I was looking forward to a full day without travel and also the altitude meant cooler temps! However, be careful what you wish for because mist and fog became troublesome for us. The day started with a super early breakfast at the Hotel Alta da Serra and then a quick check of the birds onsite before setting out for a local expedition.
Ochre-backed Woodpecker - somehow I was able to salvage this shot by playing with contrast. The bird was super high up in the canopy and although you cannot see it, mist was causing severe backlighting. The marvels of modern photo editing.
Our next stop was the center of Guaramiranga to scan the pines for the super rare Yellow-faced Siskin. Our guide Brad said this was the bird that kept him up at night and they sometimes miss it. This was my hero moment! I spotted one sitting way up in the canopy of a tall pine.
We got scopes on it and had high fives all around.
It moved to another perch that was even more backlit but at least we had another perspective. These birds were heavily exploited in the pet bird trade and that probably led to some sightings in Venezuela (escapees). For all intents and purposes this rare bird is a Brazilian endemic.
Ochraceous Piculet - another northeast Brazilian endemic!
With the weight of finding the rarest bird of the day off our shoulders, we headed upslope to Pico Alto. Unfortunately the fog was thick and although we did see some good birds right off the bat, the photo ops were challenging to say the least. However, eventually the fog did lift and we traded fog for dark forest habitat to find some other specialty birds.
Ceara Gnateater! Similar to the Rufous Gnateater which I saw on my first trip to Brazil, this one ranges across southeast Brazil and crosses over to Uruguay and Argentina.
This is the same bird, just a different angle and based on the birds posture, the white eye-line can be hidden.
Buff-breasted Tody-Tyrant! This is a Brazilian northeast endemic! We got many good looks of this species over the next couple hours.
White-throated Spadebill - not an endemic, but a cool customer none-the-less.
Gray-headed Spinetail! Another Brazilian northeast endemic!
We spent probably over an hour trying to photograph a Short-tailed Antthrush and also a Rufous-breasted Leaftosser but only a couple of people in the group got the photo of the latter. The Antthrush is a major skulker and we only got brief glimpses of it after Brad located it using a thermal device he hooked up to his phone. A combination of poor light and quick looks in dense foliage made photos of this species almost impossible. In fact, I think this was the only bird of the whole trip that I saw but didn't get a photo of. The Rufous-breasted Leaftosser miss was remedied later in the trip.
At this point it started to pour so we called it and headed into the van and made our way down slope to another preserve - Vale das Nuvens. As we were getting out of the van, my leg inexplicably stopped hurting and I started to feel faint and had chest palpitations. I thought to myself, this is it! The blood clot in my leg had surely dislodged and had traveled to my lungs! I didn't tell anyone because I figured there was nothing to be done, and I just waited.... Spoiler alert, I didn't die. To this day I don't know if the clot did move and I don't know if the chest palpitations were just an anxiety attack or if it was something more dangerous, but I am grateful that it passed. The good news is that I had plenty of awesome birds to take my mind away from my health issues.
Ceara Woodcreeper - yes another northeast Brazil endemic!
Buff-throated Woodcreeper - much more widespread so I was not upset that it stayed in backlit conditions.
Gray-headed Kite! I was happy that I managed even this poor shot as it was just a quick fly-by.
Band-tailed Manakin! I was super excited to get such good views, not knowing that we would be crushing these at point blank a little later.
Lunch time! We stopped at a great little restaurant with awesome geri-birding opportunities as it overlooked the same pond where we had a Masked Duck the day before.
Wattled Jacana
Purple Gallinule
Muscovy Duck
The Masked Duck was in the same exact same spot and if it didn't move its head every once in a while, I would have thought it was a decoy.
Pale-legged Hornero - back at the hotel now, I suppose for a siesta. I never quite understand why these tours take siestas when they can. I suppose old people like some down time and the middle of the day is usually slow for birds. I feel old and tired but when I am traveling in a foreign country, it's all about maximizing the birding time. Audrey joined me to look for goodies on the property.
Juvenile Pale-breasted Thrush
Planalto Woodcreeper - marginally better photos than the last one I saw in the Pantanal.
Rufous-breasted Hermit - I was camping out next to a stand of Heliconia to see if I could nab some Hermit pictures when I finally was able to get this photo. We also saw a Reddish Hermit but they are tricky buggers to photograph.
Rufous-bellied Thrush
We set off for our evening jaunt at a reserve where they have a water hole and blind. On the approach road we bagged this....
White-browed Guan - another Vulnerable northeast Brazilian endemic.
Sooty-fronted Spinetail - we saw these several times on the trip, but I never fully crushed one so this overexposed photo will have to do.
Red-cowled Cardinal - these beauties became super common starting at this point on the trip going all the way to the end.
Band-tailed Manakin - All 7 of us crowded behind a small crude hide made of palm fronds and waited for birds to come to the water hole and bathe. Apparently manakins are habitual bathers. I suppose when you have such crazy plumage and your life is spent trying to impress potential mates, you need to stay clean.
Golden-crowned Warbler
Rufous-bellied Thrush
Pectoral Sparrow - What a looker! I thought it was special at the time, but we saw them many times later.
Fork-tailed Woodnymph - when you get close looks at birds you start to notice small imperfections.
Many of the birds I was seeing up close had mites or parasites. It's a tough world out there.
I took a million photos of birds at this blind but they are mostly of the same 3-4 species so I will spare you, dear readers.
That night after dinner in town, we tried for owls were able to spotlight a few Spectacled Owls way up in the canopy.
A great way to end the day! I could see myself spending a week in this town on my own. A very nice place.
