Marcos Felipe Pinto has been running his popular course in Wildlife in Focus for the last four years at REGUA. As a talented biologist, he felt the need for training and together with his wife Carina developed a course aimed at professionals and biologists who want to learn field techniques in animal identification. The weekend courses are intense and receive up to 20 students from all over Brazil and even neighbouring countries.

On Sunday 23rd July, while taking the students around the wetlands, Marcos spotted a different duck, and with binoculars identified it being the Comb Duck Sarkidiornis sylvicola. Three females were present between 10.15 and 10.30, paddling with Brazilian Teals Amazonetta brasiliensis, White-faced Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna viduata and Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata, before departing. This is a first sighting for REGUA and we are delighted to add it to our bird list.