Manaus and Amazonia NP 2022 - The long delay is finally over

 Well it only took two years to finally get the green light for a once in a lifetime trip taking in the image provoking Amazon. Jeff my birding and travel pal and myself actually booked this trip three years ago but of course Covid and the resulting restrictions changed the world for a time. I put my check list in a drawer and forgot about the whole thing for two years. Of course things change and time passed to allow world travelers to dust off their travel boots and documents and hit the airways.

Actually getting out of Manchester on a short hop to London Heathrow proved incredibly difficult after two aborted attempts, one actually at the gate as we and the plane were ready to leave before being sent home with our cases. Long story short we eventually arrived at Heathrow the next day with two minutes to spare at the boarding gate to leave for Rio de janeiro..... would our cases arrive with us..... we will find out in a little over 12 hours time.  Yes they did!! At least I will have a change of cloths in the hot and humid jungles. We were to travel around the Manaus Amazon area with a tour leader and a group of fellow birders from the UK and Netherlands, two of which (David and John) we met on the plane to Rio. A shortish connection at Rio and we were on our way to Manaus, the capital of the Amazonian region in the heart of Amazonia which lies on the banks of the Rio Negro and Amazon Rivers. We arrived at the Ibis Airport Hotel at something past 3am and pretty much went straight to bed. We were to meet our guide late morning in the hotel where we would lunch and get a half days birding in as a pretour taster. John, Jeff and myself couldn't really sleep so after a small breakfast we headed out onto the road ...... a busy main road! really only hoping to find at least a few species to whet the appetite. Black Vulture in the dozens circled above and far off into the distance, while a Roadside Hawk flew directly over the hotel. Ok so the Black Vultures were to become pretty irrelevant as the trip would unfold, but this is day one, we were excited to be here and its been a few years since I saw a Black Vulture..... bring them on. We couldn't find away into the small woodland across the road so after dodging some busy and fast flowing traffic we crossed to the otherside and walked away from the hotel to where a line of bushes, shrubs and small trees bordered the dual carriageway. It turned out to be ok, nothing spectacular here but a good selection of everyday south American birds. 

Two Black Vultures outside my hotel window..... two  of many

Of course the first one was a Tropical Kingbird, and a few more ..... a handful of Yellow browed Sparrows fed on a military base outfield  while a pair of Chestnut bellied Seedeaters fed in roadside long grasses. A small unidentified Tyrannulet flew past me while the common Blue Grey and Palm Tanagers reminded us that we were in South America and not beside the M6 in the midlands. We crossed back across the road to another patch of woodland and Scrubland, where a long tailed species flew out and over our heads, probably a Fork tailed flycatcher. Two Smooth billed Ani perched alongside us on a fence giving good portrait views while a Chivvi Vireo sang in a huge tree. At this point it had certainly warmed up and it seemed like a good excuse to retire to the air conditioning of the hotel and to see if David had got up. David was up and now me met another fellow group member, Bart from the Netherlands. Quick introduction and off out again basically to the same patch of shrubbery and woodland. We added Greater Yellow headed and Turkey Vultures, Grayish Saltator, Blue Black Grassquit which also perched up on the fence line, Ruddy ground Dove and a probable female Guira Tanager (The only one we would encounter on the whole trip). The bird of the morning for myself though was the Swainsons Flycatcher which was a life bird for myself. I managed to get onto a Yellow headed Caracara and a Variegated Flycatcher while the rest of the team drank coke and Coffee in the aircon. 

  male Chestnut-bellied Seedeater

Grayish Saltator

Smooth billed Ani

Variegated Flycatcher

Lunch time came as did our guide Pablo. Nice guy, pretty good English and a sense of humour.....      we would be looked after I am sure.

Our transport also arrived a 16 seater air conditioned minibus, perfect, as did another guide Pricilla who would travel with us for the day and guarantee us entry to the reserve as she held the permits. So early afternoon we were off to the outskirts of Manaus city where we would visit the Aldopho Ducke Reserve. It was locked, gates chained and after a bit of head scratching and a phone call we found that the chain and lock were merely wrapped round and not locked....happy days. Within a few yards of leaving the minibus we were met by three very confiding Brazilian bare-faced Pied Tamarins that looked down on us from dense and high mature trees, a couple of very poor record shots are all I could muster. 

Pied Tamarin

Yellow-billed Jacamar

L-R John, Pablo, David, Pricilla, Bart (Jeff out of shot)

A Chestnut rumped Woodcreeper gave close and good views as did one of the more common and widespread trogans a Green backed Trogan. For about an hour the birding was pretty good with Paradise Jacamar, Yellow Billed Jacama, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Streaked Flycatcher, Black Tailed Tityra, a pair of Black Spotted Barbet and a few Yellow Rumped Caciques. In the distance a Variegated Tinamou called almost constantly as we bagged a coupe of fantastic species. Ochre Bellied Flycatcher, Guianan Woodcreeper, Todds Sirystes, White throated Toucan, four Yellow tufted Woodpeckers and a very handsome but diminutive Buff cheeked Greenlet. The weather was about to break as it became very dark and eventually the rain started. It cost us half an hour or so as we took shelter under the trees while we took a coffee break from the back of the minibus. The rain let off but the birding continued with a few more species before the light eventually became too dark. A single Golden headed Manakin gave good views even though it was in dense foilage, probably the bird of the afternoon as we got onto a Red-billed Pied Tanager (this would be our only sighting of this species on the tour). A final flurry of birds as we walked towards the gates and the main road with a Guinan Trogan and Green Aracari. 

Golden-headed Manakin

It was a decent afternoon only shortened with a little rain and a loss of light, we returned to the Hotel Ibis for an evening meal and a cool beer, complete our first species log and to meet up with two more travel companions Ian and Chris who had now joined us from another trip in Brazil so were a day later than ourselves. Tomorrow we get up early and travel  the 45 minutes to the Musa tower and some serious dawn birding at 42mtrs high

Completing the days log with John, Jeff and David

Cheers John