Saw-billed Hermit
Tropical Birding tour report - Brazil June 2006
As
we left Itatiaia a cold front came in. Luckily all the heavy rain came down
while were driving between sites, and we were heading back to the lowland where
the cool weather would be welcome. We had a long stop in Perequ?? before
carrying on to Ubatuba; this is THE site for the beautiful and endangered
Black-hooded Antwren, which we did manage to see, as well as numerous lowland
forest specialties. We had our only good view of Buff-throated Purpletuft here
as well as our only sightings of Sao Paulo Tyrannulet and the smart Squamate
Antbird. Mixed flocks here were really good as we had better views of some of
the birds we had seen in REGUA and our best views of Fork-tailed Tody-Tyrant.
We had
three nights in our hotel on the outskirts of Ubatuba in a quiet suburb, with
one of the best restaurants around, and very convenient to most of the birding
sites. My favorite place here is called Folha Seca, where not only are there
tracks through good forest, but a retired gentleman named Jonas has set up fruit
and hummingbird feeders that are some of the best in South America. Festive
Coquettes are like bees here, and some scarce endemics like Saw-billed Hermit
(photo below) and Sombre Hummingbird are regular. A legion of frugivores were
waiting for him to put out bananas, almost eating right from his hands - we saw
both Sayaca and Azure-shouldered Tanagers squabbling for the same banana as well
as plenty more like Chestnut-bellied Euphonia (photo right), Plain Parakeet,
Ruby-crowned Tanager, and Green Honeycreeper. The trails themselves were
absolutely brilliant with the star birds being a wonderfully vocal Slaty
Bristlefront and our only Bare-throated Bellbird, an immaculate male perched up
on a dead branch.
When
we finally went to Fazenda Angelim, there were rather few "new" birds
left to look for. The most wanted was the unique Spotted Bamboowren, easier to
see here than anywhere else I know. Today it definitely wasn't easy, but we
finally found one singing and were able to climb into a bamboo patch and get
close enough to watch it. Other goodies here were a Pale-browed Treehunter
demolishing a bromeliad and a kettle of raptors that included a rare Mantled
Hawk and an impressive Black Hawk-Eagle. In the afternoon we walked down through
beautiful forest on the Sert??o das Cot??as road, first seeing very little, then
striking gold by finding a big mixed flock highlighted by the ultra-rare
Salvadori's Antwren, my only lifer on any of the three tours.
It
was hard to believe it was the last day, but we still had some birds left to
look for. We had a few hours in the morning at the base of the Corcovado peak,
and some of the group were able to see the rare and rotund Russet-winged
Spadebill, but we also had our best-ever views of Black-cheeked Gnateater, a
bird that could almost pass as a pitta, as well as prolonged low-level views of
another Sharpbill, regurgitating fruit seeds and wiping them on branches.
On the
way back to the airport we stopped at a marsh near Mogi das Cruzes, site of a
newly discovered population of the very rare and local Parana Antwren, which
might actually prove to be a totally new species. After first struggling to see
a pair skulking in the dense mass of cattails, we tried a different spot and had
a male and a female come right in and perch in the open. If that wasn't enough,
we also found a singing Rufous-capped Antshrike perched in the open, and managed
to call in a Red-eyed Thornbird - this time the southern race, which is likely
to be split in the near future. It was a great way to end the trip, and
after some group photos we made our way to the airport and said our goodbyes. |
