Day 5 was going to be a long haul, traveling from our hotel in Quixada all the way to Potengi, about 5 hours away with no stops but we had plenty of stops to make.
Approximate route.
However, before setting off we did some birding around the hotel grounds.
Green-barred Woodpecker
White-naped Jay
Ochre-backed Woodpecker - Brazil endemic!
White-browed GuanWhile we birded the entrance road, our guide Brad heard a Nothura and started scanning the valley below.
White-bellied Nothura - can you see the little spec in the road behind the gate? Don't worry, we got closer views a little later.
Golden-green Woodpecker
After bagging this woodpecker we headed down the entrance road to check the fields where we saw the Nothura.
Cactus Parakeets
White-bellied Nothura - at first this cryptic tinamou stayed distant but eventually it came closer.
Awesome!
Back at the hotel, the owner was hearing a Lined Seedeater singing which he said was not usual for his hotel so we tracked it down.
Lined Seedeater
We said our goodbyes to the Pygmy Nightjars but they didn't seem like they would miss us.
Scaled Dove
On the way out from the hotel we spotted this Rock Cavy family through the van window. Very cute.
Once on the road, we only stopped for gas or food, but some of the stops offered some nice opportunities to shoot birds that I normally would ignore in favor of our targets.
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
At a pond stop we had a fly-by Limpkin.
Our first Southern Pochards!
I wasn't expecting to see hundreds of Masked Ducks, a species that was a lifer only a couple days prior.
Comb Duck! This bird stayed on the far side of a private pond so unfortunately we did not get very close.
Southern Pochard pair.
When the Comb Duck finally decided to fly, I was not ready and only managed this poor shot.
We arrived at Sitio Pau Preto in Potengi in the early afternoon, with plenty of time to bird the grounds. This birding lodge is a small family operation run by a birder named Bob and his mother Ivette. These folks know how to set up feeders with good perches for photos.
Red-cowled Cardinal
Plieated Finch
After everyone got settled into their rooms, we took a nice stroll around the trails surrounding the property.
Greater Wagtail-Tyrant! Although this is not a Brazil endemic, it does have two very disjunct populations which are ripe for a future split which would make this sub-species a an endemic.
Variegated Flycatcher
Ultramarine Grosbeak!
Creamy-bellied Thrush
Orange-headed Tanager
Striped Cuckoo
White-browed Guan - rehabbers frequently take birds that have been rehabbed to this spot and release them. This Guan was saved as a chick and so it has imprinted on the host here and is totally tame.
Gretchen lost her iPhone while we were on this trip and she loves to take pictures of the food spreads so I took this one for her. Making me hungry!
A cool moth I have yet to identify.
We would be lucky enough to spend two nights at Bob's place, so there will be another full day post from his property coming next.
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