REGUA, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: 11 July

Rachel and I put the camera trap out today, just off the trail leading to the São José Tower and baited the area with bananas - let's see what comes in? Walked to the site via the Forest Trail and had a nice winter mixed species bird flock that included 1 Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant (yet another forest interior species moving into the area), several Black-goggled Tanager, 1 Sepia-capped Flycatcher, 1m Crested Becard, 1 Yellow-backed Tanager, 2-3 Squirrel Cuckoo, and 1f White-bearded Manakin.

On the wetland, 2 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, 2 Anhinga, 8 White-faced Whistling-Duck, several Muscovy Duck, several Brazilian Teal and an adult Rufescent Tiger-Heron were logged, and over the lodge several Biscutate Swift were quite low mid afternoon.

A couple of hours walking the Wetland Trail after dark was unsurprisingly very quiet for nocturnal bird activity, producing just 1f Pauraque (down to 2 metres in torch light) and 2H Tropical Screech-Owl, along with a roosting Purple Gallinule, 2 Capybara and an incredible 41 Broad-snouted Caiman - by far my highest count here and only one short of the REGUA record!

Female Pauraque Hydropsalis albicollis, REGUA wetland, after dark 11 July 2016 (taken using a torch - no flash)

1 of 41 Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris at the REGUA wetland this evening. Amazing to think that just 11 years go the
wetland was farmland, and none of these reptiles have been introduced.

Roosting Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinica, 11 July 2016

Several Neotropical Cichlid Geophagus brasiliensis were seen in the wetland by torch light - a common Atlantc Forest endemic of calm
water and species frequently kept in aquariums. Many thanks to Thiago Barros of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) for
the identification.

Bittern again

Made the most of the fine weather and spent a few hours thrashing the patch before meeting up with Sue, Wendy Marks and Peter Alfrey mid afternoon who I took on a short guided tour of Staines Moor. Unfortunately things were rather quiet, the Short-eared Owl failed to show, and we had no luck finding any Woodcock after dark either (have they migrated already?). The undoubted highlight was the Bittern seen very briefly flying into roost at 17:44, and 37+ Common Snipe (including 34 together in the south-east marsh) is my highest ever site count.

Other birds logged throughout the day include 2 Water Pipit, 8 (6m, 2f) Stonechat (including 4m and 2f together in the same bush at one point), 5 Little Egret, 1(H) Cetti's Warbler, 8 Northern Lapwing, 1 Red Kite over SE, 2 Little Grebe, 1f Kestrel, 10 Linnet, 8 Reed Bunting (1 singing), 5+ Skylark (several singing), 50+ Fieldfare, 29 Redwing, 2 Pied Wagtail, 12+ Meadow Pipit, 1+ Goldcrest (old railway), 4 Stock Dove, 1+ Mistle Thrush, 4 Canada Goose over S, and an adult Great Black-backed Gull over W.

The water levels have dropped quite a bit on the Moor, but the Wraysbury is still in flood. Continuing the bizarre fish encounters, I had a Northern Pike Esox lucius swimming around my feet in torch-light on the 'footpath' beside the flooded Wraysbury River while on the way back to the car (pan species patch tick!).

Many thanks to Sue, Wendy and Pete for being great company (for more on today's birding check out Wendy's blog here, and Pete's blog here).

One of five Little Egrets present today

Stonechats everywhere! Eight today, including six together (five in this pic).

A Northern Pike Esox lucius swimming around on the 'footpath' alongside the flooded Wraysbury River this evening - bonkers! I
guess some fish will find themselves stranded as the floods recede.

Bittern on the patch!

A long but excellent day at the patch today in glorious weather for a change. The highlight was a very brief Bittern that flew in to roost at dusk (17:25). Patch tick! Unfortunately it didn't show again by dark but it's good to know there's one about. Also I could hear a Water Rail squealing away on Stanwell Moor.

On Staines Moor the water level has dropped a little but much of the Moor is still flooded, especially on the west side. The Wraysbury River is the highest I've seen it - ideal for christening the new hip waders. Sightings from Staines Moor today include 1 Short-eared Owl showing well in the north-east corner from 16:35, 1 Woodcock around the anthills in the north-east corner after dark, 1+ Water Pipit in the south-west corner, 1 Water Rail along the Colne in the large willow clump, 1(H) Cetti's Warbler in the north-east corner, 4 (2m, 2f) Stonechat, 1 Little Egret along the Colne, 9 Reed Bunting (mainly males, some singing), 2 Red Kite over, 2-4 Common Buzzard over, 8 Lapwing (5 over), 2 Common Snipe (1 heard at night), 22 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, 20 Pied Wagtail, 8 Skylark (some singing), 20 Meadow Pipit, 1 Grey Heron, 9 Mute Swan, several Mallard (mostly coming into the pools at night), 4 Green Woodpecker and 4 (1H) Moorhen.

Also, 4 Chub Leuciscus cephalus swimming around my feet in floodwater under the railway bridge was a strange sight. Just outside the patch boundary 1 Sparrowhawk flew over along Moor Lane, and 4 Common Buzzard were noted at M25/M3 junction (with another probable nearby).

1 Short-eared Owl showed from about 16:35 this evening.

Water levels have dropped a little in recent days, although the River Colne is still extremely high - you can just make out the
highest water mark on the left of this photo (click to enlarge)

The River Colne at the southern end, looking north-west

The pool west of the Colne

Flooding around anthills of the Yellow Meadow Ant Lasius flavus in the north-west corner of Staines Moor. The ants live almost
entirely underground and survive flooding events by creating bubbles of air in their nests.

The channel in the south-west of Staines Moor