REGUA, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: 10 June

Rachel and I are currently in the process of producing leaflets for the main birding trails at REGUA, and after completing the marking of the new Forest Trail (brown posts) last November we wanted to walk the trail today to note the main points of interest and key junctions for the leaflet. Also, as it had now stopped raining I was keen to try for some half decent photos of another of REGUA's speciality birds - Black-legged Dacnis, so after a quick look at the lodge garden, which produced just Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, 1f Violet-capped Woodnymph, 1m Brazilian Tanager, a Palm Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, 1m Violaceous Euphonia and a few Common Marmosets, we set off.

A nice mixed-species flock at the start of the Forest Trail (between posts 0 - 50) was comprised largely of Tropical Kingbirds and Social Flycatchers, also included 4+ Black-legged Dacnis (1+m, 2+ imm. m & 1+f), several Blue Dacnis, a fantastic male Swallow Tanager, 1 Reddish Hermit, 1m Rufous-tailed Jacamar, 1 White-barred Piculet, 1 Streaked Xenops, 1 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 2+ Bananaquit, a pair of Brazilian Tanager, Sayaca and Palm Tanagers, 1f Burnished-buff Tanager, a few Red-rumped Cacique and 3 Violaceous Euphonia. Seemingly almost every tree here is currently fruiting and are covered with birds gorging themselves. This might explain the lack of birds on the feeders in the lodge garden at the moment.

Male Swallow Tanager, Forest Trail, 10 June 2012. The peak period for this species
at REGUA is January to March, but there are a lot around the wetland area at the
moment, probably attracted by the abundant fruiting trees.

Male Black-legged Dacnis, Wetland Trail, 10 June 2012. There are good numbers
of this rare dacnis around the wetland at the moment.

Further along the Forest Trail several male White-bearded Manakin were seen, along with an Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, 1 Euler's Flycatcher, 1f Crested Becard, a pair of Yellow-backed Tanager, 1 Chestnut-vented Conebill and 1m Pauraque accidentally flushed from its daytime roost low down in a tree. A day-flying Sterrhinae moth (Family: Geometridae) near the end of the trail is probably a Cyllopoda claudicula.

Cyllopoda claudicula?

The wetland was still fairly quiet but 2 Blue Ground-Dove, 1m White-bellied Seedeater, 1 Ringed Kingfisher, an immature Black-crowned Night-Heron, 2 Creamy-bellied Thrush were noted and 2 Capped Heron allowed close approach for once. Outside the REGUA Conservation Centre 1 Tropical Screech-Owl was at the usual roost site.

Capped Heron

The weather continued to hold so this evening we joined the guests at the lodge for an excursion to an area of rough pasture near the nearby village of Areal for Giant Snipe. A surprise Toco Toucan flew in to roost as dusk fell (followed by another shortly afterwards that I missed), and Ash-throated Crake, Striped Cuckoo, Tropical Screech-Owl and Pauraque were all heard calling. It wasn't long before we heard the strange flight display call of Giant Snipe overhead and before long we had excellent close views of 1 bird in flight and another on the ground.