-bellied Parakeet
Great Kiskadee
Olive-green Tanager
We had recorded 104 species
today, although four were only heard, which took the trip list to 154 and I had
seen a 125 new birds.
On returning to the lodge I
had a beer and after a few swigs was ill and decided to take an early night and
hopefully be OK in the morning.
Saturday was to be a more
leisurely day as were staying within the lodge grounds. After an early breakfast we started in the
garden where we where we had a first new bird, a Grey-hooded Attila, which we
had heard previously but this was the first sighting. We then spent the next few hours walking the
trails in the forest and added another twelve new birds for the trip, that were
all new for myself. The highlights for
me were Blond-crested Woodpecker, Black-cheeked Gnateater and Blue and
Pin-tailed Manakin. The Pin-tailed
Manakin was observing carrying out a dance on a low branch and the ground.
The afternoon was free and I
spent time in the garden and on the footpath in the forest. I saw very little in the forest but did
manage to catch up with White-throated Spadebill that I had missed this
morning.
My trip total was now on 166
with 139 new birds.
Slaty-breasted Wood-rail
Ruddy Ground-dove
Maroon-bellied Parakeet
Maroon-bellied Parakeet
Sombre Hummingbird
Brazilian Ruby
Black Jacobin
Social Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Southern House Wren
Rufous-bellied Thrush
Female Violaceous Euphonia
Male Violaceous Euphonia
Juvenile Shiny Cowbird
Green-headed Tanager
Green-headed Tanager
Male Green Honeycreeper
Pale-breasted Thrush
Sunday 27th was
spent mainly at Portan Azul, where we birded from a quite wide trail and then
late in the afternoon at the Theodoro Trail, which was from a very narrow
trail.
The birding at Portan Azul was
initially very good and fairly flat making the walking relatively easy, despite
the heat. New birds continued to flow
with Rufous-capped Spinetail, Orange-eyed Thornbird, Variable Antshrike,
Grey-capped Tyrannulet, White-winged Becard, Magpie Tanager, Gilt-edge Tanager,
Burnished-buff Tanager and Half-collared Sparrow and all within about fifty
meters of the bus. As we walked a little
further we also added Gren-backed Becard, White-shouldered Fire-eye and
White-collared Foilage-gleaner. As we
walked on the area opened out and we added more new birds Saphire-spangled
Emerald and Creamy-bellied Thrush and little further on Dusky-tailed Antbird,
Small-billed Elaenia and Rufous-browed Peppershrike. On walking back through the more open area we
had superb views of a Drab-breasted Bamboo-tyrant and two Rusty-margined
Flycatcher performed well at the side of a lake.
The Theodoro Trail proved more
difficult but I did get excellent views of White-rimmed Warbler and two Cliff
Flycatcher were observed as we returned to the bus.
My trip total was now out 188
with 162 new birds.
Picazuro Pigeons
Small-billed Elaenia
Magpie Tanager
Magpie Tanager
Surucua Trogon
On the 28th we
headed for Macae de Clam where we drove some considerable distance along a dirt
road but stopped frequently to bird.
Birding was quite difficult throughout the day, although we did have a
number of excellent birds. At the first
stop we had several Bare-throated Bellbirds calling and eventually had good but
distant views of one calling from near the top of a dead tree. Another good bird was a Serra Tyrant-manakin,
which responded well to a tape and a brief view was had of a Giant Antshrike
whilst we were trying to entice, unsuccessfully, a Brazilian Anthrush. A Plumbeous Pigeon and five Pileated Parrots
flew over all giving poor views. We had
made several attempts during the week to see Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper without
success and hearing one call again didn’t raise our hopes. However, this one responded to the tape and
sat out in full view giving excellent views for a few minutes and what a
bird. At another stop we had poor views
of an Ochre-rumped Antbird and found a White-throated Hummingbird on a nest. Another excellent find at this stop was a
Spotted Bamboo-wren, which came so close I couldn’t focus my bins. We finally stopped for lunch at a site for
White-bibbed Antbird but were unsuccessful but we did have some nice views of a
Greenish Schiffornis. After lunch we
made several more attempts for the White-bibbed Antbird and were fortunate to
have brief views of two Tataupa Tinamou.
A Star-throated Antwen was observed along with two Golden-crowned
Warblers on the way back and our final stop proved to be quite productive. We had views of a Bertoni’s Antbird, which
had eluded us earlier, a Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet and a couple of
Azure-shouldered Tanagers.
Whilst today had proved more
difficult we had seen some excellent birds and my trip total had moved onto 203
with 177 new birds.
The following day we were back
at the Theeodoro Trail, which proved a little more productive today. We found a flock of birds feeding an area
with a little more access and saw both White-browed and White-eyed
Foliage-gleaners, although the White-browed gave us a real run around. I also had two views of a Ruddy Quail-dove,
one on a nest and a Ferruginous Antbird performed exceptionally well. Other additions were a Spix’s Spinetail,
Sharpbill and rather brief views of a Uniform Finch.
Ruddy Quail-dove
Sharpbill
The afternoon was spent within
the lodge grounds where Darren and I went up onto the trails and found two
Whiskered Flycatchers, a bird I had missed earlier in the week.
Black Jacobin
Brazilian Tanager
Female Blue Dacnis
Male Blue Dacnis
My trip total was now on 212
with 185 new birds and with just two days to go my target of 220 new birds was
looking rather distant.
Our final full day was titled
the Jacama Trail were we drove between several sops off points in more open
country. The first stop was alongside a
very busy road where we added White-tailed Hawk, Black-necked Aracari and
Blue-black Grassquit for the trip. The
next stop was just a short drive and thankfully far less traffic. There were plenty of birds at this stop, many
we had already seen but we did add Blue-winged Macaw, Campo Flicker and
Southern Rough-winged Swallow. The next
stop was at a rather beautiful setting and was perhaps the most productive of
the day despite it being on a fairly busy road.
Here we added Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Serra
Antwren, Hangnest Toddy-tyrant and Short-crested Flycatcher. The next stop gave a panoramic view from a
high vantage point and produced more Blue-black Grassquits but also Grey and
White-rumped Monjitas, Grassland Sparrow and Yellow-rumped Marshbird. We moved onto a dirt track for our next stop
and added Green Kingfisher, Firewood Gatherer and Yellow-browed Tyrant. Moving along a little further we stopped
close to a farm and added yet more new birds, Bran-coloured Flaycatcher, Streamer-tailed
Tyrant and White-bellied Seedeater but the expected Tawny-headed Swallows and
Chopi Blackbird were not present. Our next
stop was our lunchtime stop where after a patient wait we added Bisculate
Swift, White-eared Puffbird and Curl-crested Jay.
We finally reached the
furthest point from the lodge and within a few minutes we had our target bird,
the endemic Three-toed Jacama. We also
had good views of Crescent-chested Puffbird, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet,
Long-tailed Tyrant and Chestnut-vented Conebill. Two further stops were made on route back to
the lodge, the first was for Burrowing Owl, which duly obliged but the second
stop failed to produce the target bird.
The second stop was however productive with Glittering-bellied Emerald,
Olivaceous Elaenia, Red-eyed Vireo and Cinnamon Tanager being added.
It had been an excellent day
with 104 species being recorded with all but one being observed. I had seen thirty-one new birds and my trip
total was at 246 with 216 being new.
White-tailed Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Savanna Hawk
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
American Black Vulture
Southern Caracara
Southern Lapwing
Southern Lapwing
Wattled Jacana
Burrowing Owl
Bran-coloured Flycatcher
Yellow-browed Tyrant
Masked Water-tyrant
Short-crested Flycatcher
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
Rufous Hornero
Spix's Spinetail
Yellow-chinned Spinetail
Rufous-fronted Thornbird
Three-toed Jacama
White-eared Puffbird
Our final morning was around
the lodge where we walked the trails again.
Remarkably I had four new birds, Black-capped Foliage-gleaner,
Spot-backed Antshrike, Eye-ringed Toddy-tyrant and Black-throated Grosbeak,
which took me to my target of 220 new birds.
Sadly just after lunch it was
time to leave the lodge and head for the airport for our overnight flight to
Paris and then onward to the London Heathrow.
We saw plenty of Magnificent Frigatebirds and Black Vultures on the
return journey as well as several Neotropic Cormorant and Great Egrets and a
single Brown Booby, which was the last addition to the trip list.
My introduction to Neotropic
birding had gone very well with a final list of 251 and 220 twenty new birds.
Violet-capped Woodnymph
Male Green Honeycreeper
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