Friday 15th I
had no idea when I woke up this morning that the day would turn into a MEGA
bird crazy bonanza! Paul had arrived the previous evening with his tour
consisting of David and Elizabeth from the UK. A plan was made to maximise the
birding potential over the next couple of days but neither of us could have
predicted what was to happen next....
Paul and I walked
over the small bridge turning left towards the beach. Paul said there is a
Black crowned Night Heron at the back of the small pool by the reeds. I fired
off a few pictures as it walked across into the reeds. Laguna Blanca tick
number one!
I then looked
through my bins and spied a Green Kingfisher sitting on the small tree. Two
Laguna Blanca ticks in less than two minutes!! What is going on!!
We joined David and
Elizabeth and took a short drive to Urukurea trail which took us down to the
seasonal pond via the non swampy route. On arrival at the pond Paul raised his
bins and exclaimed Green and Rufous Kingfisher which incidentally was the first
record for Laguna Blanca and deserved its MEGA rating!!
After capturing the
first record on camera I caught sight of a small crake in the reed-bed to my
left. I tapped Paul and whispered for him to look to his left. The bird was a
Rufous-sided Crake another first record for the reserve. This bird gained
confidence amongst the now statuesque birders and slowly wandered out into the
open coming within touching distance walking through the legs of my telescope
at one point. Total amazement and excitement all round and it hadn’t even reached
eight o clock yet!
After a breakfast
break David joined us for a walk into the Cerrado to find some of the specials
which were proving tricky to find. White rumped Tanager was the first species
to reveal itself followed by a White-tailed Goldenthroat which was Laguna
Blanca tick number five of the day for me! The Shrike like tanager eventually
revealed itself.
A walk though a sodden area of campo limpio produced
a Great White Egret feeding amongst the grass and a flushed Scissor tailed
Nightjar as we walked through the shrubs in search of Black throated Saltator which eventually gave itself up.
The rest of the day
proved more difficult in search of species for the group’s trip list but I
guess after a mornings birding like that the afternoon was going to be a tough
act to follow!
Two life ticks, two
new birds for the reserve list and five reserve ticks for me! Woo hoo!!!
Typical a week after the reserve list gets officially published!
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