!! ! ! ! Brazil:! ! ! ! The!Pantanal! and!Amazon! June!9!–!23,!2015! Guided!by!Andrew!SpenCer! all#photos#by#the#guide# By!any!metric,!Brazil!is!a!huge!country.!!Huge!size,!huge!bird!list,!huge!habitat!variety,! hugely!fun,!this!country!doesn’t!do!things!in!half!measures!!!And!birding!in!Brazil!is!shaped! by!this!–!you!need!multiple!trips!to!cover!the!many!different!locations,!avifaunas,!and! endemics!on!tap.!!The! Pantanal!and!Amazon! areas!of!Brazil!are!two! major!parts!of!that! puzzle,!and!trips!there! offer!both!the!huge!lists! typical!of!a!trip!to!the! country,!as!well!as! some!of!the!best!bird! and!wildlife!viewing!in! the!hemisphere.! ! This!trip!was!a!custom! tour!mirroring!our!setC departure,!and!like!our! setCdeparture!offered! an!unmatched!mix!of! the!midCboggling! variety!of!the!Amazon! to!the!stunning!scenery! of!the!Chapada!to!the! AfricaCesque!wildlife!spectacle!of!the!Pantanal.!!Combine!that!with!a!good!variety!of! mammals!that!included!two!beautiful!cat!species,!and!you!have!a!trip!unlike!any!other!in! South!America.! ! The!Chapada! ! Early!is!the!name!of!the!game!in!this!part!of!Brazil!–!with!midday!temperatures!renowned! for!their!heights,!it!pays!to!get!out!early.!!And!luckily,!early!mornings!are!gorgeous,!with! very!pleasant!conditions!and!lots!and!lots!of!birds!!!Our!first!day!was!no!exception!to!all!of! the!above.!!We!left!exceptionally!early,!with!the!goal!of!making!to!the!Chapada!right!after! dawn.!!Getting!through!Cuiaba!was!nice!and!painless,!and!we!found!ourselves!on!a!road! through!drier!Cerrado!habitat!right!on!queue.!!! ! The!birds!proceeded!to!come!quickly!and!furiously.!!ShrikeClike!WhiteFbanded!Tanagers! fought!to!hold!our!attention!while!noisy!WhiteFrumped!Tanagers!and!gaudy!BurnishedF buff!Tanagers!moved!around!nearby.!!A!charismatic!trio!of!WhiteFeared!Puffbirds!were! wonderfully!cooperative!along!the!road,!and!good!flowering!conditions!meant!decent! numbers!of!hummers!(including!lots!of!WhiteFvented!Violetears,!a!few!WhiteFtailed! Goldenthroats,!a!single!BlueFtufted!Starthroat!among!others).!!In!the!skulky!category,!we! managed!to!tease!out!a!pair!of!RustyFbacked!Antwrens,!a!single!RufousFwinged! Antshrike,!and!a!PaleFbreasted!Spinetail.! ! Moving!along!the!road,!we!soon!found!another!flock!that!gave!us!two!of!the!most!sought! after!Chapada!specialties!–!the!stunning!CoalFCrested!FinCh,!and!the!anything!but!stunning! (but!very!local)!Chapada!Flycatcher.!!A!very!close!calling!SmallFbilled!Tinamou!played! hide!and!seek!with!us!until!I!positioned!everyone!at!a!likely!looking!spot,!and!walked! around!the!songster! to!chase!it!towards! them.!!I’m!not!sure! anyone!was!really! expecting!this!to! work!(me! included!),!but!I’m! quite!happy!to!say! that!it!gave! everyone!a!slamC dunk!view!of!this! rarely!seen!species.! ! After!an!early!lunch,! we!headed!out! again,!this!time!to! an!overview!known! for!having!a!few! rare!species.!! Unfortunately!it!had! heated!up!by!now,! and!our!morning’s!luck!didn’t!hold.!!Undaunted,!we!continued!on!to!another!road!nearby,! and!here!lady!luck!found!us!again.!!At!our!parking!spot!we!encountered!some!excellent! activity,!which!included!a!very!rare!RufousFtailed!Attila!among!more!common!specialties! such!as!Crested!BeCard!and!PaleFheaded!Woodpecker.! ! Moving!down!the!road,!we!enjoyed!relatively!good!activity,!including!views!of!the!superC shy!Southern!Antpipit,!the!superCcolorful!BandFtailed!Manakin,!and!the!just!plain!super! FieryFcapped!Manakin.!!A!nice!pair!of!LargeFbilled!Antwrens!and!a!SepiaFcapped! FlyCatcher!founded!out!the!haul.! ! The!last!birding!location!of!the!day!was!at!yet!another!road,!this!time!through!taller!gallery! forest.!!The!overall!activity!level!wasn’t!high,!but!we!managed!a!smattering!of!new!species,! including!White!Woodpecker,!a!couple!of!SootyFfronted!Spinetails,!and!some! Flavescent!Warblers.! ! The!next!morning!we!didn’t!have!a!whole!lot!of!time!to!bird!before!our!flight!to!Alta! Floresta,!but!we!did!manage!to!return!to!the!same!road!from!the!evening!before.!!Arriving! right!after!dawn!we!found!much!better!activity,!and!soon!wracked!up!MoustaChed!Wren,!a! handsome!GreenFbarred!WoodpeCker,!rare!BlueFwinged!Parrotlet,!and!some! exceptionally!nice!views!of!Pectoral!Sparrow,!among!others.! ! Cristalino! ! At!the!southern!edge!of!the!Amazon,!Cristalino!Jungle!Lodge!is!among!the!premier!birding! locations!on!the!continent!of!South!America.!!To!take!advantage!of!its!lofty!position!we!had! scheduled!four!full!days!in!this!birding!Mecca.! ! The!birding!on!our!first!day!there!was!mostly!limited!to!the!ride!in!along!the!river,!which! (as!with!any!ride!along!the!river!here)!was!wonderfully!birdy.!!The!best!sighting!was!a! cooperative!Sungrebe,!but!we!also!enjoyed!some!RedFthroated!PipinGFGuans,!the! corroded!bronzeCcolored!Green!Ibis,!oodles!of!more!common!species!such!as!Ringed!and! Amazon!Kingfishers,! WhiteFbanded!Swallow,! and!even!a!couple!of! Sunbitterns.! ! Our!first!morning!at!the! lodge!was!spent!at!tower!2,! one!of!the!two!towers! Cristalino!has!on!tap.!! Gretting!the!dawn!on!an! Amazonian!canopy!tower!is! truly!a!sublime!experience,! and!this!day!was!no! exception.!!Before!we!had! even!climbed!up!we!scored! some!excellent!views!of!a! male!Pavonine!Quetzal! right!by!the!tower!base.!!Up! on!top,!we!were!soon! immersed!in!activity,! including!everything!from! three!macaw!species,!the! dapper!Gould’s!TouCanet,! gaudy!CurlFCrested! Aracari,!painfully!blue! Spangled!Cotinga,!and! wineCcolored!Pompadour! Cotinga,!and!a!host!of! glittering!tanagers!that! included!Paradise!and! OpalFrumped.! ! As!it!heated!up!above!the! canopy,!we!decided!to! return!to!the!cooler!forest! floor,!where!a!whole!new! suite!of!birds!awaited.!!It!didn’t!take!long!to!run!into!some!truly!excellent!flocks!with!some! very!rare!species!(as!well!as!a!whole!host!of!more!common!ones!)!!The!rarer!ones!included! such!goodies!as!Cinnamon!Neopipo,!Whiskered!FlyCatCher,!and!SpotFthroated! Woodcreeper,!while!the!more!common!had!such!exotic!birds!as!WhiteFwinged!ShrikeF Tanager,!LongFwinged!Antwren,!Saturnine!Antshrike,!and!ChestnutFwinged!Hookbill,! among!many!others.!!A!singing!WhiteFCrested!Spadebill,!while!not!part!of!the!flock!itself,! still!occupied!some!of!our!time!as!we!sought!it!out!and!then!enjoyed!some!stellar!views.! ! For!the!afternoon!we!switched!gears,!and!headed!back!down!the!Cristalino!to!the!larger! Teles!Pires!River.!!Here!our!goal!was!three!different!river!islands,!of!differing!successional! stages.!!The!first,!a!young!island!with!very!short!vegetation,!soon!gave!up!its!target! Amazonian! Tyrannulet!and! LadderFtailed! Nightjar,!while! some!BlackF collared! Swallows!played! around!the!rapids! nearby.!!! ! The!next!island,!a! much!larger!place! with!an!old!ranch! house!and!some! taller!forests,!had!a! different!group!of! birds!that!included! Glossy!and! ChestnutFbacked! Antshrikes,! Spotted!TodyF FlyCatcher,!Drab! WaterFTyrant!(next!page),!and!RedFcapped!Cardinal.!!Our!final!location!of!the!day!was!a! much!older!island!just!upstream,!where!tall!forests!are!the!haunt!of!one!of!those!iconic! birds!of!the!Amazon,!Amazonian!Umbrellabird.!!Evening!is!the!best!time!to!see!this! charismatic!species,!and!we!arrived!right!on!queue.!!It!didn’t!take!long!until!we!had!some! nice!views,!and!called!the!day!a!success.! ! Our!next!morning’s!outing!brought!us!well!upstream,!to!a!trail!through!beautiful!Terra( Firme!forest!with!some!nice!bamboo!stands.!!Birding!here!consists!of!a!mix!of!looking!for! flocks!and!listening!for!vocalizing!species!to!seek!out.!!The!flock!part!of!the!morning!was!a! clear!winner,!and!we!found!several!good!mixedCspecies!flocks.!!The!first!of!these!had!such! goodies!as!CurveFbilled!(Tapajos)!SCythebill,!WhiteFeyed!Antwren,!the!indicator!species! Cinereous!Antshrike,!and!a!number!of!others.!!Another!flock!was!especially!good!for! furnariids,!and!had!Amazonian!Barred!WoodCreeper,!Layard’s!WoodCreeper,!and! RufousFtailed!FoliageFgleaner.!!And!finally,!a!canopy!flock!or!two!gave!us!neckCbreaking! species!like!Pygmy!Antwren!and!Fasciated!Antshrike.! ! Among!the!seekC themCout!singing! species!in!the! understory!we!also! managed!a!nice!haul,! starting!with!the! often!hard! Cinereous! Mourner.!!Other! specialties!included! the!bambooCloving! DuskyFcheeked! FoliageFgleaner,! local!Manu!Antbird,! not!so!local!Striated! Antbird,!recently! split!Xingu!SCaleF bcaked!Antbird,! and!LargeFheaded! Flatbill.!!Manakins! were!quite!vocal!throughout!the!walk,!but!unfortunately!BlueCbacked!Manakin!remained!a! heardConly.!!We!had!better!luck!with!SnowFcapped!Manakin,!which!was!good!considering! how!much!harder!that!species!is!to!find!away!from!Cristalino.! ! We!rounded!out!our!time!in!the!forest!with!the!stunning!RoseFbreasted!Chat,!weird!SlateF colored!Grosbeak,!and!a!nice!YellowFthroated!Woodpecker.!!Before!heading!back!to!the! lodge!for!lunch!we!made!one!last!stop!in!some!viney,!riverside!forest!were!we!soon!found! the!target!FlameFcrowned!Manakin,!as!well!as!a!couple!of!Bronzy!JaCamars.! ! For!the!afternoon!we!went!slightly!downstream,!and!birded!a!trail!through!Varzea! (seasonally!flooded)!forest.!!Being!the!afternoon,!the!activity!was!a!bit!lower,!but!quality! was!high!!!A!calling!RufousFtailed!Flatbill!played!hard!to!get,!with!brief!views!only,!but!a! nice!canopy!flock!was!a!bit!better,!and!even!produced!the!rare!Guianan!(Para)! Gnatcatcher.!!A!vocalizing!Amazonian!Antshrike!came!in!beautifully,!as!did!a!pair!of!the! beautifully!patterned!Amazonian!StreakedFAntwrens.!Beautifully!patterned!is!something! no!one!would!ever!accuse!a!Zimmer’s!TodyFTyrant!of!being,!but!we!also!managed!some!