A bad time to have neglected this blog due to work pressure, as things move quickly here as spring approaches. I did not even have to move from my desk to photograph this seasonal visitor out of the office window - it is a Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus), the second species here whose male has bright scarlet colouring mixed with black feathers - the other being the Brazilian Tanager (Ramphocelus bresilius). Apart from a sleeker body and very different behaviour, the tanager can be distinguished by a white spot at the base of the lower mandible (beak). The flycatcher also shows the characteristic feeding pattern of the family, staying perched for long periods in the same place like this wire, and fluttering off for short acrobatic forays before coming back to the same spot. This pair stayed a few days in September before apparently moving on south for its annual migration.
Other bird news: the pair of Southern Lapwings (Vanellus chilensis) that had been protecting three eggs in the middle of our lawn for nearly a month finally hatched their young. We have only seen two chicks, however, and I suspect the third may have been taken by a Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris), as I have seen this hawk being fought off several times by the lapwing parents as they try to defend their very exposed nursery.
This female Crested Becard (Pachyramphus validus) perched on one of the big jerivá or Queen Palms near the house, is one of a string of species that have appeared in the past weeks for their spring/summer visiting periods. Others include Piratic Flycatcher, (Legatus leucophaius), Streaked Flycatcher (Myiodynastes maculatus) Fawn-breasted Tanager (Pipraeida melanonota), Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) and Southern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx ruficollis). Among the characteristics sounds of the season is this song of the migrant Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) which sounds in the treetops from dawn onwards.
One very welcome development is that the endemic and vulnerable White-necked Hawk (Leucopternis lacernulatus), pictured here from last year, has been spotted pretty much constantly since it re-appeared on the farm in August. It is often seen making its characteristic small circles above the forest from around mid-morning. Previously I had only seen it very sporadically, but this suggests it uses this forest as a full-time hunting ground during the spring and summer.
The gloriously-coloured Swallow-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia caudata) more commonly known as Blue Manakin, is among several species responding very well to playback for visitors at the moment, coming out to be snapped with little prompting. Our species list is now at 176, and some notable new discoveries have been the endemic Black-capped Foliage-gleaner (Philydor atricapillus) associated with mixed ant-followers in the forest;a twelfth hummingbird species, the orange-billed White-chinned Sapphire (Hycharis cyanus), seen buzzing around the citrus flowers; and a Green-barred Woodpecker (Colaptes melanochlorus), the ninth species of this family , which has the strange habit of drumming on the bamboo stems growing near the house.
We have been seeing much more of the sloths, which now seem to be staying in the trees close to one of the forest trails between the farm and river - on one late-morning walk recently we saw a whole family, male and female with baby clinging to its chest, moving around the high branches. I am waiting to get a good photo of them.
Finally, an update on the Blue-winged Parrotlets mentioned in the last post. Soon after that episode they seem to have given up on the woodpecker holes which have now been re-taken by their rightful owners, but since then have been competing with a pair of Rufous Horneros (Furnarius rufus) for nesting in one of their mud "ovens" constructed in the top branches of an "Indian almond" shade tree (Chapeu do Sol) near the lake.
