All being well, I will continue with the blog over the next few days.
We covered a number of birding sites using a hired car but did not use any local birding guides as we both prefer to find our own birds rather than have them pointed out by a local guide. We did book some of the accommodation before we left for the trip, which all worked well.
Brazil has a total of almost 1,821 species of birds of which 236 are endemic to Brazil. During our trip we saw a total of 341 species.
Brazilian Merganser
Mergus octosetacreus
The Brazilian Merganser was very much a key species on this trip, and was considered to be bird of the trip. Its chiefly is restricted to centre-south of Brazil with just small numbers present, it is also very rare in Paraguay and Argentina, with a world population estimated at around 250 birds. It chiefly inhabits clean rivers with rapids and clean water pools bordered by forests, and in the 1940's it was considered to be extinct.
We finally found this pair after two days of searching between Cachoeira do Rasqa Canga and the Cachoeira do Rollinho at Conactera and they were found on my 62nd birthday.
JFC on his 62nd birthday is very happy after seeing and
photographing the very rare Brazilian Merganser on the pool
behind.
Now where did we put the champagne and whisky.
Bay Chested Warbling Finch
Castanozoster thoracicus
The Bay Chested Warbling Finch is generally found in mountain forest above 800m and is endemic to South-eastern Brazil. It generally keeps to the forest edge or semi-open areas and is usually encountered in with mixed species flocks.
We only recorded in along the Agulhas Negras road, with 6 seen on the 15th July and 10 on the following day.
Black-breasted Plovercrest
Stephanoxis lalandi
The Black-breasted Plovercrest is endemic to Eastern Brazil and is found in understorey of forest, scrub vegetation and along water courses from sea-level to 900m although occasionally to higher levels. It was previously lumped with Purple Crowned Plovercrest which is resident in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay but has a number of plumage differences and has now been split as a separate species.
We found it at three different locations during our trip with a total of 5 individuals.
Serra dos Tucanos Lodge
We stayed at this lodge for 4 nights which is owned by Andy Foster
and his father. They made us very welcome and it had close access to a
number of birding sites.
Red-breasted Toucan
Ramphastos dicolrus
It is generally found in humid forests of S.E.Brazil to E. Paraquay and N.E.Argentina and is primary found in the Atlantic Forest. It is one of the smallest Toucans with a short greenish bill.
We recorded it on three dates involving 11 birds.
Blue Manakin
Chiroxiphia caudata
Found in the Atlantic Forest of S.E.Brazil, E. Paraquay and N.E.Argentina. It is generally in wet lowland or montane forests and within its range it is generally common. The males form a lek with display perches where they sing and dance to attract females which are a dull greenish-brown.
We recorded it on 11 dates with a daily maximum of 6.
White-tailed Hawk
Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Has three subspecies and a large range from Texas right down to South America including some islands. We recorded it on a numbers of days with an impressive gathering of 30 at a roadside fire.
