Today the morning was something of a write off, since we had lodged in a Hospedaje near the Rancho Blanca and it was three hours drive until we reached the Reserva Natural Mbaracayu, our location for the next few days and our first interaction with the Atlantic Forest on this trip. The drive was long and some stretches passed through terrible dirt roads, but in the end we arrive at around 09:30, allowing just a little time for morning birding.
Our visit started incredibly well, as we
passed through the entrance gate to the lodge area itself, I picked up the call
of a Pavonine Cuckoo and we immediately jumped out and sprung into action. The
bird was responsive to playback, but was extremely reluctant to perch in the
open. There was just one occasion when it sat out in the open, and we got very
nice views indeed.
There is only one trail to walk without a
guide here, so we spent the rest of the morning on that. There were a few
Atlantic Forest species that we picked up here, such as White-shouldered
Fire-eye and Rufous-capped Spinetail, as well as heard only Bare-throated
Bellbird, the acoustic backdrop to our entire day in Mbaracayu. After lunch and
a nap we also birded along this trail and we added Rufous-margined Antwren,
White-eyed Foliage-Gleaner and Yellow-fronted Woodpecker.
For the rest of the afternoon we birded along
the entrance road again and had another great encounter when an Eared Pygmy
Tyrant came and sat out in the open right next to us, completely of its own
accord. The rest of the walk saw us add Crested Becard but little else. We
returned to the lodge early evening to relax and recover from the last few
days. A Bat Falcon flying around overhead was an unexpected addition to our
trip!
We tried to search for some night birds along the main road, but we had not got far before we were found by park security forces and marched back to camp. The presence of guerrilas in the forest has complicated our visit to the area. For all this trouble, we only saw a Tropical Screech Owl.
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