Yesterday having spent our last few hours at Piuval Lodge we took the 4.5 hour drive along the Transpantaneira dirt road and some 140km later we arrived at Porto Jofre. We had a great couple of days at Piuval Lodge photographing many different species, the highlight of which for some were these beautiful Hyacinth Macaws.

We arranged a private tour for 2 people last month to Itororo Lodge, Carajas and the Pantanal! One of their main targets for the whole trip was Harpy Eagle, thankfully they had great views at Carajas!

We have now moved onto the Pantanal with Glenn Bartley’s photographic tour. We spent one night and a morning in Chapada das Guimaraes National Park but it was fairly quiet bird wise with nothing really playing the game for any good photographic opportunities. We arrived in the Pantanal yesterday and drove some 7km down the Transpantaneira road to our first lodge, Piuval. We have had a great stay so far with many species being photographed including Nacunda Nighthawk, Bare-faced Ibis, Hyacinth Macaw, Cocoi Heron, Rufescent-tiger Heron, Monk Parakeet, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Wattled Jacana, Wood Stork, Red-billed Scythebill, Campo Flicker and various other species!

Today we split up into two groups again and walked part of the Cedae Trail to try to find some different species to photograph. Species that were photographed today included Red-necked Tanager, Flame-crested Tanager, Blue Manakin, Yellow-eared Woodpecker, Planalto Woodcreeper, Brassy-breasted Tanager, White-throated Woodcreeper and Olivaceous Woodcreeper. Other species seen during the day included Green Honeycreeper, Rufous-headed Tanager, Black-cheeked Gnateater and at the Lodge feeders species seen today included Golden-chevroned Tanager, Ruby-crowned Tanager, Maroon-bellied Parakeet, Azure-shouldered Tanager, Black-goggled Tanager, Dusky-legged Guan, Rufous-bellied Thrush and Magpie Tanager. The hummingbird feeders were also busy attracting White-throated Hummingbird, Violet-capped Woodnymph, Scale-throated Hermit and Brazilian Ruby.

Today we split the group into two and spent a half day with each group photographing birds at Pico da Caledonia, our high altitude excursion. The group managed to get shots of female Plovercrest, Diademed Tanager, Brassy-breasted Tanager and Bay-chested Warbling Finch. We also had views of Rufous-tailed Antbird, Thick-billed Saltator and Grey-winged Cotinga. However, the highlight of the day has to be Red-legged Seriema, as usual these birds put on a great show for us and gave some excellent photographic opportunities!

The last tour finished well with a full day at the Regua Wetlands! We had a great day with many new species including Rufescent Tiger Heron, Common and Purple Gallinule, Wattled Jacana, Muscovy Duck, Brazilian Teal, Neotropic Cormorant, Anhinga, Green Kingfisher, Amazon Kingfisher, Greater Ani, Silvery-flanked and Unicoloured Antwren, Southern Antpipit, Sooretama Slaty-Antshrike, Grayish Mourner, Yellow-backed and Flame-crested Tanager, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Brazilian Tanager, Rufous-capped Motmot, Reddish Hermit, Scaled Antbird, White-bibbed Antbird, Elegant Mourner (aka Shrike-like Cotinga) and Tufted Antshrike! A very productive last day! Trip report coming soon!

We have now started our next tour, this is a photographic tour with Glenn Bartley and his group. We are spending 5 days in the Atlantic forest at Itororo Lodge and then moving onto Chapada das Guimaraes and then onto the Pantanal. We had a good morning, the feeders were quite busy with visits from Magpie Tanager, Brassy-breasted Tanager (pictured below), Burnished-buff Tanager, Ruby-crowned Tanager and Rufous-bellied Thrush.

A great day birding the Cedae Trail and Macae de Cima today. Highlights included Red-necked tanager (pictured below), White-bearded Antshrike, Green-headed Tanager, White-eyed Foliage Gleaner, Black-capped Foliage Gleaner, Saw-billed Hermit, Black-cheeked Gnateater, Ochre-breasted Foliage Gleaner, Chestnut-bellied Euphonia and Sharpbill!

We awoke to a glorious morning, completely clear sky with a very pink tinge to it, meaning we should have a nice sunny day ahead! Today was clearly the day to go up to the higher elevations of the mountains and bird Pico da Caledonia!

We had a very productive day just missing one of our many target birds! We started off well with Gill spotting a sub adult male Black and Gold Cotinga, this was followed by good views of a female Rufous-tailed Antbird, Serra do Mar Tyrannulet, Mouse-coloured Tapaculo, Pallid Spinetail, Rufous-crowned Greenlet, Thick-billed Saltator, Brassy-breasted Tanager and some Diademed Tanagers. We continued on up the rather steep road to look for the Itatiaia Thistletail, another rare and very localised endemic to this area. We had nice views of a male Plovercrest on the way up and then signed in at the security guards hut for access to the steps where the Thistletail should be. On the way up we managed to get good views of a Rufous-capped Antshrike, Bay-chested Warbling Finch, Velvety-black Tyrant and eventually after a lot of effort and 300 steps later Clive spotted a Thistletail! We used some playback and got it in a little closer giving the group distant but good views. On the way back down we had good views of a Cinnamon Tanager, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper and finally a good scope view of a male Black and Gold Cotinga!

What a great days birding! We have just returned from a day of open country birding around Duas Barras and Sumidouro having seen 119 different species! So many highlights from today, the main standouts included Three-toed Jacamar, Crescent-chested Puffbird, Curl-crested Jay, White-eared Puffbird, Firewood Gatherer, Black-necked Aracari, Serra Antwren, Grey-eyed Greenlet, Black and White Hawk-Eagle, White-collared Foliage Gleaner, Streamer-tailed Tyrant, Blue-winged Macaw, Capped Heron, Black-billed Scythebill, Red-leged Seriema, Chestnut-backed Antshrike and Crested-black Tyrant.

Yesterday we started a 7 day private tour. We had a great start to the tour with lots of activity on the Lodge feeders including Maroon-bellied Parakeet, Azure-shouldered Tanager, Magpie Tanager, Rufous-headed Tanager, Gilt-edged Tanager, Golden-chevroned Tanager, Brassy-breasted Tanager, Ruby-crowned Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush and Blue Dacnis. From the decking area in front of the Lodge we also managed to see Chestnut-crowned Becard, Scaly-headed Parrot, Buff-fronted Foliage Gleaner, Hooded Siskin, Gray-fronted Dove, Scaled Woodcreeper, Green-winged Saltator, Great Kiskadee, Fawn-breasted Tanager and both Planalto and Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulets! The hummingbird feeders were also very productive with Brazilian Ruby, White-throated Hummingbird, Violet-capped Woodnymph and Scale-throated Hermit paying regular visits. We spent the afternoon birding the White Trail within the Lodge grounds, highlights included both Ochre-rumped and Dusky-tailed Antbird, Drab-breasted Bamboo Tyrant, Rufous-capped Spinetail, Variable Antshrike, Pin-tailed Manakin, Black-billed Scythebill, White-rimmed Warbler, Orange-eyed Thornbird and a Yellow-browed Woodpecker.