Today was a long, long day in the field. This was the only day that we had decided to hire a guide, in order to help us find a couple of very difficult birds in the National Park here; South American Painted Snipe and Dot-winged Crake. The Snipe is very easy during the breeding season, which we were about a month too late for, and the Crake is always tricky. We hired Eloir to help us try to track down these difficult birds.
Once we picked him up, he took us to a day-roost of Great
Horned Owl, which we found easily. This is a new bird for me, and we found two
birds roosting in the trees in the area. A brilliant start to the day. In the
same area we had a flyover Ringed Teal and a Dark-billed Cuckoo.
The next site we visited was an area of reedbed on the margin
of an enormous lake. This site we had planned to visit the following day, to
find Many-coloured Rush-Tyrant, and indeed we found this bird very common here.
Frustratingly they did not show well for photos. Throughout the morning, there
was a steady stream of Sand Martin all flying north. I suspect there were at
least 300 that all passed through while we were there. Given I had seen just
one Sand Martin in Brazil before, this was awesome to witness. There were no
Painted Snipes here!
Next we went to another similar habitat nearby, but where we
found more wading birds, including a flock of nine Stilt Sandpiper. This is one
of the last Nearctic wading species I had not yet seen, so it was good to
finally be able to get acquainted with them. We also had nice views of
Coscoroba Swan and a Scarlet-headed Blackbird, plus flyby Tawny-headed
Swallows. Still no Painted Snipes, however.
After lunch we tried to access another area via the beach,
but the sand was too soft to allow us to pass, so we returned to the main trail
of the National Park, where we had spent a lot of time over the last two days.
Here we checked and area of marsh, which produced many Pantanal Snipes, and our
first Common Miners of the trip. But again no Painted Snipes, and it was
beginning to look like a lost cause.
We switched species and moved on to the Dot-winged Crake,
which prefers the tussocks of grass in the dry lagoon margins. We tried a few
areas but had no joy at all, with nothing responding. This too looked like a
lost cause. In the hope of saving face, we switch to another species, the
Hudsons Canastero, which is also difficult, but crucially we have both seen
before in Argentina. This bird also did not appear.
Although the birding had been brilliant, we were now tired
and disappointed at not landing either species, no matter how much of a shot in
the dark it had been to begin with. But on our way back to the car we kept
checking the tussocks in more hope than expectation. Then Eloir heard it. The
crake was uttering just a soft note, but he said that was the bird. We waited,
but nothing happened. We moved position and the bird finally did one full blast
of song, but it still refused to come and show itself. We waited for over 15
minutes before finally, the Dot-winged Crake appeared in the grass in front of
us. Typically it did not hang around, and the contrast in the grass was severe
in the evening light, but we had finally found of quarry when it really looked
like we wouldn’t.
Filled with joy and relief, we went back to drop Eloir off
at his house, where he showed us his gorgeous collection of model birds that
made from wood. Now he sells them as well, but the price he retails them at is
no way a reflection of the value of the work, they should have been at least
three times as much. Really really beautiful pieces of art. His personal
collection was really something to behold! A wonderful end to the day!
Lagoa do Peixe National Park: Southern Screamer, White-faced Whistling Duck, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Coscoroba Swan, Ringed Teal, Brazilian Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, Yellow-billed Teal, Picazuro Pigeon, Picui Ground Dove, White-tipped Dove, Eared Dove, Guira Cuckoo, Dark-billed Cuckoo, Gilded Sapphire, Plumbeous Rail, Dot-winged Crake, Common Gallinule, Limpkin, White-backed Stilt, American Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, American Golden Plover, Southern Lapwing, Collared Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Wattled Jacana, Hudsonian Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Stilt Sandpiper, Sanderling, White-rumped Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Pantanal Snipe, Wilson's Phalarope, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Brown-hooded Gull, Grey-headed Gull, Kelp Gull, Yellow-billed Tern, Large-billed Tern, Common Tern, Snowy-crowned Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, White-chinned Petrel, Maguari Stork, Wood Stork, Neotropic Cormorant, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, White-faced Ibis, Bare-faced Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Snail Kite, Long-winged Harrier, Great Horned Owl, Burrowing Owl, Crested Caracara, American Kestrel, Common Miner, Rufous Hornero, Wren-like Rushbird, Firewood-gatherer, Bay-capped Wren-Spinetail, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Many-colored Rush Tyrant, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Sooty Tyrannulet, Spectacled Tyrant, Yellow-browed Tyrant, White Monjita, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Tawny-headed Swallow, Grey-breasted Martin, Brown-chested Martin, White-rumped Swallow, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Masked Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Yellowish Pipit, Correndera Pipit, Grassland Sparrow, White-browed Blackbird, Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Greyish Baywing, Yellow-winged Blackbird, Chestnut-capped Blackbird, Brown-and-yellow Marshbird, Red-crested Cardinal, Grassland Yellow Finch,
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