“T-Zhill”

Hello !

The Blue-black Grassquit, in Brazil, has an onomatopoetic name: “T-Zhill” or, as we say: “Tziu”.  Which can give you a clue of how Portuguese names can be a problem…Because, of that Brazilian Birdwatchers uses the Scientific name…

But, going back to the Blue-black Grassquit. This morning, I had one adult male, perched on a wall, near my house. It was singing and, at the same, time jumping up and down, as part of its behavior. Sometimes it can do it for more than an hour!!!

If, you are planning to  bird in Brazil in a guided tour, don’t forget to ask your guide  to show you a Blue-Black Grassquit displaying during its call. This small bird has lots of energy!

Good Birding!

Paulo Boute. 

Being at the Spot!

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend – Read: Seeing Birds!!!

This weekend I had been thinking a lot about the decision that  me and my wife, Marluce, took last year in opening & operating a branch office at the city of Aracajú, at the State of Sergipe.

Even double checking in different aspects/angles that decision – I could get  just one single answer: We did the right thing!

The Brazilian Northeast is a very complex area of Brazil, with the largest concentration of States.  We hardly, could keep the quality of our services, we had been offering in the Pantanal for almost 30 years ! ( Time goes fast – when you had fun!!!) , without having this branch office here & living here, at least, six months in a year.

It, really, help us to get the right picture of the local culture &  best way of offering our trips.

Not, mentioning the birds - At the same time they are fabulous , some of them can be very tricky too!

Being familiar with them, will make much easier & less stressing to show them to our guests. Hopefully, you can be one of them, in a near future!

May you all have a very Pleasant Week!

Paulo. 

www.boute-expeditions.com

Yellowish Pipits.

Hello,

I went with my very good friend Marcelo Sousa & his two students to give a lecture on a sugar cane mill, 40 miles North of Aracajú. 

We had a very small time to bird. But, the best ones were three Yellowish Pipit & twenty Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures, flying over a recently burned sugar  cane field.

They were looking for possible victms of the fire such rabbits, armadillos, tegus and snakes.

In 2012, the farmer will be using only machines to harvest the sugar cane. Then, the fire won’t be used any more…

Enjoy the weekend!

Paulo Boute.

www.boute-expeditions.com 

Pantanal & Chapada dos Guimarães National Park Trip Report.

Hello!

As I promised, below, you will find the trip report of my trip to the Pantanal and Chapada dos Guimarães National Park.

TRIP REPORT – February 21-23, 2008. Guide: Paulo Boute. Tour Participants:  Ria Defever, Chris  Roelen, Chirs Deneve INTRODUCTION The Pantanal is the largest Wetland of the World. Having two very  distinct Seasons: The Rain Seaaso and the Dry  one. The first one  is from November to
April  and the second one from May to October.  Mostly Bird Reports are written about trips done during the Dry Season. So, we hope this report will give a better picture of how is like to bird at the Pantanal during the Rain Season.   Feb. 21^st. Arrival at the airport of Cuiaba at 05:30 pm. Transfer to the Piuval Lodge. Sunset was at  06:00 pm, which gave us the chance of seeing a couple of  Pauraques. We arrived at the lodge by 07:30 pm. Dinner. Overnight. Feb. 22^nd. Early Breakfast at 05:30. We had this first meal  sitting outside, where it was great to watch the Sunrise & hear the morning chorus.  This morning we did a very nice bird walk on the back road that takes us to the river. There are lots of birds on the water wholes: Jabirus, Great & Snowy Egrets, Plumbeous & Buff-necked Ibis. A funny moment, was when we had  three Campo Flickers “blocking” the road.  Then, we reached a forest patch – No mosquitoes!!! Instead, one of the best birds of the morning – A Blue-Crowned Motmot! Then, we had a Buff-throated Woodcreeper,  Black-fronted Nunbird.  Soon after, we spent the our longest time watching a single  bird:  A Chestnut-eared Aracari – which later had a second one coming by – Both were basking in the sun. Great looks thru. the LEICA Scope & time for some digital pictures too!  Then, our walk produced: White-lored Spinetail, Saffron-billed Sparrow,  Planalto Slaty Antshrike and a very cooperative Rufous-tailed Jacamar ( Some people quote it as a cross between an hummingbird & a kingfisher).At the river edge, we found a lovely family of Southern Screamers and the, always present:Black-capped Donacobius.  We took a boat ride, going  up stream, where we had several Straited   Herons flying in front of us. Then, we stopped on a river edge, enjoying the sounds of the birds ( lots of Limpkins) & trying to catch a Piranha. We ended up, only catching more birds: Such a very tame pair of Yellow-billed Cardinals. After that, we returned to our lodge for a pleasant meal & nice siesta, when we had a tropical rain shower.  So, when we left for our afternoon car ride, we had a very fresh air – No dust or smoke at all.  In our way back to the Transpantaneira road we had several Little Blue Herons ( adults and young ones) & a male Great Rhea.  It was very interesting to bird along the road – Blue-fronted Parrots, Golden-collared & Hyacinth Macaws  and our first Yellow-headed Caracara.  We also made a stop on the house of a “campesino” where they harvested some cassava( manioc) & prepared for us with some free range chicken…It’s amazing how the local people can be so friendly!  Return to the Lodge. Dinner. Check list track. Overnight.  Feb. 23^rd. This morning we decided to explore the Pantanal by horses. It was very nice to be able to get so close to the birds: Yellowish Pipit, Wattled Jacana, White-faced + Black-bellied + Muscovy and Brazilian Ducks were everywhere.  Then, we went through some forest patch were we had a a Red-billed Scythbill and another Rufuous-tailed Jacamar.We returned to the lodge by 09:00 AM, and half hour later we were ready for a drive to the National Park of  Chapada dos Guimarães. Where we got about noon for a nice meal at a typical restaurant on the village. (During the meal we had a rain shower). Our first stopwas as the look out of the Penhasco Lodge.  Where we had superb views of the Yellow-ridged Toucan – Possibly celebrating the end of the rain…Then, we went to Bridal’s  veil, but a few minutes after leaving the village we had one of the best highlights of the trip:06( Six!!!) Red-and-Green Macaws drying themselves on high branch, right along the road.

It was my largest flock, ever, for such birds in such situation – We had very long looks thru. the scope – On this “Wet and Wild” creatures. Then, we went for the  Bridal’s veil, were we had a Swallow Flycatcher and a pair of Blue-winged Macaw flying in circles, offering great looks.  Since, we planned to avoid driving at night time we took the road back to Cuiaba. It was a nice & smooth drive watching the Sunset. We arrived safely at the Hotel Diplomata , near the airport, where in the next morning the clients should take an early flight.

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Enjoy The Weekend!

Paulo Boute.      

Fly Way

Hello!

My home is right under a Cattle Egret “Fly Way”.

About 1.000 yard from here there is a roost of Cattle Egret with about 300 individuals.

Eventually, there are a dozen of Great Egrets and one or two Black-crowned Nightherons too.

They can be seen passing by in the morning and in the afternoon. But, the best time is in the afternoon when the sun light is on its best.

Cheers,

Paulo. 

2% !!!

Hello!

There is only 2%(!!!) of the Atlantic Forest left in the Brazilian Northeast.

In the entire country, would be about 5%!

This happened because about 80% of the Brazilian population lives along the Coastal area.

Brazil is the country with the largest number of endemic birds in South America, being a great number endemics to the Atlantic Forest. There is no doubt that Birdwatching can support to preserve the most threatened forest in the World.

Cheers,

Paulo. 

Burrowing Owl.

Hello!

I had a walk on an area, just a few yards from my home. Soon, it will be a fenced condo.

The walls are already there but, there is no houses or people working there.

I walked there a couple of time. The good thing is it has paved streets already. Some scrub vegetation holding a few birds such Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Black-legged Hornero and Masked Water-Tyrant. For my surprise, I found a Borrowing Owl.

It was alone, and couldn’t see any nest near by.  Any how, it was good to see it there.

Since it is a very territorial bird, surely, I will see it again.

Cheers,

Paulo. 

What a Great Weekend!

Hi All,

I hope all of you had a nice weekend. ( Read with lots of Birds!)

I had a great weekend: I had a very nice Field Trip, with Marcelo Sousa. We went South of Sergipe. We wanted to show me his Beach House, as well, the birds around it.

Great looks at the Glittering-bellied Emerald – Very Tame!

I also got impressed of how close to the  house the Tropical Mockingbird built its nest .

Right by its varanda. We saw lots of Sanderlings on the Beach and almost every water whole along the road had Brazilian Teals.  The largest flock has over 30 individuals.

We also had great looks on the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture. It has all the colors of the rainbow on its head. Something to be seen to be believed!

May all of you have a great day & wonderful week!

Paulo Boute. 

“The Little King.”

Hello!

The ”little King”is back: I’m talking about the Swallow-tailed Hummingbird that after a few days was back to my home. I call him “little king”, because it doesn’t allow any other hummer in his area, being very agressive!

I should also mention three Sick’s  Swifts. I usually, see only two. Today, there was an extra one…flying low, at the same time at the same area.

Enjoy the weekend! Read: Good Birding to everyone!

Paulo. 

Swifts & Peppershrike.

Hello!

In Brazil there is a saying: “Nada como um dia após o outro”, on a free translation it would sound like: “Nothing like one day after another”.

For my surprise the Sick’s Swifts were back  yesterday  followed by a few Brown-chested Martins. The nice thing were to have them flying very low…and by coincidence ,

there was a couple of Tropical Kingbirds on the wire , showing a true competion for food…

And, this morning, I heard my first Rufous-browed Peppershrike in the city of Aracajú. It’s was right in front of my house!

Great way to start a day!

Cheers,

Paulo.