Brazil is bigger than the US and as equally varied in its natural habitats. Many of these habitats support millions of wintering migratory shorebirds from all over the US and Canada. The shorebirds stopping over on Delaware Bay before going to the Arctic to breed, winter and stopover in many locations along the northern and eastern coasts of Brazil. We studied the main wintering/stopover area in the north, in the states of Maranhao and Para. We also studied one of the main shorebird stopovers in Lagoa de Peixe in southern Brazil. In both locations, knots and other arctic nesting shorebirds build weight to fly directly to Delaware Bay. In this expedition, we conducted surveys of both birds and habitat to discover the most important places for shorebirds and the threats they face
But as the days wore on and difficulties mounted, we found refuge in thinking about dinner and a beer. Some nights we cooked, like when Antonio and Mateo barbecued meat and vegetables on the indoor barbecue pit in one of the ASA’s outbuildings. On others, we ate out at one of the many restaurants in Mostardoes on our way back from the beach. Except for Keith and Lori, we all drank but got up early the following day to try and catch birds.