Amazonian returns part 1

I had a couple of weeks off at the end January and returned to the Amazon for the first time since 2018!  I started in Belém, where a fellow guide helped me to tick off a few species I'd only glimpsed or heard before such as the localised Willis's Antbird, Black-tailed Tityra and Amazonian Grosbeak.  Our rarest sighting by far was this female Belém Woodpecker, which has a very restricted range, but it was just as nice to see some of the commoner species such as toucans, trogons and woodcreepers again.  Most of our birding was done in a park on the outskirts of the city, where this Collins' Squirrel Monkey decided the attention we were paying it warranted a rest.

Being the rainy season, there weren't many butterflies around but a visit to the botanical garden within the city did provide us with this exquisite Spangled Cupid, a metalmark that is trying its best to look like a Lycaenid.

Having spent all of my last day scouring the various city parks to no avail for Jandaya Parakeet, I was amazed to find four of them in the airport car park before flying on to my next destination.

Smientenspektakel

Back in 2022, I stumbled across what has to be one of the greatest (and least known) natural spectacles of The Netherlands, namely the pre-migration gathering of tens of thousands of Wigeon near Gouda.  I've been meaning to go back ever since but never got round to it until last week.  It was a beautiful, spring day with my first butterflies of 2026 (a Peacock and a male Brimstone) on the wing and I could already hear the calls before I got to the largest and furthest lake, where all the birds had congregated.

The sound was phenomenal, especially whenever part of the huge raft would take flight and relocate to another part of the lake.  Just as in 2022, it was impossible to estimate the numbers involved although I did try and got to around 12,000 before giving up; it was probably more like 20,000 or even more. 
A pair of Red-necked Grebes, some Black-necked Grebes coming into breeding plumage and two, male Red-crested Pochard were nice distractions but it was difficult to take my eyes off the Wigeon show.  Turn the volume up to watch the video - sorry for the snapping of the camera but a very few Dutch birders were also there to witness the spectacle.