Thursday, February 6, 2014

Brazil Sneak Peak

Well, I'm back from another successful trip to Brazil.  I'm still going through photos and entering eBird checklists but I wanted to give you all a sneak peak at some of the birds I was lucky enough to see down there.  All in all I got over 60 lifers on this trip, and some shorebird highlights included Curlew Sandpiper (second year in a row), 19 Bar-tailed Godwits (new high count for Brazil), 5000 Scarlet Ibis (eBird world high count all at once!), 3 Marbled Godwits (very rare in Brazil), and close to 20,000 Semipalmated Sandpipers, among lots of other cool birds.  Some great northeast Brazil specialties that we got included the Araripe Manakin (discovered in the last 30 years), Red-necked Tanager, Gray-breasted Parakeet (critically endangered), and Gould's Toucanet among countless others.

Here is a taste of what will be coming in the next week or so.

Cactus (Caatinga) Parakeet in Quixadá, Ceará, Brasil
Red-necked Tanager in Guaramiranga, Ceará, Brasil

Silvery-cheeked Antshrike in Crato, Ceará, Brasil

Monday, January 6, 2014

Back To Brazil

Leaving tonight to head back to Brazil to study Semipalmated Sanpipers in Northeastern Brazil.  Last year we had lots of cool birds to brag about including Curlew Sandpiper and Bar-tailed Godwits, and dozens of other interesting and beautiful tropical and coastal species!  This year we'll be taking three days at the end to do some birding in Caatinga, a unique and beautiful ecosystem with loads of endemic species!

Wish us luck and see you in three weeks!

Lettered Aracari from last year