Brazil; Parque Linear Nove de Julho

  With Lia being unable to visit the lab today, due to another student visiting, we took the morning to do a short birding trip is Sao Paulo. Our chosen destination was the familiar Parque Linear Nove de Julho, which we had visited before and did not require much effort in birding. We had seen the previous day that a White-winged Coot had been seen here, so we decided to make it our location for the morning to try and twitch this rare vagrant from the south.

  It did not take us long to find the White-winged Coot among the sea of Common Gallinules. It was nice enough, but at the end of the day it’s just a coot, which will always be little more than a variation on a theme. The other rare coot, Red-fronted Coot that we had seen before on our visit, was also still present. The Great Grebes, the species that make this location so notable to birdwatchers, were also on fine form, some coming much closer than they had on our last visit here.

  The real highlight for me at least was the ample shoreline due to the low water level, and the potential for migrant birds. This paid off, as on a particularly grim area of mud I spotted a cracking juvenile American Golden Plover among the Common Gallinules and White-backed Stilts. This is the first time I have seen this species in Brazil, and well overdue. There were also four Lesser Yellowlegs around, which are not as uncommon but still a pleasure to see. 

-American Golden Plover

-Lesser Yellowlegs

-White-backed Stilt

-Great Grebe

-White-winged Coot

-White-faced Whistling-Duck

Species List:
Parque Linear Nove de Julho: White-faced Whistling Duck, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Brazilian Teal, Silver Teal, White-cheeked Pintail, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Grebe, Ruddy Ground Dove, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Sick's Swift, Ash-throated Crake, Common Gallinule, Red-fronted Coot, White-winged Coot, White-backed Stilt, American Golden Plover, Southern Lapwing, Wattled Jacana, Lesser Yellowlegs, Neotropic Cormorant, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Campo Flicker, Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Plain Parakeet, Rufous Hornero, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Masked Water Tyrant, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Streaked Flycatcher, Variegated Flycatcher, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Blue-and-white Swallow, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Creamy-bellied Thrush, House Sparrow, Yellowish Pipit, Shiny Cowbird, Sayaca Tanager,