REGUA, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: 12 September

We decided to set our second camera trap towards the top of the Elfin Forest Trail. This trail climbs steeply to over 900 metres, is very remote and passes through excellent selectively logged primary forest. Previous visits have found numerous tracks and signs of Puma Puma concolor, including kills, and so for a long time we've wanted to position a camera trap here, however, this mean't a long walk and an early start.

The dirt road from the reserve entrance to the trail head at Casa Pesquisa produced 2 Fork-tailed Flycatcher (the first reported at REGUA this spring), 1 Grassland Sparrow, 1 White-browed Blackbird and several Blue-black Grassquit.

The Waterfall Trail was extremely quiet, but did produce a surprise adult male Shrike-like Cotinga at post 500 (I was expected the males to be back on territory at higher altitudes by now) and also 2 Crescent-chested Puffbird, 1 Channel-billed Toucan, 1 Streaked Xenops, 1 White-throated Spadebill, 1+ Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, 1 Southern Antpipit, 1 Bananaquit (not particularly common at REGUA), a pair of Brazilian Tanager, 2 Yellow-backed Tanager and a pair of Blue Dacnis.

Crescent-chested Puffbird

A diversion up the Grey Trail for Russet-winged Spadebill failed to produce sight nor sound of any birds, or much else for that matter, with just 6 Bare-throated Bellbird seen (5 imm male and 1 ad male) and around 30 heard, and 1m Black-throated Trogon, 3 Spot-billed Toucanet, 1 Yellow-throated Woodpecker, 1 Spot-backed Antshrike, 1m Black-cheeked Gnateater, 2 Olivaceous Woodcreeper, 1 Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner, 1 Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant, 1 Greyish Mourner and 1 Yellow-legged Thrush.

The only adult Bare-throated Bellbird seen today. All others see were immature
males. This bird was a long way off, hence the terrible photo!

We reached the Elfin Forest Trail by early afternoon, but by now it was very hot and there was even less activity. Blue-bellied Parrots were frequently heard but we only managed poor views of 1 bird perched and 3 flying off. 1 Saw-billed Hermit, 1 Channel-billed Toucan, 1 Rufous-breasted Leaftosser, 1 Ochre-breasted Foliage-gleaner, 1 Black-capped Foliage-gleaner, a few Olive-green Tanager, 1+ Azure-shouldered Tanager, a few Red-necked Tanager and a pair of Chestnut-bellied Euphonia showed well, but arguably the best bird of the day was a Planalto Hermit that showed very briefly (a good bird for REGUA).

White-eyed Foliage-gleaner

After setting up the camera trap at post 1650 we made our way back. Back on the Waterfall Trail we added several Grey-rumped Swift, 1 Yellow-eared Woodpecker, 1 Plain Antvireo, 3 Unicoloured Antwren, 1 Olivaceous Woodcreeper, 1 White-throated Woodcreeper, 1 Blue Manakin, a nesting White-eyed Foliage-gleaner, 1+ White-thighed Swallow and 1f Red-crowned Ant-Tanager to the day list. Open country birds seen along the dirt road from Casa Pesquisa back to the reserve entrance include 2 Whistling Heron, 1 Burrowing Owl, 2 White-rumped Monjita, 2 Fork-tailed Flycatcher and a White-rumped Swallow.

REGUA, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: 11 September

Rachel and I met up with Adilei for some birding in an area of REGUA known as Waldenoor. In 2009 REGUA purchased a number of small plots of land above the village of Matumbo, to form a protected corridor between large, but separate, parts of the reserve. Dubbed the 'Matumbo Corridor', Waldenoor is the highest plot and gets it's name from it's previous owner.

The forest here is remote and has never been clear felled with only selected hardwoods removed, making for some excellent birding. There are a few old trails through the forest here, but none have yet been developed for tourism so it's fairly hard going. However, this doesn't deter many guests at the lodge from coming here, where the forest clad Serra dos Órgãos mountains provide a dramatic backdrop.

The dirt road from the reserve entrance to the start of the Matumbo Corridor was quite productive. A Common Potoo nesting on a fence post just before the village of Matumbo was a good start, along with a Piratic Flycatcher (one of the earliest summer migrants in south-east Brazil), 3 White-eared Puffbird, 4 Blue-winged Parrotlet, a pair of nesting Crested Becard, and the usual common open country species including Smooth-billed Ani and Chalk-browed Mockingbird.

Parking the trusty blue Toyota pickup and walking up the track into the forest, we found a decent number of birds including 2 Saw-billed Hermit, 2 Surucua Trogon, 1 Streak-capped Antwren, several Blue Manakin (though only 1m was actually seen), 1 Chestnut-crowned Becard, 2 Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, 2 Yellow-olive Flycatcher, 2+ Planalto Tyrannulet, 1 Tropical Pewee, 1 Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Yellow-legged Thrush, 2 Pale-breasted Thrush (including 1 bird visiting a nest, built rather precarious position on a exposed muddy bank), 1 Buff-throated Saltator, 2 Yellow-green Grosbeak, 2 Golden-crowned Warbler and a pair of Chestnut-vented Conebill. Overhead, 2+ Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, numerous White-collared Swifts and 5 Scaly-headed Parrot were seen.

At the start of the trail to Casa do Waldenoor itself, a pair of Rufous-tailed Jacamar showed down to just a metre or so and kept me busy with the DSLR for a while, although despite the close range I struggled to get sharp images in the very dull light. A pair of Chestnut-bellied Euphonia, 1 Scaled Woodcreeper, 2 Golden-chevroned Tanager and 3 more Yellow-green Grosbeak were also noted.

Male Rufous-tailed Jacamar

Male Rufous-tailed Jacamar

Female Rufous-tailed Jacamar

The now derelict Casa do Waldenoor marks the top of the main trail, and here things were much quieter. A White-necked Hawk showed briefly overhead and a Plumbeous Pigeon remained out of sight called distantly. In the overgrown garden a Maroon-bellied Parakeet and 2 Plain Parakeets were logged and a Violet-capped Woodnymph, 1 distant Channel-billed Toucan, 1 Yellow-eared Woodpecker and a Cliff Flycatcher were the only other noteworthy species seen.

Pale-breasted Thrush nest containing 2 chicks

With the weather closing in we were beginning to think that was it for the day's birding, when a Barred Forest-Falcon started calling from close by. Adilei played the call half-heartedly and a few minutes later a Barred Forest-Falcon suddenly shot out of the forest and sped low across the open garden passing within a few metres of us before diving into cover! A few minutes later the bird flew back low across the garden, again at close range, perching up in a tree briefly and flying off just as I was pressing the shutter! Another bird then started calling and flew out of the forest to the other side of the garden, also alighting briefly before flying into the forest. We couldn't believe it. We'd just had incredible, if brief, views of a very difficult species, which was a lifer for me as well! What brilliant birds! The field guides really do not do them justice.

Returning via an unmarked trail through the forest was very quiet, with 1 Blond-crested Woodpecker, 1-2 Star-throated Antwren, 1 Lesser Woodcreeper, a Black-goggled Tanager and Green-headed Tanager noted. A Brown Sipo Chironius fuscus was also seen.

Brown Sipo Chironius fuscus

Last year's volunteer lodge co-ordinator, Helen Cavilla, carried out a small project to record the tracks and signs of mammals around the wetland area. In a few months Helen found a variety of prints including Crab-eating Fox Cerdocyon thous, Crab-eating Raccoon Procyon cancrivorus, Ocelot Leopardus pardalis, Oncilla Leopardus tigrinus and Puma Puma concolor. Rachel and I have bought some camera traps out to REGUA with us this year, and we decided to place one along the stream that crosses the Forest Trail near the lodge. Helen frequently found tracks in the sandy banks of the stream and we were keen to see if any animals were visiting the stream regularly, so this afternoon we walked to the stream to set up the trap, seeing a Crested Becard and 2 Long-billed Wren on route. Can't wait to see what we get on camera.

Back at the lodge we saw our third Rufous-tailed Jacamar of the day, and a stunned male White-bearded Manakin that flew into the insect screen on one of the lodge windows before flying off unharmed.

REGUA, Atlantic Forest, Brazil: 10 September

Today got off to an early start with Adilei, Rachel, lodge co-ordinator Kameliya Petrova, Colin Bushell and I finding ourselves night-birding on the Onofre Cunha Trail at 3 am. Despite hearing a Black-capped Screech-Owl, 2 Tawny-browed Owl and 3 Mottled Owl, only a single Black-banded Owl decided to briefly show itself. Just before dawn we also heard a call that sounded very much like a Stygian Owl?

Back at the lodge we found a few hawkmoths and a couple of dragonflies were amongst the moths attracted to the moth light, but the garden was very quiet, with few birds coming to the feeders and only small numbers of hummingbirds present. 1 White-winged Becard and a Fawn-breasted Tanager were the most noteworthy sightings, however, a pair of Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatchers nest building and mating provided some signs of early spring.

Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher

Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher

Partially constructed Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher
nest in the lodge garden

The wetland was also very quiet for birds. A Common Potoo nesting near post 250 of the Wetland Trail was the highlight, but a pair of nest building Social Flycatchers were also notable. Insects were much more in evidence, with several butterfly and dragonfly species noted.

Great Southern White Ascia monuste orseis

White Peacock Anarthia jatrophae jatrophae

Arrival in Brazil's Atlantic Forest

Flew in to Rio de Janeiro, south-east Brazil yesterday evening (8 Sept) and transferred straight to REGUA, arriving at the lodge around midnight. Today was Rachel’s birthday which called for a day of R&R instead of the usual immediate mad early dash straight out birding.

Managed a quick visit to the wetland at dusk which produced a couple of thousand Cattle Egrets coming in to roost, with 5 Great Egrets and 13 Neotropical Cormorant (a good site count). 1 Striated Heron was also noted. In a lodge garden a Reddish Hermit was notable.

The moth light at the lodge attracted very few moths last night, but did pull in two Xylophanes hawkmoths – 1 Xylophanes porcus continentalis and a Xylophanes chiron nechus.

Xylophanes chiron nechus

Almost birdless

Very quiet at Staines Moor this morning in light to moderate southerlies. The world's 2 most wary Whinchats were still around the temporary fence along the Colne, 2-3 Common Whitethroat and 1 Hobby overhead could be local breeders, and 7 commic terns over east were probably just commuting between reservoirs. Very small numbers of Barn Swallow pushing south provided the only vis mig.

Residents logged include 1 Kingfisher along the Colne, 1-2 Sparrowhawk (including 1 successfully catching a Goldfinch), c100 Goldfinch feeding out on the moor, c40 Linnet and 2 Meadow Pipit. On adjacent Stanwell Moor, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff were noted, and at Stanwell Moor village, several Barn Swallow and House Martin were hanging around and a Little Egret flew over.

NOTE TO MIGRANT GODS: Please would you remove the no-fly zone from around Staines Moor - there's Honey Buzzards, Ospreys, Marsh Harriers, Wrynecks, Pied Flys, Spotted Flys, Yellow Wags, Crossbills etc. turning up everywhere around London except here. I mean FFS, even a b****y Willow Warbler would be nice! Many thanks.

Cypress Pug

Been playing with the new macro lens and getting used to manual settings on the 7D. It's all great fun, but have I got a lot to learn!! This morning I photographed this Cypress Pug that's been hanging around the living room the last two days.

Apparently this uncommon pug is a relatively recent arrival to the UK, being first recorded in 1959 at Lamorna in Cornwall, before spreading across the southern counties. They usually don't get much further north than Gloucestershire or Suffolk, although it has been recorded as far north as Warwickshire. A distribution map can be found on the excellent UK Moths website here.

Cypress Pug Eupithecia phoeniceata, dorsal surface (click to enlarge)

Cypress Pug Eupithecia phoeniceata, ventral surface (taken through clear plastic)

Mothing indoors

Loads of things to do still before returning to REGUA in Brazil next month - trail leaflets to finish, maps to create, a butterfly guide to start, updates to the REGUA website etc. So last night I was working late in the living room with the windows open and a light on the window sill. Along with a whole load of micros, this little lot came in:

1 Brimstone Moth
1 Cypress Pug
1 Lesser Yellow Underwing (male)
1 Flounced Rustic
6 Square-spot Rustic
1 Silver Y
4 Willow Beauty (all males)

Not a bad haul considering it was quite windy with heavy rain at times, and I don't have a moth trap. These are the first photos I've taken with my new macro lens. Unfortunately, the light today was very poor but some aren't too bad. Many thanks to Alan Martin for help with some of the IDs.

Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata

Flounced Rustic Luperina testacea

Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa

Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa. Check out the variation compared
to the one above.

Silver Y Autographa gamma

Silver Y Autographa gamma. Don't often see these
resting with their wings open.

Male Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidaria