Cerrado in the Sun!

Friday 8th Getting up at stupid o’clock (5am) is the best thing to do if you want to see plenty of bird activity. This morning a walk into the Cerrado with Alicia (Switzerland) and Marco (Italy) was on the agenda. The general plan was to see some of the Cerrado specials on the reserve before the temperature soared in an area with very little cover.

The sun rose like it had been fired from a catapult and was soon obscuring good views of birds that all appeared to be on the trees and shrubs that faced the sun! We ventured into the scrub and waited a while for the birds to come to us.

White rumped and Shrike like Tanagers were their usual vocal selves which bought in a group of Chalk browed Mockingbirds who joined the chorus.

Black throated Saltator was next up giving views from a couple of metres. Pairs of Blue fronted Amazon parrots flew overhead whilst making their way from roost sites to feeding grounds. A pair of American Kestrel were perched on top of trees waiting for an opportunity to pounce on breakfast.

A small group of Campo Flicker made their presence known with a noisy display of branch hopping. During the walk back Flavescent Warbler were engaged in a singing competition one on either side of the airfield.

I added another butterfly to my growing list. There are so many amazing colour combinations in each species. I will find out later the species name during the evenings id session.