The first two days were very nice, with several lifers photographed. But this third day kept the best emotions.
The goal was to leave São João Batista and go towards the entrance of Sacramento, and therefore we would cover virtually the entire park. Early in the morning we saw some interesting animals, like the Yellow-faced Parrot, but far away.
We stopped once or twice to photograph some flowers, like the one below.
Once inside the park again, we were seeking some species that we had not seen yet. In the begining we were looking for Plumbeous Seedeater and Sedge Wren.
We saw Plumbeous Seedeater, but again, no picture. On the other hand, the Sedge Wrenallowed me to approach enough to make this photo. Another lifer!
We continued a few miles, and stopped to try White-rumped Tanager andWhite-banded Tanager.We entered the savannah to search these birds, and then came the first surprise of the day: a Checkered Woodpeckervocalized around us. Immediately we change our focus and we tried a lot taking a photo of this bird. Another lifer, and this time not only for me but also for the Geiser. That was cool!
We left the area without White-rumped Tanager,but when returning to the carthis young White-banded Tanager was appeared in front of us.
We returned to the car and continued moving. But we did not walk much, and Geiser decided to try to stop to search for White-rumped Tanager once again. We had got off the car, Geiser still working with the iPod looking for the sound of White-rumped Tanager, I saw something big in a power tower, 300 meters ahead of us. Myheart beganto beat faster, and I asked Geiser to look into the binoculars.
“It’s the Crowned Eagle!”, Geiser said.
We could not believe what we were seeing. We did some pictures from where we were, far away, and decided to try to get closer. Inside the car and every 10 or 15 feet, we stopped to take a closer picture. And we did it until we got near the bird, something like 20 meters. And the bird was still in the tower, just staring at us. What a beautiful bird. We made several pictures, and the bird was still there.
Between the first and last picture, there were about 15 minutes walking and stopping, always trying to get closer. Another lifer. The lifer! We continued in the road, let the bird behind us, in the tower.
We stopped a little later to try the Ochre-breasted Pipit, but we could not find it. We ate something. While we were standing, a Cock-tailed Tyrant,female one, was near the road.
We continued in the road until we could see the entrance of Sacramento city, and then we returned.
We stopped again at another area where the savanna had more trees, and again we saw the Checkered Woodpecker. I was happy because this time Geiser could go to the car and grab his camera, to get a picture of the bird.
In the same place, a Suiriri Flycatcher, another lifer for me.
We continued returning, and at one point at the road Geiser said: “It’s still there.”
The eagle remained in the same tower that we had left it almost two hours ago. And this time it was in a different, better, position. As we have already made our picture, this time we decided to try to get as close as possible on the first turn, and stopped right beside the tower. Then we just had to push the button.
After a few minutes, the bird began to show signs that it would fly.
And flew. I managed to make this picture, I think one that I like the most out of all that I have in these eight years photographing birds. How big this bird is. How beautiful it is! A gift, from it and from mother nature for us!
We continued our way back, and Geiser planned to look for Anthus species. On the way, Geiser saw this Ozotoceros bezoarticusbesides the road. We had few time to stop the car and get some photos of the animal.
Nearby, a man came riding. Very good place to ride.
We searched the Anthusspeciesin some different places, but we could not find any. While searching, I did some photos of landscapes and butterflies.
As we did not find the birds, we decided to go back to the source of the river to try the Brasilia Tapaculo once again.
After playing it back, it appeared for some few seconds, and I managed to get this photo.
Thus we ended our birding in the upper part of the park. Simply fantastic. I could get 9 lifers only in the upper part of the park, including the formidable Crowned Eagle :).
If you missed the first two days of my birding trip to Canastra Mountains, please check for day 1 and day 2 reports.
Jefferson R. de O. e Silva
Jefferson Silva is based in Brazil and is a project manager for software development projects. He has been birding since 2004. Jefferson has created the first Brazilian birding website, which was kept running from 2005 to 2009. He has created the birding group for Campinas and region, with around 20 members. Since 2011, Jefferson has traveled searching for new species, photographing as many as he can, and sharing all experiences, trying to make people understand how important any form of life is.
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