The flight was uneventful, leaving late on Thursday evening and arriving at 6am local time made for a perfect overnight trip and I slept for most of the way. I could bore you about the plane but I won't. Immigration was very quick (no visa needed for UK travellers btw) and with hand luggage only we were out very quickly. Bruno was waiting at arrivals and we were on our way. The first birds were a Chalk-browed Mockingbird and a Cattle Tyrant in the car park. Naturally we were stupidly excited and trying to bird out of the car window as we crawled along through early morning Sao Paolo traffic even though we would see all of these better, and in abundance, throughout our trip. But you always want to get started don't you? It's just what birders do, and so gradually a small list built up, things like Southern Lapwing, Neotropic Cormorant, Bare-faced Ibis, Black Vulture, Crested Caracara, Picazuro Pigeon, Great Kiskadee, and in the channel alongside the road a multitude of Great White and Snowy Egrets.
Eventually the traffic and the city receded. We had skirted around the top of Sao Paolo and were now headed broadly west towards Sorocaba. The first proper bird of the trip was shorty befor Capao Bonito, a quick stop by the roadside after Itapetininga for some Yellow-rumped Marshbird, the only ones we would see. We also added Roadside Hawk, Smooth-billed Ani and Blue-and-White Swallow here.
One last stop for fuel in Ribeirao Grande late morning and we started to head into more promising habitat. Small fragments of forest started to appear and our stops became more frequent as we sought to build the list. Our first Masked Water-Tyrant at a small pond was accompanied by a Wattled Jacana and a Brazilian Teal. A small field had a White-rumped Monjita and the ubiquitous Rufous-bellied Thrush, and Rufous Hornero started to be seen more frequently. As we got closer to the park we had excellent views of White Woodpecker on a tree, and a Red-legged Seriema nonchalantly stalked past the car on the other side of the road.
 |
| Eared Pygmy-Tyrant |
The balance between pasture and forest began to swing in favour of the trees, the small plots people had carved out became less frequent, and it wasn't long before we were in the rainforest. We had been on the road for perhaps five hours. As we approached the village outside the park Mick's keen eyes settled on a Hummingbird that neither Bruno nor I could see for ages, Happily it was content to just sit there and eventually we worked out what he was talking about and were treated to a beautiful Sapphire-spangled Emerald. The name should give you an idea of what it looks like. We also found a pair of Red-breasted Toucan in some distant trees, two Rufous-browed Peppershrike, a male Blue Dacnis and a tiny Eared Pygmy-Tyrant.
 |
| The lunchtime view |
It was 1pm and time for lunch. We had been on the go for seven hours since landing, and despite having done nothing but sit on our backsides we were famished. That said it was almost impossible to eat when there were so many birds around. The park used to have a restaurant but it had closed. Now visitors are catered for just outside the park boundary in small hamlet where there is a small canteen that serves food buffet style, nowhere near as extensive as in the city but nonetheless plentiful with salad a small choice of rice, meat, fish and so on. They can also whip up a mean fresh fruit juice. We would eat here three times a day, and it even opened at 6am so that we could have breakfast in the dark before heading off. Opposite this small establishment the local guides, one of whom we had met briefly as we drove down, had set up some fruit feeders, and these were swarming with Ruby-crowned Tanager, Azure-shouldered Tanager, Green-headed Tanager, Saffron Finch and Golden-winged Cacique. Plain Parakeets fed in one of the palm trees, and some Maroon-bellied Parakeets flew over. We had arrived and it was glorious.
 |
| Masked Water-Tyrant |
 |
| Red-and-White Crake |
 |
| Blackish Rail |
Entering the park we drove the short distance to the accomodation and dumped our stuff before setting off on foot to bird around the park buildings. We were on the northern edge of a vast landscape, 100,000 acres of pristine forest. No roads, a handful of tracks, but essentially nothing but rolling green hills. A tiny speck in the context of what there once was, but nonetheless the largest remaining part of the Atlantic Rainforest. Opposite the park headquarters is a small wetland area, and Red-and-White Crake have become habituated to human visitors and come in to cornmeal in a small gap in the reeds. They are tiny! Blackish Rail was called out of the vegetation a short distance later, and some American Moorhen were on one of the ponds. The list of birds from this three hour walk is long and lovely, especially as at that time virtually everything was new. Hummingbirds were represented by Violet-capped Woodnymph and Scale-throated Hermit, Dusky-legged Guan roamed the margins, a male Surucua Trogon watched quietly, and really close views of a Masked Water-Tyrant put us much in mind of a Wheatear. Variable Antshrike, Star-throated Antwren, an Araucaria Tit-Spinetail was seen well in the Parana Pines, there was a seemingly endless procession of various tropical flycatchers and some crazy Diademed Tanagers were just about outshone by some Red-necked Tanagers. It was a memorable afternoon, and yet we were amazed when we were going through the list later on that Bruno had seen or heard a further 20 or so birds, fully 50% more! There had been so much going on, and we were so new to it at this stage, green, that it just hadn't been remotely possible for us to connect with everything that was there. What a place this was, and this had just been the first afternoon. We were seriously excited for the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment