Brazil: Serra das Araras, Pantanal of PoconÈ, Chapada dos Guimares,Itatiaia National Park and Ubatuba
September 5-20, 2000 Continued...

by Roger Wolfe
Soquel, CA

Sept. 14
In the night we are awakened by thunder and the sound of a downpour. At first light the rain has abated but a damp mist enshrouds all around us. We drive a short distance from our hotel to a jungled ravine. Rain dripping from the canopy makes for difficult birding. The lighting is unfavorable. Despite this we do manage to see a few birds. Pectoral Sparrow comes in response to playback. We also see a Sirystes and Euler's Flycatcher. Then it begins to rain and we opt to head back to the hotel for breakfast and hope for a break in the weather. Breakfasts seem to be the same wherever we go. Mango, bananas. A soft white cheese, slices of ham and a breadroll to make a sandwich. A variety of juices-watermelon, orange and cashew fruit to name a few. And of course there is always good coffee and tea.

The rain breaks up so we head back to the ravine for a couple of hours. We see Amethyst Woodstar, Blue Dacnis, Red-legged Honeycreeper. We hear a Fiery-capped manakin, play a tape but only get to see the female who is drab. We do get good looks at a couple of brilliant male Band-tailed Manakins doing a little dance on the lek. Braulio works with the tape player for a half hour trying to get a Tataupa Tinamou into view but the bird stubbornly refuses.

We have another huge lunch in town and afterword Braulio takes us to a spot which is the geodetic center of South America. From here we can see Cuiaba in the distance below us. In this grassy area we look for Blue Finch but find none. We stop at another spot, walk a short distance into the cover, play a tape and out pops a very cooperative Southern Antpipit. This will be our last day on the tour with Braulio. We stop at the hotel for a siesta and pack our things into the van for the drive back to Cuiaba. We stop enroute for more birds. Braulio is a keen birder at heart and he is determined ot get the most out of each day. He hears a crake in a boggy area and we work at it until we finally succeed in glimpsing a Russet-crowned Crake. During this pursuit we also see a Crowned Slaty Flycatcher and a Mouse-colored Tyrannulet.

Back in Cuiaba we drop Braulio, Steve and Willy off at the bus station. They will be riding an all night luxury bus to Alta Floresta. We will spend the night at the Hotel Diplomata again. We dine at the pizza and beer place next door. A word here about Brazilian pizza. They are different. None of the pizza had tomato sauce on them and were served with catsup and mustard on the side. Sounds strange but they were good with catsup.

Sept. 15
The alarm jolts us from sleep at 3:45am so we can get to the airport an hour before our departure at 5:15. At least the hotel is only five minutes away. At the gate we watch the opening ceremonies for the olympics on tv. Our flight on TAM is punctual and on the whole we are impressed with this airline. With the time change we arrive in Sao Paulo at 8:15. We are met at the gate by our translator/driver/guide-Malu. I had tried to contract Paulo Boute, a well respected brazilian guide, for this segment of the trip. He was unavailable for the dates we needed him but offered to subcontract another guide he knew. That is how we ended up with Malu.

From the airport we travel by car via the newly completed toll highway. This very modern freeway system we found quite impressive. Due to the tolls, traffic is very light. It takes us a few hours to reach Itatiaia National Park. Inside the park we arrive at the renowned Hotel Ype under sunny skies. It feels wonderful to be out of the heat and humidity, its more temperate here. We can wear shorts because there are very few bugs! The hotel is a is reminiscent of a Swiss chalet. There are separate chalets available and suites. It isn't real fancy but nice. An indoor and outdoor pool, patio terrace, game rooms. The food and the service here were terrific and the birding too. $125per night for a couple including wonderful meals in the dining room with feeders outside the windows and a fantastic vista.

Upon arrival, we find the feeders rich with tanagers-Green-headed, Black-goggled, Ruby-crowned and the endemic Olive-green and Golden-chevroned. Also here were Red-rumped Cacique and Chestnut-bellied Euphonia. After lunch we caught up on some missed sleep, then headed into the Atlantic Rainforest, a hotspot for endemicism in Brazil. Unfortunately only about 5-8% of this ecosystem is intact, the rest having been cleared for various reasons. Our first foray here is along a trail from our hotel to the infamous Hotel Simon. We come upon a grove of Giant Bamboo and marvel at its size, we're talking bamboo stalks a foot wide! Along the trail we find Surucua Trogon, Long-tailed Tyrant and Yellow Tyraunnulet. At the Hotel Simon we wander around the back of the hotel and spot another endemic-Black-legged Dacnis. Then we find the world famous feeders at the home of the hotel administrator who is very friendly, english speaking and knowledgable about the birds at his feeders. He invites us to sit in front of his house and watch the hummingbird feeders. We see Planalto Hermit, Long-tailed and Violet Capped Woodnymphs and Versicolored Emerald in a matter of minutes. On the way back we scare up several Dusky-legged Guans. Noisy Ashy-tailed Swifts ply the skies overhead.

Sept.16
I step out of our hotel room and immediately see a very striking Red-breasted Toucan. It has rained in the night and everything is wet, damp and surprisingly cool. From the valley below the fog creeps and soon we are enshrouded in a thick mist. Malu and I head for the trail that leads to the Hotel Simon again. The jungle here is quite dense and verdant. We hear birds and Malu knows many of the calls. She's carrying a very long shotgun mike and when I suggest she use it out comes a very small tape recorder. The bird's call is recorded but upon playback I realize there isn't enough volume to it for the birds to hear. The antbird we are trying to entice goes unseen. This is bad. The tape player Braulio used was responsible for us successfully seeing about 30 % of our species total. I've become spoiled maybe but I've also come all this way and now we're going to miss out on a lot of birds. Malu is very good at birding by ear but she only knows the latin names for the birds. This turns out to be her first experience as a bird guide. "You hear that?" She'll ask and then tell me the latin name. An endemic antbird goes unseen. In a word- maddening.

We do manage some endemics this morning White-collared Foliage Gleaner and Ferruginous Antbird and in a mixed flock of tanagers I see the stunning Gilt-edged Tanager. Back at the feeders at the administrator's house we see Yellow-fronted Woodpecker, Saffron Toucanet and and Fawn-breasted Tanager . Hummingbirds whir around us, many of them are Black Jacobin and the aforementioned species but the prize is the endemic Brazilian Ruby.

Later in the afternoon we walk up the road from the Hotel Ype to a trailhead. As we start up the trail we are stopped by rangers. Apparently we need special permission to enter here. After much discussion Malu persuades them to let us bird the trail but we must return inside of an hour. It is very quiet, the only birds we see are a pair of Spot-billed Toucanets.

Sept.17
The staff at the Hotel Ype are kind enough to open the dining room early for us this morning. They have also put together a picinic lunch for us as we won't return for lunch. Our destination today is Aghulas Negras-the Black Needles. To get there we must drive an half an hour south then head east and back into the Itatiaia National Park via a different entrance. The road that leads us to this high alpine area is in bad shape. Lots of potholes, rocks etc. The going is slow which is fortunate because we are able to hear the distinctive call of the Black and Gold Cotinga we stop, look up and there it is. Another Brazilian endemic. The road continues upward and we enjoy some spectacular vistas. This kind of mountain scenery isn't what we expected to find in Brazil! We pass some campgrounds, and when I see a bright blue bird we stop and it turns out to be a Diademed Tanager, also we find a Sooty Tyrannulet.

Higher up the road we stop to check out another pair of Diademeds but wait here is something else low in a shrub. Long tail dull brown. Itatiaia Spinetail! Another endemic. We arrive at the entry kiosk and park the car and continue on foot. At 8700ft this is truly an alpine setting. A hummer sits on a flowering shrub - a lovely White-vented Violetear. A pair of noisy Rufous-capped Antshrikes. A large finch appears and turns out to be a Great Pampa Finch and another endemic the Velvety Black Tyrant. We seem to have the place all to ourselves then we hear voices and see climbers on the bare rocks above us cheering at the summit. On the hike back we see a raptor and ID it as a White-rumped Hawk. Back in the car we spot a Red Warbling Finch. On the drive back we descend into a fog as thick as I've ever seen. It is raining back at the hotel as it what this morning when we left but we've been lucky and have stayed out of it all day.

Sept. 18
A light rain makes for difficult birding this morning and a thick mist makes it more so. The only new bird we see on our early morning walk is a Black-cheeked Gnateater. After breakfast we pack and load up the car. Today we will travel from these mountains to the coast at Ubatuba. On our way out of the park we stop at a small curio shop. Outside hangs a hummingbird feeder. A tiny little hummer whirs in-its a Frilled Coquette! And then another bird - a Sombre Hummingbird both endemics. We leave the park for the three hour drive to the coast. Once we're away from the mountains the weather clears but as we climb the coastal hills we enter the clouds. Our intentions are to bird a state reserve here in the hills above the coast but the mist is so incredibly thick it would be pointless.

Somewhere below us is the coastline but we can't see it until we're right next to the Atlantic. Ubatuba is a resort area that stretches from south to north for about 40km. The jungled, steep hills meet the ocean in a dramatic way. We find a nice hotel walking along a stretch of beach wearing our binoculars. By chance we meet a gentleman who tells us he has a feeder at his house and invites us to come and see the birds in his yard. On the way to his house he points to the Hotel Canoeira. It's his hotel. On the beach. Very nice. A bargain in the off season here at $32 a night including breakfast.

The birding at the hotel owner's house is quite good. We see our first Brazilian Tanager, White-chinned Sapphire and Rufous-headed Tanagers. Both tanagers being endemic. For dinner Paulo Boute suggested the Hotel Solar. The seafood here is delicious (prawns Sao Paulo)and the landscaped grounds around the pool are lovely. When we find that the price is the same low season rate as the place we're in we decide to spend the next evening, our last night, here.

Sept.19
The hotel staff has left us a thermos of hot coffee and some pastry as we're up quite early. Along the road we pass a sign marking the Tropic of Capricorn. Our intended destination is Fazenda Capricornus. We drive up one road, ask directions, follow them, ask directions again. Everyone is very friendly and helpful but they keep giving us the wrong directions. I'm getting angrier by the minute. I expect my guide to know her way around here but she doesn't. We're wasting prime birding time lost. A brief stop helps placate me a little when she hears a White-bearded Manakin. There are several males on a lek popping around madly, making sounds like the snapping of a twig. Finally one pauses long enough for me to get a look. Back in the car we ask directions once again. We never did find the fazenda!

Finally we drive into an agronomy reserve and get permission to bird there. I'm fit to be tied and birding helps calm me as it usually does. We see a lot of thrushes-Creamy-bellied, Yellow-legged and Eastern Slaty. In a mixed flock of tanagers we find Brassy-breasted and Red-necked Tanagers, both brilliantly colorful. Lemon -chested Greenlet is the only other new addition to our trip list here.

Malu suggests trying another locale so we get back in the car. We lose another 45 minutes driving south. By now its 11:30 and the birds have quieted down. We park at on old sugar cane mill and walk up into the jungle. Its lovely in here but the heat of the day is upon us. We see a White-eyed Foliage Gleaner and not much else. For lunch we drive to a small beach where there is small thatched place that serves seafood. We order lunch, wade into the water and enjoy the spectacular view of these jungled slopes reaching down to the water's edge. Offshore we see Kelp Gulls and South American Terns following a fishing boat. The seafood is incredible-Prawns in a Heart of Palm sauce and a seafood stew. We nap on the beach before heading back to Ubatuba. We check out of one hotel and check into the Hotel Solar. A sunset walk on the beach takes us to where a creek enters the ocean and here we spot a Masked Water Tyrant which wraps up the day.

Sept. 20
Our last day in Brazil I decide to have a vacation. We bird around the neighborhood. I'm not interested in getting in the car and driving anywhere because we have a three and a half hour drive back to Sao Paulo this afternoon and don't want a repeat of yesterday's fiasco. Besides the Hotel Solar is so charming, Laura loves it here. We have the whole place to ourselves so we lounge around the pool reading. For lunch we head into town for one more go at a churrascaria. A siesta and then its back to Sao Paulo. As we cross the mountains we enter the clouds again but somehow the mist is even thicker. We can barely make out the car 10 feet in front of us. Large trucks coming from the other direction appear out of nowhere.With a huge sigh of relief we descend to the other side of the coastal hills where it is sunny and clear. We spend a few hours at the airport then catch the redeye back to the U.S.A.

Field Guide: The only comprehensive field guide for Brazil that I was able to locate is Todas as Aves do Brasil by Deodata Souza. The text is in portuguese but english and scientific names are included. The artwork in this book is only passable but all the birds of Brazil can be found here. It is available for purchase from the Boute Expeditions and Pantanal Bird Club websites. The bookcover is comical and my understanding is that it is this way because the author wanted it to appeal to children. Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica by Martin de la Pena only covers southern Brazil.

Local Guides: Despite the incredible wealth of avifauna local professional guides are few. I prefer to employ local guides and leave more of my tourist dollar in the country I am visiting. I feel that ecotourism should benefit local economies as much as possible. This worked out quite well for the Serra das Araras, Pantanal and Chapada segments of our trip under the guidance of the Pantanal Bird Club but there is room for improvement on the Itatatia and Ubatuba segments. A shotgun mike and tape recorder playback are a must.

In the course of our 16 day journey we logged 394 species total. 16 of these were endemics. Species sighted are found below.

Key: p=Pantanal of Pocone c=Chapada dos Guimares s=Serra das Araras i=Itatiaia National Park u=Ubatuba *=endemic

Click here for a full list of Trip Reports online at Surfbirds

Click here for a full list of foreign bird book links with Amazon etc