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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JWN Andrewes" data-source="post: 434516" data-attributes="member: 7131">Just spent a couple of weeks in Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest, based at Serra dos Tucanos, run by ex-Pagham birder Andy Foster. Excellent trip! Will report here in installments.Day 1Me and my girlfriend (Anna, non-birder but monumentally indulgent) were picked up from Rio airport on the morning of 20th Sep and driven the couple of hours or so to the Lodge - first tick of the trip, roadside Guira Cuckoos. Spent the rest of the day wndering the Lodge garden and trails with my gob hanging open! Just love Neo-tropical birding! Procession of Hummers (including Swallow-tailed) at the feeders (see pics of a few others), Tanagers (Green-headed, Golden-chevroned) at the bird tables (as well as Maroon-bellied Conures, Yellow-lored Tody-Fltcatcher and an immature male Blue Manakin). The trails produced yet more Tanagers (Red-necked, Flame-crested & Black-goggled), a couple of Foliage-Gleaners (Black-capped & White-eyed), Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant and my first of three family ticks of the trip - Black-cheeked Gnateater (Conopophagidae). Day 2A trip along the Theodoro trail a few minutes from the Lodge, this time with Andy and his MP3 player! Undoubted highlight of this walk was, for me, Sharpbill - a bird I've wanted to see for years, and my second (albeit not universally recognized) family tick of the trip - the monotypic Oxyruncidae! He was perched up high, not calling, and might easily have gone unnoticed had a Plumbeous Pigeon not been sat in the same tree-top, prompting the scope to be set up! Other goodies on this trail were Pin-tailed Manakin (my favourite Manakin so far!) and Bare-throated Bellbird (what a sound!), as well as our introductions to birds that we would frequently encounter over the next few days such as Spot-billed Toucanet and Star-throated Antwren. In the afternoon Andy took us round the trails at the lodge where he managed to conjure up Rufous-capped Antthrush,Saffron Toucanet and White-shouldered Fire-eye (but the Scaled Antbird was my spot!)Day 3A visit to a nearby wetland introduced a bit of variety - things like Capped Heron, Limpkin, and Brazilian Teal as well as some open country birds. Amongst these were Burrowing Owls, Campo Flickers and a Whiye-eared Puffbird. Some woodland there produced, amongst other things, the very cool Long-billed Wren (it doesn't just look good, it's got a neat song - Doug, one of the trio of Michiganners, we met liked dancing to it!). Back at the lodge for lunch, then hit the trails in the trails in the afternoon with Rufous-crowned Motmot (the most skulkingest Motmot I've come across so far) and Spot-backed Antshrike stealing the show between them.That'll do for now, I'll post a bit more when I've time. I will just add, though, that it made a huge difference having the right people to bird with, and here we were just lucky that our trip coincided with that of Doug, Karl & Pat from Michigan and Neil and Diana from Caithness. The company you end up with can (almost) make or brake a trip and these guys were just what one needs - good field skills, friendly, humourous and nicely laid back. Of course, we were pretty much guaranteed at least one good birding companion on this trip, had we but known it - Andy was great too!More to followHummer pics:- Black Jacobin, Brazilian Ruby, Rufous-breasted and Saw-billed Hermits and Sombre Hummingbird.</blockquote>

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