Hi all.
I have recently come back from a 3 week birding trip to Brazil, with a few
days in Chile beforehand. Chile was really interesting, with some special
birds such as Andean Condor, but Brazil was absolutely amazing. I booked the
first 2 weeks with Boute Expeditions, and my cousin Kate and I were lucky
enough to have the guiding of Eduardo Patrial for this time. The first week
was around Itatiaia NP, then Ubatuba, so a good mix of higher altitude and
coastal Atlantic rainforest species. The second week was in The Pantanal,
Serra das Araras NP, and Chapada dos Guimaraes, with a wide range of
wetland, savannah and cerrado species. Eduardo was the best guide I have
ever been with on any bird trip, and his skills enabled us to see 467
species in this time. A memorable day in the Pantanal produced 147 species,
with many lifers for me.
As well as making sure that I saw my particular target birds,( Red-legged
Seriema, American Pygmy Kingfisher, plus a few others), Eduardo was
absolutely keen to make sure that everyone in the group (there were four
very nice English birders with us for the second week) got a good look at
all the species we saw. We were also lucky enough to see a few nice mammals,
Ocelot, Giant Otter and Lesser Anteater being a few.
A highlight was seeing a huge female Harpy Eagle bring in a fresh catch
(probably a Brown Capuchin monkey) and feed it to its enormous chick. The
catch had been completely skun before being brought back to be eaten. All
the observers were absolutely thrilled.
As well as some truly beautiful birds, (tanagers, hummingbirds, cotingas,
manakins), I can also recommend Brazil as a place to travel, with good
accommodation everywhere we stayed, and really great food. People were very
friendly everywhere, and caipirinhas made a really nice way to finish the
day and do the bird list.
The trip ended with a more leisurely pace in and around Rio de Janeiro, I
still managed to add quite a few more good birds to the list and my total
for 3 weeks was 512 species - definitely my best ever birding trip.
Finishing in such a spectacular city was also a fantastic conclusion.
I'm really keen to go and see some more, there's a lot to see there. If
anyone is interested, Eduardo's email address is - he
guides all over Brazil, and I would recommend him thoroughly.
Thanks, Richard.
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