This blog is the second of five recounting a very successful trip to NE Brazil where Ciro Albano brilliantly guided Jon Hornbuckle, Rod Martins, Barry Wright and myself for the best part of three weeks. I carelessly lost all my photos up to the last three days and am most grateful to Barry Wright and Jon Hornbuckle for allowing me to use theirs. Most are of better quality than mine would have been so it was not all bad ...
Saturday 26th September. We left our hotel in Crato at 05:30 for a 20
minute drive to an excellent patch of Caatinga on the edge of Serra de
Araripe. We birded the dry forest here
for three hours seeing Great Xenops (even better than expected), White-browed
Antpitta (ditto), Silvery-cheeked and Planalto Slaty Antshrikes, Stripe-backed
Antbird, Caatinga and Black-bellied Antwrens, Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin,
Grey-eyed Greenlet (surprisingly smart), Cinnamon Tanager and a rather tatty
Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird. At 08:20, having seen all
that was likely and with it starting to get hot we returned to the hotel for our
usual big breakfast. We left Crato an
hour later for the six hour drive south to
Canudos. We soon left Ceara which had
been brilliant and entered Pernambuco. We had petrol and lunch stops on the way
south before crossing into Bahia. Just
outside Canudos we visited two areas of Caatinga. At the first we birded along tracks through
rather thick woodland, seeing Stripe-breasted Starthroat (but unfortunately not
a full male), Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Red-shouldered Spinetail, Great Xenops (again), Pileated
Finch and Greater Wagtail-Tyrant. The second stop was more open and we stayed to dusk seeing Spotted Piculet, Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant, Southern Scrub-Flycatcher and some high flying Least Nighthawks. We drove the short distance to Canudos, checked into the Hotel
Brasil and had a meal and an early night with the prospect of a 04:00 start to be
at a Lear’s Macaw roost site for dawn …
 |
| White-browed Antpitta (photo Barry) |
 |
| early morning Caatinga (photo Barry) |
 |
| female Silvery-cheeked Antshrike (photo Jon) |
 |
| a fairly common Caatinga endemic (photo Jon) |
 |
| male Silvery-cheeked Antshrike (photo Barry) |
 |
| Ciro and Jon (photo Barry) |
 |
| Jon and Rod looking for the terrestrial Stripe-backed Antbird, it took a while to see but was well worth the effort (photo Barry) |
 |
| Birding the dry forest at Serra de Araripe (photo Jon) |
 |
| this way (photo Barry) |
 |
| Araripe Manakin pictures were a common emblem in Crato (photo Barry) |
 |
| Rod and Jon catching up on sleep on the long journey south (photo Barry) |
 |
| thick Caatinga near Canudos (photo Barry) |
|
 |
| Ciro leading the way (photo Barry) |
 |
| Stripe-breasted Starthroat (photo Jon) |
 |
| Greater Wagtail-Tyrant (photo Barry) |
 |
| Red-shouleded Spinetail (photo Barry) |
 |
| Great Xenops (photo Jon) |
 |
| what an amazing bird! (photo Barry) |
 |
| back at the car (photo Barry) |
|
 |
| Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant (photo Barry) |
 |
| Spotted Piculet (photo Barry) |
Sunday 27th September. We left the hotel at 04:00 and drove to the
Lear’s Macaw 'reserve' on a privately owned facenda where a traditional roost site in red canyons was protected. We headed down a
dirt track and soon came across a friend of Ciro’s who was waiting for us in the
dark. He had a pick-up and after a quick
chat with Ciro opened a gate for us to follow him, which we did for 2-3
kms. We parked and waited at a bench
close to the edge of the canyon in which the birds roosted. It was one of only two known roost
sites and birds moved between sites
depending on how close they were to the palms they were feeding on. The macaws travelled up to 100kms to find palms in fruit, but both roost sites usually held several hundred birds. We waited and as it started to get light we
heard birds calling from the canyon below.
Soon small flocks were flying out of the canyon and I had counted about 60 macaws when two
larger flocks flew by with over 100 birds in them. Very impressive. Twos and threes were flying around, some
landing on nearby cactus. We approached
the canyon rim and could see a group of over 30 on the cliff edge
opposite. We had great views of them
there and flying around in good light before they dispersed. The blue of the macaws against the reddish
walls of the canyon was a truly memorable sight. Quite a few were perched in tree tops at the
head of the canyon and Barry counted over 100 in a quick scan. Superb.
We dragged ourselves away to visit the reserve centre and pay our $50
entrance fee. Well worth it to help
protect the area. No T-shirts or caps
for sale was a missed opportunity as I would certainly have bought one (the
way I lose caps maybe two or three). Also
seen in the area were Blue-crowned Parakeets, Velvety Black-Tyrant and Cliff
Flycatcher. We felt 300 Lear’s Macaws a
reasonable estimate of those we had seen.
We returned to the hotel for our usual big breakfast and left at 08:25
although we did a U-turn after a couple of minutes when Jon realised he had left
his charger in the room. We had another
long drive ahead of us, this time east towards the coast. We had a short stop to look for Pectoral
Antwren by the road outside Jeremoabo.
Ongoing road improvements were hardly ideal but Ciro soon taped in the
antwren which gave good views. The
rest of the journey was uneventful with a roadside stop for 7 Greater Rheas in
a field and a White Monjita from the vehicle.
We were now in Alagoas and arrived at Murici late afternoon seeing
Pinated Bittern and Limpkin but only hearing Yellow-breasted Crake in an area
of marshy damp grassland just outside the Quiombo Park Hotel where we would be
staying for two nights. It was not
particularly close to our next birding sites but nowhere suitable was any nearer. It was also very nice and some birding was
possible in the grounds, provided we were around in daylight.
Monday 28th September. We left the hotel at 04:00 to drive to Murici
where we arrived at 05:30. The last 5km
or so were along a very poor track which was quite steep in places and would
most likely have been impassable in the wet, even for Ciro in his 4WD. We stopped at an excellent viewpoint on the
edge of one of the largest remaining remnant forest patches in the area. Most
of the rest had been cleared and replaced by grassland for grazing. There was an impressive view east down to the
coast, across patches of early morning mist, but sadly very few lowland forest
patches remained. The hotel had given us
some sandwiches for breakfast and we ate them while scanning the forest edge, hearing
and then seeing 5 Red-shouldered Macaws in isolated palms. A good start which became even better when
Barry picked up a large raptor that landed in view high in a distant tree. It looked interesting through a telescope and
Ciro quickly confirmed it was a White-collared Kite, one of our main targets
for the area. A second bird appeared and
they proceeded to fly around, on one occasion attempting some butterfly-like
display. It was not yet 07:00 and seemed
early for large raptors to be about but Ciro told us early morning was a good
time to see the kites. We soon finished
breakfast and headed to a trail Ciro knew that went into the forest. We followed a good trail along a ridge for
several hours seeing lots of birds. We
reached a ravine and turned back to concentrate of a couple of target species
we had not picked up on the way out and we were back at the car at 15:00. We heard then saw a White-collared Kite
displaying directly overhead (presumably one of the pair seen earlier), Black
Jacobin, Long-tailed Woodnymph (unfortunately only a female), Black-cheeked
Gnateater, Rufous-winged and Alagoas Antwren (the only site the latter is now
found), White-backed Fire-eye (distinctive Pernambuco race), Northern Lesser
and Todd’s Woodcreepers, Pernambuco Foliage-gleaner, Red-headed, White-bearded
and Blue-backed Manakins, Buff-throated Purpletuft, Black-headed Berrypecker,
Screaming Piha, Thrush-like Schiffornis, Greyish Mourner and White-bellied
Tody-Tyrant. We returned to Quiombo Park
Hotel and birded around the forest edge behind the hotel were Ciro quickly
taped in a Seven-coloured Tanager. We
then returned to the damp grassland where we had heard Yellow-breasted Crake
the previous evening but with no more success.
Despite this it had been another brilliant day with all possible targets
seen, some of which were quite tricky and could have required a return visit. For several we felt we were in the last
chance saloon and Rod dubbed it ‘death row birding’. Alagoas Foliage-gleaner
not having been seen for 15 years and the newly described Cryptic Treehunter going or more likely having gone the same way rather brought this home.
 |
| arriving at Murici although it was still a km or so drive from here (photo Barry, on gate opening duty) |
 |
| scoping distant White-collared Kite (photo Barry) |
 |
| Jon checking on breakfast (photo Barry) |
 |
| Murici, the largest remaining forest patch in Alagoas but sadly too small to support (photo Barry) |
 |
| view towards the coast, we could see very few remnant forest patches and all were very small (photo Barry) |
 |
| forest trail at Murici (photo Barry) |
 |
| Buff-throated Purpletuft showing both named features (photo Barry) |
 |
| male Rufous-winged Antwren, the rufous wings just visible (photo Barry) |
 |
| Todd's Woodcreeper, currently a race of Amazonian Barred but isolated and distinct and likely to be split (photo Barry) |
 |
| White-collared Kite, after early distant scope views of a pair this one flew over displaying (photo Barry) |
 |
| Reddish Hermit (photo Barry) |
 |
| inside Murici (photo Barry) |
 |
| Pernambuco Foliage-gleaner at Murici, but for how much longer? (photo Barry) |
 |
| female Alagoas Antwren at Murici. It is becoming increasingly hard to find, unless with Ciro! (photo Barry) |
 |
| dry forest at Murici (photo Barry) |
 |
| birding at Murici (photo Barry) |
 |
| Rod at the fountain of youth (photo and caption Barry) |
 |
| Ciro checking facebook |
 |
| Barry and Ciro (photo Jon) |
 |
| sitting (or lying) in the forest turned out not to be a good idea was we all picked up chiggers (photo Barry) |
 |
| Pernambuco White-backed Fire-eye, another potential split. This part of the trip wasn't quite 'one for now and one for later' but it felt a bit that way (photo Barry) |
 |
| Murici, what was left was superb forest (photo Barry) |
 |
| there is just not enough of it (photo Barry) |
 |
| but once it is gone it's gone (photo Barry) |
 |
| view from Quiombo Park Hotel, we did get back in daylight (photo Barry) |
 |
| Quiombo Park Hotel (photo Barry) |
 |
| Seven-coloured Tanager - orange, black, light-blue, dark-blue & green left me feeling a little short changed if that was possible for such a stunning bird which we only saw once (photo Barry) |
 |
| Quiombo Park Hotel accomodation (photo Barry) |
 |
| wet marshy grassland at the hotel entrance, the decent forest behind explained why it was a good site for restricted-range Seven-coloured Tanager (photo Barry) |
 |
| a thinner toad at Quiombo (photo Barry) |
 |
| well camouflaged amongst the seedpods (photo Barry) |
Tuesday 29th September. We packed and left Quiombo at 04:00 for the
two hour drive northeast to Jaqueira, back in Pernambuco or very close to the
border. We birded along a dirt road
through the lower part of the reserve seeing mantled Hawk, Sombre Hummingbird,
Willis’s Antbird, Orange-bellied Antwren and Alagoas Tyrannulet before driving up
into the low hills. Here we saw another early displaying White-collared Kite,
Scalloped Antbird (excellent), Pernamuco Woodcreeper (another potential split),
‘Pernambuco’ Eared Pygmy-Tyrant (a new species awaiting formal recognition) and
Long-billed Gnatwren (always nice to see).
By now it was 08:30 and we had seen all possible target species so we
headed towards the coast near Tamandare.
Ciro took us to sites for Forbes’s Blackbird and Pinto Spinetail both of
which soon gave themselves up without setting the world alight. We were doing so well on the targets that
Ciro suggested we pressed on south to effectively save a day that could be
better used elsewhere. We were all in
agreement and with 500km to drive and Ciro already having done 200km+ we left
as it was already noon. It was a long drive south broken only by stops for food and
petrol. We crossed back into Alagoas and
then into Sergipe, arriving in Estancia at about 21:00. We stayed in the rather ordinary but perfectly adequate Hotel Magnus
on the edge of town. Epic driving from Ciro with many big lorries with trailers
to contend with.
 |
| breakfast stop, me looking for a cheese-only sandwich (photo Barry) |
 |
| low forest at Jaqueira (photo Barry) |
 |
| Mantled Hawk (photo Barry) |
 |
| male Orange-bellied Antwren, the female has the orange-belly (photo Barry) |
 |
| White-collared Kite, our third encounter of a species we had been concerned about seeing (photo Barry) |
 |
| 'Pernambuco' Eared Pygmy-Tyrant, another for later as it is yet to be formally described (photo Barry) |
 |
| Scalloped Antbird (photo Barry) |
 |
| White-chinned Sapphire (photo Barry) |
 |
| White-lored Tyrannulet (photo Jon) |
 |
| forest near Tamandare (photo Barry) |
 |
| forest near Tamandare (photo Barry) |
 |
| Forbes's Blackbird, its rarity is about all it has going for it (photo Barry) |
 |
| Moustached Wren (photo Barry) |
Wednesday 30th September. We left our hotel at 05;00 for a short drive
to Crasto Forest. We birded along a
short section of newly tarmacked road were we soon saw Stripe-necked
Tody-Tyrant and Fringe-backed Fire-eye, first a female then an excellent
male. We continued to the edge of some
mangroves. Rufous Crab-Hawks
were sometimes seen here but none were on view nor were any Mangrove Rails responsive. A flock of 7 Channel-billed Toucans in a
distant tree were nice but little else was evident and we soon moved on to an
area of palms to look for parakeets.
Here we were successful obtaining good views of a flock of 8 Golden-tailed Parrotlets and
about 12 Jandaya Parakeets. We returned
to the hotel at 08:30 for a big breakfast and left for another long (550km) drive
southeast, back into Bahia to Chapada Diamantina. Some of the roads were badly potholed and
lorries with trailers pulling out to avoid them made overtaking interesting
although Ciro took it all in his stride. We had
our usual petrol and ice-cream stops and arrived in Lencois at 17:00 - Ciro had done brilliantly again. Lencois was the first touristy town we had
been to and as a result the first couple of hotels Ciro
tried were full. Third time
lucky was the very pleasant Aguilar Pousada where we stayed for two nights. We walked into the centre of town, 10 minutes
away, and found a restaurant in a cobbled square. The squares gradient and rather unstable tables made for an interesting meal. A nearby bank was my first use of a foreign
ATM although it took a while and help from Barry to work out how to use it. As well as some rather special birds Chapada Diamantina was very scenic and somewhere I was very much looking forward to visiting ...
 |
| Crasto Forest (photo Barry) |
 |
| newly tarmacked road (photo Barry) |
 |
| dead Pauraque, casualty of the newly tarmacked road (photo Barry) |
 |
| Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant (photo Barry) |
 |
| Fringe-backed Fire-eye (photo Barry) |
 |
| two of a flock of seven Channel-billed Toucans (photo Barry) |
 |
| Golden-tailed Parrotlets (photo Barry) |
 |
| preparing to leave Hotel Magnus in Estancia (photo Barry) |
 |
| Jon (photo Barry) |
 |
| ice-cream stop (photo Barry) |
 |
| cobbled square in Lencois (photo Jon) |
 |
| Lencois street (photo Barry) |
 |
| nightlife (photo Barry) |
