Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre

Once again this year we had the pleasure of taking the UBWC to the British Bird Fair. Taking part in this international event is such a privilege. The atmosphere is one of friendliness and co-operation, mostly manned by volunteers, everyone is there for one reason only, to support the birds and wildlife of the world and all profits from the event go towards a chosen conservation project. This year it was to support projects to protect the migration flyways where so many birds face many dangers both natural and man-made. That is why the front cover picture is of the European Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur by Robert Gilmore

The event is always well attended with 30,000 odd visitors to the event, it is a great chance for people in ‘birding’ to showcase their particular involvement; tour companies, many of which like Rick Simpson Birding Services use part of their profit to support conservation projects; book sellers specialising in wildlife; optical firms and camera manufacturers compete for business in this lucrative market; artists, sculptors and photographers presenting their work and of course conservation bodies large and small, international and local like the UBWC are there to gain support for their cause.

This year, as last year, the stand was paid for by Rick Simpson Birding Services, and we were assisted by two well known and popular Brazilian birders and biologists, Milena Corbo and Arthur Macarrão and from time to time Paulo Boute of Boute Expeditions.

In addition we shared the stand and costs with ‘those nice people from REGUA.’ Sadly Nicholas and Raquel were unable to come to the fair but they were ably substituted by Lee Dingain and Rachel Walls, with the inestimable support of Alan Martin, and volunteer Richard Richardson.

We were greatly pleased with the response from everyone we talked to. In the economic climate that prevails it is hard to know where small projects like ours are to find reliable support and funding; but you know, when you genuinely have your heart in what you do, present a professional image and above all actually know what you are talking about, it shines through and people dig deep to help.

We held a raffle, drawn by Milena, the first prize of which was the book A Birdwatching Guide to South-East Brazil by Juha Honkala, donated to the UBWC by Juha himself, for which we are obviously very grateful.

The winner of this splendid little book was John Muddeman who was on his own stand Spainbirds when he received his prize.

Second prize went to Linda Ireland who, with her husband John, is an ex-client of RSBS. She received a copy of Tomas Sigrist’s Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil by Avis Brasilis, Third prize Birds of Greater São Paulo 1st edition donated to the UBWC by Edson Endrigo of Aves & Fotos Editora, went to Delia Stretton who won a book from us last year! Fourth prize a £25 book voucher from Natural History Book Shops donated by them and provided by REGUA went to Mr. and Mrs. Horton. Congratulations to our winners, and our thanks to all the generous donors of the prizes and of course to the public who supported the draw. The proceeds from the draw were shared with REGUA.

Among the many visitors we had to the stand were our volunteer from this July Oliver Simms who has been successful in gaining a place at Durham University, congratulations and good luck to him with his studies there…

… and television personality, author and old friend, David Lindo, The Urban Birder.

Last year we produced a small magazine called Guira which was sponsored by Rick Simpson Birding Services, this year we produced Issue 2, again sponsored by RSBS.

Here are the pages:The front cover is of Green-headed Tanagers feeding on a banana, taken by Elis at Folha Seca.

The following two pages describe the current projects of the UBWC; page 2 reports on the long-standing Brincando com Aves project working with a community close to the forest, and Aves na Escola, working with a school to bring birds in to the daily lives of children. On page 3 we talk about the CNAA and Worldwide Wader projects to which we subscribe with the intention of letting our birding contribute to science and not just to our lists and enjoyment, we talk about the bird list for Ubatuba that has just been published on the RSBS site, see the home page there for details www.rick-simpson.com . We also talk about some of the rare birds we have found in the region in the last 12 months.

Page 4 tells the story of the pioneering study of the Brown-backed Parrotlets that we were privileged to carry out, and the assistance given to visiting birders by the UBWC at Brazil’s first twitch. Page 5 talks about some of the places that RSBS takes people on its birding tours in the region and what birds can be found there.

Pages 6 an 7 continue the theme including Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro states. Rick says it took him ages to train those egrets to fly in that formation!

The back cover carries information about RSBS and contact details for this and the UBWC with a photo of a pair of Yellow-fronted Woodpeckers taken by Elis Simpson.

The magazine was well received and stimulated much discussion and interest in our work.

–

Since our return to Ubatuba from the UK we have seen a number of summer migrants that were not around before our trip.

One of the first in evidence was the Sick’s Swifts that call as they fly around our neighbourhood, the call being a very distinctive rapid ticking sound. We have seen a couple of Swallow-tailed Kites, one over Itaguá and the other over Ubatumirim. Although one or two Tropical Kingbirds had appeared before our trip, they are very much in evidence now. Many of our migrants are flycatchers; the Piratic and Streaked Flycatchers have been heard singing and Variegated can be expected to put in an appearance any time now. Another arriving migrant is Euler’s Flycatcher which has been heard singing and seen in the forests, and the beautiful Fork-tailed Flycatcher will soon be adorning many of our roadside wires and fences.

Boreal migrants have arrived too with 6 Semipalmated Plovers and a single Spotted Sandpiper at Ubatumirim.

Already showing up at feeders are the Black Jacobin and Black-throated Mango.

Another hummer, the Frilled Coquette, whose status in Ubatuba is uncertain but is probably a passage migrant as it only turns up during migration times and in very small numbers, has been seen at the feeders at Folha Seca for a week or so now.

Another of this family that is only recorded in the summer, albeit fairly intermittently and in ones or twos is the Amethyst Woodstar, they have been seen recently at the feeders in Folha Seca on a regular basis too.

Slightly off subject, but still on hummers, there is a Reddish Hermit that has started to come to the feeders in Folhas Seca on a daily basis. This behaviour was first noted in September 2010, it was a rare event for some time, but this one individual seems to have learned where to get and easy meal.

Another migrant to have shown itself is the Crested Becard a pair was seen recently speculating for nesting sites at Ubatumirim.

There are some resident birds who remain throughout the winter in very small numbers, or are perhaps replaced by birds from the south, that become very much more in evidence as Spring arrives. The most notable of these is the Chivi Vireo, who starts its incessant song about now and continues throughout the Summer. This sing becomes one of the most familiar sounds throughout the summer. Small number of ‘resident’ hirundines can be found in the winter, the off Southern Rough-winged Swallow and Grey-breasted Martin can be encountered, but now they are here in much larger numbers, the Grey-breasted Martins are particularly noticeable as they nest in town in buildings.