Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre

Three juvenile Aplomado Falcons were photographed at the airport the other day, this is the first evidence of local breeding of the species which is normally a sporadic visitor.

Three juv. Aplomado Falcons © Elis Simpson

Also the White-eyed Parakeets at Ubatumirim have finally been nailed down with a couple of  record shots.

White-eyed Parakeets © Elis Simpson

White-eyed Parakeets © Elis Simpson.

Also a new photographic record of Toco Toucan, adding them to the list of accepted species. We do not have permission to reproduce the photo here, but interesting news anyway.

On a morning visit to the airport, Rick and Elis Simpson found some interesting birds all together in one spot. There was an immature Roseate Spoonbill, that they had seen from the perimeter fence the day before, but in the same place Elis found a Pectoral Sandpiper and there was also a roost of 14 Nacunda Nighthawks.

Roseate Spoonbill © Elis Simpson

Pectoral Sandpiper © Elis Simpson

Nacunda Nighthawks © Elis Simpson

During a day working in Folha Seca with a film crew from the UK who are making a documentary about hummingbird evolution Elis Simpson found a strange looking hummer, so she photographed it and called Rick over to have a look, he saw it only briefly, but thought it was probably a Stripe-breasted Starthroat, the photographs confirmed the ID. This is the first documented record for Ubatuba.

Stripe-breasted Starthroat © Elis Simpson

Incredibly there is only one undocumented record for the species and that too was found by Elis!

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A ‘hooded’ gull in non-breeding plumage was found by Marina and Jeremy Minns on Praia Dura at 08:30 on the 11th of January. Jeremy informed Rick and Elis Simpson who went immediately to the beach. At 11:05 they located, photographed and identified the bird as Brown-hooded Gull, the first documented record for Ubatuba.

Brown-hooded Gull © Elis Simpson

Yet another first for Ubatuba is found at what is becoming the birding hotspot of Ubatuba. This time it was the spectacular Streamer-tailed Tyrant. It was fist found and photographed on the 19th by Felipe and João Castro, and independently by Rick and Elis Simpson two days later. This marsh is the place to bird if you are looking for new birds for the municipality in addition to the Streamer -tailed Tyrant the following have all been first recorded there; Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Tiny Hawk, Small-billed Elaenia, White-crested Tyrannulet, Yellow-bellied Seedeater and White-browed Blackbird.

Streamer-tailed Tyrant © Elis Simpson

Small-billed Elaenia © Elis Simpson

White-crested Tyrannulet © Elis Simpson

Yellow-bellied Seedeater © Elis Simpson

White-browed Blackbird © Elis Simpson

In addition White-tailed Kite and  White-rumped Swallow were first documented there although all had been seen elsewhere beforehand.

White-rumped Swallow © Elis Simpson

Another first for Ubatuba at Ubatumirim, this time a Small-billed Elaenia. It was first photographed by Felipe Castro some weeks ago, but the exciting news is that Rick and Elis Simpson, together with Steve Miller a visitor from the USA found a nest with one chick in it proving breeding.

Small-billed Elaenia © Elis Simpson.

First proven nesting for Ubatuba of Small-billed Elaenia © Elis Simpson

On the 5th of December 2011 Elis and I were with Peter, Jenny and Megan Sharland at Ubatumirim. We successfully (if not terribly well) managed to get a record shot of White-rumped Swallow, promoting it to category A of the Ubatuba list.

White-rumped Swallow © Elis Simpson

We then saw and photographed a White-vented Violetear. This is not a new bird or documentation for the species, but was a welcome addition to Elis’ personal list for the municipality.

White-vented Violetear © Elis Simpson

The best bird of the day though was White-browed Blackbird. This record shot constitutes the first record of this species for Ubatuba.

White-browed Blackbird © Elis Simpson

On leaving we came across this Grey Monjita, another new bird for us in Ubatuba.

Grey Monjita © Elis Simpson

We learned from Gilberto Messiana the unsung hero of last year’s BBP twitch and José Carlos that the birds are back and have been seen and photographed feeding at the same site as last year. Here are three photographs by Gilberto that he took of a pair that stayed longer than the rest of the group.

© Gilberto Messiana

© Gilberto Messiana

© Gilberto Messiana

The  Stygian Owl that spends its days roosting in a tree in Itaguá has returned. It has been back since the 1st of November. It doesn’t appear there every day, so if you are visiting Ubatuba with a view to seeing the bird you can contact us on the day, we can check it out for you and so you don’t waste your journey.

Stygian Owl © Elis Simpson

Last week there was a Commonn Potto in the town centre. Typically we were not informed by the local birders so we were unable to pass on this information. It rested for the day on a telegraph pole in one of the busiest routes into town.

This week a group of seedeaters was seen among which one was an adult male Yellow-bellied Seedeater. This appears to constitute the first record of the species for the municipality.

Yellow-bellied Seedeater © Elis Simpson

On the same day Elis photographed this Ruddy Quail-Dove at there; it has not been previously recorded there, but it may easily have been overlooked being very discreet.

Ruddy Quail-Dove © Elis Simpson