Thursday, 6 March 2014

Trickle of birds with a lifer thrown in!

Tuesday 4th March 2014

Today was going to be my first foray into the Cerrado and the first of my Mckinnon counts. The cloud was low and there had been some rain overnight therefore keeping one eye on the lagoon was a must.  There was nothing unusual there early on so I ventured into the Cerrado.
(White banded Tanager)
I completed two lists in a four hour period with many usual suspects included in the count. A Striped Cuckoo was one of the interesting birds seen on the walk. The Cerrado hold some of Laguna Blanca’s specials including four that were very obliging, White Rumped Tanager, White Banded Tanager, Black Throated Saltator and Curl Crested Jay.

A Rufous Crowned Motmot had been seen along the Arroyito trail by Jorge one of the forest guards so I made my way back towards the base.
I had lunch and prepared for an afternoons stake out on the lagoon. This turned out to be a very good move as their appeared to have been a small fall of birds around the margins.
(Fork tailed Flycatcher)
Fork tailed Flycatchers were the first to arrive with circa 12 birds counted along with a Brown crested Flycatcher and an Elanea. 
(Elaenia / Flycatcher)
A pair of White backed Stilt had snuck in. They were feeding along from the beach front another product of the bad weather.
(Band Tailed Manakin  Female)
I walked the Arroyito trail which is at the back of the base. This route has a small stream that many birds come to drink at. I connected with a female Band tailed Manakin (which is a life bird for me thanks Paul)  en route to the dried river bed which was the original course for the stream before it was diverted. This area was surprisingly quiet and there was no sign of the Motmot.

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