Of all the reserves in Brazil, arguably none is as important as ESEC Muiric, the largest fragment of the once glorious Pernambuco Centre of Endemism. Planning to visit this reserve requires a lot of planning, government permission, and a regional guide. But with the populations of birds continuing to dwindle, Lia and I decided that now would be the best time to try and visit, before the birds disappear completely. We contacted a friend of ours who works on the project in the reserve about entry, and he offered us an amazing opportunity to work in the reserve helping the researchers find species’ nests since Lia has experience with her work on the Helmeted Manakin. We could not say no, it was an unbelievable offer.
And so at
around 14.30 on the 28th January, we finally reached the reserve
where we would be spending the next ten days, birding and enjoying what remains
of the forest. After we had carried our luggage to our camp, Lia and I went out
for some birding before dark. The forest was pretty quiet but we still managed
to catch up with Scalloped Antbird, which was one of the easier targets we hoped to
see here, but still a target nonetheless. It showed briefly in the dusky
understory but our views were quite limited.
Rainfall at
the end of the day brought out all kinds of life, namely numerous species of
frogs, of which we probably found in the region of six different species just
around the campsite. There was also a magnificent tarantula in the campsite, and
a species of crab enjoying the river that we would be using for drinking water. Although only myself and the head researcher Herminio saw them, the highlight was a pair of Kinkajou that arrived in the trees above the campsite and started chasing each other, calling loudly before dashing off through the canopy. It was an excellent start to our work, and we could not wait to get stuck into
the rest.
ESEC Murici: Short-tailed Nighthawk, Silvery-flanked Antwren, Scalloped Antbird, Ceara Woodcreeper, Blue-backed Manakin, Screaming Piha, Brown-winged Schiffornis, Palm Tanager, Kinkajou, Haddad's Tree Frog, Fringe-footed Tree Frog, Northeastern Pepper Frog, Emerald-eyed Tree Frog, Paraiba Robber Frog, Wied's Fathead Anole,
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