NOVO AIRAO

Headed to a nearby secondary forest after a 5am breakfast and walked along a fairly flat trail with dense secondary forest on either side. First bird we had was a pair of Black-faced Antbirds that took a while for everyone to connect with. A White-cheeked Antbird began calling whilst we were here and showed briefly, with a calling Dusky Parrot high overhead also being seen. Just around the corner a very vocal Yellow-browed Antbird was coaxed into view and he spent most of the time in the mid-canopy. A group of 3 White-fronted Nunbirds flew over us and landed in a bare section of a large tree beside the trail, before we well and truly nailed Cinerous Antshrike, followed by a cracking Pearly Antshrike. A Long-winged Antwren followed and shortly after we found two pairs of diminutive Rio Negro Stipplethroats right beside the trail. Higher up we saw a few female Blue-crowned Manakins, and then Chris found a pair of White-flanked Antwrens. 

Long-winged Antwren

A little later, at the end of the trail, our patience was eventually rewarded with prolonged scope views of a singing Musician Wren – who does that?! The walk back to the minibus was quick as we hadn’t actually walked any more than a kilometre the entire 5 hours but we did find Waved Woodpecker and a Lafresnaye’s Woodcreeper. High over the trail a fruiting tree was enticing a couple of Paradise Tanagers, Spotted Tanager, Streaked Flycatcher, several Purple Honeycreepers and some more female Blue Manakins. 

 

After lunch at the lodge we drove 2 hours to our next accommodation in Manacapura, which turned out to be something of a resort – much to our surprise. Anyway, at 3pm we all met up and began walking one of the many trails that can be found here. It was really hot and humid and within a few minutes we our shirts were beginning to get soaked with sweat. A tiny Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin took our minds off the humidity but it was slow going. We walked probably 3 kilometres at most and found activity to be slow all the way, with a Grey Antbird high overhead, a pair of Paradise Jacamars, a skulking Collared Gnatwren, Mouse-coloured Antshrike and a Yellow-throated Woodpecker the highlights. It was a relief to return to our air-conditioned rooms at 6pm for a warm shower but having a few beers in the restaurant to quench our thirst helped a lot!