two birds with one zone

Sunday saw us head to the park to let loose our hound.
Instinct carried us over the river and across to the Instituto Butantan and its surrounds which are reasonably well forested and ample in dimension:


Exibir mapa ampliado

We took to sitting in the grounds of an abandoned building where we settled down to some serious idling, letting nature slowly creep back in around us.

Two out of the ordinary birds were sighted. The first, and larger of the two was Amazona aestiva. It eyed us from time to time from a high branch whilst cracking and crunching some sort of nut or seed pod. Actually native to the centre and north of Brazil, released captive birds have managed to establish a precense in the West Zone of the city. My looking up at it caused a small crowd of others to gather in order to see if what I was seeing was worth seeing too.

The second was a woodpecker. Celeus flavescens. I was lucky to see this one. It came in fast to land on the trunk of a nearby tree and, sensing shyness, I approached by keeping foliage between it and I in order to facilitate a decent butcher's hook. I got that look. Then it shortly flighted.

I get a little bored with the predictable and monotonous lack of (non-human) diversity here in Sao Paulo and so it was great to go to a place a mere 20 minute drive from where we live and see something different in the wild. I shall return. And next time with my trusty Nikon 7x20s.