Today we were headed up to the mountains, targeting a whole different set of birds at this higher altitude, with more open terrain. The minibus drove us to around 1650m, and we walked slowly from here up a steep cobbled track to the higher reaches of the mountain, stopping to look and listen for birds on our way.
We were very quickly finding new species, with a Thick-billed Saltator in a tall shrub, and several Yellow-legged Thrushes seen around the area. Beside the road a Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet foraged in a shrub, and moments later a beautiful Diademed Tanager appeared nearby. A lovely Black and Gold Cotinga was singing and we had great scope views of this striking bird with a distinctive song. We had barely moved from our start point! Emily, the younger member of the group and our super spotter, noted a Black and White Hawk-Eagle which flew up from the valley, even managing a photo as it flew overhead, giving stunning views for us all.
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| Thick-billed Saltator |
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| Yellow-legged Thrush |
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| Diademed Tanager |
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| Black and White Hawk-Eagle |
We continued our ascent, and continued to find new species as we progressed. A Mouse-coloured Tapaculo briefly appeared. Tim struggled to see this, but fortunately it reappeared on our way back down, this time giving great views. At a bend in the road a pair of Black-billed Scythebills dashed back and forth across the road, showing a distinctive Curlew-like bill. Then a Large-tailed Antshrike, black dotted with white, perched briefly on the edge of a roadside bush, giving great views. Next we had a Rufous-crowned Greenlet, and a furtive Ochre-faced Tody Flycatcher. As we paused at a bend in the road for a drink, a superb Swallow-tailed Kite soared gracefully past. Both male and female Blue-billed Black Tyrant were active around their nest site beside the road. Next we added an attractive Rufous-backed Antvireo, which was initially elusive, but eventually showed well. Then a grey and black Variable Antshrike was briefly seen in the bushes. It was a constant drip-feed of great birds as we slowly progressed along the track, maintaining our interest and ensuring we stayed focused.
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| Mouse-coloured Tapaculo (Ashley Saunders) |
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| Large-tailed Antshrike (Ashley Saunders) |
After some time was arrived at a viewpoint looking out over an extensive valley. Our target here was the rare and endemic Grey-winged Cotinga, only found on two mountains in Brazil. After some time scanning the bushes, Tony located the bird, to great excitement all round. However, its position was such that it could only be viewed by the taller members of the party - a category that didn’t include me! Tony M tried to get me onto it from a different position, but it disappeared before he was able to describe its location. I was gutted! There is little chance of me ever seeing this species anywhere else, so a major ‘dip’!!
We soon arrived at a set of steps leading to a communications tower, where our main target was another endemic, the Itatiaia Thistletail. Just past the guard house, where we had to register our details, we had decent views of Rufous-tailed Antbird, and a Pallid Spinetail flitting in the scrubby vegetation. Close to the steps we found an attractive Rufous-capped Antshrike. We climbed higher, and soon had several great views of the Itatiaia Spinetail, with a long tail, rather like a Dartford Warbler. This was a relief to Andy, our guide, since it meant we would not have to climb right to the mountain top. Some of us were tempted to try, as we were so near, but the weather looked like it may change, and we didn’t want to lose valuable birding time, so we instead rested on the steps to eat our lunch. As we ate, we added the spectacular Bay-breasted Warbling-Finch to our tally, a beautiful bird with colours reminiscent of a Belted Kingfisher. On the vegetation below a gorgeous Cinnamon Tanager perched high on a bush, and a rather more drab Bran-coloured Flycatcher sortied amongst some dry, open branches. Velvety Black Tyrant was also observed here, revealing prominent white wings in flight, with the female showing a distinctive rufous throat.
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Rufous-capped Antshrike (Emily)
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| Cinnamon Tanager |
After lunch we began to descend slowly back down towards the minibus. Here we were thrilled to have some cracking views of the magnificent Green-crowned Plovercrest, a shimmering iridescence in the sunlight, with a wonderful Lapwing-like crest. I was pleased to see a Rufous-browed Pepper-shrike, which I had missed earlier. There was much mickey-taking of my enthusiasm, since this was apparently a very ordinary bird! As far as I’m concerned, they all count! A Serro de Mar Tyrannulet was less common, and also added to our growing list.
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| Plovercrest |
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| Serra do Mar Tyrannulet (Ashley Saunders) |
We arrived back at the bus around 4pm, and set off back to the hotel. However, on the way, three bold and colourful Campo Flicker were spotted on the ground in a small paddock and we stopped for a good look. Finally, as we drove though the town of Nova Friburgo, I spotted a Ruddy Ground Dove pecking at the dusty path.
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