February 8th was the day to guide my new friend from Portugal, Rogério Rodrigues, in the fabulous Itatiaia National Park and surrounding areas.
Despite the intense heat of a sunny day, we managed to record 76 species in the lower part of the park alone, including the rare migrant from North America here in these parts, the Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi), which I had only seen twice in my life. In the Hotel Ypê area, two female Frilled Coquettes (Lophornis magnificus) were visiting the flowering lantanas. And when leaving Rogério in Visconde de Mauá we still managed to record the Araucaria Tit-Spinetail (Leptasthenura setaria), a new bird for me in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Thank you my friend for a great day of birding and I hope you come back for a next tour here in Rio de Janeiro. And I definately need to explore more of the Visconde de Mauá region. Looks promising!
Top of the galaxies!!!