São Paulo's Ibirapuera Park

 

My friend Liz was in São Paulo just a week before us, and gave me great advice about visiting and birding Parque Ibirapuera, Brazil's version of Central Park, she called it. Daddy ended up finding a room for us within walking distance, which was perfect as we visited it twice in our three night stay!

As soon as we arrived, I started finding lifers, new birds I've never seen before, like this Narrow-billed Woodcreeper and Blond-crested Woodpecker!

I was excited to spot some White Woodpeckers and Common Marmoset (monkey)!

Black Swan (above) Turquoise-fronted Parrot (below)

In the midst of a very colorful, green environment, seeing the striking black and white Masked Water-tyrant was an attention-grabbing surprise! They are really fun to watch too!

We love Pao de queijo, a warm, baked cheesy bread puff thing that is one of the most popular snacks in Brazil. Luckily a little cafe in the park serves them hot and fresh. There were also food trucks serving candied nuts and toasted coconut, which is delicious!

I spotted SEVEN Striated Herons! We watched one fishing from the lake's edge. 

Rufous Hornero (above) Picazuro Pigeon (below)

We found a White-cheeked Pintail and some White-faced Whistling-ducks.

Liz found a Boat-billed Flycatcher here. I was hoping to see the bird, but failed on my first visit. I had studied my guide, but it looked so similar to the abundant Great Kiskadee, would I be able to tell the difference? On our return visit, I spotted one! And yes, the bill was so much larger, it was obviously NOT to be confused with a Kiskadee. 

Neotropic Cormorant (above). Lifer- Green Ibis (below)

Rufous-bellied Thrush

...and the very familiar Great Egret.

Our hotel has a rooftop pool! Unfortunately it was too chilly during our stay to swim, but we admired the view.

Before our flight, we let the kids sleep in and just the two of us enjoyed a morning of birding at Ibirapuera Park. 

We had other places on our list to visit here, but with only 3 nights, and the distance (São Paulo is huge), we opted to stay local. We had sushi for dinner two of the nights. 

Here we were shocked by how late people eat dinner. We generally like to eat dinner around 5pm. Restaurants here don't open until 7pm. One night we went to three different places trying find one that was open. Finally we just sat outside the third and waited. By the time the doors opened, 40 people were in line with us! Turns out we picked a good place!