We were collected from our accommodation in Serra Bonita
early morning and taken down to the reserve farm below. Here we would meet up
with a local guide that would take us to hopefully see Harpy Eagle and Banded
Cotinga. But before all of that there was a short window where we were able to
bird the farm whilst we transferred our luggage, and in this time I racked up
four new birds; Giant Cowbird,
Black-necked Aracari, Plain Parakeet and the vulnerable White-eared Parakeet. All three showed
nicely, especially the White-eared Parakeets that appeared to be excavating
some form of nest hole, or possibly feeding on the trees bark.
-White-eared Parakeet
-Giant Cowbird
-Black-necked Aracari
-Masked Water-Tyrant
We set off with our
guides to attempt to track down our targets, starting with the Cotinga. Sadly
we failed hard with this one, but seeing as the Acai trees that it feeds on
were not in fruit, it was always going to be a long shot. Then we endured a two
kilometre hike up a mountain to a known
Harpy Eagle nest. Despite our guides insisting that the bird was guaranteed
since it was a juvenile that would remain loyal to the nest area, after an hour
wait we had given up hope. Then, just as we were about to leave, the 11 month
old bird came and landed in the canopy in front of us. It’s impossible to
describe the sight of such an impressive bird, really awesome to see.
-Harpy Eagle
We wrapped up around midday and began our ten hour drive to
Botumiri in the neighbouring state of Minas Gerais. In an attempt to make as
good a time as possible we did not stop for any birds except for a magnificent Rufescent Tiger Heron that had been
fishing along a river next to the pathetic excuse for a road that we were
driving on.
-Rufescent Tiger Heron
Species List:
Fazenda Santo
Antonio: Ruddy Ground Dove, Grey-rumped Swift, Southern Lapwing, Roadside
Hawk, Harpy Eagle, American Black Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Turkey
Vulture, Black-necked Aracari, Laughing Falcon, Scaly-headed Amazon Parrot, White-eared
Parakeet, Plain Parakeet, Cliff Flycatcher, Masked Water-Tyrant, Grey-hooded
Attila, Grey-breasted Martin, House Wren, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Red-rumped
Cacique, Crested Oropendola, Giant Cowbird, Chopi Blackbird,
Brazil Day 20 23.06.2019
Brazil Day 20 23.06.2019
Today was day we got to go for the rarest of the birds on
our target list; the Blue-eyed Ground
Dove. Having only been rediscovered in 2015 after being presumed extinct
for 75 years, a small population of 20 birds is now know from a location in
central Minas Gerais, near the small town of Botumirim. We met up with our
reserve guide early morning and then headed out into the Cerrado. He took us
straight to the location where a few of the doves could be found, and we were
in luck as almost immediately a male started singing. It took some work as the
bird was extremely shy, but we eventually saw him walking on the ground, before
excellent views of him perched up, showing really nicely. Well worth making the
visit for, a really smart bird.
-Blue-eyed Ground Dove
After the dove we birded more around the reserve. There were
lots of nice Cerrado birds that we had seen before; Sierra Finch, Cinnamon Tanager and Velvety Black-Tyrant. The only new birds for me were Southern Scrub Flycatcher and Highland Elaenia. We did also see our
first Helmeted Manakins of the trip,
which were a nice treat for Lia and the first male I had seen since I returned
Brazil. Anton and I also tried in the evening but we found it extremely quiet
with no birds of any note.
-Velvety Black-Tyrant
-White-vented Violetear
Species List:
Botumirim: Pale-vented
Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Blue-eyed Ground Dove, Fork-tailed Palm-Swift,
Planalto Hermit, White-vented Violetear, Horned Sungem, Swallow-tailed
Hummingbird, Glittering-bellied Emerald, American Black Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed
Vulture, Southern Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Narrow-billed
Woodcreeper, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Southern-beardless Tyrannulet,
Plain-crested Elaenia, Highland Elaenia, Velvety Black-Tyrant, Short-crested
Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Helmeted Manakin,
Grey-eyed Greenlet, House Wren, Tropical Gnatcatcher, Rufous-collared Sparrow,
Golden-crowned Warbler, Red Tanager, Cinnamon Tanager, White-lined Tanager,
Sayaca Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Bananaquit,
Green-winged Saltator, Wedge-tailed Grass Finch,
Brazil Day 21 24.06.2019
We had allowed ourselves an extra day in case we missed the
dove, ut since we saw it so well the previous day we decided to create a new
plan for our day of travelling down to Belo Horizonte. We decided to visit the
park called Parque Estadual da Lapa Grande near the city of Montes Claros, but
we were devastated to find that it was shut on Mondays. Since the city was on
our route anyway we decided to make a visit to the park entrance and see what
we could see. As it happened, we met a member of park staff, and with a little
persuasion from Lia he allowed us into the park for the day.
This was an excellent turn of events. Not only did we
connect with our number one target; the very range restricted Sao Francisco Sparrow, but we also got
a host of other dry forest species. Personally I gathered a number of nice
lifers; Black Jacobin, Dry Forest
Sabrewing, Wagler’s Woodcreeper, Ochre-faced tody-flycatcher and the
absolute highlight of the day, a perched Ornate
Hawk Eagle surveying the forest from a treetop vantage point. This was not
a species I thought I would see, and especially not like this. The park really
was amazing, with additional none lifer species including Sao Francisco Black Tyrant (With much better photos than the only
other time I saw this species), White-naped
Jay, Creamy-bellied Thrush and Golden-green
Woodpecker. It really was an outstanding mornings birding.
Afterwards we headed into Monte Claros looking for a place
to eat. Whilst we failed on that front, we did find a nice lake in the city with
a few birds and here we got amazing views of Limpkin, with a single individual feeding right below us. Our next
drive was long but a short stop produced 20 Blue-and-yellow Macaws, which are always stunning birds to see.
-Golden-green Woodpecker
-Pale-legged Hornero
-Ornate Hawk Eagle
-Rufous-thighed Hawk
-Sao Francisco Sparrow
-Limpkin
Species List:
Parque Estadual da
Lapa Grande Parque: Squirrel Cuckoo, Planalto Hermit, Dry-forest Sabrewing,
Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Black Jacobin, Grey-cowled Wood-Rail, Ornate Hawk-Eagle,
Rufous-thighed Hawk, Roadside Hawk, Surucua Trogon, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Scaly-headed
Amazon Parrot, Great Antshrike, Planalto Slaty-Antshrike, Caatinga Antwren, Black-capped
Antwren, Black-bellied Antwren, Planalto Woodcreeper, Wagler’s Scaled
Woodcreeper, Pale-legged Hornero, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Grey Elaenia,
Ochre-faced Tody-Flycatcher, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tyrant,
Sibilant Sirystes, Short-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher,
Caatinga Black-Tyrant, Buff-breasted Wren, Tropical Gnateater, Pale-breasted
Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Creamy-bellied Thrush, Sao Francisco Sparrow,
Saffron-billed Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Variable Oriole, Campo
Troupial, Tropical Parula, Golden-crowned Warbler, Flavescent Warbler,
Grey-headed Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Burnished-buff
Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Guira Tanager, Chestnut-vented Conebill, Saffron Finch,
Pileated Finch, Bananaquit,
Lagoa Curuay: White-faced
Whistling Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Common Gallinule, Limpkin,
Wattled Jacana, Neotropic Cormorant, Coicoi Heron, Great White Egret, Snowy
Egret, Striated Heron, Bare-faced Ibis, American Black Vulture, Amazon
Kingfisher, Chestnut-capped Blackbird, House Sparrow, Common Waxbill,
Brazil Day 22 25.06.2019
And so we arrived at our final day of the trip. In the
afternoon we had to drop Anton off at Belo Horizonte airport, so we chose our
location some 90 minute drive from the city, the plan being that we would bird
right from the hotel and hopefully clean up on our targets. Sadly though, I
made a bit of a mess with the birding site, and it was actually an hours drive
from the hotel. We decided to go for it anyway, since it seemed to be more reliable
for all the species we wanted.
The location was stunning, with crazy mountains and
beautiful valleys. The mountainous uplands were bleak, with short vegetation,
one of my favourite habitats. Our targets were species that restricted to this
restricted upland area to the north of Belo Horizonte; Cipo Canastero, Hyacinth Visobearer and Cipo Long-tailed Cincloides. Without a guide, we managed to get
insane views of all three, showing well beyond words. We also had an insane
bonus bird; whilst wandering through the upland grass I flushed a bird that
called once before landing a short distance away. I had a strong suspicion that
it might be a Pipit, and when I eventually spotted it wandering around the
rocks I was thrilled to see it was a Hellmayr’s
Pipit, a species more abundant in other parts of the Brazil, although not
impossible at this site. This was a bird I had really wanted to see, but
instead chose a site more reliable for the Cincloides due to it being more
range restricted. Other lifers during the morning were Yellow-rumped Marshbird and a pair of Band-winged Nightjar that we flushed from roost on the rocks.
There were other awesome birds that I have only seen a couple of times; Crested Black-Tyrant, Stripe-tailed
Yellowfinch and Highland Elaenia.
It really was an amazing end to the trip.
-Long-tailed Cincloides
-Hellmayr's Pipit
-Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch
-Cinnamon Tanager
-Cipo Canastero
-Hyacinth Visobearer
Species List:
Lapinha da Serra: Brazilian
Teal, Feral Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Plain-breasted Ground Dove, Ruddy Ground
Dove, Band-winged Nightjar, Hyacinth Visobearer, White-vented Violetear,
Amethyst Woodstar, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Southern Lapwing, Great White
Egret, Striated Heron, American Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Ringed
Kingfisher, Toco Toucan, Campo Flicker, Southern Caracara, Yellow-headed
Caracara, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Great Antshrike, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper,
Rufous Hornero, Long-tailed Cinclodes, Cipo Canastero, Plain-crested Elaenia,
Highland Elaenia, Cliff Flycatcher, Crested Black-Tyrant, Cattle Tyrant, Great
Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged
Swallow, Grey-breasted Martin, House Wren, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied
Thrush, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Hellmayr’s Pipit, Purple-throated Euphonia,
Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Shiny Cowbird, Yellow-rumped
Marshbird, Red Tanager, Cinnamon Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Burnished-buff
Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Stripe-tailed Yellowfinch, Saffron Finch, Grassland
Yellowfinch, House Sparrow,
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