VOLTA VELHA RESERVE near Itapoa 
BRAZIL

SANTA CATARINA (near), (Compass)

Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl 
Protected/registered status 
Best Time for visit (18th December, 2006)

 

Birding Site Guide

This excellent private reserve is located just a few kms from Itapoa, a seaside resort in Santa Catarina state. I visited on a day trip from Joinville from where there is a direct bus, but it would be better to stay in Itapoa or even better in the reserve itself. The bus from Joinville left at 9:30am cost 13R and took about an hour and a half. I found the reserve following the instructions on www.arthurgrosset.com which were however for people with their own car. The bus driver hadn't heard of the reserve but one of the passengers had. The bus reaches the coast before Itapoa, goes left and then doubles back towards the right. On the website it says the name of the reserve is painted on a wall after several kms but I found that there was a poster instead. The road takes a right at the poster, then left straight away. For the reserve don't go left but instead straight ahead, away from the sea. After 3km you get to a bridge over a small river, then past some cleared land with young palmito palms planted. The road ends at the reserve where there are some buildings. 

When I got there (about midday) there was nobody at the reception but a worker approached me. He was very friendly and said it was no problem entering the reserve as long as they knew I was there and when I left (for safety reasons). Follow the signs towards the trails and then left at a house with a huge grass roof. This track goes through palmito, then excellent forest but there were many mosquitoes when I was there. I only birded a few hours in the middle of the day but still saw some good birds like Azure Jay, Unicolored Antwren, Mouse-colored Tapaculo and Restinga Tyrannulet, and heard Yellow-legged Tinamou and Bare-throated Bellbird. At the spot described for Kaempfer's Tody-Tyrant (1.2km into the forest, just before the river and a few hundred metres further on) I heard some strange nasal calls that could have been the bird. The reserve is definately worth birding at least a couple of mornings, preferably when there are fewer mosquitos. 


I saw 71 species including 3 lifers 
Species seen 

  • Yellow-legged Tinamou Crypturellus noctivagus Endemic NT Heard Recorded
  • Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens
  • Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
  • Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata photo'd
  • Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
  • Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
  • Rufous-thighed Kite Harpagus diodon
  • Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris Heard only
  • Yellow-headed Caracara Milvago chimachima
  • Rusty-margined Guan Penelope superciliaris
  • Ash-throated Crake Porzana albicollis Possibly seen
  • Wattled Jacana Jacana jacana
  • Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis
  • Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus
  • Ruddy Ground-Dove Columbina talpacoti
  • Plain Parakeet Brotogeris tirica Endemic
  • Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana Heard only
  • Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga ani
  • Guira Cuckoo Guira guira Heard only
  • Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia
  • Ashy-tailed Swift Chaetura andrei
  • Violet-capped Woodnymph Thalurania glaucopis
  • Versicolored Emerald Agyrtria versicolor
  • Sapphire-spangled Emerald Polyerata lactea
  • Surucua Trogon Trogon surrucura
  • Campo Flicker Colaptes campestris
  • Blond-crested Woodpecker Celeus flavescens
  • Rufous Hornero Furnarius rufus
  • Chicli Spinetail Synallaxis spixi Heard only Recorded
  • Variable Antshrike Thamnophilus caerulescens
  • Plain Antvireo Dysithamnus mentalis
  • Unicolored Antwren Myrmotherula unicolor Endemic photo'd Recorded
  • White-shouldered Fire-eye Pyriglena leucoptera Heard only
  • Mouse-colored Tapaculo Scytalopus speluncae photo'd
  • Bare-throated Bellbird Procnias nudicollis NT Heard only Recorded
  • Blue Manakin Chiroxiphia caudata Recorded
  • Restinga Tyrannulet Phylloscartes kronei Endemic Vulnerable photo'd
  • Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher Todirostrum poliocephalum Endemic
  • Cattle Tyrant Machetornis rixosus
  • Gray-hooded Attila Attila rufus Endemic Heard only
  • Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
  • Boat-billed Flycatcher Megarynchus pitangua Heard only
  • Streaked Flycatcher Myiodynastes maculatus
  • Piratic Flycatcher Legatus leucophaius
  • Variegated Flycatcher Empidonomus varius
  • Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
  • Fork-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus savana
  • Black-tailed Tityra Tityra cayana
  • Gray-breasted Martin Progne chalybea
  • White-rumped Swallow Tachycineta leucorrhoa
  • Blue-and-white Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
  • Southern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
  • House Wren Troglodytes aedon
  • Rufous-bellied Thrush Turdus rufiventris
  • Creamy-bellied Thrush Turdus amaurochalinus
  • Azure Jay Cyanocorax caeruleus NT Recorded
  • Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus
  • Masked Yellowthroat Geothlypis aequinoctialis
  • White-bellied Warbler Basileuterus hypoleucus photo'd
  • Bananaquit Coereba flaveola
  • Ruby-crowned Tanager Tachyphonus coronatus
  • Azure-shouldered Tanager Thraupis cyanoptera Endemic NT
  • Green-headed Tanager Tangara seledon
  • Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina
  • Double-collared Seedeater Sporophila caerulescens
  • Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola
  • Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis
  • White-browed Blackbird Sturnella superciliaris
  • Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis
  • Red-rumped Cacique Cacicus haemorrhous Heard only
  • House Sparrow Passer domesticus Introduced species


Other Fauna 
A total of -- species of mammals. 

There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles. 

Flora 

Author: Charles Hesse

 

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