Postcards from Brazil

We had wonderful weather here during the weekend, but today Stockholm is covered in snow again. Only a few summer visitors have arrived so far: Chaffinches, Woodpigeons and Barnacles. Believe it or not, a Chaffinch can sound really exotic after so many months of winter silence!

The previous week I had a flash visit to Aracaju, NE Brazil, for a 3-day conference. By sneaking out of the hotel very early in the morning every day I managed to get quite a few hours worth of birdwatching. It was great to find Southern Lapwings, Burrowing Owls, Southern Crested Caracaras, Striated Herons, Guira Cuckoos, etc, etc, etc, within a 100m radius from the conference venue. Most species were relatively tame and easy to photograph. Ruddy Ground-doves were one of the few exceptions: they used to be hunted massively and thus have good reasons to flee for their lives as soon as something, such as a camera+ telelens, is pointed in their direction.

I didn't have much time, but loved what I did see of of Brazil... and have already added the country to my holiday wish list.

A larger selection of my Brazil wildlife photos can be found on Flicker:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivl_wildlife_photography/sets/72157623548322499/

Cheers,
Inge