BRAZIL: REMOTE SOUTHERN AMAZONIA CAMPOS AMAZÔNICOS NP & ACRE 7 – 19 July 2015 White-breasted Antbird (Rhegmatorhina hoffmannsi), Tabajara, Rondônia © Bradley Davis trip report by Bradley Davis (
[email protected] / www.birdingmatogrosso.com) photographs by Bradley Davis and Bruno Rennó Introduction: This trip had been in the making since the autumn of 2013. Duncan, an avowed antbird fanatic, contacted me after having come to the conclusion that he could no longer ignore the Rio Roosevelt given the recent batch of antbird splits and new taxa coming from the Madeira – Tapajós interfluvium. We had touched on the subject during his previous trips in Brazil, having also toyed with the idea of including an expedition-style extension to search for Brazil's biggest mega when it comes to antbirds – the Rondônia Bushbird. After some back and forth in the first two months of the following year, an e-mail came through from Duncan which ended thusly: “statement of the bleedin’ obvious: I would SERIOUSLY like to see the Bushbird.” At which point the game was on, so to speak. We began to organize an itinerary for the Rio Roosevelt with a dedicated expedition for Rondonia Bushbird. By mid-year things were coming together for a September trip, but in August we were de-railed by a minor health problem and two participants being forced to back out at the last minute. With a bushbird in the balance, we weren't about to call the whole thing off, and thus a new itinerary sans Roosevelt was hatched for 2015, an itinerary which called for about a week in the Tabajara area on the southern border of the Campos Amazônicos National Park, followed by a few days on the west bank of the rio Madeira to go for a couple of Duncan's targets in that area.