From East to West and Further East again

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. Flowering restinga at Cardoso Island (Brazil) with its
peaks covered by the Atlantic Rainforest in the background
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2007

I just got back from another season in the woods, after crossing Brazil from east to west and then further east again, finishing this year pretty much like I began: on the road!

Since our birds are in the mood with spring and upcoming summer, the past two months were a time for workshops about wildlife watching, photographing and sound recording. First we presented in Sao Paulo a free mini course named “Sound, Image and Biodiversity”, where participants learned how to choose and use equipment and techniques to appreciate natural environments. Next we went to Corumbá (Pantanal city on the border with Bolivia) for an activity with the employees of Rio Tinto Mining Co, which every year promotes a day trip to the Pantanal Park Road with the support from Birdlife International.

Flying back from borderland to the seashore, as if in an unlikely migratory route, I spent last week at Cardoso Island State Park with students from a school in Sao Paulo, helping them with their environmental studies and researches. Among so many interesting things, we found beautiful restinga landscapes and a family of Southern Lapwings that illustrate this post. The photo results were so outstanding that we’ll soon have this year’s last Month’s Gallery at Fotograma – wait for it!

Southern Lapwing chicks go for a stroll
under one of their parents’ wary eyes
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2007
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