Mucugê was the town we had stayed in overnight, a small
quaint little spot centred right in the middle of the Chapada da Diamantina
National Park. The park was an area of stone garden mountains with small
patches of Cerrado. The vegetation was stunning, with cactus, cycad and palm
all growing out of the rocks.
We had a guide for the day and it was an excellent decision
as he helped us see every single target species in the park; Sincora Antwren, Hooded Visobearer,
Diamantina Tapaculo, Horned Sungem, Rufous-sided Pygmy Tyrant, Grey-backed
Tchuri and finishing off the day with an incredible encounter with Stygian Owl. Every single species
showed incredibly well but the two absolute standouts were the Visobearer and
the Tapaculo. The Visobearer was incredibly approachable, with multiple
individuals all around us, perched at close range, feeding and interacting with
each other. Without doubt it was one of the best birding experiences I have
ever had. On a similar level was our extremely intimate encounter with the
Tapaculo, when we had a single individual scuttling through the vegetation
right next to us, showing unbelievably well, not just for a Tapaculo.
-Sincora Antwren
-Hooded Visobearer
-Diamantina Tapaculo
-Horned Sungem
-Rufous-sided Pygmy-Tyrant
-Stygian Owl
In addition I also had a number of the other lifers; Cinnamon Tanager, White-spotted Piculette, Velvety
Black-Tyrant, Spix’s Spinetail, Pale-throated Pampa Finch, Nacunda Nighthawk (When
three were flushed from day roosting) and
Hang-nest Tody-Tyrant. All the birds showed insanely well, and left us with
an incredibly satisfied feeling; this was one of the best birding days I have
ever had, it really was something else. In addition to all the lifers we also
reconnected with a few old favourites; Collared
Crescentchest, Horned Sungem, Ruby Topaz, Amethyst Woodstar, Black-throated
Mango, White-cheeked Puffbird and Wedge-tailed
Grassfinch. There were points where it was impossible to know where to
look, it really was that good.
-Ruby Topaz
-White-cheeked Puffbird
-Collared Crescentchest
-Hangnest Tody-Flycatcher
-Spotted Piculette
Species List:
Diamantina National
Park: Least Grebe, Pale-vented Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Plain-breasted
Ground Dove, Picui Ground Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Nacunda Nighthawk, Planalto
Hermit, Hooded Visobearer, White-vented Violetear, Horned Sungem, Ruby-topaz
Hummingbird, Black-throated Mango, Amethyst Woodstar, Glittering-bellied
Emerald, Glittering-throated Emerald, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Southern
Lapwing, Cattle Egret, American Black Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture,
Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Hawk, Roadside Hawk, White-tailed Kite, Burrowing
Owl, Stygian Owl, White-eared Puffbird, White-spotted Piculette, Little
Woodpecker, Southern Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, American Kestrel,
Blue-winged Parrotlet, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Great Antshrike, Collared Crescentchest,
Diamantina Tapaculo, Rufous Hornero, Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Spix’s Spinetail,
Pale-breasted Spinetail, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Grey-backed Tchuri,
Plain-crested Elenia, Rufous-sided Pygmy Tyrant, Hangnest Tody-Tyrant, Scarlet Flycatcher, Velvety Black-Tyrant, Masked Water-Tyrant, Great
Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Chalk-browed Mockingbird,
Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Shiny Cowbird, Chopi Blackbird,
Pale Baywing, Red-cowled Cardinal, Cinnamon Tanager, Orange-headed Tanager,
Sayaca Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Pale-throated Pampa Finch, Wedge-tailed Grass
Finch, Bananaquit, Black-throated Saltator, House Sparrow,
Brazil Day 14 17.06.2019
We had a much more relaxed morning today, having cleaned up
in the area the previous day. We revisited a couple of yesterday’s sites hoping
for a couple of the none-targets that we missed, but we couldn’t find them.
Instead we had a fantastic few hours birding seeing some awesome birds and
revisiting some of yesterday’s lifers. I had a few new birds; Yellow-browed Tyrant, Stripe-breasted Starthroat,
Yellow-bellied Elaenia, White-crested Tyrannulet were all exciting but the
real standout bird of the morning was a Chago
Eagle that flew over us distantly whilst we were looking at Hummingbirds.
This is the first eagle of any species that I have seen in Brazil, so I was
pretty choughed about that.
-Yellow-browed Tyrant
-Hooded Visobearer
-Black-throated Mango
-White-vented Violetear
-Glittering-bellied Emerald
-Chago Eagle
After lunch we set off to our next location, Boa Nova
reserve. Sadly the drive there yielded very little in the way of birdlife,
although a brief stop did give us a few species such a White Monjita, Brown-crested Flycatcher and Rufous-fronted Thornbird.
Species List:
Diamantina National
Park: Picazuro Pigeon, Picui Ground Dove, Eared Dove, Smooth-billed Ani,
Glittering-bellied Emerald, Black-throated Mango, Hooded Visobearer, Stripe-breasted
Starthroat, White-vented Violetear, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Southern
Lapwing, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, American Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk,
White-tailed Hawk, Chago Eagle, Spotted Piculette, Campo Flicker, Southern
Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, American Kestrel, Aplomado Falcon, Cactus
Parakeet, Rufous Hornero, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Yellow-bellied
Elaenia, White-crested Tyrannulet, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Bran-coloured Flycatcher,
Yellow-browed Tyrant, Masked Water-Tyrant, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Great
Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Grey-breasted Martin, Brown-chested Martin,
Tropical Gnatcatcher, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Chalk-browed
Mockingbird, Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Masked Yellowthroat,
Red-cowled Cardinal, Sayaca Tanager, Red Tanager, Cinnamon Tanager,
Burnished-buff Tanager, Grassland
Yellowfinch, White-bellied Seedeater, White-throated Seedeater, Bananaquit,
Brazil Day 15 18.06.2019
Brazil Day 15 18.06.2019
This was our first experience of real Atlantic forest. Although
much further north than the main regions, the park at Boa Nova has a unique
collection of both northern and southern Atlantic forest species, and we were
ready for what could potentially be a big day of new birds.
We started at a location outside the forest area to look for
slender antbird. Alas we were unlucky and could not find any, but we did have a
nice view of Narrow-billed Antwren,
which was another of our target species. It showed quite nicely, as did Black-billed Scythebill, a fantastic
species of woodcreeper. Mouse-coloured
Tyrannulet was also a new species for me, and other nice species we saw
included Caatinga Antwren, Laughing
Falcon and Hangnest Tody-Tyrant.
-Narrow-billed Antwren
-Pearly-vented Tody-Flycatcher
By late morning we had concluded that we were not going to
see any Slender Antbirds, and so headed to our next coordinates for some forest
birding. The track went through an area of Atlantic Forest, and as a result we
found ourselves overwhelmed with new species at every turn, nearly all of them
specialists of the Atlantic Forest. We had a fantastic time, so much so that we
decided to come back after lunch, and ended up spending nearly five hours
birding along less than two kilometres of road. A list of lifers; Red-winged Tinamou, East Brazilian
Chachalaca, Crescent-chested Puffbird, Yellow-throated Woodpecker, Red-stained Woodpecker, Maroon-bellied Parakeet, Rufous-winged Antwren, Ferruginous Antbird, White-shouldered
Fire-eye, Plain Xenops, Striated Softail, Bahia Spinetail, Yellow Tyrannulet,
Drab-breasted Bamboo-Tyrant, Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher, Blue Manakin, Sibiliant
Sirystes, Cinnamon-vented Piha, Chestnut-crowned Becard, Red-crowned
Ant-Tanager, Flame-crested Tanager, Brazilian Tanager and Gilt-edged Tanager. It’s difficult to
pick out highlights after such a day’s birding, but the array of antbirds was definitely
one of the highlights, and the evening flyby of Chachalacas was another. What a
hardcore day’s bird.
-Chestnut-capped Becard
-Bahia Spinetail
-Rufous-winged Antwren
Yellow-throated Woodpecker
-Cinnamon-vented Piha
-East Brazilian Chachalaca
Species List:
Boa Nova: Red-winged
Tinamou, Feral Pigeon, Ruddy
Ground-Dove, Picui Ground-Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Southern Lapwing, Cattle
Egret, White-spotted Piculette, Little Woodpecker, Red-stained Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Woodpecker,
Green-barred Woodpecker, Crescent-chested Puffbird, Maaroon-bellied Parakeet, merican
Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Roadside Hawk,
Southern Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Laughing Falcon, American Kestrel,
Aplomado Falcon, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Cactus Parakeet, Maroon-bellied
Parakeet, Silvery-cheeked Antshrike, Stripe-backed Antbird, Ferrginous Antbird,
Caatinga Antwren, Narrow-billed Antwren, Rufous-winged Antwren, Black-bellied
Antwren, White-shouldered Fire-eye, Plain Xenops, Black-billed Scythebill,
Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Southern-lesser Woodcreeper, Straited Softail, Bahia
Spinetail, Pale-legged Hornero, Rufous Hornero, Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Yellow
Tyrannulet, Planalto Tyrannulet, Mouse-coloured Tyrannulet, Drab-breasted
Bamboo-Tyrant, Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher, Hangnest Tody-Tyrant, Pearl-vented
Tody-Tyrant, Bran-coloured Flycatcher, Tropical Peewee, White Monjita, Masked
Water-Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher,
Tropical Kingbird, Cinnamon-vented Piha, Chestnut-crowned Becard, Blue Manakin,
Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, House Wren,
Moustached Wren, Grey-eyed Greenlet, Long-billed Wren, Tropical Gnatcatcher,
Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Pectoral Sparrow, Rufous-collared
Sparrow, Pale Baywing, Tropical Parula, Golden-crowned Warbler, Red-cowled
Cardinal, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Flame-crested Tanager, Brazilian Tanager,
Sayaca Tanager, Palm Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Guilt-edged
Tanager, Saffron Finch, White-bellied Seedeater, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Bananaquit,
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