Brazil Day 1
04.06.2019
I travelled overnight back to Brasilia to visit Lia, and
then explore the country together, as well as mopping up on a few species that
I had missed before. My flight over was long, and my connections were narrow.
But enough of that, the highlight of my travelling was seeing massive flocks of
Magnificent Frigatebirds flying over
Rio Airport. So far as airport birds go, that is not bad. And also not bad for
a first lifer of the trip!
I arrived in Brasilia
and we immediately headed to the botanical gardens to hopefully connect with my
most frustrating dip; Frilled Coquet. Alas, once again we dipped and the
gardens themselves seemed very quiet with little activity so we cut our losses
and dragged my jet-lagged body to bed.
In the evening we headed out again to try for some Owls.
Sadly we had no luck but managed fantastic views of a Paraque on the road and also spotted a few singing frogs in the
foliage. So not a complete loss but I was way too jet lagged to fully enjoy it.
-Paraque
-Frog
Species List:
Botanical Gardens: Picazuro
Pigeon, Scaled Dove, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Southern Lapwing, American Black
Vulture, Southern Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Boat-billed Flycatcher,
Tropical Kingbird, Pale-breasted Thrush, Purple-throated Euphonia, Violaceous
Euphonia, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Black-goggled Tanager, Burnished-buff
Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Saffron Finch, Bananaquit,
Brazil Day 2 05.06.2019
After a long and jet-lagged first day we decided not to rise
particularly early for my second day. When we did we chose to try for the
Yellowish Pipit first, a bird I had heard call during my first visit but had
failed to see. The site was a large reservoir, but last time the rain had made
our visit fairly pointless.
This time, under glorious mid-morning sunshine we had a
fantastic two hours birding. We had incredible views of Yellowish Pipit, making
up for last time for certain, but the absolute highlight was a pair of
Long-winged Harrier, the female of which flew right over us. They really were
absolutely insane birds to look at, really stunning and not something I
expected to see. In fact, despite having been in this area for six weeks prior,
I managed five additional lifers; Bare-faced Ibis, Snowy Egret, Brown-chested
Martin, Yellow-chinned Spinetail and the best of the rest, a cracking male
Scarlet Flycatcher.
-Common Waxbill
-White-tailed Kite
-Yellowish Pipit
-Scarlet Flycatcher
-Long-winged Harrier
-Burrowing Owl
After we made a quick call at a place called Deck Sul on the
edge of the large reservoir that surrounds the city. Here we managed a few more
birds, although it was generally quiet in the midday sun. A Snail Kite flew
past us and I picked out an American Purple Gallinule with the scope. Both were
new species for me, rounding off a fantastic mornings birding.
Species List:
Lagoa do Descoberto: Brazilian
Teal, Feral Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon,
Ruddy Ground Dove, Guira Cuckoo,
Smooth-billed Ani, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Common Gallinule, Southern
Lapwing, Neotropic Cormorant, Great White Egret, Snowy Egret, Striated Heron,
Whistling Heron, Bare-faced Ibis, Buff-necked Ibis, American Black Vulture, White-tailed
Kite, Long-winged Harrier, Roadside Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Campo Flicker,
Southern Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Rufous Hornero, Yellow-chinned
Spinetail, Scarlet Flycatcher, White-headed Marsh Tyrant, Tropical Kingbird,
Blue-and-white Swallow, Brown-chested Martin, Masked Gnatcatcher, Yellowish Pipit,
Grassland Sparrow, Blue Black Grassquit, House Sparrow, Common Waxbill,
Deck Sul: Blue-and-yellow
Macaw, Ringed Kingfisher, Snail Kite, American Purple Gallinule, Common
Gallinule, White-winged Swallow, American Black Vulture, Great White Egret,
Southern Lapwing, Sayaca Tanager, Smooth-billed Ani, Bare-faced Ibis,
Brazil Day 3 06.06.2019
This morning I connected with my second dipped species from
my last visit; Coal-crested Finch.
It beggars belief that I missed them last time, as birds were around almost
straight away, although generally elusive, there was a female that walked along
the road towards me, and got so close that I could have easily picked it up.
Other nice birds on site included Shrike-like
Tanager and Black-faced Saltator.
-Coal-crested Finch
-Shrike-like Tanager
Afterwards Lia left me with Ed whilst she headed off to
classes. Ed and I had a fantastic morning birding in an area of forest wetland
with adjacent sewage settling pits, always a recipe for good birds. As soon as
we got out of the car we had scores of hummingbirds including a female Black-throated Mango, which was a new
species for me, the first of many during the morning. The wetland was
absolutely fantastic, with White-cheeked
Pintail, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, White-backed
Stilt and on the settling ponds two real Brasilia rarities; Little Blue Heron and Least Grebe. In the adjacent forest I
also had a number of new species; Large-billed
Antwren, Grey-headed Spinetail, Fuscous Flycatcher, Black-backed Water-Tyrant,
Chestnut-vented Conebill and the best
Black-capped Donacobius, when three of these birds started performing all
around us. The Donacobius is the only representative in its family, so I was
really keen to see them. They did not disappoint at all, they were really
awesome!
-Muscovy Duck
-Chestnut-vented Conebill
-Rufescent Tiger Heron
-Black-backed Water-Tyrant
-Black-capped Donacobius
-Lesser Kiskadee
-Little Blue Heron
-Least Grebe
-White-cheeked Pintail
In the afternoon, after a short break for lunch, we headed
to another site to look for Horned
Screamer. These large, bizarre wildfowl species were present as soon as we
arrived and quite close as well. Other birds were a bit thin on the ground, but
Greater Thornbird was another lifer
and there were also nice views of Yellowish
Pipit and White-headed Marsh-Tyrant.
-Horned Screamer
Species List:
Brasilia Cerrado: Coal-crested
Finch, Black-faced Saltator, Red-crested Finch, Checkered Woodpecker,
Shrike-like Tanager, Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird,
Yellow-headed Amazon Parrot, Plumbeous Seedeater, Ruddy Ground Dove, Southern
Caracara, House Wren, Rufous Hornero, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper,
Brasilia Wetland: Horned
Screamer, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Brazilian Teal, White-cheeked Pintail,
Muscovy Duck, Least Grebe, Pale-vented Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground
Dove, Scaled Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Black-throated Mango, Glittering-bellied
Emerald, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Glittering-throated Emerald, Common
Galinule, White-backed Stilt, Southern Lapwing, Wattled Jacana, Neotropic
Cormorant, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret,
Great White Egret, Striated Heron, Bare-faced Ibis, Buff-necked Ibis, American
Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Green Kingfisher, Toco Toucan,
Southern Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Turqouise-fronted
Amazon Parrot, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Barred Antshrike, Large-billed Antwren, Greater
Thornbird, Rufous Hornero, Rusty-backed Spinetail, Grey-headed Spinetail,
Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Common
Tody-Flycatcher, Bran-coloured Flycatcher, Fouscous Flycatcher, Black-backed
Water Tyrant, Masked Water-Tyrant, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Cattle Tyrant, Short-crested
Flycatcher, Lesser Kiskadee, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Kingfisher, Tropical
Kingbird, White-winged Swallow, Buff-breasted Wren, Masked Gnatcatcher,
Black-capped Donacobious, Yellowish Pipit, Shiny Cowbird, Chestnut-capped
Blackbird, Orange-headed Tanager, Palm Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Chestnut-vented
Conebill, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Bananaquit, Saffron Finch,
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