Monday 4 February 2019

Brazil 04.02.2019 - 06.02.2019

Brazil Day 25 04.02.2019
Our first day back in the reserve after our weekend away. Because our previous day had been so long we could not face an early start and so decided to spend the morning doing some territory experiments with the Helmeted Manakins. As a result it was a fairly chilled out morning, with a few nice birds; Little Woodpecker and Green-winged Saltator.
-Green-winged Saltator
Before we headed out for the afternoon I got my first new species of the day with a Lesser Kiskadee perched up and feeding on the fence line outside the field center. Our afternoon session was cut short by a tropical storm, with the only bird of note being a very high up King Vulture that drifted over. Once back at the field center the storm created a bit more activity with the local birdlife and I got another new species; Chestnut-eared Aracari, another more elaborately coloured species of Toucan. It came and landed in the tree right outside the landing of the field school whilst we were eating dinner. Unfortunately the thick cloud cover of the storm meant very poor light for photography, but I still managed a record shot.
-Chestnut-eared Aracari

Species List:
Brasilia: Black Vulture, King Vulture, White-tailed Hawk, Southern Caracara, Aplomado Falcon, Red-legged Seriema, Ruddy Ground Dove, Scaled Dove, Picazuro Pigeon, Blue-fronted Amazon Parrot, Smooth-billed Ani, Sick's Swift, Fork-tailed Palm Swift, Chestnut-eared Aracari, Little Woodpecker, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Southern Antpipit, Lesser Kiskadee, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Helmeted Manakin, Blue-and-white Swallow, Pale-bellied Thrush, White-lined Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Guira Tanager, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Green-winged Saltator, House Sparrow,

Brazil Day 26 05.02.2019
We returned to our normal routine of early starts and attempted to catch some Helmeted Manakins in the nets. Sadly we failed on the latter part, with only a single adult male even looking interested. Other birds were thin on the ground as well, leaving the morning pretty uneventful.
After lunch I headed out for a walk and had a good number of species along the woodland fringe just south of the field center. A Crimson-crested Woodpecker was a nice surprise, the first I have seen for a while, and I got a new species with Creamy-bellied Thrush, easily separated from the commoner Pale-bellied Thrush by its dark loral stripe.
-Variable Antshrike
-Rufous-tailed Jacamar
-Aplomado Falcon
-Yellow-faced Amazon Parakeet
Our planned afternoon fieldwork was cancelled due to a serious tropical storm that swept through drenching everything. Once it passed there were still a few hours of daylight so we headed out around the farm birding. The edge of the woodland was brilliant, with flocks of Tanagers, Warblers, Flycatchers and various other woodland species all fly-catching or feeding along the edge of the forest. We then headed round the farm after my old nemesis, the green coloured ibis, made a brief flyover appearance. Our search around the farm proved fruitless until the very end when I picked the bird up feeding in a banana plantation; Green Ibis. Other highlights from the afternoon included awesome views of Rufous-tailed Jacamar flycatching and a beautiful adult Aplomado Falcon.

Species List:
Brasilia: Rusty-margined Guan, Cattle Egret, Whistling Heron, Buff-necked Ibis, Green Ibis, Black Vulture, Plumbeous Kite, Roadside Hawk, Southern Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Aplomado Falcon, Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Red-legged Seriema, Southern Lapwing, Ruddy Ground Dove, Picazuro Pigeon, Eared Dove, Yellow-faced Amazon Parrot, Blue-fronted Amazon Parrot, Smooth-billed Ani, Guira Cuckoo, Burrowing Owl, Sick's Swift, Fork-tailed Palm Swift, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Glittering-throated Emerald, Ringed Kingfisher, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Campo Flicker, Variable Antshrike, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Rufous Hornero, Gray-hooded Flycatcher, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, Piratic Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Helmeted Manakin, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Chivi Vireo, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern House Wren, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Pale-breasted Thrush, Creamy-bellied Thrush, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Bananaquit, Black-goggled Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Guira Tanager, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Grassland Sparrow, Grassland Yellowfinch, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Double-collared Seedeater, Buff-throated Saltator, Tropical Parula, White-bellied Warbler, House Sparrow,

Brazil Day 27 06.02.2019
When we awoke to cloudy skies and the threat of rain, it really did not look like we were going to have a good morning. I could not have been more wrong! We headed to the nets for just after first light, and as soon as we parked up and got out of the car I got a new species when a pair of Channel-billed Toucans flew over and alighted in a tree. They did not sit still for long, but through bins you could clearly see their dark bills and blue faces. The ringing was excellent, when we finally caught a male Helmeted Manakin, which really was a stunner, but also a number of flycatchers and a Green-winged Saltator, but the absolute highlight, and a bird that I was allowed to ring, was a cracking Rufous-capped Motmot. This is one of the best birds I have ever had the privillege of ringing, and thanks to Lia for taking some photos of me with this amazing bird, check out her blog on the Helmeted Manakin Project; http://liakajiki.webflow.io/. It was really rather placid in the hand, meaning that I could really get an appreciation for the amazing array of colours. Then, as if all that was not enough, on the drive back to the field school we found a Boa Constrictor crossing the road. It was just over a meter long but so awesome to see. Not bad for my first Brazilian snake!
-Green-winged Saltator 
-Helmeted Manakin
-Rufous-capped Motmot
-Boa Constrictor
In the afternoon the heavens opened and I decided to take an extended nap. When I finally awoke the rain had all but stopped although there was still heavy cloud. The birding I did was nice and chilled out, enjoying commoner forest species feeding along the road, but nothing too exceptional. 

Species List:
Brasilia: Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Southern Caracara, Ruddy Ground Dove, Picazuro Pigeon, Blue-fronted Amazon Parrot, Sick's Swift, Fort-tailed Palm Swft, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Ringed Kingfisher, Rufous-capped Motmot, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Toco Toucan, Channel-billed Toucan, Black-capped Antwren, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, Euler's Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Piratic Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Helmeted Manakin, Curl-crested Jay, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Pale-bellied Thrush, Bananaquit, Black-goggled Tanager, Grey-headed Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Guira Tanager, Blue-black Grassquit, Grassland Yellowfinch, Saffron Finch, Double-collared Seedeater, Buff-throated Saltator, Green-winged Saltator, Tropical Parula, White-bellied Warbler, House Sparrow, Boa constrictor,

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