Brazil; Maceio

 Although we had visited all the sites we needed to visit to see the regional endemics, we still had the car for a few days and so filled our time by birding sites near to Maceio. With the help of Clarindo we spent the morning out birding before we watched the new Batman film in the afternoon.

First we visited an area of thick marshland where we hoped to find some species of Crake. Although we heard them, we never saw any and many of the species were unresponsive to playback attempts. There was one nice species when we encountered a smart male Southern Yellowthroat that took some effort but we eventually managed to see. Next we headed to an area of open rough ground where we had brilliant views of a pair of Pearl Kite perched incredibly close. There was also a Brazil tick for me here with the rather uninspiring Common Ground Dove, although this was a lifer for Lia.

Next it was on to the beach where we hoped to find some species of waders. And find them we did! There was at least 50 Semipalmated Plovers, as well as at least 15 Turnstones on a small area of beach. In the same area we had a group of 8 Semipalmated Sandpipers, which was a Brazil species for me, but these were rather shy and we were not able to get close. There was one bird that I managed to get quite close to, but it was only once I was close that I was able to realize it was in fact a Sanderling.

As we were leaving we passed a large marshy lagoon adjacent to the beach and here I had my lifer for the day when we picked out a cracking Wilsons Plover sitting among the Collared Plovers. It really was a brute, and a species that I had hoped to encounter during our time in NE. And just before we left, we spotted another small wader feeding distantly on the shore. Although it was clearly different, in the end we decided it was probably a Semipalmated Sandpiper in a different plumage. However, something always felt wrong. In the field I had checked multiple times the colour of the legs, and in the late morning sun they had always appeared black, but a review of the photos showed at least one shot where the leg was not concealed by the birds body, and it was clearly yellow. A Least Sandpiper, another new species for my Brazil list and a regional rarity!

To say that we had a brilliant morning would be an understatement!!!

-Southern Yellowthroat

-South American Monarch

-White Peacock

-Magnificent Frigatebird

-Pearl Kite

-Semipalmated Sandpiper

-Least Sandpiper

-Ruddy Turnstone

-Wilson's Plover

Species List:
R. Tom Jobim: Southern Lapwing, Great Egret, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Amazon Kingfisher, Crested Caracara, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Southern Yellowthroat, Palm Tanager,
Barra Nova: Feral Pigeon, Common Ground Dove, Ruddy Ground Dove, Picui Ground Dove, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Southern Lapwing, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Pearl Kite, Roadside Hawk, White Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, White-headed Marsh Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, House Sparrow, White-browed Blackbird, Blue-black Grassquit,
Prainha Barra Nova: Southern Lapwing, Collared Plover, Wilson's Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Tyrant, White-winged Swallow, House Wren,