Brazil: Altantic Forest, South

We'd been thinking about a visit to Brazil and indeed more broadly South America for years and finally the stars aligned!  Travel is somewhat normal again, most facilities are open and with South America hosting one third of all avian species on Earth it was time we visited.   This then is the first part of a two-month trip, starting in the Atlantic Rainforest of South East Brazil, which meant arriving in Sao Paulo and meeting our guide(s) there. 

We planned a few rest days on arrival but decided to go on a day trip from the city, and were rewarded with 49 life species in a single day, including the specialist Gilt-edged Tanager:

The place we visited has only been open a year and the owners are innovating and developing all the time.

From there it was back to the city for another day before being collected by our host and main guide Demis Bucci.

We visited a number of sites in the Atlantic Rainforest, all specialist birding lodges and saw some stunning species including the Red-necked Tanager:

We were sat watching the feeders one morning over breakfast when i spotted the lighter-headed bird on the left, cue much excitement.   It turns out Black-legged Dacnis are unlikely visitors to feeders and it was the first sighting at the property:

The next destination was the operations centre for Biologists in the middle of a hydroelectric area, Legado das Aguas, this being one of the dams holding the water back for the generators:

We set out after lunch, up a trail to see this Bat Falcon on her regular perch:

A stunning little bird was this Grey-headed Tody-Flcycatcher:

Legado is well reputed for its owl species, we saw two before dinner after dusk the night we stayed, we heard at least three more species during the night too.   The first was this Mottled Owl:

Followed shortly by a Tawny-browed Owl:

The feeders at our last stop proved very productive, we saw Golden-chevroned Tanager:

Magpie Tanager:

And evenutally the star of the show, a Saffron Toucanet:

Yellow-fronted Woodpeckers were regular visitors: 

I was very excited to see this Black-throated Grosbeak, a funky bird:

From the Atlantic Forest we headed back to Sao Paulo, a brief stop at Foz to see the waterfalls and then on to the Pantanal....