Brazil Day 2 - Pousada Aguapé (10Aug2022) Part 1

Our flight on the morning of the 10th from Sao Paolo to Campo Grande was uneventful which is always good when it comes to air travel.  We arrived in Campo Grande where our driver and guide picked us up.  They just had a cold front with rain roll through the previous night which was nice because it kept the dust on the long road to Pousada Aguapé to a minimum and we made some stops along the way to the Pousada (means Inn or Lodge in Portuguese). In this case the Pousada was a ranch turned into an eco-tourism hotel with nice little bungalows surrounding a central pavilion with buffet style eating area next to a bird feeding station. If you are interested, here is the website: https://pousadaaguape.com.br

The temperatures were very pleasant. When I left home earlier that week, I checked the forecast and 100 degree days were on tap so the change in weather pattern was refreshing. The landscape was dry savannah with thorny scrub and some large trees along the road and some water holes interspersed.  It was a huge relief to get out of the van for the first time and set my eyes on the southern Pantanal environment that would be our base for the next few days... Prognosis was good. Our guide Alyson seemed to know when to stop the van for some good birds. He lives in Campo Grande and has been a bird guide for close to 20 years specializing in the Pantanal and the Amazon Basin.

White-rumped Monjita - there were 3 species of Monjita for us to try for but in the end we only bagged 2 of them and both in the first 30 minutes.  The one thing I should have been more careful of in my prep for the trip was to learn which would be the species I could only get in the locations we were going.  It seems the vast majority of the birds we were targeting can also be found in similar habitats in Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and other areas in Brazil.  In fact, it seems the Pantanal is mainly famous because of the shear volume of birds and also some of the unique mammal species, not necessarily because the species found there are endemic to the region. In the future I will study more and make sure the guide knows what some of the wanted species are.

The White-rumped Monjita is kind of an in-between version of the White Monjita and the Gray Monjita which are aptly named.

Grassland Sparrow - this Ammodramus sparrow is fairly widespread in South America and typical of its genus is somewhat secretive but we did manage to get unobstructed views a couple of times on the trip.

Smooth-billed Anis are very familiar to me as they are present in the Caribbean and becoming more regular in Florida now too.

Saffron Finch - this was a species I picked up previously in Colombia.  They have a somewhat puzzling distribution in South America with a huge hole between Colombia and Brazil encompassing all of the Amazon basin.

Savannah Hawk - when we saw these in Colombia it was an event.  I was soon to learn in Brazil they are everywhere.  I suppose you just need good habitat.

A truly spectacular bird when in flight showing beautiful black edging to the primary feathers.

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper - this species was new for me but I soon became very familiar with them as the most common of the Woodcreepers we would see in Brazil.

The guide called this a Short-crested Flycatcher which was a lifer for me.  In hindsight, I think this may be another lifer which we ended up getting later in the trip.  Swainson's Flycatcher which is another Myiarchus flycatcher that frustratingly occupies the same range.  Perhaps he heard it call...  The reason I am questioning the ID is that the guide later in the trip said the lower bill is pale on the Swainson's but all dark on the Short-crested.  You can see some paler area in the bill here, but the next photo really shows it well.

For now I will keep it as Short-crested because the guide seemed confident, but if anyone has experience with this complex let me know your thoughts.  We were able to eliminate other Myiarchus Flycatchers like Brown-crested based on the cold coloring in the tail and wings. 

Sayaca Tanagers were very common.

Rufous Horneros were not only very visible, they were also very vocal.

Gilded Hummingbird - we quickly found out that this was by far the most common Hummingbird species.  The red bill and golden tail made it fairly easy to ID.

Another Narrow-billed Woodcreeper.

Yellow-chinned Spinetail - these were plentiful and another species I had already picked up in Colombia.

Chotoy Spinetails on the other hand were new for me as they are only found in southeast South America.

Look at that tail!

Red-crested Finch has a somewhat strange distribution in South America in that it is widespread but each population is quite segregated.

Rufescent Tiger-heron is yet another bird which made a big splash in Colombia but ended up being ho-hum in Brazil. Probably it just has to do with appropriate habitat driving up the numbers.  In the north Pantanal they were absolutely everywhere.

Rufous Hornero.

These Blue-crowned Parakeets were badly back-lit but I was able to lighten the pics up.  The species has at least five sub-species and they can look fairly different especially where they are geographically separated.  I saw them as quick flyovers in Colombia so I was happy to get some better looks in Brazil.

Wow! Now that's a good one to add to my Birds Pooping page.

Blue-and-yellow Macaw fly by!

White Monjita! Not to be confused with White-rumped Monjita at the beginning this post.  

The Ipe trees were in bloom all across Brazil and were one of the most beautiful things I saw while there.  I will see if I can dig up some photos of full trees as it seems all I am finding now are just small snapshots focused on the birds sitting in them. Here is a quick blurb from a Google search on Ipe:  "Ipe (spelled ipe and pronounced “ee-pay”), also called Brazilian walnut, is a beautiful exotic wood from South America. Ipe wood structures are hard, strong, and naturally resistant to rot, abrasion, weather, and insects. It is almost twice as dense as most woods and up to five times harder."

Nanday Parakeets - several years ago I got a chance to study this species in North Carolina as an escaped Nanday had developed a nesting cavity in a telephone pole in Morehead City. The pole eventually had to be replaced and the phone company swapped out with a metal pole which obviously was troublesome for the Nanday which used a hole in the previously wood pole.  Apparently the locals were upset and convinced the town to splice the old nesting hole over the metal pole for the bird!  

Here is the Nanday Parakeet that called Morehead City home.  I think it disappeared a couple years ago after quite a long run in which it apparently shared its home with Starlings.   John Fussell joked that you could tell how cold it was by how many Starlings the Nanday would allow in the nest cavity.  If it was really cold, it would be a 4 Starling night.

This Giant Anteater caused quite a stir when we spotted it.  Such a cool animal!

Blue-gray Saltators were very common and they are widespread in South America including many different habitats.

We got our first looks at Grayish Baywings but quickly found out they are common as dirt.

On the other hand, this White-naped Xenopsaris was the only one we saw all trip!  This was an immature bird.  The adults are black and white.

We got our first looks at the male Double-collared Seedeater but I only managed one out-of-focus shot. Don't worry I got better shots later.

The female was more obliging.

Picui Ground Doves were fairly common albeit difficult to photograph.

Nanday Parakeets.

I am splitting this day into installments because it was so overwhelming how many new birds I was getting and consequently I have a ton of material.  The afternoon session is coming next.