Emas National Park: Brazil

 We left Pousada Aguape early morning on 26th June. We had a long drive of 580 kms, but the roads were generally good to OK, so the drive wasn't too bad.

Pousada de Gloria. 

rustic, but actually very nice inside.

Grey-cowled Wood Rail:

walking around our accommodation.

Helmeted Manakin

Saffron Finch

We arrived at Pousada de Gloria late afternoon & settled in. The accommodation is in riverine forest literally a few yards from the national park. Our host informed us that she would take us out looking for White-winged Nightjar after dinner! One of my most wanted species, so I am excited! 

White-winged Nightjar

One of the rarest nightjars in the world

 & one of  most wanted species!

We went & we got it! In fact we saw three birds, but only one close up on the ground. Excellent evening out!

This place is very special!

Burnt area on the left.

Cerrado is full of endemic plants, animals & birds.

Young male Pampas Deer.

Female

Peach-fronted Parakeet

They love termite mounds!

Several beautiful rivers flow through the park.

Delana & Anna our guide.

To fully explore the park one has

 to have a guide.

The next day we were up well before dawn, out in the park spotlighting. It was freezing! The cerrado habitat once covered a third of Brazil, but farmers easily cleared the area for farming & today just relatively small patches remain. Emas National Park is the largest area of intact cerrado habitat in Brazil & the place is awesome!

Yellow-headed Caracara

Curl-crested Jay

Goes around in noisy groups.

Yellow-faced Parrot

Rare & highly localized.

Immature Chaco Eagle

One of my most 

wanted species!

White-tailed Hawk

This is the rare dark morph.

Aplomado Falcon

Peach-fronted Parakeet

White-eared Puffbird

White-rumped Monjita

Rufous-winged Antshrike

Lesser Seed Finch

Male Cock-tailed Tyrant

Yellow-rumped Marshbird

Coal-crested Finch

Black-throated Saltator

Unfortunately we only have one full day here, so we were out before dawn & returned just after 8pm in the evening! This place deserves a three night stay: two days in the cerrado & a day in the riverine forest, where a whole new suite of birds awaits!

This is not a video. 

It is a series of photos stitched together by Delana

We also observed a good selection of mammals including Pampas Deer, Crab-eating & Hoary Fox & best of all the bizarre but wonderful Maned Wolf.