Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre

Recently João Marcelo of the Reserva Guainumbi had the inspired idea to produce a bird version of the card game ‘Trumps’. Using facts and figures about the birds, such as size, weight, number of states in which the bird occurs etc, he has made learning about birds rather fun!

He generously donated one pack each to all of our children at the Brincando com Aves project and another set for the UBWC to entertain visiting kids, we also have a couple of sets to sell should anyone be interested.

We presented the children with the cards at a recent meeting, and the jolity began.

Smiles all round, good to see © Elis Simpson

Mind you, some of the 'bigger' kids needed things explaining more than once © Elis Simpson

A big ‘THANK YOU!’ to João Marcelo and all at Reserva Guainumbi.

'Thanks João Marcelo!" © Elis Simpson

Once again the UBWC is contributing to the knowledge of the avifauna of Brazil  by being involved in the CNAA (National water birds count) project.

CNAA wetlands bird count, February 2011 © Elis Simpson

We started last July by visiting Cambucá here in Ubatuba, plus Salesópolis and Mogi das Cruzes, nearer to São Paulo.

This year, due to a computer hitch at the PESM state park that administers Cambucá, we were unable to complete our count there in the time-frame alloted, so we were only able to collect data for Salesópolis and Mogi das Cruzes.

Great Egret © Elis Simpson

The count at Mogi das Cruzes produced few species as usual, a total of 9 relevant species were seen, however what was interesting was the large number (39) of Lesser Yellowlegs there. The number of individual birds counted was slightly down from 124 to 114, but the species tally went up one from 8 to 9. This did not however reflect simply the addition of a new species, but some species were missing and others took their place; Cattle Egret and White-faced Whistling-Duck were seen in July 2010 but not on this count, the new species being Cocoi Heron, Lesser Yellowlegs and Solitary Sandpiper.

Salesópolis is always full of surprises and worth a stop if you are passing. The individual count of birds was well down this time compared to July 2010, 427 then and 275 now, but the species total rose from just 15 to 22. Species missing from the last count were;

Roseate Spoonbill © Elis Simpson

Least Grebe,  Blackish Rail, South American Snipe and Black Skimmer. New birds this count were; Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Whistling Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Rufous-sided Crake, Lesser Yellowlegs, White-rumped Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper,

There were big fluctuations in numbers of some species, for example the Brazilian Teal population dropped from 40 to just 8, Least Grebes from 30 to 7, Common Gallinules from 138 to only 24 and most staggeringly Neotropic Cormorants went from 172 to just 3. The number of Southern Lapwings rose from 14 to 65.