Waterfall Trail
We spent the entire day on the waterfall trail at REGUA, the Guapi Assu reserve. Due to a miscommunication, our driver did not arrive on time, and we walked down to the office area. Besides looking at the Tropcial Screech-Owls again, we saw Blond-crested Woodpecker, Shiny Cowbird, and Orange-winged Amazon (Parrot),, as well as some other birds.
We ended up riding in back of the same truck as two days ago to the trailhead. It was more pleasant this time as it was a nice day, not raining on us. Then we started up the trail. Bare-throated Bellbirds were calling as we walked up the trail. We again heard an atilla in about the same place as before. Pretty soon we saw our Gray-hooded Attila. I only managed to get a couple of poor photos.
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| Gray-hooded Attilla |
We continued on, finding a hard-to-see Southern Antpipit walking on the forest floor. The first of several Large-headed Flatbill / Bamboo Flatbills was in a non-native bamboo stand. Some Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers were spotted moving through the trees. Nick heard a Plain Antvireo, which was soon tracked down.
Before long, we reached the clearing that was the end of our explorations a couple of days ago. Birds present in the clearing included Spix's Spinetail, Chestnut-crowned Becard, and Sharpbill.
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| Mountain View | Sharpbill |
Continuing on into the forest, we encountered the first of several Yellow-legged Thrushes and Pin-tailed Manakins. Nick called in a Spot-billed Toucanet. It didn't give us a great view, but we did manage to see it in the scope.
We continued upward finding the local turdina race of Plain-brown Woodcreeper, considered by some to be a separate species. The next new bird was Black-capped Becard, followed by some lovely Chestnut-bellied Euphonias. The Spot-breasted Antvireo was hard for me to see, but I eventually managed to see its spotted breast. The handsome Spot-backed Antshrike was somewhat easier to see.
We had climbed up a red trail shortcut to about 900 meters past the red trail junction, then headed down. I'm not sure whether we got the last couple of birds on the way up or down. We encountered a Rufous-browed Peppershrike on the way down. Returning to the junction, we took the green trail the rest of the way to the waterfall. A White-thighed Swallow flew over there. A couple of members of our party had a close call on the slick rocks, with one camera getting a fatal dunking. Fortunately, he didn't join it.
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| Waterfall | Base of Falls |
On the way back, we added Olivaceous Woodcreeper and Planalto Woodcreeper. Our truck was waiting when we arrived at the pick-up point. We some a couple of Chalk-browed Mockingbirds on the drive back.
It was already late in the day when we got back, so we just relaxed until dinner. The last new bird of the day was the only one we saw at the fruit feeders during our stay, a Rusty-margined Guan.
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| Rusty-margined Guan | Dusk at Guapi Assu |
My total for today was 68 bird species. I added 25 species to the triplist, including 19 lifers. The total is now 181 species (178 seen), including 87 lifers.
Guapi Assu Lodge, Rio de Janeiro State