Jardim

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Cunhatai Pora: Brazil

We drove to Cunhatai Pora on 17th July. This lodge is supposed to be situated in virgin forest in southern Amazonas, but as we drove north, all we saw were miles upon miles of agricultural fields! It was depressing, as we both had high hopes for this new lodge. Even when we turned off the main road for the last 14 kms on dirt it was still fields. At the 6kms mark, the first forest appeared, dry smallish trees, a far cry from the virgin forest that we envisaged. However, soon the forest began to change & more mature forest surrounded us. At a small hill on the road we could see the true extent of the forest before us! Whow! 

Cunhatai Pora is situated right on the southern boundary of the great Amazonian Rainforest. Ranching & agriculture have made great inroads into the forest & still do so today. The present owner bought the land to clear for agriculture, but was overcome by the beauty of the land & slowly became a conservationist. This block of lowland forest is around 30,000 hectares, but only 4,000 hectares is privately owned & protected. The present owner is planning to buy more forested land in  order to protect a much larger area.

As we arrived at this new lodge (only two years old) the first thing that struck us was how neat & tidy everything was. A lot of work had gone into this place & the organisation of the entire place was first class. The owner (Gauchinho) greeted us & we sat down to discuss the next six days of birding. Luckily we had a guide/translator who helped us discuss plans with the owner. We were a bit miffed about this has we had paid for a bird guide but Alex the translator was just a general tourism guide. However, what soon became apparent was that the owner knew most of the birds. It was late afternoon & we went for a short drive, the owner showing us the first of our target species: Chattering Gnatwren, which proved to be too quick for the camera but we managed to get good views through the binoculars.

View from our chalet

Surrounded by great forest.

The beautiful Rio Claro.

Upon returning we were shown to our chalet, which was modern, spotlessly clean & hot water for a shower. In our experience a shower that worked properly in Brazil is a bit of a rarity! It was also set in a nice natural location with good views of the forest beyond the river. We enjoyed a nice meal in the restaurant with a few cold beers & we planned the next six days of birding here. 

Male Harpy Eagle

The lodge is a rehabilitation center for injured animals. When we were there a Harpy Eagle was recovering. It had been shot by a local farmer & wounded. It had been looked after for several weeks & looked in good shape as it was exercising regularly.  It was ready to be released but awaiting an official to arrive to say that it was fit enough to be released. That official never arrived while we were there, which was disappointing for me as I couldn't tick it! 

Blue & Yellow Macaw

Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

Common in the clearing around the lodge.

Picazuro Pigeon

Blue-headed Parrot

Yellow-tufted Woodpecker

Swallow Tanagers

Female

Swallow-winged Puffbird

Masked Tityra

Blue Dacnis

Female

Several Blue & Yellow Macaws were also being rehabilitated. One couldn't fly as it had a badly damaged wing. All looked to be doing well here.

Coatimundi

Being released.

This Coatimundi had been hit by a car & had been recovering for several weeks. It looks like it had got used to being fed by humans & was very happy in our presence.

Odette, the female Tapir.

This Tapir had been hit on the head by a machete wielding farmer. She had made the lodge her home & spent a large amount of her time here. She was very inquisitive & tame.

Fred showing his scar.

Another Tapir called Fred swam across the river at night to visit Odette. He too was struck on the face with a machete, but was completely wild, but was quickly becoming tame. They both seemed very happy wandering around the lodge at night, safe from marauding Jaguars! They seem to be doing a pretty good job rehabilitating birds & animals here, as all looked healthy & very happy.

Some of the trails are wide 

& well constructed.

White-lipped Peccary

Large groups of up to 60+ animals seen

 on the roads early morning.

There is a 50 m high birdwatching tower

Delana at the top of the tower!

One afternoon we went deep into the forest searching for Marbled Wood-quail. We had previously heard this species in the area, so we thought it a good place to start the search. We picked a spot & sat down occasionally playing the tape. It replied several times, but always at distance. Then after close to three hours of waiting I spotted it! Even as it came closer, it was difficult to spot, always keeping to deep cover. Eventually we got decent views of the bird. But what an afternoon! Three hours to see just one species! Patience paid off however, & we returned to the lodge in a euphoric frame of mind.

Immature/dark morph Hook-billed Kite.

A localised & rarely seen species.

Wood Stork on the river.

Alex, who is not a birder,

quickly getting in to it!

Scaled Pigeon

Blue & Yellow Macaw

Chestnut-eared Aracari

Gould's Toucanet

This beautiful species is right on the

edge of its range here.

Channel-billed Toucan

Calling

Cream-coloured Woodpecker

Yellow-tufted Woodpecker

Great birds to see, always very active on the

edge of the forest.

Squirrel Cuckoo

Black-girdled Barbet

Bronzy Jacamar

Masked Tityra

White-necked Puffbird

This species is a real neck breaker!

Birding on one of the

 many trails.

Bronzy Jacamar

White-fronted Nunbird

Streaked Flycatcher

Paradise Tanager

The owner knows the trails 

intimately & knows many bird calls.

A nice thing about the trails

 is there are many seats placed

in strategic places. 

Great for both birding & 

having a rest!

Glittering-throated Emerald

Glittering-throated Emerald &

 Long-billed Starthroat

Female Glittering-throated Emerald

Long-billed Starthroat

Blue-tufted Starthroat

Flame-crowned Manakin

Red-capped Manakin

Forest Elaenia

Short-tailed Pygmy Tyrant

Chestnut-tailed Antbird

Natter's Slaty Antshrike

Me, Gauchinho (the owner), Alex & Luke

Common Pauraque

We quickly grew into a routine: up before dawn, breakfast before hitting one of the many trails in the area. Back for lunch & a siesta before birding again in the afternoon. 

The edge of the forest is 

very dramatic!

Burrowing Owl

Enjoying the sprinkler!

Eyes shut against the water!

The flooded Palm Forest,

 home to the Macaws.

There is an area of Palm Forest which has been partially flooded & therefore the trees are dying, providing plenty of nesting opportunities for two species of macaw.

Blue & Yellow Macaw

There are about 20 pairs of this

 species nesting here.

Red-bellied Macaw

6 pairs were nesting here.

Yellow-crowned Amazon

Brown Jacamar

This species of Jacamar likes more open areas.

A pair of Laughing Falcons

Blue-necked Tanager

This is an uncommon & scarce species.

Mittermeier's Tapajos Saki Monkey

We came across this family party.

It is a scarce & localised species.

We were delighted to see

 this species.

Brazil is the best country in the world to see primates.

Amazonian Plain Xenops

Spix's Warbling Antbird

Singing

On 21st July we birded a new trail, just to the side of an old quarry. This was an area of very large trees (primary forest) & we saw some excellent species here.

Our transport for travelling

 the river.

Grey-lined Hawk

Blue-headed Parrot

Ringed Woodpecker

Flame-crested Tanager

Short-tailed Pygmy Tyrant

Black throated Antbird

We came across this oxbow lake alongside the river.

It was the spot for the Cone-billed Tanager!

Green Kingfisher

Great Kiskadee

Yellow-rumped Cacique

Several pairs were nest building here.

Little Cuckoo

Male Cone-billed Tanager

Few birders have seen this species,

 as it is both rare & highly localized.

The celebration!

These flowers provided us

with nine species of

Hummingbird!

Happy days!

Ruby-topaz Hummingbird

Male.

Long-billed Starthroat

Versicoloured Emerald

Female Dot-eared Coquette

Not great photos, but a really rare bird!

We had a really nice time at Cunhatai Pora. The accommodation & food were the best we had in Brazil. The owner & his wife were excellent hosts & really went out of their way to make the stay memorable. The trails are excellent. Very well maintained & some of the longer trails have places to sit both as a rest & to spot birds. This is a new lodge & most birders haven't discovered it yet. It has only been in operation for two years & the bird list is far from complete. There is an excellent variety of forest habitats here, which we believe still hasn't been fully explored. Birding is slow & hard here, but the variety of species is impressive.

The negative is it an expensive stay & there is no resident bird guide. From day two we had Luke with us, who is learning his trade. He was enthusiastic & a great help to us, as was Alex.  It would have been very difficult to function without Alex, as nobody spoke English at all! 

We can highly recommend a stay at Cunhatai Pora. One probably needs a stay of six or seven nights to get the best out of it, as the area is large. We stayed six nights & could have stayed longer.