November 2024

Having spent yesterday writing up my trip report to South Africa and finishing it off early this morning, when I was woken up by my neighbour splitting all the logs of all the trees that he has taken down with a very noisy machine, I decided to escape the noise and go for a walk at my local patch of West Newton. The sun was shining but it was almost bird less as I walked the hedge line down to the pool. I heard a Woodlark singing but did not see it. At the  pool I saw 7 Redwing, 26 Teal, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Reed Bunting, a few Blackbirds and 5 Common Snipe. After a chat to a local birder I watched a Red Kite over the woods. A Mistle Thrush flew and landed in the field as I walked back to the car. It had now clouded over and I cursed the poor light quality compared to South Africa for photography.

After a lovely meal out at a local hostelry, John and I sorted out a few issues with our forth-coming trip. Hopefully it will add a few more ticks to my world list and be a bit warmer than here!

John and I started our day at Lynn Point where we inadvertently flushed out 50+ Redwing from the hedge as we parked the car. We walked to the outfall of the Babingley River where we watched 3 Great White Egrets as well as a few Little Egrets flying around. After noting Redshank, Greylag Geese and watching a couple of Pink-footed Goose flocks as the tide fell we walked along the bank where a Common Buzzard flew out from the trees. Along the bank a flock of Fieldfare had landed, however they were not keen to have their photo taken. We watched Teal, Gadwall and Little Grebes on the River Babingley as a Green Sandpiper flew along it. A Marsh Harrier flew over the marsh as a couple of Buzzards sat on either side of a gate. After walking back along the bank another small flock of Fieldfares were sitting in the bushes by the car.

We drove to Flitcham where Teal, Gadwall, Mallard and Moorhen were swimming on the water. There was little else of note as we made our way home.

Carrie and I needed a break at lunchtime at work at Titchwell today and walked to Patsy’s Pool where we knew it would probably be quiet. We watched a few Gadwall before watching a pair of Marsh Harriers put all the Golden Plover on the Freshmarsh up into the air. They made a glorious sight.

John, Stew and I spent the day birding at Titchwell. Four Spoonbills were out on Thornham Marsh. Walking down the West Bank Path I became aware of a Kestrel mobbing another bird over Thornham Marsh. Its slow wing beat made me put my binoculars up to my eyes and was surprised to see that it was a Short-eared Owl. We watched it for a while and I cursed not having my camera with me as it flew closer to us.

We continued down to the beach and I soon picked up a Long-tailed Duck which many others looked down my scope at. John picked up a Black-throated Diver and after a while I located two Slavonian Grebes. There were many Great Crested Grebes on the sea. We decided to walk towards Thornham Point and watched a juvenile Gannet fly around us. Stew and I walked a bit further towards the sea as the tide was dropping and watched a Red-throated Diver as well as a Redwing flying in low over the sea, which was harassed by a Lesser-backed Gull.

We re-joined John at Thornham Point, where we sat and had our lunch. We walked back along the inner side of the dunes where we had a very close Purple Sandpiper running around near the pool. I took its photo with my phone. A Marsh Harrier flew around before we spotted a Stonechat sitting amongst the brambles. We walked back along the beach and watched the coastguards and Royal Navy arrive to detonate a few old World War 2 bombs that the tide had exposed. This is a common problem at Titchwell and Holme as it was a former firing range. The beach is made safe from visitors and the bombs are dealt with at low tide.

Whilst the Navy were waiting for the tide to drop we watched another Slavonian Grebe and I stayed to watch a Black-necked Grebe and a Goldeneye with Chris, whilst John and Stew went to try and find the Water Rail. As I walked back up the West Bank Path I admired all the Golden Plovers on the Freshmarsh along with the escaped Black-winged Stilt.

Today I joined Alan, Paul and the rest of the NarVOS members on the outdoor meeting at the Sculthorpe Moor Reserve. The feeders were busy with Great Tits, Blue Tits, Marsh Tits and Coal Tits. A Buzzard flew over. Now and again a Nuthatch would appear which we all appreciated watching. A Long-tailed Field Mouse ran off the path and into the undergrowth. We walked around the boardwalk and stopped off in the hides where we watched a Sparrowhawk that flew across the reserve. . Over the years the reserves have added many more hides and there were a couple of hides overlooking wetland areas that I had not seen before.

On one of them a Great White Egret was standing watching as Mallard, Teal and Egyptian Geese were swimming around. A Red Kite and a Jay flew over as well as a few Wood Pigeons. We walked to the new Raptor Watchpoint where we saw a Red Kite. We walked to the next hide where I saw a Siskin as well as a few more Blue Tits and Great Tits. A Nuthatch posed as we walked back to the Visitor Centre where it was nice to see Jill one of my former colleagues at Titchwell.

It’s just not my day! After the kitchen flood of the weekend now all the ports on my laptop have given up on me giving me no time for a repair before I go on holiday! Grrrrr!

I had a busy day at work doing many different tasks, one of which was putting a sign up up on where to stand to see a Tawny Owl hiding in the Ivy in one of the trees. You will be stunned by the photos that I took of it!

After a frustrating time with things going wrong, my poorly laptop is now residing down at Curry’s with me hoping that it can be repaired. For a new laptop that was only bought this year I am not impressed that it has malfunctioned leaving me with an old laptop that also has its issues, which I will have to do battle with to process any photos that I take on holiday. I can see lots of cursing ahead!

My kitchen floor is now nearly dry after the flood and I have managed to get my printer up and running again after it too decided not to work.

I woke up with a terrible migraine once again and after visiting Curry’s decided that as it was a beautiful day I would take a stroll at West Newton along my favourite hedgeline and down to the pool. Fieldfares and a lone Redwing were flying from berry bush to berry bush and allowed a few photos as they fed. Four Common Snipe flushed from the rank grass as I admired all the Teal and Moorhen before the pair of Mute Swans came to bid me good morning. A Blue Tit did not sit still enough for a photo and neither did a Robin. I heard a Bullfinch and a Water Rail in the ditch but did not see either as a Common Buzzard flew over.

John and I flew from Heathrow to Lisbon and then onto Fortaleza in North-east Brazil where we were met by Bruno Renno and taken to a city hotel for the night.

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Bruno, John and I were up for breakfast at 6.30am, packed our bags and drove to Icapui where we stopped to watch, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Black-necked Stilts, Greater Kiskadee and Tropical Kingbird. It was exceedingly hot and after adding Black-backed Water Tyrant, Hudsonian Whimbrel and Semipalmated Plover we drove to some mangroves where we watched Little Wood Rail. We watched a pair of Bicoloured Conebills and a pair of Caatinga Parakeets and then drove to our hotel where we gorged on a Sunday Lunch of Lobster, washed down with a tropical fruit drinks and some beers.

After lunch we drove to another spot in the mangroves and in the searing hot sun eventually saw a pair of Mangrove Rails with some little black chicks. One of the adults swam across the water to inspect us as Gull-billed Terns flew over us along with Little Blue Herons and Yellowish Pipits.

After some birding in the hotel grounds watching a Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Bruno drove us to Guaramiranga stopping off for a while at a lake at Ocara where we watched Least Grebe and Pied-billed Grebes as well as Southern Pochards. We saw White-naped jays and White Woodpeckers en route. Once at Guaramiranga, life ticks soon came our way watching Buff-breasted Tody-tyrant, Ceara Leaftosser, Ochraceous Piculet, Ochre-backed Woodpecker, Campo Troupial and Planato Tyrannulet to name a few.

We stopped for lunch in a restaurant where nest boxes had been put up for Grey-breasted Parakeets that were near extinction and were lucky to see a few as they were noisily gathering by the boxes. We also saw Gould’s Toucanet here. We motored on to the Grey-breasted Parakeet Reserve where a screen had been made with leaves in front of a small pool where Band-tailed Manakins came in for an afternoon drink. It was wonderful to watch these brightly coloured little birds. They were also joined by Pectoral Sparrows and a Ceara Gnateater.

We were up for 5am and birded a trail in the forest where we saw Ceara Woodcreeper, Ruby Topaz Hummingbird, Black-capped Antwren and Short-tailed Antthrush as well as a few other specialist species. After a good breakfast we drove for a few hours and arrived at a hilltop lodge where the views were stunning. A pair of roosting Pygmy Nightjars were sitting on the rock in front of us. I looked longingly at the swimming pool as we arrived and sat down for a few beers in the searing heat. Luckily I was given 45 minutes after lunch to have a quick dip. It was heavenly!

We met at 3pm and wandered over to a feeding area that was et up and watched White-naped jays displaying as White-browed Guans gobbled up the food. Scarlet-throated Tanagers arrived before we set off for a wander around the grounds watching Golden-green Woodpecker, Green-barred Woodpecker, Caatinga Puffbird, Caatinga Parakeets and a Crane Hawk. The heat was still making us feel very weary and we called it a day an hour before dusk.

So one of our big target birds for coming to NE Brazil, was the Araripe Manakin. Today in the searing heat of 35.5 degrees Celsius we drove to a very busy aquapark in a valley under a steep cliff where the park had a walkway for us to see this critically endangered bird. Thank heavens there is a caring organisation trying its best to stop the extinction and has protected this very small area of forest.

we were very lucky to have excellent views of perhaps 10 birds as the males sang away but to say photography was a challenge is the under-statement of the year as we wrestled with foliage, dark understory and people!

We also saw White-tufted-ear Marmoset at our lodge this morning. How lucky was that!

We were up early and birded the lodge’s grounds as dawn broke and saw a Stripe-backed Antbird singing away as well as several other birds in this very dry caatinga habitat. After breakfast we drove a short distance where Bruno had a spot for White-browed Antpitta. It took a while to see it but we were pleased to see it so well in the tangled vegetation. After adding Band-tailed Hornero and Cobalt-rumped Parakeet to our lists and watching Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, we drove to Canudos Biological Station for the night.

We were up before dawn and drove along a very bumpy track in the Canudos Biological Stations 4×4 vehicle to a spectacular canyon where we could hear Lear’s Macaws squawking. It didn’t take long to watch this critically endangered macaw colony on the cliff’s edges. What a treat it was as they flew back and forth and perched in front of their breeding holes in their pairs. We even watched them mating which is good news for the recovery of the species. We stayed for an hour and a half and watched Cliff Flycatcher, Black-chested Buzzard-eagle and Hepatic Tanager before returning to the lodge for breakfast.

Bruno then did a stirling job driving for 9 hours to Lencois where we spent the night watching Yellow-headed Caracara and White-tailed Kite en route.

We were up for 4.30am and had a wonderful breakfast with a huge spread of food for the 3 of us that would easily have fed 10 people! Replete, Bruno drove for two hours and after a few stops along the track to watch Caatinga Cacholote and Fork-tailed Flycatcher as well as other birds we drove up onto a rocky-scrubby area and started our search for Horned Sungem. We were soon watching a delightful female that sat and posed for us, but as wonderful as she was, I wanted to see a male bird with its ‘horns’. It wasn’t long before Bruno located one and I was ecstatic with delight as I watched my 48^th species of my Brooke Bond Tropical Birds Album that I have been targeting all my days since childhood. There are 50 birds to see in the collection. The little gem sat and posed for us as we took far too many photographs of it.

After our fill of the Horned Sungem we drove back along the track and added Blue Finch, Caatinga Antwren, Rufous-sided Scrub Tyrant along with several other specialities for the cerrado habitat.

After yet another sumptuous breakfast at our hotel in Lencois in NE Brazil, we made an early start and walked a cliff edge trail up in the clouds in the mountains at 3000ft high. It meant donning trousers, walking boots and an anorak albeit still warm and humid but the moisture in the air meant that we could get wet. It was a lovely cerrado/cloud-forest habitat as we followed the trail watching Violet-capped Woodnymph and Spix’s Spinetail but that was not why we were here. This morning we were targeting Hooded Visorbearer another delightful little hummingbird. With two of us supporting heavy colds we were soon struggling with the humidity but luckily a visorbearer sat and posed beautifully for us all to take some photos of it. We added Cincora Antwren and Sooty-throated Spinetail before I needed a cup of tea and a bit of a rest, so Bruno was pleased that he too could have a rest at a cafe after we had walked back along the trail.

John and I enjoyed a snack for lunch as this was all we wanted, whilst Bruno, who enjoys his food went to seek a larger lunch in a restaurant. After a bit of a rest back at our hotel, we birded a track where we had excellent views of Helmeted Manakin and Surucua Trogon.

We were sad to leave our hotel at Lencois as the breakfasts have been amazing but we had a 6 hour drive to face getting back to near Salvador ready for our flight back home. It was a long day but eventually we made it to the Arua Observatory where we will spend the night. We had a couple of hours daylight left so of course we went birding to find some specialities of the area. We were back to tropical rain forest and dressed accordingly with boots and umbrellas to hand!

We walked a forest trail and soon watched a Kinglet Manakin as a Red-headed Manakin flitted across the track. Bahia Antwren added itself to my life list as well as the critically endangered Pernanbuco Foliage-gleaner which was not at all keen to have its photo taken in the dark tropical wet forest as it was now raining!

We awoke to pouring rain after listening to it for most of the night! We are in a tropical rainforest though where it rains for much of the time! Although we were up early we were hoping for some birding before our flight home today. We delayed our early-morning start and watched Violaceous Euphonia, Blue Dacnis, Palm Tanager and Bananaquit on the feeder as well as some really cute White-tufted-ear Marmosets. We set off but got very wet on the trail and saw absolutely nothing! It was grim! We tried another spot, a 40 minute drive away where the rain was torrential and I got saturated and saw nothing. Back near the lodge we had very poor rain-sodden views of a Red-headed Manakin up high in the canopy but my binoculars were full of water, grrrr……. and I had to make do with naked-eye views. Not good. We called it a day, even though it was still very early and returned to the lodge to pack and get to the airport after thanking Bruno for all his hard work and driving for us.

John and I flew from Salvador, Brazil to Lisbon, Portugal in the early hours of the morning. It was an overnight flight and because of our heavy colds got very little sleep. After a few hours at Lisbon Airport, John and I flew to Heathrow and drove back home.