Day 9 - Arua to Lençóis (11Feb2026)

The day started in the same general area where the previous day ended.  The coastal forest is tough for photography and we also were dumped on by some rain early on.  However, after the rain moved through, the birds were more confiding.

Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin - not quite a Brazilian endemic, but almost.  There are some records in Guyana and a few in Bolivia.

Fringe-backed Fire-eye - the endemic specialty we were after!  Only found in this small area of eastern Brazil in Bahia state.

White-flanked Antwren - this is the female, but even the male in this sub-population doesn't have obvious white flanks like they do in the Central and northern South American populations.  Perhaps ripe for a split.

Scaled Antbird!  Southeastern Brazil endemic!  This was the male.

And the female.

Male again.

Golden-spangled Piculet!  There are two disjunct populations for this species, one north of the Amazon basin and this one is a representative of the southeastern Brazilian cohort. 

Red-headed Manakin - young male only showing a hint of the color to come.

We emerged from the forest and birded the open area under the road a bit.

White-winged Cotinga!  Vulnerable status by IUCN criteria, and only found in southeast Brazil.  This was the female. 

Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird

Pernambuco Foliage-gleaner!  This is yet another Brazilian endemic of the southeast and is endangered according to IUCN criteria.

We cleaned up the major targets for the area and set out on the road for another long day in the van.  It seemed a bit ridiculous that just the previous day we drove 7 hours from the interior to the coast and now we would be doubling back to drive another 6 hours inland!  I am sure the tour operator did the best he could do, but this was a little punishing.  By the end of the trip we had driven over 3000 miles - basically across the USA.

The drive on Day 9 was designed to reposition at the famous National Park of Chapada Diamantina.

Caatinga Cacholote at a gas station stop.

White-cheeked Pintail at a random roadside pond.

Sooty-fronted Spinetail - I hope to meet this species again as it never fully confided to me or at least I failed to get crisp shots in the open.

Roadside Hawk

We arrived at our beautiful bed and breakfast type accommodation in the late afternoon in the pretty town of Lençóis.

A type of Cracker Butterfly.

That night we had a wonderful meal at an upscale restaurant in town and I sampled some of the local beer.

Ropa Vieja!

Next morning we would spend the day up in the mountains of Chapada Diamantina!

Day 8 - Estação Biológica de Canudos (Lear's Macaw reserve) and Arua - 10Feb2026

This could have easily been the highlight of the trip.  We woke pre-dawn and joined a couple of reserve rangers on a 4x4 drive to a canyon where the Lear's Macaw roosts.  The first overlook was a staging spot where the Lear's Macaw, also known as the Indigo Macaw, will fly in and sit close by on cacti before flying into the canyon walls where they nest.  This was truly a special moment with absolute quiet while we waited in silence for the Macaws to land, the only noise being the raucous calls from the birds.

Indigo Macaws

This is a beautiful landscape much like something you would see in the American Southwest.

Cliff Flycatcher

We spent the next couple of hours perched on a canyon wall watching about 60 Macaws flying in and out of the canyon and perching on the opposite wall.  We all took about 1000 photos, so here is my attempt at trying to white them down to a few.

In the 1980's and 1990's there was thought to be less than 100 of these birds left in the wild.  Through conservation and a crack down on the pet trade, they have rebounded to over 1000, but they are still one of the most rare species on the planet.

The amazing colors change in the light.

Turkey Vultures in South America have a white collar.

We had one King Vulture circling around us for some time which was hard to enjoy considering all the Macaws stealing our attention.

I could photograph these all day, simply a beautiful bird in an amazing setting.

There were also quite a few Blue-crowned Parakeets as well.

My buddy Gretchen couldn't have been happier.  

In order to stay on schedule we had to leave that magical place, but I left a piece of my heart there.  Back at the ranger's residences they made us an excellent breakfast.

Chalk-browed Mockingbird

Unidentified Lizard

We had another long drive ahead of us as we repositioned from the interior to the coastal forest.   We took the long way in the below graphic!

However, of course some stops were planned.  About an hour east of Canudos we stopped in a wooded border to a farming area.

Pectoral Antwren - A Vulnerable Brazilian endemic!

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

We didn't get any more birds of note until we made it all the way down to our destination, Mata de Sao Joao - Arua Observacao de aves e natureza. At least that's what the hotspot is called in eBird.  This is a local owned little bed and breakfast type place in the coastal forest.  We had just enough time to walk some of the roads around the hotel before dark.

Blue-chinned Sapphire - the Sapphires are hard to ID.  This one had some random white speckles and white primary feathers, probably partially leucistic. 

Sooretama Slaty-Antshrike - Another southeast Brazil endemic!  I got better photos later in the trip.

Bahia Antwren!  A very restricted ranged endemic of the southeast Brazilian coastal forest.  Again, I got better photos later.

Yellow-backed Tanager - looks very similar to the female Guira Tanager.  Unfortunately I didn't get better photos of this one although they are widespread so I will inevitably crush it in the future.

Northern Maned Sloth - a specialty endemic to this area of Brazil.

The proprietor of the hotel cooked fish baked in banana leaves with plantains and I guessed correctly that it was Bluefish!  Who would have thought that I would end up eating a fish in Brazil that we have up here in NC?  Most people don't love Bluefish because of the dark oily flesh, but I am nostalgic of it because I grew up catching and eating them in Long Island, NY.  It went perfectly with yet another Caipirinha with a a local twist.  Every good hotel we visited made this national drink of Brazil a little different.  The owner of Arua also makes honey with the local honeybees of this part of Brazil and he infuses his Caipirinhas with it.  There is a big push in this part of Brazil to promote the local bees instead of the European Honeybee. 

I don't usually buy the hotel shwag, but I wanted to support this small business owner so I bought a sloth shirt.

Another amazing day in Brazil!  Makes me want to go back.