We drove down to the village for breakfast in the dark. A Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail crossed the road in front of the car, this is how all birding days should begin. Sure enough a light was on, coffee was made, and food laid out. Here we were also introduced to Betin, our local guide during our stay. He had been born in the park and what he didn't know about the wildlife here was likely not worth knowing. Off we went, a short drive slightly further into the park, headed for the start of the Carmo Road, a narrow track that drills about 40km into the forest for reasons unknown. Possibly it was originally for research purposes for it does not lead anywhere and isn't shown on maps. Were it not for the eBird track I could not even have found it.
We went through the gate and abandoned the car after a short distance to proceed on foot. There were birds everywhere, the forest was alive with sound. Sound that we could not identify, but this is why Bruno and Betinho were here, and boy were they competent. The full list can be seen via the link above, but over the course of a five and a half hour walk of no more than 3km 90 species were recorded. Mick and I managed to see 69 of them. Bruno was doing the eBirding, and very kindly annoted his heard onlys so that we could dump them off. A bit sad but them's the rules. Or my rules anyway. Highlights on the Carmo Road were Blue-bellied Parrot, Mantled Hawk, Rusty-breasted Nunlet, Spot-billed Toucanet, Ochre-collared Piculet, White-bearded Antshrike, Squamate Antbird, White-breasted Tapaculo, Black-billed Scythebill, Swallow-tailed Manakin, Green Schiffornis, Sharpbill, White-throated Spadebill, Large-headed Flatbill, Grey-hooded Attila and Black-goggled Tanager. Although I carried my camera the whole way photography was essentially impossible in the dark tangled understory. Either that or the birds were way up the canopy. I soon gave up and concentrated on seeing and listening. Both Bruno and Betin had green laser pens and used the tried and trusted method of firing the dot at a nearby leaf or branch and giving directions from there. How they pick up these things in the canopy and the dense foliage I have no idea. Practice I suppose, but in some instances it appeared to be pure sorcery. We also saw a monkey and a snake, which I think having researched it could be Wagler's Snake (Xenodon merremii). At the time I remember Bruno and Betin initially being worried it was venemous and then saying it was not but looked like one that was, and Wagler's Snake can be confused with a species of Pit Viper. Maybe an ophiologist will come along and correct me.
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| Green-backed Trogon |
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| Spot-breasted Antvireo. 1 billion ISO. |
Back at the village for lunch we investigated the feeders and flowering shrubs for the first time. This more than compensated for the lack of photography in the forest. Betin has a log feeder set up behind one of the houses and restocks it with bananas very frequently to attract a scrum of mostly Tanagers - Azure-shouldered and Green-headed Tanager for the most part, but also Olive-green Tanager, Ruby-crowned Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Chestnut-backed Tanager, Rufous-headed Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Brazilian Tanager and, briefly, a Blue-and-Yellow Tanager. Blue Dacnis, Chestnut-bellied Euphonia, Saffron Finch, Rufous-bellied Thrush and Golden-winged Cacique made up the rest of the roster. Blue-and-White Swallow flew over the village, Hooded Siskin sat on the wires, White-spotted Woodpecker were in the Araucarias and Social Flycatcher and Great Kiskadee sallied from various perches. It was hard to tear ourselves away and go birding for the afternoon.
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| Chestnut-bellied Euphonia |
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| Violet-capped Woodnymph |
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| Blue Dacnis - female |
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| Blue Dacnis - male |
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| Chestnut-backed Tanager |
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| Green-headed Tanager |
Back into the park (this is literally two minutes from the village) we parked by the gate and enjoyed a pair of Tropical Screech-Owl that regularly roost in the palms there, and then dipped Tufted Screech-Owl that supposedly roosted regularly near the now defunct restaurant. A fruiting tree here was overflowing with birds and we added White-necked Thrush and Pale-breasted Thrush to the list, along with good views of a Sharpbill. In the forest margins were a Dusky-tailed Antbird and several Planalto Tyrannulet.
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| Planalto Tyrannulet |
Our next stop was the Palmito Trail which starts near the pousadas. This is extremely dark and leads to a ground-feeding station known for Spot-winged Wood-Quail. There were none there but to our great surprise a Solitary Tinamou was patiently waiting for corn. Betin duly provided. It's an extraordinary looking bird, a big fat blob with a tiny pin of a head on short slender neck, and it's normally very difficult to see. Indeed shortly after inhaling a load of corn it vanished, melting away into the forest and despite visiting the area a few more times we never saw it again.
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| Solitary Tinamou. 1 trillion ISO |
We spent the final part of the day along one of the internal roads in the park, Guipiara road. Our first stop was incredibly fortuitous, or seemed so anyway, with a Rufous-capped Antthrush on one side of the road running around like a miniature chicken, and then directly opposite it a Slaty Bristlefront that showed extremely well which was a large surprise to all of us. Further up the road we were given the runaround by an ultimately invisible Mouse-coloured Tapaculo (spoiler, final score 5-0 to the Tapaculo) but enjoyed good views of Lesser Woodcreeper, Rufous-breasted Leaftosser, and best of all a King Vulture as dusk was approaching. After dark, back near the village, we found a pair of Rusty-barred Owl in some large pines. It had been a huge day, highly satisfying - the neotropics are what it is all about.
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| Betinho topping up the feeder |
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