Day 13 - Boa Nova (15Feb2026) - Part 1

This day would probably be the most epic day of the trip in terms of quality photographs of good birds.   The highlight of the day was a visit to the Boa Nova Lajedo dos Beija-Flores which translates to Hummingbird Sanctuary.  However, first we would stop along a forest preserve road to look for some elusive species.

 Crimson-crested Woodpecker

White-lined Tanager

Tataupa Tinamou - Bingo!  This what we were looking for.  Tinamous are notoriously difficult to see but apparently this particular species is known to come in to playback.

With the Tinamou in the bag, we headed to the main attraction - Lajedo dos Beija-Flores.  This hummingbird sanctuary is a privately owned venture which hopefully will serve as an example for other landowners in Brazil.  The owners are professionals (architect and engineer) that did birdwatching in their free time and found this land in Boa Nova while looking for some of the local species. Ester has one of the records in Brazil for the most photographed species of birds.  Since the initial founding of the place, they have gradually added more and more species to the list of birds that regularly visit the property.  It is unusual in Brazil to have places with feeder setups but this place has been very successful.  Entry was covered by our tour, but I believe it is very expensive.  Here is the website.https://lajedodosbeijaflores.com.br/en/who-we-are/

It is worth every penny!

Sapphire-spangled Emerald - there are several disjunction populations of this species in South America.  Within its range it is fairly common.

Slender Antbird!! This Near Threatened species is endemic to a veery small range in Brazil.

Ester and Marco have been feeding a family of these Antbirds and now they are easy to see at this location.

Silvery-cheeked Antshrike female

White-lined Tanager

Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird

Stripe-breasted Starthroat

Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird

Great Antshrike

Black-throated Saltator

Swallow-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous Hornero

Green-winged Saltator

Violet-capped Woodnymph

Sapphire-spangled Emerald

Silvery-cheeked Antshrike

Barred Antshrike

Rufous-winged Antshrike

Silvery-cheeked Antshrike

Southern House Wren

Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird

Swallow-tailed Hummingbird

Black-throated Mango

Planalto Hermit

Black Jacobin

Sapphire-spangled Emerald

Hook-billed Hermit!! This was the specialty bird of the place.  

Yet another endemic with an extremely small range.

Cactus Parakeet

Campo Troupial

Burnished-buff Tanager

Swallow-tailed Hummingbird

Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird

Stripe-breasted Starthroat

Black-throated Mango

Ruby-Topaz Hummingbird

Versicolored Emerald

Hook-billed Hermit

Planalto Hermit

I need to work on my hummer photography, I have a hard time "freezing" the wings.

It's easier when they sit still.

Burnished-buff Tanager

Campo Troupial

Cactus Parakeet

Violet-capped Woodnymph

We spent just short of 5 hours at this amazing place and it flew by in what seemed like minutes.  I could have spent another 5 easily.  However, we had to keep moving.  I will cover the second half of the day in the next post.