Tuesday, 2 July 2019

Brazil; Bahia Work 02.07.2019 - 04.07.2019

Brazil Day 29 02.07.2019
Our new survey site was a small fragment of Atlantic forest, but still my hopes were high for some interesting species in the fragment. Sadly the overall birdlife was quiet, probably as a result of the cold, foggy conditions that persisted throughout the morning. The work was hard, hacking trails through the woodland and dense bracken patches, but we still managed some nice birds.
The standout bird for the day was one of the first birds I looked at after we commenced our walk just after sunrise. A pigeon alighted in the open in front of me, one look was all that I needed to confirm the bird as an adult Scaled Pigeon, my last large pigeon I needed for this region. Sadly the fog was still thick, but the views were still nice before it left. We tried playback to see if it would return but instead ended up with a juvenile bird. The other lifer of the morning was Trilling Gnatwren, which we picked out of a mixed species flock in the forest. Other awesome forest birds we encountered included; White-bearded Manakin, Kinglet Manakin, Scaled Antbird and Rufous-winged Antwren.
-Scaled Pigeon
-White-bearded Manakin
-Ringed Kingfisher
In the afternoon we checked out another forest fragment, our survey site for the next day. There were a few nice birds here, but it being evening it was already fairly quiet. The best bird we saw was a Rusty-margined Guan, but sadly it did not linger for any photos. Rufous-headed Tanager was another nice bird to see, having only seen one prior. Fingers crossed that in the morning there will be more action.
-Red-stained Woodpecker

Species List:
Jaguaquara: Brazilian Teal, Least Grebe, Scaled Pigeon, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Common Pauraque, Common Gallinule, Wattle Jacana, Striated Heron, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Green-barred Woodpecker, Yellow-headed Caracara, Ringed Kingfisher, Golden-capped Parakeet, Planalto-Slaty Antshrike, Rufous-winged Antwren, Scaled Antbird, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, White-headed Marsh Tyrant, White-bearded Manakin, Kinglet Manakin, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Trilling Gnatwren, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Purple-throated Euphonia, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Red-rumped Cacique, Campo Troupial, Chopi Blackbird, Cinnamon Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, White-bellied Seedeater, Bananaquit,
Ubaira: Rusty-margined Guan, Southern Lapwing, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Savannah Hawk, Roadside Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Spotted Piculette, Red-stained Woodpecker, Southern Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Golden-capped Parakeet, Rufous-winged Antwren, Rufous Hornero, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Planalto Tyrannulet, Ochre-lored Flatbill, Cliff Flycatcher, White Monjita, Masked Water-Tyrant, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Pale-breasted Thrush, Violaceous Euphonia, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Campo Troupial, Red-cowled Cardinal, Sayaca Tanager, Palm Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Rufous-headed Tanager, Saffron Finch, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Bananaquit,

Brazil Day 30 03.07.2019
The new survey site, which we visited the previous evening, was a very small fragment of Atlantic Forest. It had been promising yesterday so I was optimistic that there would be some interesting species around in the morning. Almost immediately after arriving on site I got a lifer, Lineated Woodpecker. Although a widespread species across South America it was still nice to finally see this impressive woodpecker. And as we walked along the path I picked up a second lifer, Silvery-flanked Antwren, a small bird that we especially tricky to see in the undergrowth but with some effort managed to obtain ok views. It was a nice and pleasant morning out. As we were leaving we also saw something else interesting, another mutated Burrowing Owl. This time though the bird had only one dark eye, with the other eye being normal. Quite a freakish beast!
We then headed to the next city to make good time on our work, but in doing so we had to take our vehicle to a garage, and that consumed the rest of our day.
-Burrowing Owl
-Grey-breasted Martin

Species List:
Ubaira: Ruddy Ground Dove, White-tipped Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Common Gallinule, Purple Gallinule, Southern Lapwing, American Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Spotted Piculette, Lineated Woodpecker, Yellow-headed Caracara, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Golden-capped Parakeet, Planalto Slaty-Antshrike, Silvery-flanked Antwren, Rufous-winged Antwren, Streaked Xenops, Wing-banded Hornero, Rufous Hornero, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Planalto Tyrannulet, Euler’s Flycatcher, White Monjita, Masked Water Tyrant, White-headed Marsh Tyrant, Short-crested Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, White-bearded Manakin, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Grey-breasted Martin, White-winged Swallow, House Wren, Moustached Wren, Tropical Gnatcatcher, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Violaceous Euphonia, Campo Troupial, Chopi Blackbird, Tropical Parula, Flavescent Warbler, Palm Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Bananaquit,

Brazil Day 31 04.07.2019
Our final survey site was an area of incredibly disturbed atlantic forest/grazed shrubbery. On the face of it, there was not much to see here but we managed 70 species in three hours surveying this area. Sadly without paths and with thick vegetation the work was hard going, and the humidity was the highest it had been during the week, bringing our masses of insects. Despite the tough conditions, there were a number of birds we saw that were really interesting. A Rufescent Tiger Heron, an adult, was sitting in the marsh, with just its head sticking out. We also had Black-capped Donacobious in the marsh, but the bird of the morning was a distant flyover Black-and-white Hawk Eagle.  As soon as it appeared a flock of Golden-capped Parakeets emerged from the forest to mob it, which was really cool to see.
After lunch and a small period of travelling we finished off our working week by visiting two small ponds near the town of Cruz das Almas. Whilst the ponds themselves were lacking in wetland birds, there were a few nice, common but nice, hawks around which we enjoyed good views of in the evening light; Savanna Hawk, Roadside Hawk and White-tailed Hawk all showed nicely, the latter especially well with a fine individual perched right next to the road and not caring about our presence.
-White-tailed Hawk
-Southern Caracara

Species List:
Santo Antonio de Jesus: Brazilian Teal, Picazuro Pigeon, Pale-vented Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Southern Lapwing, Wattled Jacana, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Great White Egret, Striated Heron, American Black Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Black-and-white Hawk Eagle, Roadside Hawk, Southern Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Golden-capped Parakeet, Lesser Woodcreeper, Pale-legged Hornero, Rufous Hornero, Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Ochre-lored Flatbill, White Monjita, Masked Water-Tyrant, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Short-crested Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Variegated Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, House Wren, Tropical Gnatcatcher, Black-capped Donacobious, Pale-breasted Thrush, Pectoral Sparrow, Campo Troupial, Chopi Blackbird, Chestnut-capped Blackbird, Sayaca Tanager, Palm Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Blue-black Grassquit, Pileated Finch, Bananaquit,
Cruz das Almas: Ruddy Ground Dove, Picui Ground Dove, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Purple Gallinule, Southern Lapwing, Wattled Jacana, Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, American Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Savanna Hawk, Roadside Hawk, White-tailed Hawk, Green Kingfisher, Southern Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Golden-capped Parakeet, Rufous Hornero, Rufous-fronted Thornbird,  Yellow-chinned Spinetail, White Monjita, Masked Water-Tyrant, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Grassland Sparrow, Campo Troupial, Red-cowled Cardinal, Sayaca Tanager, Blue-black Grassquit, White-throated Seedeater,

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