Mato Grosso
See Forrester for a good map and description of the sites. We found excellent cerrado along the road to Água Fria. The forest on the road to the radar station is narrow but had quite a lot of birds. Access to the Véu da Noiva area is now controlled with a gatehouse and entry fee and you cannot get in before 8am. The birding tour groups stay at the Pousada Laura Vicunha and bird the gallery forest below the pousada.
I have never visited this site, famous for its Harpy Eagle nest. Gail Mackiernan reports that in September 2003 the nest was active, the pair were adding sticks and the male roosting every night nearby. To get there you should contact the Pantanal Bird Club http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Cabana/6292/ .
Once again Forrester provides excellent maps and information. There is now a selection of accommodation in Poconé, on the way out of town at the start of the Transpantaneira. In Pixaim the best place to stay is the Hotel Fazenda Santa Tereza, on the right 500m after crossing the river. Their boat trip on the Rio Pixaim is a must. From the boat we saw, amongst many other things, undulated tinamou Crypturellus undulatus, agami heron Agamia agami, boat-billed heron Cochlearius cochlearius, blue-throated piping guan Pipile cumanensis, sungrebe Heliornis fulica, bare-faced curassow Crax fasciolata and giant otter Pteronura brasiliensis.
Other good places to stay or visit are said to be the Fazenda Pouso Alegre, at km 42 on the Transpantaneira, where Hyacinth macaws Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus roost and nest, and the Reserva Ecológica Jaguar, 45km south Pixaim, which has dry forest behind the pousada. The big fishing hotel in Porto Jofre looked very unattractive.
Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade
The former capital of the state of Mato Grosso, Vila Bela lies close to the border with Bolivia, 550 km west of Cuiabá. The area is notable for its rare seedeaters: in March 2003 we found flocks of Black-and-tawny Seedeater Sporophila nigrorufa and occasional individuals of Rufous-rumped Seedeater S. hypochroma, Dark-throated Seedeater S. ruficollis and Plumbeous Seedeater S. plumbea. The best area was between km 53 and 60 on the road from Pontes e Lacerda. Natterer collected around Vila Bela for three years and there is an extensive list of species for the area. However, we found it difficult to find any remaining good habitat and spent little time here. One place we did visit was the Cascata, a reserve with a splendid waterfall at the foot of the nearby Serra de Ricardo Franco. We found very few birds there. As we were leaving Vila Bela we were told of a road running from Vila Bela to the top of the Serra de Ricardo Franco. We did not try this but it might just be the place to find the near-mythical Cone-billed Tanager Conothraupis mesoleuca, the only specimen of which was collected at “Juruena”, a vague reference to an area probably located 100 km to the east of Vila Bela.
The best place to stay is the cheap Hotel Bela Vila, at the entrance to the town.
Alta Floresta / Cristalino Jungle Lodge
This is certainly the best lodge for birders in Brazilian Amazonia with more than 550 bird species in the vicinity and comfortable accommodation. The Hotel Floresta Amazônica, on the edge of the town, has good birding in the hotel grounds and adjacent forest fragment but the real attraction is their Cristalino Jungle Lodge on a tributary of the Rio Teles Pires / Tapajós, a one hour drive and half hour boat ride from Alta Floresta. The trail system is extensive, with access to some trails from the lodge itself and others after a short boat trip. One can spend a week at the lodge and bird a new trail every morning. A tower has recently been built with observation platforms at 20, 30 and 50 m, giving magnificent views of the canopy.
I was last there in April 2003, the first time I have been at the Cristalino in the rainy season. Parts of the riverside trails are usually flooded at this time and the birds remain mostly silent though species like Zigzag Heron can be easier to see. The hotel recommends May and June as the best season, when the rains have mostly stopped but the smoke from ranchers turning forest into cattle pasture has not yet become a problem. This is also a fantastic time for butterfly enthusiasts. I suspect that late September / early October may also be a good time, when the first rain has put out the fires and many birds are nesting.
The bird list published by Kevin Zimmer and others in Ornithological Monographs No. 48 has been updated and is available on the Cristalino’s web site at http://www.fah.com.br. Bret Whitney has published an article on Alta Floresta and the Cristalino in Cotinga 7 and on http://www.worldtwitch.vitualave.net/brazil_bird_reports.htm#trips you will find trip reports by people who have spent time there.
