The fruiting season of the juçara palmito, such a draw for birdlife, is over. At least, here in the Lowland Atlantic Forest it is. The fruit ripens later in the year, the further you go up the continental slope. There is evidence that some species follow the fruit in an altitudinal migration. Here, however, the end of the season marks a time in which native fruit is relatively sparse in the forest, so our own feeders and fruit trees become very popular. I caught this Channel-billed Toucan by surprise, feeding on a banana tree just next to our fishing lake this morning.

The area closer to the house where we suspend bunches of bananas has become even more of a riot of colour than normal. Here, two male Yellow-fronted Woodpeckers (only the males have red caps) are enjoying the feast. I don't think of woodpeckers as fruit eaters, but the feeder constantly attracts two species, this small variety and the much larger Blond-crested Woodpecker. I recorded the very piercing song of the latter this morning, showing why one local bird guide refers to it as the "Psycho bird". 

Below the bananas we have a small platform where we put assorted fruit, and this attracts large numbers of the ultra-colourful Green-headed Tanager (Tangara seledon), whose Portuguese name Saira Sete-cores means seven-coloured tanager, which is a better description. Confusingly, there is another species whose English common name is Seven-coloured Tanager (Tangara fastuosa), but this is confined to the very small remnants of North-eastern Atlantic Forest in Alagoas and Pernambuco.

Another feature of the winter is that the hummingbirds are especially appreciative of the sugar water available from feeders. It is one thing I know we have not made the most of here, especially seeing the way our one single feeder placed rather awkwardly just by the kitchen door is proving so popular at present. For the past two days, this Sombre Hummingbird seems to have taken ownership of it - he perches most of the day on a nearby twig and dive-bombs any other hummingbird with the audacity to try out the feeder. Although the colouring of this species can seem dull as its name suggests, a closer look through binoculars reveals a subtle irridescence of its feathers, which shifts the colour constantly from lime green through a kind of deep purple, according to the light.

On an afternoon walk today I got my first sight of the formation of an army ant-swarm. As I passed the hollow base of a big tree at the top of the main trail, it was totally seething with a mass of ants (see photo above), a phenomenon I had seen before, but this time it was even thicker - poking a stick into the middle of them, it was still going through solid ant-mass a good foot from the surface. When I returned to the same spot about half an hour later, there were rivers of ants marching down from the hollow, and covering the entire trail like a moving carpet. Instantly they began to attract the ant-following birds, with this male White-shouldered Fireye first on the scene. Red-crowned Ant-tanagers were not far behind. I suspect that when I return to the spot tomorrow all the ants may well be gone.