birding never sleeps: AMAZONIAN BRAZIL 2022: Amazonas: Humaita 02-05 June

This is the third, of four, blog posts covering a very successful trip to Amazonian Brazil with Matt Eade, Paul Noakes and Nick Preston. It was organized for us and very ably guided by Brad Davis of Agami Nature Tours. Some of the photos are mine with others kindly provided by Paul. Paul's are of a much higher quality supporting their larger format and are accredited accordingly.

Thursday 02 June. We left Porto Velho at 04:45 and drove north, crossing in and out of the State of Amazonas several times, to an area of savanna at Ramal das Campinas. We arrived at about 06:00 and after a field breakfast repeatedly failed in attempts to see Ocellated Crake. Several responded to tape and came close but wouldn’t appear in the increasingly elaborate bowers constructed for this purpose. We temporarily gave up at lunch time, retreating to a nearby restaurant on the main road. We visited a nearby dirt track which was very muddy before returning to Ramal das Campinas and another attempt at the crake. First time we failed but the construction of an even more enclosed ‘bower’ did the trick with an Ocellated Crake attracted by the tape and appearing in it for several minutes. After earlier failures I’d left my camera behind which turned out to be a big mistake. Matt had done likewise but Paul obtained amazing images. It was certainly one of the birds of the trip and saved what was looking to be a disappointing day although we had seen Green-tailed Goldenthroat, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Amazonian Pygmy Owl, Brown-banded Puffbird, Curl-crested Aracari, Blue & Yellow Macaw, Rusty-backed Antwren, Sharp-tailed Tyrant, Black-masked Finch, Swallow-Tanager (15+) and White-rumped Tanager. We drove to Humaita Quality Hotel on a high. There we briefly saw Mike Catsis, Chris Goodie, Andy Mears and guide Brunno Renno who were doing a similar circuit to us (also delayed for two years by Covid) but in reverse. We'd catch up with them properly the following evening.

Toco Toucan at Ramal das Campinas

White-rumped Tanager at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Rusty-backed Antbird at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Wedge-billed Grassfinch at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Red-breasted Meadowlark at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Black-masked Finch at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Cinereous-breasted Spinetail at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Sharp-tailed Tyrant at Ramal das Campinas

Sharp-tailed Tyrant at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Amazonian Pygmy Owl near Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Brown-banded Puffbirds near Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Red-bellied Macaws near Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

White-throated Kingbird near Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Sulphur butterflies along the muddy track

Common Swordtail

last throw of the dice, our most enclosed 'bower' made so an Ocellated Crake could investigate playback without emerging into the open

this one worked, Ocellated Crake taken with my phone. Not the ocassion to leave my camera behind, wouldn't have done as well as Paul though ...

Ocellated Crake at Ramal das Campinas (photos: Paul Noakes)

Black-faced Tanager at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Blue and Yellow Macaw at Ramal das Campinas (photo: Paul Noakes)

Friday 03 June. We left Humaita soon after 05:30 and drove 20km to W to Ramal Geotop arriving at 06:00. The track through selectively logged forest, and sections which had been cleared completely, was very muddy in places with deep ruts requiring all Brad’s skill to avoid becoming stuck. We drove through several bad patches, finally giving up and walking at a particularly treacherous section. We spent all morning on the track but birding was slow. After a quick field lunch of left-over bits from breakfast we drove part-way back and walked down a smaller more birdy track where we stayed until dark (18:30). Highlights included Spot-tailed Nightjar, Black-bellied Cuckoo, a Russet-crowned Crake that did a lightening run-past in response to playback, Sunbittern, Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, Bluish-fronted, Bronzy and Paradise Jacamars, Brown-mandibled Aracari, Golden-collared Toucanet, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Chestnut-winged Foliage-Gleaner, Predicted Antwren, half an Undulated Antshrike (no improvement on my previous poor views), Silvered and Humaita Antbirds, Rufous-tailed Flatbill, Citroen-bellied Attila, Black Manakin, Dusky-capped Greenlet, Campina Jay and Inambari Gnatcatcher. Not a bad haul really although the tracks seemed a bit underwhelming at times. We returned to the Humaita Quality Hotel where it was good to catch up with Mike Catsis, Chris Goodie and Andy Mears and compare notes. Nick and I had been to Northern Peru with Mike & Chris in June 2018 and embarrassingly had forgotten we’d met Andy in Turkey in June 2012.

Brown-mandibled Aracari at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Dot-winged Antwren at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Peruvian Warbling-Antbird at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Humaita Antbird at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Sunbittern along Ramal Geotop

Sunbittern at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Point-tailed Palmcreeper at Ramal Geotop

Point-tailed Palmcreeper at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Black-bellied Cuckoo at Ramal Geotop (photos: Paul Noakes)

Rufous-tailed Flatbill at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Paradise Jacamar at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Inambari Gnatcatcher at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Campina Jay at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Black Manakin at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Citron-bellied Attila at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Brad surveying our grounded vehicle

Matt weighting down the rear made a difference

Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl at Ramal Geotop (photo: Paul Noakes)

Saturday 04 June. We left the hotel at 05:15 to drive the short distance to the ferry terminal to be sure we’d be on the first (06:00) ferry across to the east bank of the Rio Madeira as they only ran every two hours. There were a few large trucks on the ferry but plenty of room for al the vehicles that wanted to cross. It was still dark when the ferry departed and Nick and I stayed in the car missing overhead views of Nacunda Nighthawk by so doing. Initially we birded from the road. All the other vehicles headed east along the Transamazonica - highway 230 - which led all the way to the Atlantic coast at Joao Pessoa and over 4000km away (61 hours according to Google maps). Brazil is huge. The road was good for edge species but we were after Varzea specialists and tried two areas adjacent to it. Varzea is seasonally flooded forest which, at this time of year (end of the dry season/start of the wet), is fairly accessible. The first patch of Varzea produced Great Potoo, Agami Heron, Leaden Antbird, Zimmer’s and Long-billed Woodcreepers and Amazonian Black Tyrant. We tried a second area about a km further down the road where we found Sungrebe, 2 more Agami Herons, American Pygmy and Green & Rufous as well as the other 3 commoner resident South American Kingfishers and Varzea Schiffornis. The Schiffornis was our last target but we didn’t find it until about 10:45, just too late to catch the 11:00 ferry back across the river. That was probably as well as the schiffornis was a real stunner and deserved much more than a hurried look. We took our time, returning to the 13:00 ferry. We had lunch back in the restaurant we'd used previously in Humaita and Mike, Chris and Andy came in just before we left. We drove north for 40km to the Pipi-bio trail which they had visited that morning. The entrance to the trail wasn’t at all obvious, starting behind tall grass and a fallen tree beside a metaled road with a large clearing on the opposite side. We spent two hours birding along the trail seeing Amazonian Royal Flycatcher but little else. We headed back to Humaita to see the roosting Short-tailed Parrots although most were only seen in flight as the main roost site appeared to have moved at least a km to the north and the light was going too quickly to make it worth trying to find.

Plain Softtail from the roadside east of the Rio Madeira (photo: Paul Noakes)

Chestnut-vented Conebill east of the Rio Madeira (photo: Paul Noakes)

Masked Crimson Tanager east of the Rio Madeira (photo: Paul Noakes)

Rusty-backed Spinetail east of the Rio Madeira (photo: Paul Noakes)

Spot-breasted Woodpecker on the east bank of the Rio Madeira

Green and Rufous Kingfisher east of the Rio Madeira (photo: Paul Noakes)

Dark-billed Cuckoo east of the Rio Madeira

Dark-billed Cuckoo east of the Rio Madeira (photo: Paul Noakes)

Red-capped Cardinal east of the Rio Madeira (photo: Paul Noakes)

Great Potoo in the Varzea forest east of Humaita. I lost my bearings trying to circumnavigate an Ox-bow lake while hoping to see it head on and didn't see it again

Leaden Antwren in the varzea opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

male Amazonian Tyrant in the varzea opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Slender-billed Kite opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Agami Heron in a channel further down the Transamazonica

a stunning bird and the second of three I was to see that day, increasing my total by 150%!

Agami Heron from the Transamazonica (photo: Paul Noakes)

Striated Heron looking very dull in comparison

Sungrebe in a more flooded area

Velvet-mantled Grackle in varzea opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Yellow-crowned Elaenia in varzea opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Varzea Schiffornis not unexpectedly in the varzea forest

I wasn't expecting this species to be anything like as good as it was. A very pleasant surprise.

Varzea Schiffornis in varzea opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Zimmer's Woodcreeper in varzea opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Hauxwell's Thrush in varzea opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Yellow-chinned Spinetail in roadside vegetation opposite Humaita

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Black-chinned Antbird opposite Humaita (photo: Paul Noakes)

Rio Madeira ferry on the east bank

Arcius Swordtail on the Pipi-bio trail

Amazonian Royal Flycatcher on the Pipi-bio Trail (photo: Paul Noakes)

Rio Madeira Stipplethroat on the Pipibio Trail (photo: Paul Noakes)

Sunday 05 June. My birthday, 68! Where had the years gone? We left Humaita at 05:30 and returned to the Pipi-bio trail 40km to the north. We arrived soon after 06:00 for a basic field breakfast and birded the trail from 06:30-12:25. It was hard going but we finally tracked down our main target, a Bar-bellied Woodcreeper following some fine spotting by Matt. We also saw Amazonian Barred Woodcreeper, Olive-backed Foliage-Gleaner, a superb pair of White-throated Antbirds, male Undulated Antshrike (a decent view at last, the female rocketing through without stopping) and a male Blue-crowned Manakin. We returned to Humaita for lunch, stopping for an obliging roadside White-eared Puffbird on the way, then collected our bags from the hotel and drove south back into Rondonia. We stopped at Linha 26, north of Porto Velho, and drove 5-6km west through smallholdings to a patch of reeds where a pair of Manus Antbirds were enticed into view. We left at 17:00, after an hour, and continued through Porto Velho to Jaci-Parana, 90km SW and on the east bank of the Rio Madeira, and Hotel Fama.