Cristalino Montage – Row 4

Post image for Cristalino Montage – Row 4

by Rich Hoyer on November 22, 2011 · 1 comment

in Birding Neotropics

In contrast to the last few rows, Row 4 of the Cristalino Montage is indeed all birds.

One of my updates from Cristalino showed off some the in-flight shots I got of the most amazing Sunbittern. I can’t get enough of them, so here are a couple more, plus two of what this gem usually looks like, walking near the shore of the Cristalino River.

This next shot is a typical view of a euphonia, looking straight up at its vent. I took this photo as it was one of only two Orange-bellied Euphonias I saw during my 10 weeks.

This is another poor photo of a euhphonia, but also a rarely seen one at Cristalino – White-vented Euphonia. You can just see the fieldmarks – the namesake and the very restricted yellow on the forecrown.

This next one is a fun shot of a Long-billed Starthroat feeding from a blooming Erythrina ulei tree on top of the Serra. Starthroats were common along the edge of the Cristalino, open areas such as Limão and the islands in the Teles Pires, and on top of the Serra.

Plumbeous Kites were seen every day. They breed locally, and apparently many migrate through. Proof of the former came in the form of recently fledged juveniles on my last days. And evidence of the latter were kettles sometimes of up to 40 individuals.

White-browed Hawk is one of the most beautiful raptors at Cristalino. One or a pair were seen not too infrequently by one tower or the other, calling from treetops early in the morning. During the middle of the day, they would find a perch in the forest understory to sit and wait for prey. This one was being mobbed by a large group of birds including Blue-cheeked Jacamar.

This last one was the Long-tailed Potoo that would appear every evening at about 6:00 p.m. at the “magic pond,” some 15 minutes after sunset. It did this until the little pond dried up in mid-August. The light was always too low to get a really good photo, but you can’t say I didn’t try. It’s clearly a much browner bird in real light than with flash.

 

Random Posts:

    Rich Hoyer: Cristalino Montage – Row 3: If there’s one thing clear from my Cristalino Montage, it’s that I like a lot more than just birds –
    Category:Birding Neotropics

    dAwN FiNe: Tales from the OC Warbler: Howdee all, Every now and then I would like to share a blog post with you, from a blog I read regula
    Category:Birding North America

    Alex Vargas: Western Australia – Part 1 of 4: Bibra Lake – a fantastic bird-photo introduction to WA & Dryandra Woodlands – a great site that
    Category:Birding AustraliaDigiscoping & Bird Photography


Similar Posts:

Tagged as: Cristalino Jungle Lodge, Erythrina ulei, Long-billed Starthroat, Long-tailed Potoo, Orange-bellied Euphonia, Plumbeous Kite, Rich Hoyer, Sunbittern, White-browed Hawk, White-vented Euphonia

Article by Rich Hoyer

Rich Hoyer is first and foremost a birder whose subconscious registers and identifies every bird he hears, even when he isn't birding. But he actually started keying out wildflowers , catching reptiles, and raising butterflies before he discovered birding at age 14, and has since branched out to enjoy photographing and identifying dragonflies, grasshoppers, spiders and almost anything else alive. For the past 13 years he has been leading birding and natural history tours for WINGS. Among his regular destinations are Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Jamaica. Originally from Oregon, he currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Rich has written 79 awesome articles for us.

Subscribe Now

If you enjoyed this post, you will definitely enjoy our others. Subscribe to the feed to get instantly updated for those awesome posts soon to come.

BirdingBlogs.com gives you top birding content every day!

  • http://www.pbase.com/alex_vargas/raptors_owls_nightjars AlexVargas

    Another awesome row, Rich… my fav of all!

    There’s a way to get these nigh-birds in real colors. You need a buddy that holds the flashlight, though…

    http://www.pbase.com/alex_vargas/image/134694157

Previous post:

Next post: