Brazil; Fazenda Agua Limpa 02.09.2020 - 04.09.2020

Fazenda Agua Limpa; Day 1 02.09.2020

After doing my quarantine today was the day that we have to endure our ten hour drive from Itatiba to Brasilia. To be fair, it largely passed without incident but also, obviously, largely without birdlife. However there was one incident of note when travelling through Goias we had a Greater Rhea feeding in a crop field at the side of the road. Although not exactly close, it offer great views in its habitat, and you can never get tired of seeing these awesome birds.

-Greater Rhea

Once we arrived at the farm and had settled down we were able to go for a short walk to look for night birds. We had a very obliging Pauraque sat on the road and heard a Tropical Screech Owl, but none of the other owls we tried for responded. However we did get a Crab-Eating Fox, which was a pretty cool mammal species for the farm.

-Pauraque

Species List:

Traveling: Greater Rhea, Toco Toucan, Yellow-rumped Marshbird,

Fazenda Agua Limpa: Pauraque, Tropical Screech Owl, Crab-eating Fox,

Fazenda Agua Limpa; Day 2 03.09.2020

After two weeks quarantine and then a full day driving, we had finally arrived at the Farm; Fazenda Agua Limpa, where we would be spending the next month at least, doing fieldwork in insolation whilst enjoying the birding of a smorgasbord of habitats including pristine Cerrado and Gallery Forest. Our first day was a bit of a write off due to Lia having a few meetings as well as a short trip to the university to collect some of the equipment. However in the morning we went for a walk through some of the Cerrado and then checked out a few locations which have traditionally been productive for birds.

The Cerrado was ALIVE with birds, notable highlights including Rufous Casiornis, Bran-coloured Flycatcher and Red-crested Finch. But it was in the Gallery Forest near the road where we had the best birds of the morning. First I picked out a Fawn-Breasted Tanager in the top of the canopy, a species on the very edge of its range here and quite a good record for the area. I managed a few poor photos before it took off. In the same area there used to be a Brasilia Tapaculo but it had gone quiet the last time we checked earlier this year. However today the bird was very vocal, and extremely showy; climbing high into the bracken giving some of the best views I have ever had of any Tapaculo species. A real cracker. A walk around the farm I also spotted two Small-billed Tinamou skulking through the undergrowth but sadly too quick for photos.

In the evening I headed out to check the reservoir for new species for the day list. I had a really surprise when I picked up an Amethyst Woodstar feeding on flowers, but sadly it did not perch for photos and the views were quite brief. There was a nice roost movement of Least Nighthawks passing overhead offering some excellent views. And then, just as I got back to the farm a Nacunda Nighthawk flew overhead. I followed it to the agricultural fields where it showed occasionally, showing all the features to identify this striking bird.

The Tanager and the Nacunda Nighthawk were both lifers for me, which is crazy to think I’ve already spent two months living in this farm, that there are still new birds for me to find. They put my Brazil list on 650 species now. The day list ended on a fantastic 95 species, which was crazy with far far too many highlights to fully mention. What a brilliant first day. Tomorrow fieldwork starts proper so I expect a smaller species list.

-Southern Yellowthroat

-Rufous Casiornis

-Bran-coloured Flycatcher

-Fawn-Breasted Tanager

-Brasilia Tapaculo

-Social Flycatcher

-Short-crested Flycatcher

-Least Nighthawk

Species List:

Fazenda Agua Limpa: Small-billed Tinamou, Pale-vented Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Scaled Dove, White-tipped Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Striped Cuckoo, Squirrel Cuckoo, Nacunda Nighthawk, Least Nighthawk, Pauraque, Neotropical Palm Swift, White-vented Violetear, Amethyst Woodstar, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Versicolored Emerald, Southern Lapwing, Neotropic Cormorant, Western Cattle Egret, Buff-necked Ibis, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, White-tailed Hawk, Tropical Screech Owl, Rufous-capped Motmot, Toco Toucan, White-wedged Piculet, Little Woodpecker, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Red-legged Seriema, Southern Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Turquoise-fronted Amazon, Peach-fronted Parakeet, White-eyed Parakeet, Variable Antshrike, Black-capped Antwren, Brasilia Tapaculo, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Rufous Hornero, Helmeted Manakin, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Plain-crested Elaenia, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Euler's Flycatcher, Rufous Casiornis, Short-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, White-throated Kingbird, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Curl-crested Jay, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Grey-breasted Martin, Masked Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Buff-breasted Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, House Sparrow, Purple-throated Euphonia, Saffron-billed Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Variable Oriole, Chopi Blackbird, Southern Yellowthroat, Golden-crowned Warbler, Flavescent Warbler, Black-faced Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Fawn-breasted Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Swallow Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Guira Tanager, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, White-bellied Seedeater, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Red Pileated Finch, Bananaquit, Green-winged Saltator, Capybara, Crab-Eating Fox,

Fazenda Agua Limpa; Day 3 04.09.2020

Having collected ourselves on our first day in the farm, now was a time for fieldwork. In the morning we headed out to an area of forest just down the road from where we sleep, making it a fairly easy start to our fieldwork session. Forest birding is hard and often uneventful for long periods, so it was no surprise that it lacked some of the jazz from the previous day. That said, we were able to re-find the Fawn-breasted Tanager and this time Lia was able to see it. Swallow Tanager was a nice farm tick as well, and by the end of the walk we had seen at least five of these striking birds.

After lunch and a short break during the heat of the day we set off back out into the field. First we checked the reservoir for any waders but alas we found nothing except Southern Lapwing. We then continued into the Cerrado, where I have not spent so much time in the past, but today had a good few hours. In the late afternoon the vegetation was quiet but as evening drew in the birdlife started to appear and in the end we had a brilliant walk round. The absolute standout was a stunning White-rumped Tanager, a species that has long eluded me but other awesome birds included Sharp-tailed Grass Tyrant, Red Tanager, Rufous-winged Antshrike and Grass Wren. We were then treated to quite show by the Lesser Nighthawks before finishing our day at the agricultural fields where no less than seven Nacunda Nighthawks flew over us. It was another absolutely brilliant day with more than 100 species recorded.

In the night we decided to go for a drive through the Cerrado hoping for some Owls, but the best we could manage was a Tropical Screech Owl and a Burrowing Owl. Nightjars were also thin on the ground and it was starting to feel like a waste of time. That was until we rounded a corner and saw the profile of a large mammal running along the road away from us. Although initially confused, the large tail made it pretty clear what it was; GIANT ANTEATER! We were able to follow it for some time before it headed into the Cerrado, but it was always running away from us and it was not possible to get a photo to mark this incredible encounter with one of my most wanted species in the world. It truly was an incredible experience.

-Creamy-bellied Thrush

-Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch

-Red Tanager

-Sharp-tailed Grass Tyrant

-Grassland Sparrow

-White-rumped Tanager

-Nacunda Nighthawk

Species List:

Fazenda Agua Limpa: Undulated Tinamou, Pale-vented Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Scaled Dove, White-tipped Dove, Nacunda Nighthawk, Least Nighthawk, Pauraque, Little Nightjar, Sick's Swift, Neotropical Palm Swift, White-vented Violetear, Amethyst Woodstar, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Glittering-throated Emerald, Southern Lapwing, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Whistling Heron, Capped Heron, Green Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Tropical Screech Owl, Burrowing Owl, Rufous-capped Motmot, Green Kingfisher, Toco Toucan, White-wedged Piculet, Little Woodpecker, Campo Flicker, Red-legged Seriema, Collared Forest Falcon, Southern Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Laughing Falcon, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Yellow-faced Parrot, Turquoise-fronted Amazon, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Peach-fronted Parakeet, White-eyed Parakeet, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Variable Antshrike, Black-capped Antwren, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Rufous Hornero, Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin, Helmeted Manakin, Greenish Schiffornis, Grey-hooded Flycatcher, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Yellow-olive Flatbill, Sharp-tailed Grass Tyrant, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Euler's Flycatcher, Short-crested Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Curl-crested Jay, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, White-rumped Swallow, Masked Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Grass Wren, Buff-breasted Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Creamy-bellied Thrush, House Sparrow, Purple-throated Euphonia, Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Golden-crowned Warbler, Flavescent Warbler, Red Tanager, Black-faced Tanager, Black-goggled Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Fawn-breasted Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Swallow Tanager, Guira Tanager, White-rumped Tanager, Saffron Finch, Wedge-tailed Grass Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Plumbeous Seedeater, Buff-throated Saltator, Green-winged Saltator, Capybara, Giant Anteater,