The Long-tailed Potoo is never an easy bird to see and though we went last night with Leonardo to the lowland area of Onofre Cunha to see the Giant Snipe and Tawny-browed Owl at such close distances, we didn’t even hear the Long tailed Potoo’s unmistakeable eery call. If you have heard this bird call you can understand why many locals think that it comes from the other side of life!! Adilei had similarly walked with guests Federic and his French friends anxious to see this bird.

This morning, driving up the 4×4 Track to Casa Anibal, Adilei bashed the top of the cabin and said “stop stop!!”, pointing excitedly to the ball of feathers ontop of a dead snag. It didn’t take long for us to recognize the Long-tailed Potoo and as we took our photos he commented what a shame Federic did not get to see it. I came back to the lodge and found Federic and the group having their last breakfast on the veranda as they prepared to leave for Sumidouro. When I mentioned we had a stake out for the potoo no one was that interested and only when I added that Adilei had mentioned how keen they were to see the bird, did Federic say I must have made a mistake. The group dashed for cameras and jumped on the pick-up to return to the same spot on the 4×4 Trail for a glorious photographic session. And even the Shrike-like Cotinga came to say goodbye to us as we returned to the lodge and a final farewell.