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| The green arrow points to the Campos do Jordao and Itatiaia area of Brazil |
Campos do Jordão
Sunday 22 August
We hope that Clyde met up with his guide early this morning because we didn’t see him at breakfast. A bus takes us to Campos do Jordão, 2.5 hours drive from São Paulo. It is an uncongested ride along a good road 1700 metres up to the Serra da Mantiqueira. Campos do Jordao is a popular weekend retreat for Paulistas who like to feel the cooler temperatures. Many of the town’s buildings have a Swiss look, and the names on the half-timbered buildings indicate the towns pretensions: Baden Baden, Aspen Lodge, Chateau Hotel, Inverness, to name a few.
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| Grand Parana Pine or Brazilian Pine Araucaria angustifolia - also known as the Candelabra Tree |
The Araucaria pine is visible throughout Capivari, the touristy suburb in which the conference is being held and where most of the congressistas are staying. This pine also features in tastefully designed concrete pavers wherever we walk.
The bus driver contracted by Boute Expeditions to bring us here seems unfamiliar with the place. After several tours of the town and requests for directions from locals, we insist that he drops us at our various hotels. Earlier he suggested he drop us at a central place and we catch taxis. We refuse as this was not part of the deal. We obtain a map of Campos and actually guide him to our hotels. Ours in the Pousada Alto D’Ouro, a three-storey hotel in Bavarian/Swiss style.
We lunch on trout at the Barito Gourmet right next to the Market Plaza Convention Center and celebrate the opening of the conference with wine. Unfortunately, each restaurant seem to feature loud live music when all one wants to do is be able to chat quietly. Some have complained that they have been charged extra for this unwanted music.
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| Conference Centre main entrance - only used on the last night! |
Along with hundreds of other congressistas from around the world we register at the Congress Centre a few minutes’ walk down the road, sort out some registration problems and then look for a restaurant.
Once the sun goes down it is quite chilly here. The Spazio Di Paulo restaurant has an open fire so we sit at a table right next to the fire. Our chicken in mushroom sauce and rice looks very bland on the white plate without vegetables, as does Chris’s fettucine carbonara, which he can’t finish. He’s ailing with the same symptoms that Peter had last week. However, the wine is good: a Santa Helena Reservado 2008, Chardonnay from Valle Central, Chile. Everything is pricy and we hear congressistas complain about this over the week of the conference.
Monday 23 August
The first plenary session – on the early evolution of birds: recent discoveries and arguments – begins at 8.30 a.m and is given by Luis Chiappe. An hour later Helen goes in search of a drogaria (drugstore) to get painkillers for Chris and more throat lozenges for Peter. She somehow makes herself understood and picks up some more Portuguese words in the process: tosse seco (dry cough); dor de cabeja (headache) and dor de garganta (sore throat).
She returns in time to hear Dewi Prawiradilaga, a former PhD student of Peter’s, give a talk on protecting wild birds and their wetland environments in Indonesia under the current pandemic HPAI and H5N1 viruses. Other interesting sessions are on the avian navigational system and the reintroduction of the Red-billed Curassow.
Many of the nearby restaurants offer special deals for congressistas so we try the Parole for pasta and Heineken. The smiling waitress is patient and obliging.
Plenary session 2 is on bird migration and the conservation of the global environment. The Japanese professor, Hiroyoshi Higuchi reads every word and clears his throat every 5 seconds so it’s hard to stay awake. During the poster session in the afternoon Peter and Chris talk to people interested in communication between the male and female Brown Thornbill and the effects of a bushfire on the recovery and vocal repertoire of a population of Superb Lyrebird in the ACT.
We go back to the Parole to dine with Michael Gotchfeld and Joanna Burger from Rutgers University. We worked with them in Delaware Bay in May earlier this year. Unfortunately, Joanna is not giving a paper on the shorebird research work that’s been going on over the last few years. Perhaps in Tokyo in 2014. Also unfortunate is that Chris goes to bed, too unwell to eat.
Michael tells us about the numerous chocolate shops in Campos so we explore and sample some treats.
Tuesday 24 August
Chris looks a little better at breakfast this morning, but the painkillers are giving him side effects. The plenary today (Regina Macedo) is on sexual selection in neotropical birds, chiefly studies on the Blue-backed Grassquit. It’s a clear, well-designed presentation by a presenter fluent in English so she keeps the audience’s attention well. Helen goes to the conservation sessions and Peter to the sessions dealing with sexual behaviour of tropical birds. We both meet at the session on the California Condor and decide we must seen this bird next year on our way to Delaware Bay.
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| Near our hotel |
Chris goes back to the drogaria to get analgesics that contain paracetemol because the other ones upset his stomach. We lunch at the Safari Restaurant and return in time for the plenary on seeing through birds’ eyes (given by Graham Martin). Peter and Chris remain for the poster session – it’s the last day for their posters to be up. Both return to the Pousada Alto D’Ouro for a short rest before returning to collect and pack up their posters.
Fairy lights decorate the facades and trees and all looks festive in the full moon light. We dine at the Villa di Phoenix restaurant which has 11 plasma television screens around the walls! Chris’s appetite seems to have returned because he eats a selection of 4 pastas and has 2 bottles of Bohemia beer. Peter demolishes a beef stroganoff but Helen can’t finish the rice and chips that come with her trout. Where are the vegetables? However, we enjoy another Miolo Seleção Chardonnay 2008 from the Val de Vinehos of Brasil. On the way back to the congress we enjoy some more chocolate.
Wednesday 25 August
A wake-up call at 5.15 a.m. ensures that we are ready to meet at the congress centre at 6.00 a.m. for the 3.5 hour trip to Itatiaia on the south-east coast of Brazil. Three large buses and one smaller one bring us to the National Park where we see one of the last remnants of coastal Atlantic rainforests. This is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world and has a high degree of endemism. However, this area is also one of the most threatened ecosystems because of centuries of logging.
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| Breakfast stop on the highway |
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| Tight corner for our buses getting into the Park |
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| Birding begins - Bare-throated Bellbird calling loudly - behind them! |
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| More Araucaria angustifolia |
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| Typical habitat along the road leading up to the Hotel Ype |
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| Beautiful blossom at the Park HQ |
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| Vistors Centre at the Park HQ |
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| Bus trip home |
The park has quite an interesting museum but, as no lights are turned on, we can only get a dim look at such marvels as the Harpy Eagle. However, along the 4.5 km trek uphill to the Hotel Ypê we manage to see quite a few birds. Among them: the Red-necked Tanagers, Maroon-bellied Parakeet, Bare-throated Bellbird (heard only), White-browed Woodpecker, Black Capuchin monkey, Brazilian Squirrel, Long-tailed Tyrant, Red-rumped Cacique, Rufous- capped Spinetail, White-throated Woodcreeper, Red-collared Sparrow, the yellow-bellied form of the Surucua Trogon, Sirystes, Opal-rumped Tanager and the rare Fork-tailed Cotinga.
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| Surucua Trogon |
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| Unidentified blossom |
However, the sighting that evinces the greatest surprise is Clyde, stepping out of a vehicle with his guide. It’s terrific to see his beaming face and shake his strong hand. He confides that there is a nesting Fork-tailed Cotinga along the narrow track to the abandoned Hotel Simon.
We hear but don’t see the Veu do Noiva (yes, another one!) waterfall and stagger past the 1250 metre (altitude) post, up a very steep and winding driveway to the Hotel Ypê where we down two large bottles of chilled Skol beer with no effort. Chris found the climb particularly arduous because of his cold.
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| In the restaurant - probably Brazilian Squirrel Sciurus aestuans or Atlantic Forest Squirrel S. ingrami |
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| Green-headed Tanager |
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| Olive-green Tanager |
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| Saffron Toucanet |
For lunch we position ourselves at a table that borders the balcony where numerous dazzling humming birds and tanagers come to the feeders. At very close range we see, of the hummingbirds, the Black Jacobin, Glittering-throated Emerald, Brazilian Ruby and Violet-capped Woodnymph; of the tanagers, the Blue-and-yellow, Golden-chevroned, Green-headed, and the Swallow Tanager; a Saffron Toucanet and a probable Purple-throated Euphonia.
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| Violet-capped Woodnymph |
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| Brazilian Ruby |
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| Brazilian Ruby? |
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| White-throated Hummingbird? and Brazilian Ruby. Why no white belly on the first? |
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| Black Jacobin and Brazilian Ruby |
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| Black Jacobin, Brazilian Ruby and Violet-capped Woodnymph |
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| Black Jacobin and Violet-capped Woodnymphs |
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| Brazilian Ruby |
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| Brazilian Ruby |
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| Fuzzy images of Violet-capped Woodnymph (forked tail) and Brazilian Ruby |
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| Violet-capped Woodnymph - male |
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| White-throated Hummingbird - but why no white belly? |
The superb buffet offerings hardly get noticed with our attention firmly on the dazzling beauties flying and perching so close to our tables – proof that birding is better than eating, or so it would seem for the committed list ticker and watcher. Bird paparazzi crowd onto the balcony, cameras clicking and whirring. A Black Capuchin monkey pulls a bird feeder up onto the roof, much to the amusement of the onlookers. Outside the restaurant, women have pictures taken of them feeding two other acrobatic Capuchins. Chris expresses his disapproval of this practice.
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| Black Capuchin Cebus nigritus This is the Atlantic Forest representative of the Tufted Capuchin that is confined to the Amazon Basin. Formerly the Black Capuchin was considered a subspecies of the Tufted Capuchin Cebus apella. |
Our leisurely walk back down is interrupted by a huge Dusky-legged Guan perched in a tree in the hotel grounds. Further down the trail we see a Bertoni’s Antbird. We return to the museum hoping the lights have been turned on by now, but no luck. Our hopes for a coffee in the coffee bar are also dashed. Two school groups occupy the empty area, their teachers speaking very loudly to be heard over each other.
Although we leave the park at the scheduled time of 4.00 p.m. we don’t get back to the congress centre till about 8.00 p.m.
Consequently, we missed our dinner date at 7.00 p.m. at the Parole restaurant with Phil Straw and his wife Margaret Piefke, who do not look happy when we see them. They complained that they were ‘ripped off’ for paying for a short ride out of Campos do Jordão only to have a swank lunch. They didn’t know any of the birds and there was no guide. We’re glad that we had a better experience all round and did not begrudge the money spent.
Consequently, we missed our dinner date at 7.00 p.m. at the Parole restaurant with Phil Straw and his wife Margaret Piefke, who do not look happy when we see them. They complained that they were ‘ripped off’ for paying for a short ride out of Campos do Jordão only to have a swank lunch. They didn’t know any of the birds and there was no guide. We’re glad that we had a better experience all round and did not begrudge the money spent.
Tired, in desperate need of a shower and not particularly hungry, we bid Phil and Margaret goodnight and order a small vegetarian pizza to share. Helen has water and Peter a small beer. Like last night, Chris preferred to get to bed as soon as possible so he didn’t join us.
Thursday 26 August
At breakfast we chat with Raoul Boughton who used to be a warden at Barren Grounds Bird Observatory near Kiama. Raoul did magnificent work to get an educational centre going and he and Peter worked together quite a bit on developing the observatory. Raoul then went to Memphis, Tennessee, and is now based in Florida where he married Betsy and has two children.
The plenary this morning is given by a Canadian academic, Kathy Martin, on alpine birds. It is well-constructed, well-delivered and based on credible science.
Peter goes to sessions on resolving the avian tree of life.
Helen attends sessions in room 8 on conserving bird populations against predators such as cats (feral, stray and domestic), rodents and other mammals. Because room 8 is in the breakout area, the noise level is almost unbearable – another example of poor planning.
The afternoon plenary is a humorous presentation by Pilai Poonswad from Mahidol University, on conserving the hornbills in Thailand.
Both Peter and Chris stay on for the poster session.
We all meet up at 6.00 pm for dinner at the Parole with Chris Davey, Phil Straw and his wife, Margaret. The vegetarian pizza and Calabrese pizza are favourites again and the wine is a refreshing Tierra de Luna Torrentes-Chardonnay 2009, a Meso Seco Fino.
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| As close as Peter got to a Brazilian Merganser! |
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| Brazilian Merganser |
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| Peter and Chris with Dewi Prawiradilaga from Indonesia Dewi was a former student who worked with us on waterfowl behaviour in the 1980s in Canberra. |
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| Chris enjoying a drop! |
Friday 27 August
This morning’s plenary is given by Lesley Rogers from Armidale University on the two hemispheres of the avian brain: their differing roles in perceptual processing and the expression of behaviour. Fascinating research. From now on we will take note of which eye the bird is using to express its behaviour; e.g. doing routine tasks or watching out for predators.
Helen goes back to the hotel after lunch because the medication for her sinusitis is making her feel very sleepy. Peter goes to sessions on using GPS and dataloggers for tracking birds, and sessions on vocalizations and behaviour in Greater Sage Grouse and a fascinating one on the anatomical adaptations in the Club-winged Manakin. This bird has a solid humerus with a knobby surface that apparently is used as a sounding board in the production of an extraordinary buzzing sound it makes during display at the lek. Peter saw this bird performing in the wild in Ecuador several years ago.
Peter catches up with Tony Fox, a former contact at the UK Wildfowl Trust at Slimbridge. Tony has lived and worked in Denmark for the last 17 years. He invites us to Denmark where he will show us wild geese.
We meet Chris for dinner at what has become our favourite restaurant at the Campos, the Parole. The staff note our return and provide us with free bread and dips. The bread is baked by Walquiria, who seems unaware of her connection with Richard Wagner and the Ring Cycle. The wine is another refreshing Tierra de Luna Torrentes-Chardonnay 2009, a Meso Seco Fino to go with a small vegetarian pizza for Helen, penne Bolognese for Peter and Frango, rice and chips for Chris.
As we leave we are asked to write something in their guest book and Helen obliges. When we inform them that this is our last restaurant meal in the Campos, our farewells and obrigados are quite heartfelt. We have certainly enjoyed the meals, service and conversations – always humorous despite being limited by language difficulties.
The plenary this morning is given by John Wingfield (President of the IOU) on the challenge hypothesis – behavioural ecology to neurogenomics. Chris goes to sessions on avian embryo and incubation and Peter and Helen go to the ones on the biomechanical, physiological and behavioural aspects of flight in the air and water.
Chris is keen to explore the town a bit more before his departure this afternoon at 4.30 p.m. We walk past the church and the main drag and find in a side-street the little German-style restaurant Marita mentioned: the Bia Kaffee. We enjoy the quiche, generous salad and coffee con leite. We wander further down towards the unkempt rivulet and agree that it would not take much to clean up the river and construct walkways on either bank.
We cross the railway line and go back into the main drag – it’s full of people having lunch. Helen leads the way to the gelateria she discovered several days ago on an exploratory walk. Unfortunately, the cashier didn’t understand our order and by the time we sorted it out, with the help of an interpreter, the queue behind us had grown considerably. It was worth persisting, however, because we really enjoyed the ice-cream cones to cool off on this quite warm afternoon.
Chris says his goodbyes to Peter, Marita and Helen and returns to the hotel to pack in readiness for his departure. He has a very early morning flight to London, via Doha.
Helen returns to take her medication and get some rest before the banquet dinner at 8.30 pm. Peter goes to Peter Sharpe’s session on avian functional genomics and to the closing ceremony. Before the banquet we sample our last cairipinha at the sophisticated So Queijo restaurant. We relax on a black button leather couch in the tree room (the room was built around a huge tree -- a Cupressus macrocarpus) and enjoy the elegant ambience before we go on to the conference banquet.
Room 1 at the convention centre has been transformed into a banquet hall. Numerous damask-covered round tables and white chairs have replaced the black rows of chairs used during the congress. Marita and Peter ask us to join them and we catch up on the days' events. We also have a good chat and laugh with Henrik and reminisce about the highlights of our birdwatching tour. The food queues are incredibly long and slow moving but we eventually return to our table with full plates. The desserts, as usual, are plentiful and absolutely delicious.
Towards the end of the evening Ensaio de Choro, an amateur ensemble of 7 friends, plays Choro music on clarinet, cavaquinho (a kind of ukelele), acoustic guitar and percussion. Apparently, Choro is the first Brazilian musical style, dating from the beginning of the 17th century. It is derived from the fusion of African percussion with European dances, and is essentially instrumental music. Choro is characterised by its high level of collective improvisation and polyphony.
Sunday 29 August
With a last look at the dainty profusion of primulas, magenta and white azaleas, mauve wistaria and white blossom trees, we leave Campos do Jordão later than the scheduled 9.00 a.m. on a bus bound for São Paulo International Airport, but not without confusion and delay. Our bus can only take 20 passengers and can’t cope with all our luggage. Luckily, Peter happens to be standing next to the guy checking off the names, shows him our receipt and we’re the first to get on board with our bags in the hold. The only new bird we see on the journey is a White-tailed Kite. Two and half hours later we are at São Paulo airport with 4 hours to kill. Marita and Peter Sharp invite us to visit them in Edinburgh and we reciprocate by inviting them to stay with us in Canberra.
After a coffee we join a queue waiting for Lan Chile to open its check-in services. While in this queue we happen to see Clyde, who himself is in a queue for a flight to Bolivia. It’s great to see him again. When we finally check in we are booked all the way to Canberra – which is a surprise – but we are to fly to Santiago via Rio di Janeiro – which is an even greater surprise. Despite assurances to the contrary, we are somewhat concerned about catching our connecting flight to Sydney in time. Adeu Brasil!
At Rio Airport we are told to go to Gate 20 but our flight actually leaves from Gate 26 and the flight is delayed by 30 minutes! An pallid Asian man, wrapped in a blanket, leans forward in a wheelchair while he waits to board. In the aircraft there is a call for a doctor -- we presume it's for this man. There is another lengthy delay in rainy Auckland. We leave the dark jade coastal waters of the Auckland region and lift above dark clouds into fluffy white clouds suffused with a rosy gold. The silver surf outlining the coast glistens in the sun.
Arriving at Sydney Airport is easy and troublefree and we board quickly for Canberra. At the baggage carousel Bob Katter speaks on his mobile phone and listens to a rotund man, presumably an adviser. Bob is in Canberra to attend Treasury briefings on the Opposition's policies. He is one of the 4 independents who could influence which party gets into power.
Canberra is green on this last day of winter and we delight in the violet profusion of the Hardenbergia in our front garden. There are buds on the icebergs roses, the violas are in bloom and a Black Boy rose surprises us in our vegetable garden. It's a housewarming gift from an old friend, Mavis Russell. The promise of Spring is all around us.
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