2018 review

As 2018 draws to a close, it is time for my traditional review of the year, the birdy highlights of the past twelve months being as follows (lifers in CAPS);

January - ROSS'S GULL (NL); a first-winter successfully twitched in Vlissingen harbour, where it showed extremely well.  One of those near-mythical, high-Arctic species which very rarely turn up this far south.
February - HOUBARA BUSTARD (Canaries); excellent, close-up views of perhaps five individuals in the desert-like habitat of Fuerteventura.
March - Icelandic Redwing (Brussels); a self-found individual, this is an extremely rare bird in Belgium as a whole and probably the very first for Brussels.
April - Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Brussels); the final year of the Brussels woodpecker survey, I finished off in style by finding two drumming birds in my sector as well as seeing a female.
May - WESTERN ORPHEAN WARBLER (Namur province); a long walk amongst beautiful scenery for a few brief glimpses of this first-for-Belgium.
June - SCALY-BREASTED WREN aka Southern Nightingale-Wren (Cristalino); the first of just three lifers seen during my summer season at Cristalino and, without doubt, the best story of the year.
Back in 2014, I was walking one of the forest trails by myself when I saw what looked just like a Dipper hop up onto a log, flick its wings, call briefly, then disappear.  Despite mailing a local expert with a description, including the call, it remained a mystery.  Fast forward to this year, and my earlier-than-usual arrival at the lodge coincided with a lot of Nightingale-Wren song.  This is a very rare species at the lodge and one I'd only only ever heard a handful of times in just two of my years there.  One morning, there was even a bird singing close to the dining room and a little bit of playback by another guide brought it out into the open, whereupon I immediately recognised my 'Dipper', finally identifying the bird I saw four years previously!
July - BLACK MANAKIN (Cristalino); perhaps my most wanted bird at Cristalino this year, it took me four attempts to connect with the one and presumably only individual on the reserve which was originally discovered by my friend Rich Hoyer in 2016 and is still in the same spot!
August - WHITE BELLBIRD (Serra dos Carajás); we started birding with its distinctive call echoing around the hillsides, eventually stopping the car right underneath a singing male with a female in attendance.
September - Greenish Warbler (Belgian coast); technically not a lifer since I heard one singing in 2017, this was the first one I got to see, at a well-known, coastal migrant trap.
October - Hume's Warbler (Zeebrugge); a very unexpected, self-found rarity while looking for Yellow-browed Warbers (which I also saw).
November - Blackcap (Brussels); a rather quiet month, the biggest surprise came right at the end of the month in the park next to my apartment when I heard a subsong I didn't recognise at first, eventually deciding it had to be a very late Blackcap although I still wasn't convinced until I actually saw it.
December - Firecrest (Brussels) - seen regularly throughout the month in the same park as the Blackcap.

The bird of the year award goes to the amazing-sounding White Bellbird, seen and, more importantly, heard singing within its minuscule range south of the Amazon, where a small population remains in a patch of protected forest.  The sound really has to be heard to be believed and is almost deafening up close but the male is a snazzy-looking bird too, with its immaculate white plumage and ridiculously long wattle looking for all the world like a worm hanging down from its beak!

This was one of 50 lifers (36 in Brazil, 10 in the Canaries, plus Ross's Gull, Western Orphean Warbler, Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Paddyfield Warbler in Europe) I saw this year out of a total year list of exactly 700 species!  Of these, 174 were in Belgium, with short birding trips to Rutland Water, Paris and The Netherlands taking my European total to 191 species for the year.

Being away for the whole of June, July and August meant I did very little Belgian butterflying or dragonflying this year yet I still managed to add another seven species to my Belgian butterfly list before I left for the Amazon, including Glanville, Pearl-bordered and Dark-Green (below) Fritillaries.

Amazon advent Day 24

And finally, doing its very best "fairy-atop-a-Christmas-tree impression", a 'Cristalino' Parakeet.  Another easily seen species, with noisy groups almost permanently on show in both the staff and guest clearings, this is, however, probably the most range-restricted "species" on the reserve.  This subspecies, so far only known from a few localities around Alta Floresta in northern Mato Grosso, was only described in 2008 and, depending on which authority you follow, is currently considered to be a subspecies of either Santarém Parakeet or Madeira Parakeet.  Having seen true Santaréms in southern Pará this year, I can confirm they do look quite different, and research has suggested the Cristalino birds to be an isolated population of Madeira Parakeets, possibly even warranting full species status themselves.  Ah, the joys of trying to put finite labels on the constantly changing process of evolution! 
Merry Xmas one and all.

Amazon advent Day 23

Another fairly common species today, this is Racidula Sailor (Dynamine racidula).  You don't often get to see both the underwing pattern and upperwing colour in the same shot but, what makes this picture really special for me is the Pusilla Purplewing (Eunica pusilla), arguably the commonest butterfly at the lodge, in the foreground.

Amazon advent Day 22

Widely distributed from south-eastern Mexico to Ecuador, Bolivia and most of Brazil, the Rufous-tailed Jacamar is far from being one of the rarest or most sought-after species on the reserve.  Constantly on the lookout for butterflies and other flying insects, they rarely sit still for very long, however, so I was particularly pleased with this shot, the bird's hummingbird-like, iridescent plumage glistening in the sunlight.

Amazon advent Day 21

Of course, all those weird and wonderful caterpillars eventualy turn into some fantastic-looking moths and the lodge's moth sheet provided lots of post-dinner entertainment.  I haven't a clue what this one is but it has to be one of my favourites; I just call it the flying carpet!

Amazon advent Day 20

I'm not sure if I was paying more attention to them or it was because I was there earlier in the season but there seemed to be a lot of caterpillars around this year.  Identifying the species usually requires raising one together with some leaves of its hostplant until it pupates, and then being around when the adult finally emerges!  Nevertheless, certain families show certain characteristics and the above one is probably in the Erebidae family of moths.  Below is a typical slug caterpillar in the family Limacodidae, known for their bright colouration and spiky protrusions.

Amazon advent Day 19

Red-throated Piping-Guans are pretty much guaranteed either around the lodge itself, or along the river where groups regularly congregate on exposed rocks, especially in the early morning, to feed on algae.

Amazon advent Day 18

It's been a while since the last butterfly picture!  This is a male Metope Eyemark (Mesosemia metope), the eyemarks being another subfamily of metalmarks which show considerable sexual dimorphism.  Males of some species are entirely blue and easily spotted in the forest understory, whilst the duller females are generally brown and white.

Amazon advent Day 17

This is a monkey grasshopper in the family Eumastacidae, which characteristically sit with their legs perpendicular to their body like this.

Amazon advent Day 16

Another puffbird today, this is Eastern Striolated Puffbird.  It is easier to see than the Collared Puffbird, especially in the more open areas where it can be located by its long, melancholic whistling, and is one of the local specialties, being restricted to south-eastern Amazonia.

Amazon advent Day 15

Another planthopper today (see day 10), this has got to be the biggest one I've ever seen, almost the size of my fist, and goes by the name of Phenax variegata.  You can make out the waxy tail filaments produced by many species in this family and the purpose of which is probably to confuse predators.

Amazon advent Day 14

After the madness of 2017, I saw very few tapirs this year due to lower temperatures and a much higher level of water in the river.  Whereas I regularly saw twelve or more per boat trip last year, I perhaps saw a dozen all season, yet Cristalino has still got to be one of the best places in the world to see them.  One of my guests even got to see one during her transfer into the lodge and promptly burst into tears as she was so moved by the unexpected encounter.

Amazon advent Day 13

Unlucky for some, a snake for day 13!  I discovered this venomous Common Lancehead (Bothrops atrox), sometimes called Fer-de-lance, on the lodge grounds after dinner one evening but it presents no danger to humans unless you go and do something silly like step on it or try to pick it up.

Amazon advent Day 12

I'm usually at the lodge much later in the season, once the river level has dropped too far for us to make the long trip upriver to the area's only Hoatzin colony, so I'd not seen this prehistoric-looking creature since 2011.  In June, however, I got to guide a couple of keen birders who had difficulty walking the trails and were thus happy to spend a full morning in the boat instead, resulting in some wonderful, close-up looks at a small group of Hoatzins.

Amazon advent Day 11

It doesn't get any smaller than this, I promise, but this little jewel is some kind of tortoise beetle, and that's all I could find out about it!

Amazon advent Day 10

This is a flatid planthopper in the genus Poekilloptera, but even less seems to be known about them than the treehopper of Day 5, since there is some uncertainty as to whether the variations in pattern and amount of spots relate to one or several different species.  I spotted this one from the boat while guiding a Swiss family and am not sure whether they were more impressed by the insect itself or the fact that I noticed it from half way across the river!

Amazon advent Day 9

The Euselasias, a subfamily of metalmarks, have got to be one of my favourite groups of butterflies.  They are challenging to observe well as they usually land upside down underneath a leaf and are generally uncommon; I've only identified eight of the 30 or so species recorded at the lodge so far.  In mid-August, however, this species, Euselasia clithra, was suddenly all over the place and quite numerous along the various trails.

Amazon advent Day 8

From Collared Peccaries to Collared Puffbird!  My first four seasons at the lodge, I had only ever heard this secretive beauty, enlisting the the expert help of Rich Hoyer in 2016 to finally find me my first and, until this year, only one.  One morning, though, I was investigating the noise of a mixed flock when I looked up and found this sitting quietly directly above the trail.  I even managed to summon another guide who had never seen one and his guest for great looks before it disappeared off into the forest, not to be seen again.

Amazon advent Day 7

Walking quietly along the trails by myself whenever I was without guests, I got to experience quite a few close encounters.  This twenty-strong group of Collared Peccaries, including several young piglets, didn't hear or smell me and foraged to within a few metres, moving slowly off once their poor eyesight allowed them to realise I wasn't a tree standing in the middle of the trail.

Amazon advent Day 6

If your immediate reaction to today's picture was 'Ooh, what a beauty', then congratulations as you have succesfully identified your first butterfly of the Amazon!  This is Baeotus deucalion, or Deucalion Beauty, one of four species in the beauty family.  They all have these heavily-patterned undersides and either orange or blue upperparts, and would often follow the boats along the Cristalino, occasionally landing on the guests.

Amazon advent Day 5

Most visitors understandably want to see the birds and mammals so it can be quite frustrating when we have a slow morning for these but there is always something to see in the rainforest!  There is a whole, fascinating world of insects out there to be discovered if you set your sights a little smaller and take the time to investigate all around you.  The treehoppers, in particular, are a wonderfully diverse group of brightly coloured and fantastically shaped, sap-sucking insects related to cicadas.  This one, about as big as the tip of your little finger, is almost certainly in the genus Phyllotropis but I was unable to find any information as to how to tell the various species apart.

Amazon advent Day 4

Of the six species of trogon found on the reserve, three have yellow bellies and three have red ones.  I already featured White-tailed Trogon (since split and renamed as Green-backed) back in 2016, so here is a male Black-tailed Trogon, which can often be found around the lodge clearing.

Amazon advent Day 3

I'm getting to be a bit of an expert on the local butterflies and found several new species for the reserve this year, as well as getting to see the tiny caterpillars of a new, undescribed species of metalmark being tended by ants for the honeydew they produce.  The skippers do not generally get as much attention as the brightly-coloured metalmarks but this Two-barred Flasher (Astraptes fulgerator) shows that this family can be just as attractive.

Amazon advent Day 2

Arriving at the lodge for my seventh summer season of guiding, I was greeted by this sight along one of the trails.  To the uninitiated, it looks quite bizarre and I love asking my guests what they think it could possibly be, with very few of them actually getting it right.  I call it Cicada city, the rather phallic constructions being made by cicada larvae burrowing deep into the earth and forming these 'chimneys' to help regulate the temperature and humidity of their burrows.  After several years (anything from two to seventeen, depending on the species) underground, the nymph will crawl up the nearest tree, and a fresh, adult cicida will emerge out of their nymphal exoskeleton (below), ready to head up into the trees and make hearing anything else in the forest virtually impossible, much to the dismay of the birders!

Amazon advent Day 1

As mentioned back in June, I flew via Belém this year since that means a much shorter transatlantic crossing, and managed to see a few new birds during my two-day stopover before heading on to the lodge.  I didn't realise at the time but this Ruddy-breasted Seedeater was only new for my Brazil list, having already seen it in Costa Rica.  Scarlet Ibis, however, was a lifer and one of the species I most wanted to see. As soon as we reached the mangroves, we saw the first ones, eventually seeing around 60, all of which were even gaudier than I had imagined!