After a ten
hour drive the previous day to get to Canastra, today was our shot to try and
find the critically endangered Brasilia Merganser. We already had the pins from
our attempt earlier in the year, but this was a better time of year to find it.
In theory at least. But earlier in the week the wet season had begun and as such
there was a good chance that the rivers would be full of sediment, meaning that
the Mergansers would be heading upstream away from the areas we would have
access to.
So we set off early morning to begin our quest. We had driven across a large section of river yesterday which was extremely cloudy, but it was a pleasant surprise to find that the river was not as bad as we expected. At the first site we had a very nice Muscovy Duck which perched right above us. This was just the starter and at the next pin we found the bird we were looking for. Here we got a smart pair of Brazilian Mergansers sat on the rocks in the river, but sadly the viewing point of the river was very close to the river edge, and as such we saw the birds at the same moment they saw us. They swam a little upstream but then took flight and headed off. We had got fantastic views, but unfortunately brief. But it was only 08.00 in the morning and we had the rest of the day to refind them.
It would take another four hours and visiting all the sites we knew before we refound them. In the end I picked them up just around a river corner with no real viewing area, but since this could be the only time we ever see this species, we decided to wade across the river and set ourselves up in the riverside vegetation to watch them. Two birds, sat resting on rocks, and by the time we got ourselves close and hidden we were maybe ten meters away from them. They were very chilled and we watched them for maybe twenty minutes here before they decided to fly off. It was a fantastic encounter to complement our seeing of them earlier. After such a painful miss in March, this really was well worth it.
There were some other nice birds of note along the river. A Red-ruffed Fruitcrow flew across while we were watching the ducks, we got brilliant views of a displaying Giant Cowbird and a Grey-eyed Greenlet was a nice surprise. There was also a brilliant encounter with a Maned Wolf which we found eating fruits on one of the beaches, and at another point there was a nice Ring-tailed Coati. We finished searching at around 14.00, having found our main target and seen a smorgasbord of other amazing birds, it really was a fantastic day out and well worth the second visit. Sadly the national park is still closed, so in time we may be back again to see some of the rare Cerrado species there.
So we set off early morning to begin our quest. We had driven across a large section of river yesterday which was extremely cloudy, but it was a pleasant surprise to find that the river was not as bad as we expected. At the first site we had a very nice Muscovy Duck which perched right above us. This was just the starter and at the next pin we found the bird we were looking for. Here we got a smart pair of Brazilian Mergansers sat on the rocks in the river, but sadly the viewing point of the river was very close to the river edge, and as such we saw the birds at the same moment they saw us. They swam a little upstream but then took flight and headed off. We had got fantastic views, but unfortunately brief. But it was only 08.00 in the morning and we had the rest of the day to refind them.
It would take another four hours and visiting all the sites we knew before we refound them. In the end I picked them up just around a river corner with no real viewing area, but since this could be the only time we ever see this species, we decided to wade across the river and set ourselves up in the riverside vegetation to watch them. Two birds, sat resting on rocks, and by the time we got ourselves close and hidden we were maybe ten meters away from them. They were very chilled and we watched them for maybe twenty minutes here before they decided to fly off. It was a fantastic encounter to complement our seeing of them earlier. After such a painful miss in March, this really was well worth it.
There were some other nice birds of note along the river. A Red-ruffed Fruitcrow flew across while we were watching the ducks, we got brilliant views of a displaying Giant Cowbird and a Grey-eyed Greenlet was a nice surprise. There was also a brilliant encounter with a Maned Wolf which we found eating fruits on one of the beaches, and at another point there was a nice Ring-tailed Coati. We finished searching at around 14.00, having found our main target and seen a smorgasbord of other amazing birds, it really was a fantastic day out and well worth the second visit. Sadly the national park is still closed, so in time we may be back again to see some of the rare Cerrado species there.
-Brazilian Merganser
-Sooty Tyrannulet
-Grey-eyed Greenlet
-Giant Cowbird
-Maned Wolf
Species
list:
Serra da Canastra – Lower River: Muscovy Duck, Brazilian Teal, Brazilian Merganser, Picazuro Pigeon, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Great Dusky Swift, White-collared Swift, Sick's Swift, Planalto Hermit, White-vented Violetear, Southern Lapwing, Great Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Plumbeous Kite, Savanna Hawk, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Amazon Kingfisher, Toco Toucan, White-barred Piculet, Red-legged Seriema, Southern Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Maroon-bellied Parakeet, White-eyed Parakeet, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Streaked Xenops, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Helmeted Manakin, Pin-tailed Manakin, White-bearded Manakin, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Greenish Schiffornis, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Sooty Tyrannulet, White-rumped Monjita, Masked Water Tyrant, Long-tailed Tyrant, Rufous Casiornis, Short-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Grey-eyed Greenlet, Chivi Vireo, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Grey-breasted Martin, White-rumped Swallow, House Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Creamy-bellied Thrush, House Sparrow, Purple-throated Euphonia, Hooded Siskin, Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Crested Oropendola, Shiny Cowbird, Giant Cowbird, Tropical Parula, Golden-crowned Warbler, Cinnamon Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Palm Tanager, Swallow Tanager, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Bananaquit, Green-winged Saltator, Maned Wolf, Ring-tailed Coati,
Serra da Canastra – Lower River: Muscovy Duck, Brazilian Teal, Brazilian Merganser, Picazuro Pigeon, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Great Dusky Swift, White-collared Swift, Sick's Swift, Planalto Hermit, White-vented Violetear, Southern Lapwing, Great Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Plumbeous Kite, Savanna Hawk, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Amazon Kingfisher, Toco Toucan, White-barred Piculet, Red-legged Seriema, Southern Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Maroon-bellied Parakeet, White-eyed Parakeet, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Streaked Xenops, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Helmeted Manakin, Pin-tailed Manakin, White-bearded Manakin, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Greenish Schiffornis, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Sooty Tyrannulet, White-rumped Monjita, Masked Water Tyrant, Long-tailed Tyrant, Rufous Casiornis, Short-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Grey-eyed Greenlet, Chivi Vireo, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Grey-breasted Martin, White-rumped Swallow, House Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Creamy-bellied Thrush, House Sparrow, Purple-throated Euphonia, Hooded Siskin, Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Crested Oropendola, Shiny Cowbird, Giant Cowbird, Tropical Parula, Golden-crowned Warbler, Cinnamon Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Palm Tanager, Swallow Tanager, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Bananaquit, Green-winged Saltator, Maned Wolf, Ring-tailed Coati,
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