Day 19 and 20 - Serra Bonita Reserve. We rolled into the small town of Camacan late in the afternoon of Day 19 for the ride up the mountain to the Serra Bonita Reserve. Our transportation would be a vintage 4WD Toyota Bandeirante (Land Cruiser) for the climb up. The reserve is a large tract of virgin lowland rainforest, one of the largest privately managed remaining in Brazil. For more information, click this link. Nearly 450 bird species have been recorded in the reserve, it's a pretty special place.
The next day we birded from dawn to dusk at the upper reaches of the mountain tallying over 70 species with 29 of those as life birds for Susan and me. We used the big 4X4 to shuttle then walked the road and trails. It was a fantastic day, one I won't forget.
Our ride
Some lovely views from the mountain top
Pin-tailed Manakin
Spot-billed Toucanet
Green-headed Tanager
Azure-shouldeded Tanager
Chestnut-bellied Euphonia
Crescent-chested Puffbird
Spot-billed Toucanet
Sharpbill
Salvadori’s Antwren
Striated Softtail
King Vulture
Swallow-tailed Manakin
Day 21 to 23 - Serra Bonita to Porto Seguro. On our way down the mountain, we made an early stop at a lowland forest part of the reserve. We saw many new species there including the rare Ochre-marked Parakeet. After that, we drove about 3 hours to the coast city of Porto Seguro, our final destination. Even though we were based in a big tourist city, it was only a 30-minute drive to the Veracel Reserve which has a unique lowland Atlantic forest. We had a great time there in our day and a half of birding, even staying out well past dark the first night for owls. This reserve is notable for two difficult to see species of cotinga, Banded and White-winged. We saw both, but only got a flyover look at Banded Cotinga. Too bad, he's a real looker. The White-winged were much more cooperative by perching in a fruiting tree for many great views. So many other species were new to us so it was an excellent finish to the trip.
Morning birding in the lowlands of Serra Bonita
The sun sets at Veracel Reserve, and so does our adventure!
Black-capped Donacobius
Caatinga Cacholote
Ochre-marked Parakeet
Ochre-marked Parakeet
Plain Parakeet
White-chinned Sapphire
Violet-capped Woodnymph
Black-capped Screech-Owl
Common Pauraque
White-winged Cotinga female
White-winged Cotinga male
White-winged Cotinga male
White-winged Cotinga female
Red-headed Manakin
The following morning we were on our way home. But what a fantastic adventure it was. Many thanks to our great friends Nancy and Linda for coming along. And a very special thank you to our guides Ciro and Lucas of Brazil Birding Experts. You guys took such great care of us, found so many amazing birds. and were wonderful to spend three weeks with! Amazing!
Day 16 and 17 - Boa Nova. We traveled a long way toward the coast the day before, now setting up in the Boa Nova area - the transition between dry Caatinga and the Atlantic Rainforest. This general vicinity has historically recorded well over 400 species of birds. With a national park and other protected areas nearby, it is quite special.
First up was a morning at Lajedo dos Beija-flores, a private reserve with beautiful landscaping and feeders in a small area surrounded by native habitat. It was amazing. Ciro had to pretty much drag us away for lunch hours later. In addition to 11 species of hummingbirds, there were fruit and seed eating birds coming in. And to top it all off, a few mealworms may have sacrificed their lives so we could get amazing views of several antbird species, including the extremely rare and endangered Slender Antbird. As for hummingbirds, the Ruby-topaz was by far the star of the show. What an amazing set of colors on that one.
The gardens were surrounded by native forest
Slender Antbird pair
Slender Antbird male
Silvery-cheeked Antshrike
Hook-billed Hermit, a rare endemic
Swallow-tailed Hummingbird
Burnished-buff Tanager
The ubiquitous Bananaquit
Black Jacobin
Cactus Parakeet
Stripe-breasted Starthroat
Stripe-breasted Starthroat
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
How about some Ruby-topaz video? I know you'll love it. Just wait until the light hit him just right. You might need sunglasses. 😎
When you visit a rainforest, even during the "dry" part of the year, wetness can still fall from the sky. And rain it did, for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. Ciro said we got a month worth of normal rain that day. We did get out to the National Park for a couple of hours the first afternoon, and managed to get some great birds, even with the rain. But photography was out of the question.
The birds are used to it, but us desert rats got a little soggy...
The next morning started clear and looked good. But unfortunately some of the dirt roads we needed to travel had flooded and turned to clay soup. Not passable for our vehicles. But we did get to a few places and racked up a good number of birds. Ciro said after all was done that we only missed a bird or two of the endemics, and could easily get them on a return trip to the south coast of Brazil. That's already in the future plans.
We hiked to up a ridge to a remnant old growth forest patch in the early afternoon, then went back to the national park for another shot at the trail from the day before, and found a bunch more birds - and no rain!
Lots of really cool bromeliads in this old growth forest
Look at the size of this bug!
Its a Harlequin Beetle
Boa Nova, "Bird Paradise."
Rufous-headed Tanager
Chestnut-crowned Becard
Channel-billed Toucan
Three-toed Jacamar
Fulvous-crowned Scrub-Tyrant
White-crested Tyrannulet
Buff-throated Purpletuft
A species we've tried for in several South American countries, and finally got it. Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper. They are tough to see, buried in deep stream gullies with lots of vegetation.
Day 18 - Boa Nova to Itacaré. A travel day but with less driving and lots of stops at great birding areas for many new birds. On this day alone we saw 50 new trip birds and 24 of those were life birds for me and Susan. We ended the day on the Atlantic coast in the small town of Itacaré. This is cacao (chocolate) growing country, so many of our group were very happy.
Ciro took us to a native forest remnant adjoining a cattle ranch that he discovered recently. So many new birds in such a short time...
A couple of hours walking around Serra do Conduru State Park added many more
Burrowing Owl
Minute Hermit
Endangered and difficult to find and see - Scalloped Antbird
Maroon-faced Parakeet
Yellow-fronted Woodpecker
Green-headed Tanager
This one got guide Ciro quite excited, a species he rarely sees and never before this well. It's a Yellow-faced Siskin. Sure looks a lot like our Lesser Goldfinch.
Great-billed Hermit
Red-headed Manakin
Day 19 - Itacaré to Serra Bonita Reserve. In the morning we headed a little north of Itacaré to bird several different habitats. Many good birds were seen, with the highlight being the range restricted and endangered Bahia Tapaculo. It's sad to keep talking about these extremely rare birds, but that's the state of the world we live in. The Tapaculo was thought to be extinct in the 1990s, but a few locations have been found deep in remnant forests. Tapaculos in general live in mature old growth forest and are extremely shy and retiring. Surveying populations is difficult, but it is thought there are around 250-500 individuals of this Tapaculo remaining, likely far less. If the total number of eBird sightings of 125 (including our 6 in November) is any indication, this is one very rare bird. But with Ciro's expert knowledge of territories and habitat, he found us one that was seen pretty well - for a mouse sized bird that lives deep in the very dark forest.
Another great bird found that morning was Kinglet Manakin. It's a tricky manakin, unlike others of the genus these birds aren't tied year round to a territory. They follow preferred food sources (ripe berries of specific plants) and wander about. Susan's sharp eyes spotted this one.
Morning birding north of Itacaré
Crawling through the forest for the Bahia Tapculo
Golden-spangled Piculet
Kinglet Manakin
Bahia Tapaculo
We had lunch in a lovely roadside restaurant - with feeders and birds! At least until a troop of Wied's Marmosets completely took over... 🙂
Many photos were taken
The rest of the day was spent getting up a mountain in a vintage 4WD vehicle. But that's a story for another day. One more post and we'll wrap this up.
