Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre

Rick, Martha and Sylvia.

This morning we had the pleasure of receiving Martha Argel, biologist and author, she is in town to give a lecture at the Ubatuba Birdwatching Festival. She came with Sylvia Junghähnel and our very own Carlos Rizzo. She had come specifically to look for the Buff-throated Purpletufts.

The Birdquest Group 'ticking' the purpletufts!

As we were walking around the site, looking and listening for our quarry, a minibus pulled up with a group from Birdquest led by Mark van Biers, they too were after the purpletufts. I left Martha in the capable hands of Elis and went to meet and greet our new arrivals. I was just in the process of telling them that this was ‘probably the best place on earth’ to find these birds when Elis came rushing over breathlessly panting that she had found the birds. We dashed over and everyone got excellent scope views of a pair apparently collecting food items. They’d fly off occasionally into the forest but returned to the same tree several times, retuning to the forest again in the same direction each time, behaviour that would indicate young in a nest somewhere.

The Paraty party.

Other birds of note this morning were a pair of Rufous-thighed Kites and a White-necked Hawk circling (not together) in the clear blue sky, aparently enjoying the change for the better in the weather.

We were also joined by Rogeirio a tour guide and a young couple of biologists from the nearby town of Paraty, Guillerme and Nathalye who told us about some interesting sites to visit the next time we get down that way.

Despite the permanent drizzle all day the UBWC birds were very active in their nesting activities. A number of species were collecting food for their young, in particular the Brazilian and Green-headed Tanagers were dashing back and forth between the bananas and the forest with great beak-fuls; the Purple-throated Euphonia pair were busy carrying materials to and fro; a Pale-breasted Thrush was collecting mud at the river edge to line his or her nest in a banana plant; a male Red-necked Tanager was gathering mossy  plants from the branches of the trees and carrying it to his nest high up in the canopy; the Blue-and-White Swallows continued to come and go under the eaves; the Chestnut-crowned Becard pair tended to their globular, mess-of-a-nest suspended at the end of a hanging vine, all the while swinging in the wind. The pièce de résistance came when Elis found a Ruddy Quail-Dove nest beside a forest trail. She quickly took a picture of the nest and the two eggs and retreated.

Ruddy Quail-Dove nest with two eggs.

Happily the sitting bird returned and Elis got this shot of it from a safe distance. We shut off the trail and hope that the bird will fledge the young successfully.

Adult Ruddy Quail-Dove at nest.

Around the observation area birds were much in evidence away from the feeders too. A Riverbank (Neotropical River) Warbler bounced around the forest edge even venturing closer at times, a Black-throated Grosbeak sang in the nearby forest as did the Yellow-legged Thrush, who sings constantly all day.

Riverbank Warbler.

The hummingbird feeders were better populated, perhaps because of the miserable weather, we had out first Saw-billed Hermit and Festive Coquette, which joined the usual Sombre Hummingbirds, Violet-capped Woodnymphs, Versicoloured and Glittering-throated Emeralds, Black Jacobins and Black-throated Mangos.

All photos on this page copyright Rick and Elis simpson.

Today Elis planted a tree, well a tiny sapling; it is a native Jacaranda tree, Jacaranda micrantha. The sapling came from the SOS Mata Atlântica organisation which was created in 1986, its mission to promote and conserve the diversity, both biological and cultural,  of the Atlantic Rainforest and the ecosystems that rely upon it.

This little tree symbolises our humble beginnings, and hopefully we’ll grow together into mature entities, one a beautiful and majestic tree, the other a viable force in the fight for greater environmental awareness.

Elis planting the Jacaranda tree. Photo copyright Rick and Elis Simspon.

Elis putting fruit out at the feeding station. Photo copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

Following the excitement of finding three Buff-breasted Sandpipers on the way to the centre, Elis got to work replenishing the feeders by the observation area.

Odette checking the ID of the bird she just photographed. Photo copyright Rick and Elis simpson.

Odette joined us and set about recording the birds photographically.

Rick showing Deputy Mayor Rui Teixeira Leite around the site. Photo copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

Meanwhile Rick showed our first visitor around the site, Deputy Mayor Rui Teixeira Leite.

Well the day has finally arrived and all went without a hitch.

Coinciding with the opening of the 4th Ubatuba Bird Festival, we opened our doors to the public for the first time at 10.00 today. We received about 50 visitors who had been invited to attend, including; Carlos Rizzo, of Ubatubabirds; Jeremy Minns; Jonas D’Abronzo, of Folha Seca fame and many other members of the local community.

Photo copyright Rick and Elis Simpson.

It was a fairly informal affair, with soft drinks and nibbles, visitors were shown around the property and told about the plans and aspirations of the project. The observation area where the feeders are located was popular with the guests if not yet with the local bird population; however, there were Green-headed, Red-necked, Brazilian, Yellow-chevroned, Ruby-crowned and Sayaca Tanagers, Rufous-breasted Thrush, Blue Dacnis, Violet-capped Woodnymph, Swallow-tailed and Sombre Hummingbirds. There was a bit of excitement when three Buff-throated Purpletufts (the subject of our logo) gave themselves away by singing. There are of course many other birds around the centre, but you’ll have to come down and see for yourselves.

Rick gave a short speech welcoming the guests and explaining the whys and wherefores of the project and then the undeniable highlight of the event, a piece of theatre by the children of a local NGO, Namaskar project. To a song about birds warning them of the dangers they face from humanity, they danced two routines. The first, with the girls dressed as birds, dancing in the centre of the piece with hand made, colourful costumes, encircled by boys dressed in modern clothes and armed with capaults. The birds piroutted and spun with colourful delight whilst the boys with catapults encircled them, firing in their direction. At the end of the piece, the birds were all just crumpled heaps of colour on the floor… dead!

The music was then repeated, the birds spun and fluttered again, but this time the boys were carrying binoculars, the piece culminated with the boys all standing back to back in the centre of the stage with the colourful birds cartwheeling and fluttering joyfully around them… very much alive.

The piece was very moving and very well performed, some members of the audience had to wipe away tears, and Rick, who had planned to say a few words about the piece, was so overwhelmed he was unable to do so!