The 22nd June saw me birding the lowland forest along the lower parts of the Angra dos Reis Road. This is a lovely area, with good forest & fine scenery.
I saw some great species here, but pride of place went to the pair of Black-hooded Antwrens. This is a very rare & highly localized endemic. it was a great bird to see.
Male Black-hooded Antwren.
The undoubted star of the morning.
Rufous-tailed Jacamar.
White-bearded Manakin.
Lesser Woodcreeper.
Grey-hooded Attila.
Rufous-headed Tanager.
Flame-crested Tanager.
Rufous-browed Peppershrike.
On the way out of the forest, they were a few farms & more open areas, wth some different birdsto be seen.
Whistling Heron.
Brazilian Teal.
Black Vulture.
The rest of the day was spent driving to Ubatuba. There were some nice vistas along the way.
Looking towards the coast.
The 23rd June saw me birding a forest trail in the Mococoa River National Park, close to Ubatuba. It was a very good morning's birding, with some excellent species seen.
Buff-bellied Puffbird.
Spot-backed Antshrike.
Scaled Antbird.
All photos taken at very high ISO because
of the poor light in the forest.
Star-throated Antwren.
Spot-breasted Antvireo.
Fork-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant.
Chestnut-backed Antshrike.
Neotropical River Warbler.
Tropical Pewee.
Rufous-winged Antwren.
Streak-capped Antwren.
Visited the famous Focu Secu farm in the afternoon. Jonas the owner has been feeding the birds for fourteen years & it shows! There are hundreds of birds coming to his feeders.
Bananas are very popular menu items!
Green-headed Tanagers go wild!
Male Brazilian Tanager.
Female Brazilian Tanager.
Immature Ruby-crowned Tanager.
Green Honeycreeper.
But, it is the hummingbirds which are the main show here. And they are amazing!
Saw-billed Hermit.
A very hard to see species - away from feeders!
Violet-capped Woodnypmh.
Male Festive Coquette.
Not the sharpest of photos, but I just can't resist!
It is not often you see one perched!
Female Festive Coquette.
Heavy rain overnight continued for most of the next day (24th June). I spent the day in a cafe, watching the weather. However, there was a slight drop in precipitation in late afternoon & although it was still raining, I visited Capricorn Farm, which is a noted location for the rare & endemic Buff-throated Purpletuft. Unbelievably, I spotted one atop a distant tree, but the conditions stopped me taking any photos.
Another storm is on the way.
This is it! The entire area of mangrove
measuring 50 m long by 10 m wide!
Little Blue Heron.
Snowy Egret.
Black-crowned Night-Heron.
Great White Egret.
Masked Water Tyrant.
My final day of the tour dawned on the 25th June, & it was once again very dark & overcast. I wasn't too hopeful as we drove to a tiny area of mangroves for the endemic Little Wood Rail. There were plenty of birds though in this tiny area.
The endemic Little Wood Rail.
This species is getting very rare due to habitat loss.
A great bird to get at the end of the trip.
The marsh with the Antwrens!
We then continued towards Sau Paulo, with a quick stop at a marsh near Salesopolis. The main reason was for the extremely rare Sao Paulo Antwren, which occurs in the marsh. I saw it quite well but couldn't get any pictures. Drat! But it was a nice spot with several good species present.
Rufous-capped Antshrike.
A marsh dwelling Antshrike!
Double-collared Seed-eater.
We then drove to the airport & the trip was over! 325 species in 12 days at three major locations across South-east Brazil. It was a very good trip. Thanks a lot Guilherme & I will be seeing you soon.
