Who’d have thought it was a whole year ago that we were birding in Brazil, at REGUA in the Atlantic Rainforest on the east coast of the country to be precise. It was an outstanding place to bird, definitely one of THE highlights of the year. One of the most beautiful parts of the amazing reserve was the man-made wetland created relatively recently, but so well established that it looked like it had always been there. Gangs of Masked Ducks cruised leisurely up and down in the water, while come the dusk, a confetti shower of Snowy and Cattle Egrets descended on the bushy islands. On one later afternoon walk around the lake, a rustling amongst the reeds caught our attention. We waited to see what was making the grasses move, and after a while, our patience was rewarded with great views of a Black-capped Donacobius working his way up a reed stem. A handsome bird with attitude, which having reached the top, obligingly sat still long enough to be digiscoped.While at REGUA, we added such key species to our list as Black-cheeked Gnateater, Blue Manakin, Shrike-like Cotinga and Spot-billed Toucanet to name just a few. In only two birding days, we added 61 new species for the year, which put our total year list at 2,726.Not only great birding, but such a comfortable place to stay, Nicholas and Raquel at Guapi Assu Bird Lodge made us so welcome that moving on to our next destination was quite hard to do. One day we’ll definitely be back! Check out www.regua.co.uk to find out all about this must-visit destination in Brazil!