Três Picos State Park
Today is our last day in the Atlantic rainforest. We spent the morning birding the Theodoro Trail in Três Picos State Park. We didn't get far before finding a new bird, Rufous-backed Antvireo. After that, the new birds got quite a bit harder. Most required a lot of patience to tease out.
Nick heard a Such's Antthrush, and tried to call it in. It was unwilling to come up over a nearby ridge, so we relocated and tried again. This time the bird came over the ridge. However, it was pretty sneaky about taking a look at us, and we only got brief looks as it.
Further along the trail we found a small flock that included a Black-billed Scythebill. The next new bird, Greenish Schiffornis, was more troublesome. It managed to hide on a perch in plain sight, and flew across the road rather that approaching us more closely. The second time it did this we spotted its perch, and we were even able to watch it singing.
For the next bird, we walked off the trail through some bamboo into a small clearing. After picking a suitable spot to wait, we tried to call in a Slaty Bristlefront. Before long it appeared on top of a dirt wall next to us, then worked its way down, sometimes foraging among some small sticks covering the forest floor. It got too close to several people for them to use their binoculars. I was a little farther back and can focus at 6 feet, so I didn't suffer that problem. It gets its name from the bristles in front of its face. It is the first tapaculo I've seen.
We then planned to look for Rufous-tailed (Brazilian) Antthrush. However, a Rufous Gnateater came through the area first. Our antthrush tape was first answered by a bird farther up the trail, so we started up that way. Then the original bird called again, so we headed back. The original bird didn't seem to budge, but eventually another came in from up the trail. It was probably the other bird we heard, and we all got short but good looks at the Rufous-tailed Antthrush.
On the way back to the van, a Black Hawk-Eagle flew over. We then returned to the lodge to pack, have lunch, and watch the feeders a bit before leaving. One new bird showed up, Green Honeycreeper.
Return to Rio
Pretty soon it was time to go to the Rio airport. Make that airports, as 4 of us were flying out of the domestic airport to Cuiabá for the Mato Grosso portion of the tour, and the rest were flying out of the international airport to go home. On the way, I added House Sparrow to my list at a gas station.
As expected, it took 2+ hours to get to the domestic airport in Rio, which is downtown. We got our boarding passes and checked the luggage, then went for a walk in the downtown area. Some Monk Parakeets were in the park right outside the airport. These may be an introduced population.
We hoped to get a bite to eat, but the place we had in mind was closed. We then returned to the airport, where we knew we would find food. Before long, we were off to São Paulo. The connection there to the Cuiabá flight was uneventful, as was the flight to Cuiabá.
No photos to post today.
My bird total for the day was 65 species, 7 of them lifers. The trip total increased by 11 to 276 species (272 seen), with 164 lifers.
Diplomata Hotel, Cuiabá