We shall be exhibiting once again this year at the British Birdwatching Fair in Rutland Water from the 15th – 17th August, we will be located in Marquee 1 stand 50, so please come along and see us!

During the past week we have once again seen some great birds! Excursions undertaken this week include the Bamboo Trail, Theodoro Trail, Macae de Cima Trail and the two High Altitude Trails. Birds of note have included White-necked and Mantled Hawk, we had great views from the side of the road of these two impressive raptors, White-rumped Hawk, Plovercrest, Saffron and Spot-billed Toucanets on the bird feeders, Black-billed Scythebill, Bertonis, Rufous-tailed and Dusky-tailed Antbirds, Black and Gold Cotinga, Grey-winged Cotinga on a rather cold and misty High Altitude excursion, Blue and Pin-tailed Manakins, Chestnut-headed, Red-necked and Brassy-breasted Tanagers, Bay-chested Warbling Finch, Buffy-fronted and Temmincks Seedeaters and 100’s of Uniform Finches!

Stuart Elsom has written an article in the June issue of Birdwatch magazine about his trip to Serra dos Tucanos Lodge and birding the Atlantic forest… so go out and buy yourself a copy!

Black and Gold Cotinga. Alan Jones©

We have just had a couple of weeks without guests here at the lodge, this has given us the opportunity to go on some exploration trips and try to add some more excursions to offer our guests. The Portao Azul excursion will soon be up and running, this will be a half day excursion and is approximately an hours drive from the lodge. The habitat is a mixture of mature forest with bamboo and some semi-open secondary growth. A visit there last week turned up Black-legged Dacnis, Temmincks Seedeater, Buffy-fronted Seedeater, White-bearded Antshrike, White-collared Foliage Gleaner, Ferruginous Antbird, Ochre-rumped Antbird, Uniform Finch, Gilt-edged Tanager, Tufted Antshrike, Grey-bellied Spinetail and several sites for Half-collared Sparrow.

Ferruginous Antbird. Andy Foster.

On another exploration trip to a private farm the other side of Nova Friburgo we have found a stronghold for Serra Antwren, this is a bird that we have only recorded a handful of times on the Jacamar Excursion, the previous site wasn’t brilliantly reliable, however, at this new site we recorded over 5 individual pairs within a very small area. We intend to make further visits to this area so watch this space!