Brazil; Maceio

  We had planned to spend the full day birding before we returned our trusty car in the evening. Sadly, our initial plans fell apart when Clarindo informed us he would no longer be able to come with us due to work, but he gave us his pins for our key target, the Willis Antbird.

  So we started in the small area of forest where the antbird lived, but after an hour of searching we had no joy and the forest was already beginning to quiet down. We decided to call it quits there and go to the beach to look at waders again, so that’s what we did.

  The beach was once again very lively with waders although a couple of stray dogs and a few walkers were causing some unwanted disturbance. We quickly found yesterday's Least Sandpiper, and we were then pleased to see that it had been joined by another individual. We were able to get quite close and manage some good photos which made up for the terrible photos that we had been restricted to yesterday. There were good numbers of other birds as well, with at least 77 Semipalmated Plovers in a single flock roosting in the beachside vegetation. Strangely we were only able to find a single Semipalmated Sandpiper today, presumably the rest of yesterday’s birds had continued north. The highlight of the morning was an absolutely stunning summer plumage Spotted Sandpiper that we were able to get quite close to. We also called off at a small pond in the middle of the nearby village, where we added Solitary Sandpiper to our wader day list.

  We then headed to the area of marsh we had called off at the previous morning. Once again we had no joy with the crakes we had hoped to find, but we did have a nice bonus bird when a Barn Swallow flew over us in a large flock of Grey-breasted Martins. After an hour here we decided to get the car cleaned before we returned it, so concluded our days birding. 

-Spotted Sandpiper

-Least Sandpiper

-Semipalmated Plover

-Barn Swallow

Species List:
Mata da Palateia: Ruddy Ground Dove, White-tipped Dove, Reddish Hermit, Grey-cowled Wood Rail, Amazonian Motmot, Ringed Kingfisher, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Rusty-winged Antwren, Southern White-fringed Antwren, Black-cheeked Gnateater, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Blue-backed Manakin, White-bearded Manakin, Yellow-olive Flatbill, Ochre-lored Flatbill, Great Kiskadee, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Chivi Vireo, Tropical Gnatcatcher, Moustached Wren, Purple-throated Euphonia, Violaceous Euphonia, Pectoral Sparrow, Palm Tanager,
Prainha Barra Nova: Ruddy Ground Dove, Plain-bellied Emerald, Southern Lapwing, Collared Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Western Osprey, Crested Caracara, Great Kiskadee, White-winged Swallow, House Wren,
R. Tom Jobim: Smooth-billed Ani, Limpkin, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Yellow-headed Caracara, Red-shouldered Macaw, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Grey-breasted Martin, White-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Southern Yellowthroat,