Serro do Cantareira can be seen to the north of Sao
Paulo during the journey into town from the airport. The ridge of forested
hills has been protected and designated as a State Reserve. My issue today was
that it is only open to the public on weekends and public holidays, so this
morning, Sunday, was my only opportunity to visit and I had to get changed and
go straight from the flight. It was already 10.00 by the time I reached the
entrance gate and the forest was disappointingly quiet.
A main road leads from the gate to
the two main focus points of the park;
Pedra Grande and Lago das Carpas.
To walk to Carp Lake and back, taking in the view from The Big Stone is about
9kms through wonderful forest scenery, but as the park’s opening times are
restrictive, the roads can sometimes be quite busy. The public are allowed into
the forest on foot and the only motorised traffic is from the park
administration.
I was struggling to find birds and
the only one that I had seen well so far did not appear in my field guide. Even
after returning home and consulting heavier, less portable tomes, it still
remains a mystery despite half a dozen good sightings during the day.
As is so often the case while forest
birding, long periods of nothing are dotted with sudden moments of frenzied
activity. It was nearing midday when a party of foliage-gleaners and
woodcreepers sent me into an identification tizzy; so many browns and buffs,
chestnut, russet and rust. There were a couple of familiar faces, but more to
the point, an astonishing 4 red-letter birds
came from this first wave of the day. White-collared Foilage-gleaner and Buff-browed
Foliage-gleaner stood out with easily recogniseable features and a White-barred
Piculet and a couple of Spot-backed Antvireo broke up the monopoly of
browns. Photographs were impossible in the circumstances. The forest was
gloomy, the birds were moving quickly and I was trying to pick out salient
features to identify them while juggling the field guide. Trying to use the
camera would have been a thankless task. Note to self; a working familiarity
with spinetails, woodcreepers, xenops, foliage-gleaners etc., would be useful
before stepping into the forest.
Close to the first turn-off for Pedra
Grande a flock of Brassy-breasted
Tanagers were seen high in a tree. A couple stopped to enjoy them with me
and as we chatted, a Surucua Trogon
flew in above us. It was horribly silhouetted high in the tree, but was
restless and kept moving around until it found a large grub and sat still for
long enough to get the camera on him.
Strangely, the forest began to give
up its birds during the early afternoon. Shorter days in the southern
hemisphere bring cooler temperatures and perhaps the insects are slow to move
in these conditions. In just a shirt, I had felt slightly cold in the forest’s
shade during this May day and perhaps the birds felt the same sluggish chill
and took a while to get going.
A few parties were feeding now that
the sun had passed its height and a large Spot-backed Antshrike featured in one group
along the road.
I turned left onto the Pedra Grande
loop and found that this is the route less travelled. Most people pass this
turn and go on to the next junction before joining the loop. Then, having taken
their view of the city, return the same way. This leaves the bottom part of the
loop with much less traffic. The birding here was more productive and I put this
down to less disturbance. Golden-crowned
Warbler, Rufous-crowned Geenlet,
Olivaceous Woodcreeper and Masked Yellow-throat were seen along
here in small parties as well as more Brassy-breasted
Tanagers and the ubiquitous Black
Vulture which is a constant presence in the skies above.
I stopped for a while on the Big
Stone lookout (Google Earth ref; 23 26 11.13S 46 38 7.18W) and warmed myself in
the sun. A Squirrel Cuckoo flashed
past as I flicked through my field guide, trying to get to grips with some of
the brown birds that I had seen along the way. The view back over Sao Paulo is
very impressive and Pedra Grande also offers a good opportunity to scan the
canopy of the lower slopes, but nothing was moving in the treetops as I
watched.
I had tried to get a shot of the
astonishingly coloured Brassy-breasted Tanager earlier and had nearly
succeeded, but the light was so poor that this was the best attempt. Taken just
beyond the viewpoint where a bit of light filters through, I still had to bump
the ISO up to 1250 and open the aperture as far as it would go to get it at
1/10th sec. handheld.
I did not make it to Lago do Carpas.
By the time I had completed the loop around the stone, I would not have had
sufficient time to get there and back by 17.00 when the gates are closed, so I
took my time to mosey back down the hill noting Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, more Olivaceous
Woodcreepers and some Spot-winged
Wood-Quail. I was stopped by a sustained, harsh “ch-ch-ch” alarm which I stopped to investigate. It proved to be my
sixth life bird of the day in the form of a pair of Star-throated Antwrens.
Close to the entrance are some trails
leading from the main road into the forest. If you wish to maximise your time
in the forest without being late for closing time at the gate, these trails
make for a useful diversion at the end of the day. The park illustration shown
below is not to scale, but is a better representation than given on Google
Earth which has incorrectly shown the route of the main road.
Figueros Trail
is quite long and may take an hour or so. Bugio
is only a few hundred meters and loops back onto the road. Bica starts and finishes immediately inside the gate. To time your
departure to the second, it is also possible to waste a few final minutes
checking the forest edge at the small clearing inside the gate. On my first
visit to Cantareira, I found 12 species here whilst waiting for my guide to
show up.
Bird list for Cantareira;
Spot-winged Wood-Quail 4, Black
Vulture 8, Squirrel Cuckoo 1, Surucua Trogon 1, White-barred Piculet 1,
Rufous-capped Spinetail 1, Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner 1, White-collared
Foliage-gleaner 1, Olivaceous Woodcreeper 6, Planalto Woodcreeper 1, Lesser
Woodcreeper 1, Spot-backed Antshrike 2, Spot-breasted Antvireo 2, Star-throated
Antwren 2, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow 1, Rufous-crowned Greenlet 3, Rufous-bellied
Thrush 3, Masked Yellow-throat 2, Golden-crowned Warbler 4, Bananaquit 1,
Green-headed Tanager 3, Brassy-breasted Tanager 25, Blue-Dacnis 2, Red-crowned
Ant-tanager 2, Violaceous Euphonia 1, Chestnut-bellied Euphonia 1.
Cantareira Nucleo Pedra Grande can be found in the hills to the north of Sao Paulo.
Actually it is a mountain by virtue of reacing 1010m at the big stone.
Public visitors are usually only
allowed entry from 08.00 until 17.00 at weekends and private vehicles are not
allowed. The entry fee of 9 Reas is paid at the gate.
To walk to Lago das Carpas and complete
the return by way of Pedra Grande on the mostly paved road is a distance of
9.5kms.
It may be possible to gain special
entry to the park outside of the normal public hours with a park
employee/guide. Previously I have been able to visit the park at 06.00 on a
weekday, but Diego, my guide on this occasion, has moved on to a different section. He
has sent me a link to his friend and colleague who may be able guide you at a
time more conducive to birding.
Contact Daniel at;
Mobile phone; 011985962043
Take the Metro to Tucuruvi. Take a
taxi from here and show the following address to the driver to make sure that
you are going to the right place;
Rua do Horto, 1799 – Tremembe –
Parque Estudial da Cantareira – Nucleo Perda Grande.
From the small open area in front of
Alberto Lofgren Park, keep right and continue to the top of Rua do Horto where
you will see the park gates at Google Earth ref; 23 27 17.41S 46 38 8.27W.
On return, it may not be possible to
find a cab, so make your way back down the hill to the small open area in front
of Alberto Lofgren Park. Here you will find a stop for bus number 2470 which
returns to its terminal at Metro Station - Parada Inglesa for 3 Reas.
If your only time in Sao Paulo does
not coincide with a weekend, Alberto Lofgren Park, (Google Earth ref; 23 27
31.90S 46 38 2.52W ) is adjacent to Cantareira and a small area of forest and
forest edge is accessible through the large wrought iron gates in the small
square at the bottom of the hill.
