gryllosblog   Gryllo's (aka Ian Lewis') blog. All things to do with travel, wildlife especially birds, history, architecture and anything else that interests me.

On arrival at Fortaleza we had a three-hour drive to our first destination. We didn’t get to the hotel until nearly 0200 so it was a rather short night. Soon after dawn we were birding at a nearby area of mangroves but our main target, the endemic Little Wood-Rail failed to show. Not the best start to the trip!

Birding from this boardwalk was pleasant but a few migrant waders and coastal herons was little compensation for a serious dip.

By mid afternoon we arrived at the Serra do Baturite, a coastal range covered in Atlantic rainforest.

There was excellent birding in the area, which lifted our spirits considerably. Birds included the endemic Grey-breasted Parakeet ….

…. the beautiful Band-tailed Manikin ….

…. gorgeous Red-necked Tanagers ….

…. and one of the smallest woodpeckers in the world, Ochraceous Piculet, one of four species of piculet that we were to see on the trip.

Skulking on the forest floor we were able to glimpse a Rufous-breasted Leaftosser ….

…. and the recently split Ceara Gnateater.

It wasn’t all about rare, endemic or spectacular birds. Common species like Palm Tanager

…. and House Wren competed for our attention. House Wrens occur from Canada to Argentina and various proposals have been put forwards to divide it into a number of species, but they yet to gain approval by the various checklist authorities.

One trouble with Brazil is that is so noisy. Many cars fit this sort of sound system in the boot of their car, which is clearly not intended as in-car entertainment but as means of annoying anyone who wants a good nights sleep.

From a ridge over the local resort we were able to scan the tree tops for raptors but had little success. The white dot on the lake is, of all things, a Mute Swan, but somehow it didn’t make it onto the trip list.

From Serra do Baturite we drove south to areas of extensive caatinga, a habitat comprised of xerophytic scrub interspersed with stands of cactus. Small differences in the level of aridity produce different height vegetation, which in turn leads to radically different bird communities.

Birds of the caatinga include the appropriately named Caatinga Puffbird ….

….  which was followed by the predictable Caatinga Parakeet ….

…. and (you’ve guessed it) the inevitable Caatinga Cacholote ….

…. which was captured nicely in flight.

In wooded area we saw Narrow-billed Woodpeckers, one of eight woodcreepers we were to see on the trip and one of 48 (if you include the similar scythebills) in South America.

Two species of tyrant flycatchers have evolved to look rather like old world wagtails and somewhat unimaginatively are called Lesser and Greater Wagtail-tyrant. I have seen ‘Greater’ a number of times but ‘Lesser’ was a life bird for me. Imagine the confusion when we found a pair of ‘Lessers’ (above) in the same bush as a pair of ‘Greaters’.

We visited a dried up river bed in northern Bahia, a stake out for Blue-winged Macaws, a species that prefer the tall riparian habitat. In the whole of north-east Brazil there is only one river, the mighty Sao Francisco, that never dries up.

And there, just as promised was the lovely Blue-winged Macaw.

Earlier I mentioned tyrant flycatchers that have evolved to look like wagtails, well here’s one that has evolved to look like a wheatear – Masked Water Tyrant, living in what is currently a water free environment.

A more typical tyrant flycatcher (with 431 species, the largest bird family in the world) is the showy Streaked Flycatcher.

At the base of the isolated plateau of the Chapada do Araripe lies some tall woodland. Here in 1996 the gorgeous Araripe Manakin was seen for the first time. The population is estimated to be a mere 500 pairs. Although we got good views, our time with the bird was brief. The most accessible site has been converted to a theme park, we paid our entry fee but were told the park had to close, this seemed bizarre as it was only 11am, but we later learned that the park’s owner had died that morning and the staff were closing the park as a mark of respect.

With very little time available to get a decent image of this stunning bird, I have included (with permission) a wonderful shot by Ciro Albano, one of Brazil’s top birders and photographers.

We eventually reached the area around Canudos where we searched an area of scrub for the rare Scarlet-throated Tanagers, which we saw, albeit distantly. More showy species included the widespread Burrowing Owl.

As the sun set, the lake where the Scarlet-throated Tanagers could be seen glowed as if lit from within. We saw a couple of the very rare Lear’s Macaws flying to roost but we knew that we had a far better chance of seeing them well the following day. More of that in the next post.