REGUA, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: 15 July

I felt ill for much of the day so birding was once again restricted to the wetland. Mist early morning provided some challenging conditions for photography but I managed some reasonable images of Yellow-legged Thrush (photo 1), Burnished-buff Tanager (photo 2) and White-barred Piculet (photo 3). The most noteworthy sighting of the day was unfortunately one that got away - a saltator at the wetland with a white looking throat could have been a Green-winged Saltator but unfortunately I didn't get a good look at it. Frustratingly, Adilei found a Green-winged Saltator nearby in the lodge garden later in the afternoon which might have been the same bird. This is a high altitude species and is very unusual at just 30 m or so above sea level. Equally frustrating was a Grey-necked Wood-Rail heard calling but refusing to show itself. This would be a new bird for me at REGUA.

Other birds seen throughout the day include 5 Muscovy Duck, 1 Rufescent Tiger-Heron, 1 Aplomado Falcon, 1 Rufous-sided Crake, 1 Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher, 1 Yellow-browed Tyrant, a pair of White-winged Becard, 2 Lemon-chested Greenlet, an interesting partial albino Pale-breasted Thrush (photo 4), a pair of Brazilian Tanager, 1 Yellow-backed Tanager and Chestnut-capped Blackbird. In the lodge garden a Reddish Hermit showed at very close range. A walk around the wetland trail and along the adjacent forest trails at night was very quiet but still produced a Tropical Screech-Owl (photo 5), 4 Pauraque and a male Scissor-tailed Nightjar which showed down to 3 metres (photo 6)!