Brad had decided that this morning we would get back on the boat and go upriver to Vermelinho's place, a patch of forest that he is turning into a reserve. He had not ever birded there but had no doubt spent some time chatting to him on the boat the prior day about what he had been seeing. Neither Herculano nor Vermelhinho had had binoculars, however both had super-keen eyesight and Vermelinho in particular knew exactly what he was seeing. So just before 6am we were back on the river and heading north-west along the western bank. It was just as beautiful as before. As we headed away from town signs of civilisation dropped off quite quickly. There were a few houses, what looked like a handful of lodges, and telegraph poles were strung loosely along the bank but there are no roads here, access is solely by boat. It took about 20 minutes to cover the seven or so miles, stopping a couple of times when we saw a bird - nothing special this time, a couple of Roadside Hawk perched on the edge, quite a few Ringed Kingfisher and the first Parrots on the move.
It became a lot more birdy when we swung into the Igarapé de Boa Vista, effectively Vermelhinho's street. During the dry season you have a reasonable walk from the end of this channel up what is his front drive, but at this time of year you can get the whole way on the boat. A pair of Red-and-green Macaw gave a close fly-by, and we had excellent views of Black Caracara warming up on a bare tree, and slightly less good views of a Chestnut‑eared Aracari. Muscovy Duck moved ahead of as we left the wider channel and the water narrowed and the trees closed in. Before long we were in similar habitat to the day before, weaving through a tunnel of branches. A Black‑fronted Nunbird sat low over the water, and a Long‑billed Woodcreeper worked a branch before we emerged into a more open area and Vermelinho's small pier.
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| Black Caracara |
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| Black Caracara |
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| Red-and-green Macaw |
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| Roadside Hawk |
Vermelhinho is on the map! He has his own eBird pin - Vermelhinho Birdwatching. This is what you need for a successful business! A small area has been cleared, a small garden has been planted, and there are a few small buildings set back from the water, some lodging, a central area to cook and eat, and a bathroom - a series of boardwalks join these together as it no doubt can get very wet. If you stayed here (which I assume is possible but I doubt you'll find it on booking.com!) you would feel a sense of total isolation. Vermelhinho has cut a few trails few the forest and so we headed on in. And then almostly immediately out again when Brad heard Brown-banded Puffbird from somewhere high up and we needed to get in the open to try and get a view - this was incredibly difficult but eventually we found the precise pathway up and through the myriad branches to high in a tall tree where a pair of birds were sat calling to each other.
Back into the dark forest and we spent ages getting on a Pearly Antshrike, and I found one of the Manakins extremely difficult though I cannot now remember which one it was that took forever to see properly - there were Blue‑capped Manakin, White‑crowned Manakin and several Golden‑headed Manakin. This was a challenging walk with good birds but what felt like low numbers. Good views of a Collared Gnatwren felt like a big win, especially as the bird seemed to have teleporting abilities and barely ever stayed in one place for the time needed to get on it. By some fluke I got a great view early on, but it took Bob much longer. Much easier (ish) were Pygmy Antwren, White‑flanked Antwren, Cinereous Antshrike, Grey Antwren and a Black‑faced Antbird. A Yellow‑browed Antbird was an excellent sighting - bright yellow and stripey in contrast to the usal shades of grey. Progess remained slow throughout the over five hours we spent on this walk, and a species count of 26 felt like we hadn't done very well but looking back we saw some really tough birds. These included Rufous‑backed Stipplethroat, a very scarce Antwren, and also Long-billed Woodcreeper and another Zimmer’s Woodcreeper. Capuchinbird and Screaming Piha were both heard.
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| Golden-headed Manakin |
As we emerged back into the clearing we found a pair of Green-backed Trogon, and a White-chinned Sapphire was feeding on a low flowering shrub in the garden area. After a quick coffee we jumped back on the boat to head back the Amazonia Park Suites for lunch. As we left Ocellated Woodcreeper was working a trunk just off the pier and I think was yet another new species. The only minor bum note was that I barely took a single photograph in the forest all morning, the birds were too difficult and it was really dark.
Before we left for the afternoon excursion I had a quick poke around the gardens. It was quite productive actually, despite the heat of the day, with Common Squirrel‑Cuckoo near the pool, lots of American Black Vulture overhead as well as Turkey Vulture and a Greater Yellow‑headed Vulture. A few Shiny Cowbird and Orange‑fronted Yellow‑Finch fed on the grass, and from the restaurant we saw Silver‑beaked Tanager, Blue‑grey Tanager Palm Tanager and Opal‑rumped Tanager. I also managed to finally see the Spix's Night Monkeys that lived in a hollow trunk on the way down to the boat landing. Everyone had seen these other than me, they would come back up the small slope and say "yeah, just there, nice views, right out in the open", and so I would trot down there and be faced with an empty hole. Very cute, regrettably I did not happen to have my camera on me, whereas of course I had lugged it with me on every other failed attempt.
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| Tall trees in the Ramal da Sombrinha Cor de Rosa. This translates as Pink Parasol Track. |
Mid‑afternoon we headed back out of town to the Ramal da Sombrinha Cor de Rosa, our third visit here. It was by far the least productive, for whatever reason it was really quiet. You can't have it all I suppose but after some of the amazing sessions we had had, and of course we were nearer the end than the beginning thus it felt like time was running out a bit, it just felt like we had wasted an afternoon. Various Swifts were overhead as we walked down the track, Chapman’s Swift, Short‑tailed Swift and Fork‑tailed Palm Swift. We got onto a Double‑toothed Kite that observed us quietly and there was some real quality with three White‑cheeked Antbird in the dense understory. This is a spectacular bird, most-wanted, but it was virtually impossible to see. Again I got very very lucky getting on one of the three pretty quickly, but of course you can't leave until you're all seen it and this took quite some time. Indeed we had to give up on two of them as it just wasn't happening. Photo? Not a chance. Boat‑billed Flycatcher was new for the trip, but that was about it. We returned to the hotel a little despondent if I am honest, but in retrospect I think it was just that so many of the previous days had massively overdelivered and we had just experienced something normal today. As I think I have mentioned before there are a lot of birds in the Amazon but if you expect it to just be a procession as they parade in front of you then think again!
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| Double-toothed Kite |
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| Cane Toad |
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| Checklist helper |
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