Brazil; Parque Linear Nove de Julho

  We took another morning to visit the wonderful Parque Linear Nove de Julho, the site of many of our recent successes. Tragically our visit today was dampened somewhat by the revelation that the recent rainfall the city had experienced had reduced the ample mud shoreline to nothing more than a sliver, and that it was supporting no waders except for the resident White-backed Stilts. Still, the site has more to offer than just waders and despite this setback we had another brilliant morning here.

  A species we knew to keep an eye open for was Large Elaenia, a large flycatcher species that doesn’t look like much but, for me, would be a lifer. We tried some playback in the car park but instead attracted the attention of two very nice Small-billed Elaenia. This species we saw poorly on our last visit here, and once in Brasilia, but now we had the chance to really inspect this species and I have to say there is a lot to like about these smart little birds. It was not until nearly the end of the morning that we finally found a Large Elaenia flycatching above one of the playing fields. Although we were initially sceptical due to the fact that the bird stubbornly refused to call, its large size and three very obvious wing bars we were satisfied with our identification. This was greatly helped when a second bird arrived and they began to call together. Frustratingly, despite coming extremely close, they were nearly always obscured by vegetation.

  Now that conditions were a bit calmer, we tried again to see the Warbling Doradito that was spending the spring in the park. It came very quickly and we were able to enjoy some excellent views of the bird, although it remained elusive and tricky to get a clear photo of. Of course, the park was filled with waterbirds. The Great Grebes that live in the park were actively commencing their nesting attempts, and some were even displaying to each other very close to the shore, offering us our best views of the species so far. There were good numbers of Silver Teal and White-faced and Fulvous Whistling Ducks. We also had the first Swallow-tailed Kite record for the park, but we were distracted from this by four Barn Swallows that flew past us, birds on their way south from America.

  So we finished the day with another lifer and another fantastic morning birding in the park. There was also a showy Coypu and a distant Capybara to keep the mammal side of things lively as well. 

-Small-billed Elaenia

-Large Elaenia

-Great Grebe

-Warbling Doradito

-Barn Swallow

-Coypu

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, Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, White-tipped Dove, Eared Dove, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Sick's Swift, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Ash-throated Crake, Common Gallinule, Red-fronted Coot, White-winged Coot, White-backed Stilt, Southern Lapwing, Wattled Jacana, Neotropic Cormorant, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite, Burrowing Owl, Ochre-collared Piculet, White Woodpecker, White-spotted Woodpecker, Blond-crested Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Plain Parakeet, Cobalt-rumped Parrotlet, Rufous Hornero, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Spix's Spinetail, Warbling Doradito, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Small-billed Elaenia, Large Elaenia, White-crested Tyrannulet, Yellow-browed Tyrant, Masked Water Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Streaked Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Blue-and-white Swallow, Grey-breasted Martin, Barn Swallow, House Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Creamy-bellied Thrush, Common Waxbill, House Sparrow, Yellowish Pipit, Shiny Cowbird, Southern Yellowthroat, Brazilian Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Coypu, Capybara,