Everywhere you look, birds are carrying nest material right now. This Masked Water-tyrant, a very tame flycatcher which always hangs around in pairs close to the house, lake and pool, has built a nest in a small tree overhanging the fishing lake. Look carefully and you can see that amongst the nest ingredients is a piece of red string which he salvaged from somewhere on the farm.

Another tame resident, this Yellow-fronted Woodpecker, has for the third year running set up home in the holes drilled in a dead trunk just in front of our barbecue, conveniently place to feed on the hanging bananas which they love.

September has brought its usual batch of spring visitors, such as this Fawn-breasted Tanager, which always seems to appear this time of year even though my field guide says it is supposed to turn up in winter. Maybe it just uses our place as a staging post from somewhere, because my records show the sightings are pretty much confined to September, suggesting it moves somewhere else to nest.

I couldn't resist putting up this picture of a male Brazilian Tanager, posing dramatically in the late afternoon sunlight by the lake yesterday. Even though it is one of the most common species amongst the fruit trees near the house, it still take my breath away. For some reason it is surprisingly difficult to capture its features clearly, but this photo shows the distinctive white mark at the base of the bill.

Finally, some sounds of the season. Fortunately, the Dusky-throated Hermits, the small forest hummingbirds I identified last year, have returned to the same location by the start of the main trail to the river, singing heartily in their leks and buzzing around the heliconia flowers. The Bare-throated Bellbirds, brilliant white cotingas classed as Vulnerable but fortunately quite common here, are in full voice virtually all day, sounding their extremely loud metallic song from early morning until dusk. One of them stays singing quite close to the house from the forest canopy, but frustratingly just out of sight. And this Yellow-legged Thrush put on a virtuoso performance for me the other day from a low branch near the main forest trail, confirming it for me as the champion musician amongst the four thrush species we get here. Listen carefully and you will also hear Grey-hooded Attila, Yellow-legged Tinamou, Red-rumped Cacique, Greyish Mourner and Bare-throated Bellbird.