Brazil; Rio Grande do Sul & Santa Catarina - Day 6

Since we had visited all the sites we planned and seen all the species we wanted in the area immediately around São Francisco de Paula, we decided to add a small detour to our itinerary, a detour of two hours driving, and visit a site called Canion Palanquinhos where it was possible to find the very rare Tropeiro Seedeater.

The site itself was an area of mixed pasture and woodland on the border of a small but well-vegetated canyon. The plan was that we would arrive, search for an hour or so, see the seedeater and then continue with our long drive to the town of Bagé, on the Uruguayan border. Sadly, however, that is not how it transpired, as we failed to find the bird and in the end only left the site at lunchtime.

There was still some good birding to be had however, and we saw Black-tailed Tityra and Crested Black Tyrant only here on our trip. There was also an impressive swarm of White-collared and Dusky Swifts circling over the canyon. So the morning, while disappointing, was not a complete bust. In the end the long drive to Bagé was relatively smooth, and we still arrived in the town during daylight.  

Species List:
Canion Palanquinhos: Red-winged Tinamou, Spotted Nothura, Dusky-legged Guan, Pale-vented Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Eared Dove, Great Dusky Swift, White-collared Swift, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Southern Lapwing, Neotropic Cormorant, Western Cattle Egret, Buff-necked Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Rufous-thighed Hawk, Ringed Kingfisher, Green-barred Woodpecker, Campo Flicker, Red-legged Seriema, Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Chimango Caracara, American Kestrel, Monk Parakeet, Maroon-bellied Parakeet, Rufous Hornero, Firewood-gatherer, Black-tailed Tityra, Cliff Flycatcher, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Small-billed Elaenia, Crested Black Tyrant, Yellow-browed Tyrant, Grey Monjita, Great Kiskadee, Variegated Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Blue-and-white Swallow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, White-rumped Swallow, House Wren, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Hellmayr's Pipit, Hooded Siskin, Grassland Sparrow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Chopi Blackbird, Yellow-rumped Marshbird, Tropical Parula, Diademed Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Swallow Tanager, Saffron Finch, Pampa Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Double-collared Seedeater, Green-winged Saltator,