Today was, for all intents and purposes, a day off. Lia took the car into the city for a repair job on the exhaust, while I stayed behind to cook lunch once it got to that time. Prior to that, after a short early morning rainstorm, I was free to bird around the farm. Mornings to bird are few and far between so I was spoilt for choice as to where to go. In the end I walked to the reservoir through the Cerrado. While the reservoir was quiet there Cerrado and nearby Gallery Forest had been brought to life by the rain. I managed a patch tick with Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant and managed to find a new location for the Cinereous-breasted Spinetail. Brief views of the Brasilia Tapaculo were also afforded, but it was quickly chased off by a Buff-breasted Wren. Tinamous were also on good form, with nice views of Small-billed Tinamou and a fantastic juvenile Undulated Tinamou.
By the end of the morning I was already on 90 species so was wondering, with only two days left, where to bird during the afternoon. In the end I decided to visit an area of upland Cerrado that I had yet to visit. It was quite the drive to get there, one of the most remote parts of the farm but it was fantastic when I got there. As soon as I got out of the car there was a Crested Black-Tyrant, only the second time we have seen it in the farm. There was also Shrike-like Tanager, White-eared Puffbird and a smart Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch, which is my first of this trip. There was also another patch tick when a small group of White-collared Swifts flew over.
But this was nothing compared to the real highlight of the afternoon, and indeed the trip! I was sat on the road trying to tape out a Red-winged Tinamou that sounded pretty close when the grass behind me started rustling. Assuming it was the Tinamou approaching I looked around to receive quite a shock. It was in fact a Giant Anteater walking towards me. With the animals trajectory sending right across the road I sat and waiting as it calmly walked right in front of me. Without doubt, the best animal experience of my life, absolutely brilliant.
And then, just to top the day off, we decided to head out looking for night birds and frogs. Although the frogs were spectacular, we still could not find the striking endemic species of the pond. The night birds however were completely different with some outstanding stuff. We managed a couple of very nice and approachable Little Nightjars and another displaying Scissor-tailed Nightjar, but the standout from the evening really was something else. There is a rare nightjar in Brasilia which is rarely seen and poorly known. A friend of ours had seen it, and told us that it associates with a plant called ‘Rhea’s Ankle’, and during my afternoon walk I had found an area where this plant was abundant, so I was keen to try. Sadly in that area we found nothing, but since we were already out we tried a nearby area, where we caught the Crescentchest, to try as well. Once again we drew blank but I had to drive further in order to turn the car around. Once the car was around we decided to try one last time and BOOM, it took only one playback before the bird responded. Sickle-winged Nightjar. We couldn’t believe it but it then fell silent, refusing to respond further. We decided to walk into the Cerrado to see if it would respond when we were closer, but instead we found the bird sat up nicely in the vegetation. We were able to get extremely close and really appreciate this incredibly rare species. The only downside was that when it took off we lost it immediately, so couldn’t get a good view of the striking wingtips that give the species its name. This was the best bird we have found on this trip without doubt!
Fazenda Agua Limpa: Undulated Tinamou, Small-billed Tinamou, Red-winged Tinamou, Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, White-tipped Dove, Eared Dove, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Pauraque, Sickle-winged Nightjar, Little Nightjar, Scissor-tailed Nightjar, White-collared Swift, Sick's Swift, Neotropical Palm Swift, White-vented Violetear, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Glittering-throated Emerald, Southern Lapwing, Neotropic Cormorant, Green Ibis, Buff-necked Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Plumbeous Kite, Roadside Hawk, White-tailed Hawk, Tropical Screech Owl, Burrowing Owl, Amazon Kingfisher, White-eared Puffbird, White-wedged Piculet, Campo Flicker, Red-legged Seriema, Southern Crested Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Yellow-faced Parrot, Turquoise-fronted Amazon, Peach-fronted Parakeet, White-eyed Parakeet, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Collared Crescentchest, Brasilia Tapaculo, Rufous Hornero, Cinereous-breasted Spinetail, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Helmeted Manakin, Greenish Schiffornis, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Yellow-olive Flatbill, Plain-crested Elaenia, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Olivaceous Elaenia, Lesser Elaenia, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Crested Black Tyrant, White-rumped Monjita, Short-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Streaked Flycatcher, Variegated Flycatcher, White-throated Kingbird, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Curl-crested Jay, Blue-and-white Swallow, Tawny-headed Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Masked Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Buff-breasted Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Blacksmith Thrush, House Sparrow, Yellowish Pipit, Purple-throated Euphonia, Grassland Sparrow, Saffron-billed Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Shiny Cowbird, Chopi Blackbird, Southern Yellowthroat, Golden-crowned Warbler, Flavescent Warbler, Red Tanager, Shrike-like Tanager, Hooded Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Swallow Tanager, Blue Dacnis, White-rumped Tanager, Stripe-tailed Yellow Finch, Saffron Finch, Wedge-tailed Grass Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Double-collared Seedeater, Plumbeous Seedeater, Red Pileated Finch, Bananaquit, Buff-throated Saltator, Giant Anteater,
In the afternoon a friend of Lias was coming over to look for the Tapaculo, Mottled Owl and the Sickle-winged Nightjar. Remarkably the Tapaculo actually performed, not to see but vocally. Normally when people come to see this bird it remains silent and they go away disappointed. Since we managed this so quickly we were able to have a quick bird of this area and we found three Scaled Pigeons. After dark we first visited the last site where we had seen the Mottled Owl, and it actually decided to perform as well, showing nicely on the edge of the forest.
With two of the targets down I was very doubtful that the Nightjar would perform, that and the fact that we had only found it the previous day, plus the weather was cool and breezy. Still we tried and the bird failed to respond to us like it did the previous day. But then after maybe ten minutes the bird awoke and started calling distantly, but with a bit more persuasion it came closer. Then came the task of trying to spot it perched, which we somehow managed despite it being sat on the ground. From there it performed excellently just as the previous day, and when it flushed, we got excellent views of the wings. And then, on the way back, we finally found a well-behaved Scissor-tailed Nightjar, which allowed us to approach and take nice photos. Another excellent evening looking for night birds in the farm!
In the afternoon we headed out to another area away from the farm to look for Owls. Although our main target was Black-banded Owl, we failed to find this species. It was a lively enough evening though with a very smart snake crossing the road; Dipsas mikania, and a couple of new frogs for the trip; Barycholos ternetzi and Boana lundii. There was a Rufous Nightjar calling nearly the whole night but it would not come out at all. We saw it briefly fly over but that was all we managed, and aside from a Pauraque birds were at a premium most of the night. Just as we were leaving and turning the car around I did a quick final scan with the torch and picked out an owl perched up. Even at distance and without bins it was clear it was not Black-banded, but it was not until it was closer that we could identify it as a Striped Owl. It showed very nicely but was very calm and did not call at all. We enjoyed it for some time before it headed back into the forest.
Species List:
Fazenda Agua Limpa: Small-billed Tinamou, Red-winged Tinamou, Picazuro Pigeon, Scaled Dove, White-tipped Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Planalto Hermit, White-vented Violetear, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Southern Lapwing, Snowy Egret, Whistling Heron, Buff-necked Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Roadside Hawk, White-tailed Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Rufous-capped Motmot, Ringed Kingfisher, Amazon Kingfisher, Caatinga Puffbird, Toco Toucan, White-wedged Piculet, Little Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, Southern Crested Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Turquoise-fronted Amazon, White-eyed Parakeet, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Black-capped Antwren, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Rufous Hornero, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Helmeted Manakin, Greenish Schiffornis, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Southern Antpipit, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Yellow-olive Flatbill, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Great Kiskadee, Streaked Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Chivi Vireo, Curl-crested Jay, Blue-and-white Swallow, Tawny-headed Swallow, Masked Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Buff-breasted Wren, House Sparrow, Purple-throated Euphonia, Violaceous Euphonia, Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Golden-crowned Warbler, Flavescent Warbler, Swallow Tanager, Blue-black Grassquit, Red Pileated Finch, Buff-throated Saltator, Green-winged Saltator,
In the afternoon Lia had to run some errands in the city so I walked around the farm itself. Our big day list had obviously not got off to a great start but I managed to salvage it during a pleasant afternoon in which I found a nice farm tick with a male Lined Seedeater. There was a lot of activity, especially from Swallows with huge numbers building up on the wires with nice Barn Swallow and Brown-chested Martin thrown into the mix. The Cinereous-breasted Spinetail also showed, but the tapaculo was not present.
And this was also our last day in the farm, as tomorrow we travel ten hours to Serra de Canastra national park to try again to find the critically endangered Brasilia Merganser, before then continuing to Sao Paulo. Heres hoping it is more successful than last time.
Species
List:
Fazenda Agua Limpa: Undulated
Tinamou, Small-billed Tinamou, Red-winged Tinamou, Feral Pigeon, Scaled Pigeon,
Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Scaled Dove, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed
Ani, Pauraque, Little Nightjar, Scissor-tailed Nightjar, Common Potoo, Sick's
Swift, Neotropical Palm Swift, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Fork-tailed
Woodnymph, Ash-throated Crake, Grey-cowled Wood Rail, Southern Lapwing, Great
Egret, Snowy Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Whistling Heron, Buff-necked Ibis, Black
Vulture, Plumbeous Kite, Roadside Hawk, White-tailed Hawk, Tropical Screech Owl,
Burrowing Owl, Rufous-capped Motmot, Ringed Kingfisher, Amazon Kingfisher, White-wedged
Piculet, Little Woodpecker, Campo Flicker, Red-legged Seriema, Southern Crested
Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Aplomado Falcon, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Yellow-faced
Parrot, Turquoise-fronted Amazon, Orange-winged Amazon, Peach-fronted Parakeet,
White-eyed Parakeet, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Rufous Hornero, Planalto
Foliage-gleaner, Cinereous-breasted Spinetail, Sooty-fronted Spinetail, Helmeted
Manakin, Southern Antpipit, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Sharp-tailed Grass
Tyrant, Plain-crested Elaenia, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Lesser Elaenia, White-rumped
Monjita, Long-tailed Tyrant, Short-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Streaked
Flycatcher, Variegated Flycatcher, Crowned Slaty Flycatcher, White-throated
Kingbird, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Chivi Vireo, Blue-and-white
Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Grey-breasted Martin, Brown-chested
Martin, White-rumped Swallow, Barn Swallow, Masked Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Chalk-browed
Mockingbird, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Blacksmith Thrush, Creamy-bellied
Thrush, House Sparrow, Purple-throated Euphonia, Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared
Sparrow, Chopi Blackbird, Tropical Parula, Golden-crowned Warbler, White-lined
Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Swallow Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Guira
Tanager, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Lined Seedeater, Yellow-bellied
Seedeater, Double-collared Seedeater, White-throated Seedeater, Bananaquit, Green-winged
Saltator
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