Sunday, Oct 3 - Election Day in Brazil

(Pics:  Violaceous Euphonia feeding on bananas,  The Lodge in pouring rain from the bird hide, John Rowlett in the Lodge's computer room!, and three Black Jacobins dancing around a feeder)

We woke to pouring rain and had breakfast at 6:15. We were going to return to the Cedae Trail that we birded our first day here, come back for lunch and then walk the Lodge trails in the afternoon, but are going to try and reverse that plan. It’s 9:15 AM and we’ve ended up sitting on the verandah and watching the feeding trays. I slogged out to the pool and actually managed to catch up on the blog for the last few days. Cirilo is going to take the Lodge workers into town to vote. The rain is letting up a bit so we may go out on the trails and get thoroughly soaked which makes packing for our flights tomorrow rather messy!


We ended up hanging around the lodge, using the bird blind near the feeding trays for some pretty nifty photos. Bob spotted a large rufous-colored frog near the pond and got back just in time to see the Saffron Toucanet make its third appearance - a yellow-breasted 14” toucan with an elaborate red and grey bill. The rain continued to tease us by letting up and then when we were hopeful of getting out, started to pour once again.

 (Pics:  Blue-naped Chlorophonia, Green-headed Tanager [I know, it has a blue head], and a moth on the Lodge door)

We had a delicious lunch of meatballs in tomato sauce over mashed potatoes and then most of us took off, rain or no rain, to the Cedae Trail. We hiked down hill on an old overgrown road and spotted a few birds, but it was very wet and the birds were hiding and trying to stay dry, as maybe we should have been! We returned home at 4:30. I managed to grab a hot shower and wash my hair without the hot water running out, thankfully! We met at 6:30 for the List, drinks and then, dinner of tasty chicken cooked with roasted potatoes and fruit salad with condensed milk for sobremesas. And, the Browns won a game, finally!!!
Forecast for tomorrow: more rain…