JANUARY:
We ended up having January as a very good month! We believe it was just a “warm up” for the rest of the year of 2011, since we have lots of planned birding trips! Besides, Manaus we took guests to two more locations: Murici, where for several times we had the Seven-coloured Tanager and also to Itacaré, State of Bahia, where our guests has the Very Rare: Racket-tailed Coquette!
FEBRUARY:
What a perfect combination: Birds & Friends!!! This month, I had a guest for the Fazenda Nova. This place is still, TOTALLY, unknown for birders but, in a near future, might become a very important bird destination. It is located by the border between the State of Sao Paulo and State of Minas Gerais.The Fazenda Nova is an very old farm (more than one hundred years old), with very comfortable guest rooms. The owners are: Ian, Laura and Marina – All the three speaks fluent English. So, besides great birds such Helmeted Manakin and Streamer-tailed Tyrants, the guests, have the opportunity of making new friends, since Laura, Ian and Marian are some of the nicest people that I ever met!
MARCH:
What a month! – We had two major trips, each one with 10 tour participants: One covering the Pantanal and Alta Floresta and another one covering the Pantanal and Serra das Araras, – both also covered Itatiaia and Ubatuba.
We also had a couple of Americans coming to Itatiaia and Ubatuba on a private tour.
We proved that the myth that this is “not” a good month is not true, since the rains caused us no problems & we had tons of birds!
APRIL:
Our first return to Carajas National Forest in 2011. It was mostly a Photo Tour.
The very rare White-crested Guan was one of the best birds giving us full frame photo opportunities, as can be seen in our “slide show” on the Main Home Page.
In April, we made our Third return to the Pantanal. This time with a group of 15 guests from Canada – The purpose was a Photo Tour & Natural History, having a few birders among them.
Very few times I saw so many beautiful Sunrises & Sunsets! The air is still very clear from the last rains and the combination of the Blue Sky and clouds of different colors offered us breath taking moments.
MAY:
During the month of May we had the chance of combining a trip to Sao Paulo, where we presented a lecture at the Brazilian Bird Fair, aka, AVISARBRASIL and a lovely trip to the Itatiaia National Park, where to our surprise, we had the Fork-tailed Pygmy-tyrant on a daily basis. It wasn’t much cold and we had no rain.
JUNE:
We started June, with a NEW ITINERARY that covered Intervales ( 04 Days), Canastra ( 02 Days), Itatiaia ( 03 days) and Ubatuba (03 days), in the total we got about 350 species, including the Brazilian Merganser and Full frames pictures of the face of the Maned Wolf. In Intervales we made History: We got all the most important Antshrikes in just one day!!! In Itatatia we had the Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle! In June, we still have one more trip booked to Itatiaia and Ubatuba, that will extend to the Pantanal, Iguassu Falls and Juazeiro do Norte (Araripe Manakin).
In June we are also running three important trips, one witha couple from USA, combining Birds and Jaguar Search at the Pantanal and another one, covering Itatiaia, Ubatuba, Pantanal, with an exclusive Jaguar Safari, Iguassu Falls and a visit to the site of the Araripe Manakin, in the Brazilian State of Ceará!!!
And, finally, a Bird Trip, with Japanese Guests, with a respective Bird List in Japanese(!!!), covering Itatiaia and Ubatuba.
JULY:
What a start! On July 1st., we had a full day at the Araripe National
Forest, where the Araripe Manakin couldn’t be on a better position for pictures: Eating fruit on a bush right by the trail. Kathie Kinnie took, absolutely fantastic, pictures of it. Which shall be displayed soon, at her web site. More News…Coming Soon!!!…Closing Reports: July was fanstastic – We had several trips running at the same time. Jaguars were seen & photographed!
We runned tours to Itatiaia, Ubatuba, Intervales, Pantanal, Serra das Araras and Canastra!
AUGUST:
Our first tour will be to Itatiaia, followed by other two ones, running at the same time: Pantanal and Alta Floresta.
It is so good to count with an excellent Guide Team!Paulo Boute, will be, during the last week of August, at the Pantanal: Guiding & Celebrating his birthday!
SEPTEMBER: GREAT, GREAT NEWS!!!
Besides, the “normal” encounters with Jaguars on the banks of the Cuiabá River, our guests also spent more than one full hour with a Jaguar at the banks of the Pixaim River !!!
The Pixaim River, also offered Three Ondulated Tinamous drinking water, side by side & Agami Heron, on close looks.
At Campo Jofre we had wonderful views of the Crested Doradito!!!
In Alta Floresta, we had the Zig Zag Heron at day time!
On the same day, four Tapirs, including a mother with a young.
Next week, we will have a five day tour day there!
September could end on a better way, in our return to Alta Floresta, we had Crested and Harpy Eagles.
Among the animals Tapir, Pacas and the rarelly seen: Ocellot!
OCTOBER 2011
Good News & Bad News!!!
The “Good News” is that October was as a British would describe: “Brillant!”
All our guests had such a great time in our trips!
Including Harpy , Crowned and Crested Eagles!!!
The “Bad News” is that is not possible to described every single trip, since they were about six in the total.
But, this text will have a “Happy End”, offering you a link with wonderful pictures:
http://www.naturalencountersbirdingtours.com/presentations/WildlifeOfBrazil/album/index.html
And, we are still just half way in October, with more tours running & still to be runned!
We ended October, with the wonderful news that the HARPY EAGLES ARE NESTING AGAIN, at Serra das Araras.
And, at the Gardens of the Amazon, we added three news species to their list: Gould’s Toucanet, Black-bellied Thorntail and Black-eared Fairy!
NOVEMBER:
November 1st., to be more precise: The first bird of the day was the rarest tanager of Brazil: The Cone-billed Tanager! Smashing views at close range!
Plus, countless Cock-tailed Tyrants at the Emas National Park!
DECEMBER:
This month we are running a tour with 12 people for the Atlantic Forest and also getting prepared for two important tours in January:
One for the Intervales, Canastra and Alta Floresta – Where the Harpy Eagle Nest is already Very Active(!) & another one covering the entire Brazilian Northeast.
And, last but, not least: We would like to wish to all our costumesr and partners : Happy Holidays and Lots of Birds in 2012!!!