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This Brasilia Tapaculo was extremely cooperative. Normally very shy, this one came out and posed for us, allowing participant Sylvia Hanson to get this lovely image.

This was a challenging year for us at Canastra in terms of seeing the Mergansers. Heavy rains muddied the waters and pushed the Mergansers further up the streams making it hard to locate them. We searched for a couple of days with no luck but enjoyed great views of other birds in the process, such as the beautiful Blond-crested Woodpecker we saw by the river as well as great views of Helmeted and Pin-tailed Manakins. We eventually got a tip that the Mergansers had been spotted along the river in a property we usually don’t visit, so we headed that way and saw 5 birds flying along the river from afar. Needless to say that it was a bit disappointing to have such a quick view and from a great distance, but this is the way birding goes sometimes.

Having located the Mergansers, we pondered changing our plans a bit and trying to see them the next morning but decided instead to invest our efforts in the upper reaches of the National Park and our decision definitely paid off. We spent a full day at the top of the mountain at Canastra and had some of the most memorable encounters with wildlife I have ever experienced.

We reached the Park’s gates early in the morning with gray clouds threatening to ruin our day but pushed forward into the park making a stop that produced the most incredible views of a Brasilia Tapaculo anyone could have hoped for. We continued our journey into the Park and suddenly spotted two Maned Wolves right in the middle of the road. This alone would have made this a special encounter, as Maned Wolves are typically solitary, but things got even better when one of them decided to walk straight towards our vehicle and then calmly walked around our car and continued to walk down the road. This was by far the best sighting I have ever had of this species in the wild. Our day at Canastra continued to produce excellent sightings, including a close up view of Ochre-breasted Pipit and Great Dusky and White-collared Swifts flying low and so close to us that we could hear their wings cutting through the air.

All in all this was another great year at Canastra and the long drive out there proved once again to be totally worth our visit. I am already looking forward to coming back next year.

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

A male Pin-tailed Manakin also put on a real show, allowing us to see him up-close and personally! Photo by participant Brian Stech.

Savanna Hawk is widespread in Brazil, but we were still pleased to get a good look at this perched individual. Photo by participant Sylvia Hanson.

We found this handsome Yellow-browed Tyrant on the extension. Photo by participant Sylvia Hanson.

The large and colorful Toco Toucan was seen on the extension as well as on the main tour. Participant Brian Stech got this wonderful portrait of one.

This lovely female Blond-crested Woodpecker is one of a pair that we saw along the Sao Francisco River. Photo by participant Brian Stech.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 135 bird taxa and 4 mammal taxa