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B R A Z I L REGUA browed Treehunter, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper and Grey-hooded Attila all likely. The rare Russetwinged Spadebill is often seen along this trail too. We usually arrive back at the lodge in the late afternoon after our walk on the Waterfall Trail and after dinner and a refreshing Caipirhina there may be an optional night walk if the weather permits. REGUA is a great place to see the poorly known Giant Snipe so we will take a walk out to the grasslands nearby. Other birds we may find after dark include Scissor-tailed and Spot-tailed Nightjars and Striped Owl. In order to increase the diversity of species (not to mention the scenery) recorded during the tour we will make an outing to the highlands near Nova Friburgo. Stopping on the way in the foothills of the Serra Cachoeiras where there is a good opportunity to see Red-necked and Greenheaded Tanagers, Chestnut-bellied Euphonia and Blue-naped Chlorophonia at a feeding station. The feeders also attract some hummingbirds; sometimes including the rather uninspiring named endemic Sombre Hummingbird. It is the only place that we are likely to see this species so hopefully we will be lucky. On arrival at Pico Caledonia we will transfer to another vehicle, so we can drive most of the way up the mountain checking the sky for Black Hawk-Eagle and roadside posts for White-eared Puffbird as we go. Passing through tall Atlantic Forest and ascending into the elfin forest we will stop in an area dominated by bamboo where the scolding song of Rufous-tailed Antbirds can be heard and Rufous-capped Spinetails and Baychested Warbling-Finches forage in the roadside undergrowth. Upland Atlantic Forest species such as Serra do Mar Tyrannulet, Shear-tailed Grey Tyrant, Diademed Tanager, Brassy-breasted Tanager, Blue-billed Black-Tyrant, Highland Elaenia and Rufous-backed Antvireo can be found here while two highland ‘hummers’, the Black-breasted Plovercrest and White-throated Hummingbird should be found too. The strange song of the Black-and-Gold Cotinga will resonate throughout the uplands if conditions Surucua Trogon are favourable and we will spend some time scanning the canopy for this Brazilian endemic. Rarer still, the Grey-winged Cotinga has been found on the same mountain and although we have seen it in the past, it is a tricky bird to see here as is the Itatiaia Thistletail in the higher section of the forest. One trip by minibus will involve visiting a valley with dry forest in search of the rare Three-toed Jacamar. The arid environment is in stark contrast to the more humid forest near our lodge, but supports a different suite of birds nonetheless. Travelling through the grassland landscape we can look for the weird Red-legged Seriemas that roam the open areas, sometimes in pairs or small groups of three or four birds. Blue-winged Macaw, White-eyed Parakeet, White-eared Puffbird, Red-eyed Thornbird, Firewood-gatherer and White-rumped Monjita can all be seen in fields or scrub not too far from the roadside. If we find a damper area we will search for the spectacular Streamer-tailed Tyrant. The Atlantic Forest region is rich in bird endemism but they are not all restricted to tall, humid forest. The Restinga Antwren is a threatened species inhabiting the coastal scrub (Restinga) not far from Rio de Janeiro. As with other Atlantic Forest habitats Restinga has been drastically reduced, with less than 10% of the original cover remaining. Urban development, for holiday homes is the main threat to the survival of this strange habitat with its cacti, ferns, bromeliads and palms. During our outing we will visit some coastal lagoons where we may see a variety of water-associated species like White-cheeked Pintail, Roseate Spoonbill and maybe some transient waders. Other birds frequenting the Restinga apart from the antwren include Hangnest Tody-Tyrant and Sooretama Slaty-Antshrike. Days 9 & 10 After a final morning birdwatching in the REGUA reserve we leave for the airport at Rio de Janerio, where we catch our direct evening flight to London arriving the following morning. Outline Itinerary Day 1 Depart London and transfer to REGUA Days 2-8 REGUA Day 9 Depart Rio de Janeiro Day 10 Arrive London Party Size Maximum of nine clients. Accommodation Comfortable accommodation in twin/double and single rooms with private facilities. Transport By minibus. Includes All flights, meals, accommodation, transport, entry fees, services of the leaders, airport taxes and tips. Gradings Good 280 Mainly Hot Low Special Moderate Good Moderate Scheduled Three-toed Jacamar To make a booking please call Ornitholidays on 01794 519445 37
B R A Z I L Brazil – Photographic Tour The Pantanal & Chapada dos Guimaraes Sunday 14 September – Thursday 25 September 2014 Leaders: Richard Coomber and local guides 2014 Cost £4,599 single room supplement £400 ato Grosso has so much to offer birders as it is blessed with vast wetlands and large tracts of Amazonian M rainforest. We will begin our journey in the Pantanal watching Jabirus, Sunbitterns, Hyacinth Macaws (right outside one of our lodges) and large gatherings of herons, egrets and storks right next to our hotels in this birding paradise. We’ve been visiting the Pantanal for more than 10 years now and in recent years we have encountered Jaguars during our birding excursions along the Transpantaneira and from boats on the banks of rivers as we watched Bare-faced Curassows, Chestnut-bellied Guans and Nanday Parakeets with Band-tailed Nighthawks gathering to feed over the river as dusk fell! We may be lucky again this year but the chances of other mammals like Giant Otters, Giant Anteaters or Tapirs are good too. A couple of years ago we even saw a Puma! BRAZIL Chapada Cuiaba Pantanal São Paulo But it’s not all wetland birding in the Pantanal as we will also spend some time in gallery forest in search of Helmeted Manakin, Rufous Casiornis, Pale-crested Woodpeckers and much more before our stay at the spectacular tablelands of Chapada dos Guimaraes where Cerrado birds take centre stage. Red-legged Seriema, Horned Sungem, White-rumped Tanager, Collared Crescent-chest and White-eared Puffbird are just a few of the birds typical of this rarely visited habitat and we will make a special effort to see these during our stay here as well as experiencing the marvellous scenery this spectacular part of Brazil has to offer. Richard Coomber will be running this holiday as a Photographic Tour and he will make sure there are plenty of opportunities to photograph some of the outstanding wildlife to be found on this special Brazilian itinerary. This tour can be taken in conjunction with our other Brazilian itinerary to REGUA. Please ask us for a costing. ITINERARY Days 1 & 2 We leave London on a scheduled flight to Sao Paulo arriving the following day. We then catch a flight to Cuiaba and transfer to our comfortable hotel for an overnight stay. Days 3 & 4 We leave Cuiaba this morning but we will be in no hurry to get to our lodge, where we stay for the next two nights. Our journey will take us into the Pantanal and we will have plenty of excuses to stop on the way. Any pools of water will be worthy of inspection as we have seen Southern Screamer, Brazilian Teal, Muscovy Duck, Jabirus, Roseate Spoonbill and Plumbeous Ibis not far from Cuiaba. Birds are seemingly everywhere in the Pantanal with Snail Kites on fence posts and White Woodpeckers and Campo Flickers prolific in the borders of the fields. We shall be alert for the raucous calls of the magnificent Hyacinth Macaw as we near our lodge as they are quite common in this area. Small birds will not go unnoticed though as the roadside ponds are good places to find Chotoy and Yellow-chinned Spinetails. Scanning across the tall vegetation may reveal the presence of the superb Scarlet-headed Blackbird. After lunch at the lodge at Pouso Alegre we will take a walk across the ranch into an area of dry woodland and check any pools for birds coming to drink in the dry conditions. We may get time to look for Tropical Screech-Owl or Common Pauraque in the evening. Hyacinth Macaws call noisily as we stir this morning and after early morning coffee we will take a pre-breakfast stroll around the Pantanal ranch. The yard of the ranch is a good spot to see the impressive Great Rufous Woodcreeper as well as Grey-crested Cachalote. Greater Rheas strut across the open grasslands and flocks of whistling-ducks and Brazilian Teal fly around in the distance. Naturally the focus will be on waterbirds here in the Pantanal, however the arid forests are worthy of attention with Greenbacked Becard, Blue-crowned Trogon, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, the bizarre Pale-crested Nanday Parakeet Woodpecker, Planalto Woodcreeper, Rufous Casiornis, Planalto Slaty-Antshrike and Chestnut-vented Conebill all possible not too far from the lodge. Days 5 to 7 We have a final morning to explore the property of Pouso Alegre, maybe taking some time to photograph the magnificent Hyacinth Macaws, checking the pools near the lodge or taking another walk amongst the dry forest patches for anything we may have missed over the last couple of days. We will return to the lodge for lunch and have time to prepare for the journey along the Transpantaneira to our next accommodation on the banks of the Rio Pixaim, where we have a three night stay. There should be a few migrant shorebirds on the move at this time of year and we have seen Solitary Sandpipers, American Golden Plovers and even Upland Sandpipers in the pools and fields from the Transpantaneira. As we travel to our second lodge, Large-billed Terns fish nearby, while Whistling Herons, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Snowy and Great Egrets and the giant Jabirus are present on roadside pools and we will hopefully locate Southern Screamer, Maguari Stork and Sunbittern during our journey as well. Amazon and Ringed Kingfishers perch on the cables as we keep a close eye on the road ahead for the rare Chestnut-bellied Guan that often ventures out as the afternoon turns to evening. As dusk approaches the huge Nacunda Nighthawk can be seen hunting over the savannahs. Using our comfortable lodge as a base we will explore gallery forest on foot and take a boat ride 38 For a previous tour report or further information please call: 01794 519445
Page 1 and 2: ORNITHOLIDAYS 2014 49 Our Forty-Nin
Page 3 and 4: 49 Our Forty-Ninth Year ORNITHOLIDA
Page 5 and 6: I S O R N I T H O L I D AY S R I G
Page 7 and 8: L AT E 2 0 1 3 T O U R S Summary of
Page 9 and 10: T O U R G R A D I N G Tour Grading
Page 11 and 12: G R E E N TA X E S A N D C A R B O
Page 13 and 14: Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA
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Page 25 and 26: M E X I C O Mexico Western Mexican
Page 27 and 28: C O S TA R I C A Costa Rica Classic
Page 29 and 30: C U B A Cuba Endemic Birds & Winter
Page 31 and 32: T R I N I D A D & T O B A G O Trini
Page 33 and 34: S T LU C I A St Lucia at Leisure Pi
Page 35 and 36: G U YA N A Guyana Rainforests, Wate
Page 37 and 38: C O LO M B I A Colombia Birding’s
Page 39: B R A Z I L Brazil Atlantic Forest
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Page 45 and 46: Waterhole at Etosha, Namibia
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Page 53 and 54: G H A N A Ghana In search of Picath
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Page 57 and 58: U G A N D A Uganda Birds & Primates
Page 59 and 60: N A M I B I A Namibia Etosha & the
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Page 67 and 68: M O R O C C O Morocco Atlantic Coas
Page 69 and 70: Sing-sing with Huli, Papua New Guin
Page 71 and 72: J O R D A N Jordan Birds & History
Page 73 and 74: K U W A I T Kuwait Birding in the G
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Page 85 and 86: N E PA L Nepal Chitwan, Koshi & Phu
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PA P U A N E W G U I N E A Papua Ne
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N E W Z E A L A N D New Zealand Kiw
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Boating on the Danube Delta, Romani
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G R E E C E Greece - The Island of
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G R E E C E Greece - The Island of
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S PA I N Spain - Coto Doñana & Sie
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S PA I N Spain - The Canary Islands
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S PA I N Spain - Coto Doñana & Ext
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S PA I N Spain - The Island of Meno
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S PA I N Spain - Southern Catalonia
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S PA I N Spain - Catalonia - Photog
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S PA I N Spain - The Pyrenees Monta
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S PA I N Spain - Tarifa & Coto Doñ
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S PA I N Spain - Aragon Cranes, Lam
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P O R T U G A L Portugal at Leisure
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P O R T U G A L Portugal at Leisure
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I TA LY - S I C I LY Italy - Sicily
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I TA LY Italy Po Delta Po Delta Pal
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I TA LY Italy at Leisure Birds & Wi
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F R A N C E France - Wallcreeper To
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F R A N C E France - The Camargue,
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N E T H E R L A N D S Netherlands W
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I C E L A N D Iceland Winter Wonder
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I C E L A N D Iceland Land of Ice &
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T U R K E Y Turkey Turkish Delight
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B E L A R U S Belarus Europe’s La
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F I N L A N D Finland Owls, Woodpec
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H U N G A R Y Hungary Spring Tour S
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H U N G A R Y Hungary at Leisure Cr
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R O M A N I A Romania Danube Delta
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B U L G A R I A Bulgaria at Leisure
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O U R T E A M O F L E A D E R S Our
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O U R T E A M O F L E A D E R S Blu
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C A L E N D A R Calendar 2014 JANUA
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C O N D I T I O N S O F B O O K I N
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C O N D I T I O N S O F B O O K I N
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ORNITHOLIDAYS 29 Straight Mile Roms
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