Red Trail

On Saturday 31st May and Thursday I joined Adeli and a guest at the Guapi Assu lodge on a trip to the highest trail in the Reserve, the red trail. It reaches a higher altitude than many of the other trails through the area. Near the top, the forest changes character from tall secondary growth into bamboo thickets and eventually elfin woodland. The elfin woodland is a mixture of stunted trees, palms and dwarf ferns with an abundance of lichens and mosses growing on the floor and there is an increase in miniature bromeliads and orchids.

This different habitat offers a different food and habitat source to many specialist birds such white-bearded antshrike, black-billed scythebill white-bibbed antbird, greenish Schiffornis, grey-capped tyrannulet, golden crowned warbler and ferrugionous antwren. All of which we saw very well.

The trail can be very steep in places and that makes looking up in the canopy very difficult whilst moving but we managed to see an extensive range of mature forest species such as rufous-breasted leaftosser, ochre-breasted, black-capped and white-eyed foliage gleaners, pale-browed treehunter, sharpbill, white-throated, planalto, olivaceous, scaled and thrush-like woodcreepers, star-throated antwrens, red-necked, green headed, brassy-breasted, white-bellied, brown, red-crowned ant, flame-crested, olive-green and black-goggled tanagers, black-throated grosbeak and rufous-capped anthrush.

Near the top of the trail on Thursday I came across two frog species, both requiring full identification still, but one was particularly spectacular as I immediately noticed it had obvious horns on it's head.

I am currently building a showcase of amphibian and reptile pictures that when I get a chance will thoroughly go through to identify them. There is very little help on the Internet to help with identification.