Rick Simpson Birding Services

Recently an old mate, Barry from Hertfordshire in the UK, came to Ubatuba bringing a couple of his current birding pals, Phil and Jan.

Me, Phil, Jan and Barry in the field at Folha Seca.

They only stayed one afternoon, a full day and a morning before moving on to Intervales. The first afternoon, was spent at the Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre, specifically looking for Buff-throated Purpletufts, they kept us going for a while, but as ever they showed well in the end. On the Manioc trail, we clocked up Reddish Hermit, Scaled Antbird, Rufous-capped Antthrush, Fork-tailed Tody-Tyrant and Yellow Tyrannulet. On the approach road we had Long-billed Wren, Spix Spinetail and Sooty Grassquit, however the Orange-eyed Thornbirds didn’t show despite responding to the playback.

Male Scaled Antbird.

The full day was spent at Fazenda Angelim, the Spotted Bamboowren was obviously a target, and when we came across Marcelo Padua, a friend and guide from the Pantanal with a client, we teamed up and got superb views of it singing and moving around a thinly leaved shrub. Where are all the photographers when you need them? Other good birds here were Blonde-crested Woodpecker, Squamate Antbird, Star-throated Antwren, Lemon-chested Greenlet, São Paulo Tyrannulet, another pair of purpletufts and Black-throated Grosbeak.

Black-throated Grosbeak by Luiz Carlos Ribenboim.

When the heavens opened we took to the car and headed for the rivermouth at Perequê Açu, here a couple of Spotted Sandpipers are ‘wintering’, and of course we picked up some Kelp Gulls for the list. However the most exciting bird there was undoubtedly a fly-by Capped Heron, a rare bird in Ubatuba.

Capped heron (taken at the Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre a few weeks ago).

Last morning saw us at Folha Seca. Although we had seen Slaty Bristlefront the day before the views were not good, so it was our main quarry. On the track along the way we saw a Common Potoo protecting its chick, Black-cheeked Gnateater, Scale-throated Hermit (not a regular) Rufous-capped Motmot, and a Fuscous Flycatcher pair obviously collecting food for nestlings.

Common Potoo with chick.

Eventually we caught up with the bristlefronts as this series of photos shows.

The male played hard to get at first...

...but he finally came into view...

...and then the female came out too!

All photos on this page, except where indicated,  copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

Merry Christmas one and all!

A bit of tidying up at the Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre in the morning, followed by a quick snack at the lanchonete there, that will be open daily from now until after Carnaval (13th – 16th Feb.) and of course a beer or two whilst cooling the feet in the naturally fed pool with purpletufts calling in the background.

Cooling off after a morning's hard labour (on Christmas Day!) at the UBWC.

Then it was off to the beach, no, not to swim, just to take a pic to show you what it’s like here in the summer. Bear in mind the bulk of the tourists have yet to arrive!

Praia Grande, Ubatuba. Christmas Day 2009.

But, this being the summer, the sun didn’t last long and a teriffic summer storm swept in from the mountains, Elis got these dramatic shots. All photographs on this page copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

Storm clouds brew on the mountains...

...and then arrive.

Rain approaching...

...closer still, batten down the hatches!

We had a couple of days to spare, so Elis and I headed for Ilha Comprida (Long Island) on the southern stretch of São Paulo’s coastline some 400+kms away.

Birding on the beach, Ilha Comprida.

It was well worth the effort, I had chosen the spot after seeing a number of photos on the internet of shorebirds taken there, and I wanted to see some more Nearctic species. From this point of view it was rather disappointing, we only found a few Semipalmated Plovers, some Sanderlings and a Greater Yellowlegs. However a Collared Plover was a most welcome addition to the list.

Sanderlings and Semipalmated Plover.

One of the highlights of the trip was the colony of Scarlet Ibises. In among these stunning birds were Great and Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons and both Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night-Herons.

Two juvenile and three adult Scarlet Ibises.

The Ibises came in waves to feed their young, the stunning colour of these birds defies desciption, and the photographs don’t do it justice.

Ibises in flight.

We spent a good while at the colony watching the comings and goings of the birds and enjoying a stunning sunset over the channel between the island and the mainland.

Sunset over the channel.

Next morning we headed south along the island and came to some pretty good looking restinga habitat. Here, before long, we found the object of our search, Restinga Tyrannulet. Also here we saw the endemic Long-billed Wren and Unicoloured Blackbird, a bird of patchy distribution.

Restinga Tyrannulet.

Long-billed Wren.

Unicoloured Blackbird.

Later in the day we searched some more for shorebirds. One of the joys of birding here is that you can drive along the beach, although that didn’t help us much with finding the birds, but it was fun.

Birding the beach.

Once again we enjoyed a stunning sunset.

Sunset on the beach, Ilha Comprida.

All photographs on this page copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

Unexpectedly a few weeks ago a member of the public turned up at the Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre with a baby Tropical Screech-Owl in a bag. He had rescued the bird from a group of children that had been playing with it. Not knowing from whence the creature came, and therefore where its mother might be, or even if she was alive, he decided to bring it to us.

Molly the day she arrived at the Birdwatching Centre.

He said he had managed to feed it on meat and chicken, and indeed she seemed delighted to take our expensive steak, however, this is not the normal diet of a Tropical Screech-Owl. So ensued the daily routine of catching grasshoppers, crickets, moths and other unfortunate insects whilst about our business at the centre, in order to give the bird a more natural diet.

That steak went down well!

I dislike anthropromorhising wild creatures, but somehow or other the bird ended up with the name Molly-Wol, Molly for short. As she grew and shed her downy chick feathers, she started to flap her wings and fly from one end of the cage to the other, and started catching any small creature that was unfortunate enough to stray into her cage. When she dropped an insect, or we put one in the cage she pounced on it with enthusiasm displaying a natural ability to feed herself.

Juicy grasshopper, now that's better.

Eventually we decided she was ready for the big wide world. Our only concern was whether she was able to fly strongly enough. We needn’t have worried. Her first free flight was even and controlled and lasted for about 20 metres. We watched her for a while, released some grasshoppers near to her and waited to see what would happen.

Having a good look around.

Naturally with all the new sights and sounds she resolutely ignored the grasshoppers, and she eventually moved off into the forest on silent, steady wings, alighting perfectly and not with the awkwardness of youth. Then she was gone, silently into the night, her passing was marked by the eerie lament of a Common Potoo, as if welcoming her back into the wild.

Good luck Molly, farewell.

All photographs copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

RSBS and the UBWC have had a close relationship with a local NGO helping underprivileged kids from one of the poorer districts of Ubatuba; the Namaskar Project. This is one area, right next to the forest and sandwiched between two forested hills, that seriously needs the conservation message got home. Catching and killing birds is the norm.

Explaining how the loss of one individual bird can result in the loss of an entire generation.

Our friend Odette has been working with these kids, doing handicrafts with a birdy theme, to try and get the message across. It seems to be going well and today we attended their Christmas ‘party’. We provided snacks, drinks and sandwiches and I had the opportunity to talk to them about why it is  NOT cool to kill birds. They seemed to get the message.

On the way home we stopped at the airport where the Buff-necked Ibis has been feeding again over the last few days.

Buff-necked Ibis.

Top foto copyright Namaskar Project.

Ibis foto copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

São Sebastião is a town along the coast towards São Paulo. It is the point at which many tourists take the ferry across to the ever popular Ilha Bela destination. I had to visit there today and thought, while I was there, that I’d try to catch up with the Stygian Owl which has been roosting near the church there for some time.

I contacted two local biologists Beatriz Lopes and Marcio Toledo who are trying to develop birding in the town, and seem to be doing a good job. They have recently launched a blog http://birdsaosebastiao.blogspot.com

Stygian Owl, São Sebastião.

As you can see we were lucky with the owl. This owl has been in this area since November, roosting in the same tree and has become a bit if a local celebrity. When we arrived we were met by an elderly gentleman sitting on the bench under the tree: “Come to see our owl?” He asked. It is good to see the local community embrace this bird and adopt it as ‘theirs’. The name in Portuguese is mocho-diabo. Mocho, according to my dictionary, means: A small nocturnal bird smaller than an owl. This doesn’t make much sense in that it is large and also definitely an owl. The ‘diabo’ bit means devil, and this being a bird sitting next to a church there was some concern that local sentiment may make some try to scare it off, or worse! This thankfully has not come to pass.

São Sebastião is a port town where much oil and petroleum is handled, it is due to expand greatly when the new oil field near Santos is opened. As a result there will be a great deal of upheaval in the region, the ripples of which are likely to reach as far as Ubatuba. Economically speaking this is great for the region, how it will be affected environmentally remains to be seen, but reports do seem to indicate that this consideration is being paid heed to in the planning.

Discussing the finer points of identification with Beatriz and Marcio .

I think it likely that many more visitors and workers from abroad will be coming to the region, and if any of them are birders they could do a lot worse than to contact these two young scientists.

If you are reading this and coming to the area I’d be happy to put you in touch with them, I will also be using them to guide in that region for me from now on.

Photos on this page copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

We had a few days to spare, some airmiles to use up and an enormous desire to travel and to see new birds.

Blue-grey Tanager. Ubiquitous common species.

So, we packed our bags and headed for Manaus; which was full! There was a cinema convention, or something similar, happening there and we could find ‘no room at the inn’.

Chestnut-bellied Seedeater. Also fairly common.

After a night in a dubious motel, we headed 107km due north along the BR 174 to Presidente Figureido. We birded in some of the housing developments along the way, seeing common birds was good for us among the orchards and lawns of the well-to-do of Amazonas.

Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, takes the place of our Yellow-fronted Woodpecker.

Arriving at Pres. Figureido we discovered that it was a good choice, being quiet, and having vacancies at the hotels. We birded around some of the local hot-spots, it was very hot and humid, but there was plenty for us to see. The birds at least, it seemed, were accustomed to the temperature.

Bronzy Jacamar, relatively common in the forested areas.

One species we were particularly interested to find was the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock. We were successful initially in only seeing, albeit really well, the female, but we did find a spot in town where every morning and evening a male flew across the road. We saw him several times, watching where he entered the forest, but we were unable to locate him perched unfortunately.

Female Guianan Cock-of-the-rock.

The local race of our Channel-billed Toucan looks very different with it’s blue face and bill base, and the locally common White-throated Toucan was a new bird of course.

Channel-billed Toucan, quite different to our bird.

So here are a some of our record shots from that trip, all photographs on this page copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

Variable Chachalaca.

Pied Puffbird.

Blackish Nightjar.