The flight left at 3.30pm and we needed to be at the airport at 1pm latest. It could take one hour to get there, it could take three. We banked on two and made plans to leave at 11am. That meant we could afford to spend about three hours in the Parque Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo's equivalent of Central Park in New York. It is not that large, but the set up is the same with gazillions of joggers and cyclists out for their early morning exercise. We got into trouble straight away when one of the officials at the gate said we needed a permit for our cameras. Luckily the place to get the permits was right in the middle of the park, and so of course we made straight for it. Very slowly and indirectly, so slowly in fact that we never got there.
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| Crested Caracara |
We walked in a large clockwise circle, concentrating mainly on the two lakes - the southern one is much better. Waterfowl consisted of White-faced Whistling-Duck, Black Swan, White-cheeked Pintail, American Moorhen and Pied-billed Grebe. On the margins were lots of Striated Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Snowy Egret, Great White Egret and a single Green Ibis. We also found an Amazon Kingfisher down one of the narrower channels.
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| White-faced Whistling-Duck |
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| Green Ibis |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Snowy Egret |
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| Striated Heron |
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| Neotropic Cormorant |
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| Southern Lapwing |
The southern area was good for Woodpeckers, with Lineated and Blond-crested at one point in the same tree, and a Green-barred Woodpecker fed on a banana near the lake. We also added a new Woodcreeper - Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, and a new Parrot, Turquoise-fronted Amazon. As a final birding session it was pretty decent, surpassing expectations. No doubt there was a lot more there than we saw, but this deep into a trip it didn't feel like there was much to add. In the event Sao Paulo had added ten species to the overall tally, so not a great deal but it had meant more birding in Peruibe plus a unique chance to catch up with some relatives.
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| Green-barred Woodpecker |
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| Blond-crested Woodpecker |
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| Lineated Woodpecker |
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| Rufous-bellied Thrush |
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| Rufous Hornero |
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| Narrow-billed Woodcreeper |
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| Turquoise-fronted Amazon |
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| Great Kiskadee |
We returned to the hotel for 11am, sorted ourselves out, packed, and took a taxi to GRU which in fact only took just over an hour. This meant a fair amount of time in the airport but we chilled in the Admirals Club before getting on board. I slept virtually the whole way which was excellent, and which meant that I was in fine fettle for the party in Hampshire that evening. I was beaten to the position of 'furthest travelled to get there' by someone who had come from Singapore, but I felt it had been a very decent effort and it was great to catch up with some old friends from my time in Montpellier in 1997.
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| One small part of Sao Paulo |
Great trip report! Out of interest, did you feel conscious of potential muggers in the Sao Paolo parks? We had been made paranoid by various locals about birding in Sao Paolo, but having left bins etc behind in the hotel, wondered if it's any worse than any other big global city.
ReplyDeleteNope, not at all, there were gazillions of people around at all times. We took bins to Povo, and both bins and cameras to Ibirapuera. At Ibirapuera they have police cars doing circuits along the running/cycling paths as well. We didn't unpack anything until inside the park, and we packed up before we left.
DeleteSome gorgeous photos! I love it when you see birds that are familiar (to me in N. America) mixed in with all the exotics. Spotted Sandpiper? Yay! Also the birds that are obviously close cousins of ones that I know are. really interesting from an evolutionary pov (Lineated Woodpecker, Striated Heron, Rufous-bellied Thrush for example). And all those names! How do you remember them? It makes me wonder who came up with them. Presumably the Brazilians have their own names for their familiar birds. Anyway, I enjoyed your trip report, as usual. Happy travels.
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