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Home → Essays and Inspiration

Exploring Brazil’s Remnant Atlantic Forest

By Jason Polak 21 Comments
Published On December 21, 2023

Somewhere near the meeting of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais lie the partial remnants of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. I recently had the opportunity to explore this fragile region with my wife and see some of the less common species of flora and fauna in South America. Although I’ve explored the ecosystems of North America and Australia before, Brazil’s southern forests were a whole new world for me.

Table of Contents

  • The Atlantic Forest
  • Photographic Challenges
  • Up the Moutain
  • Saying Goodbye

The Atlantic Forest

On a deserted dirt road, a small bird is moving through the trees. I press my shutter, and there’s my shot of the Serra do Mar Bristle-Tyrant. From its playfulness, I wouldn’t think this species to be rare, but only a few thousand people have seen it. Its carefree movements through the forest contrast against its restricted range: It can only be seen in about a dozen places along a tiny strip in the south of Brazil.

The Serra do Mar Bristle-Tyrant is an Atlantic Forest specialty. It lives in a forest that was once ten times larger, but intense farming and agriculture have destroyed most of its former home.

Atlantic_Forest_Jason_Polak
Remnant Atlantic Forest. Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 220, 1/640, f/5.6

The same precarious situation is shared by many other species of birds and animals in the Atlantic Forest. Just walk around here, and you’ll find an endless variety of plants, insects, and birds whose tiny ranges are quite worrisome.

This forest lies at the southern periphery of Itamonte, which is about 300 kilometers east of São Paulo. The road cutting through the forest is surrounded by mountain peaks and the Itatiaia National Park.

Pedra_do_Pico_Jason_Polak
Pedra do Pico is a famous landmark of the region. Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 100, 1/640, f/5.6

Established in 1937, Itatiaia is the oldest national park in Brazil. The park offers quite a few trails, including one that goes straight up to the famous Pedra do Pico outcropping, though they aren’t easy. The road leading up to the higher part of the park is known as one of the top birding hotspots of the entire state of Minas Gerais.

One of my destinations today is the Instituto Alto Montana da Serra Fina, located just six kilometers down the road. This conservation area and research station has over 30 kilometers of trails and a richness of biodiversity that contrasts with the surrounding human developments. They also don’t mind if we arrive before opening hour to watch birds.

WhiteEyedParakeet_Jason_Polak
White-eyed Parakeet at the Instituto Alto Montana da Serra Fina. Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 100, 1/1000, f/5.6

Photographic Challenges

My wife and I start off on the Casa Branca trail. Again, I’m reminded that wildife photography in this sort of deep, wet forest is a whole different ballgame from shooting in a small city park or open habitats. Although biodiversity literally hits you in the face, the darker environment and busy backgrounds make composition rather challenging. There’s also the small matter of hiking long distances through dense brush, all while hoping it doesn’t rain too hard.

I don’t mind at all. Just to walk through a quiet path with dozens of species of butterflies and hear the racuous calls of the Swallow-tailed Mannakin is peace incarnate. I think, if only the majority of the world were like this, we’d all be a lot happier.

The trail winds up the mountain, and there are views. Could this be an opportunity for landscape photography? Initially, I think not. It’s not the golden hour, and there’s a huge tree in the way. But then the fog begins rolling in.

Cloud_Landscape_Jason_Polak
Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 450, 1/2000, f/5.6

It’s not the sort of fog that sits lazily in the morning, but a fog with a destination in mind. It quickly moves throughout the landscape, sweeping away the straightforward light of the day with a soft and sweet blanket of mystery. There’s a landscape photo, I think.

We slowly make our way back from the long trail. I’ve captured some new species, some record shots, and perhaps one or two gems on my camera.

Back at the cabin, the wet season rain comes for its almost daily, gentle visit. I look at the small and crooked wooden fence out front. It’s right in front of the covered porch with some grass and bushes in the background. A great bird hide, I tell myself. Not long after, a Rufous Hornero comes to visit.

Rufous_Hornero_Jason_Polak
Rufous Horneros make giant dome mud nests. Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 1100, 1/640, f/5.6

A Rufous-collared Sparrow or Tico-tico is next. This pretty little South and Central American sparrow reminds me a lot of the Song Sparrow of the north back in Canada. Like the Song Sparrow, he certainly loves to sing. Once, he even sings on the top of the cabin like he owns the place. I think he’s right.

TicoTico_JasonPolak
Rufous-collared Sparrow. Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 2800, 1/640, f/5.6

Outside the tiny protected area, the flattened farmland is endless. The fog sometimes covers it up enough so that I feel a hint of the prehistoric forest, but then it moves again, and I see the devastation.

Still, some birds are thriving in the the new, transformed environment. Termite mounds dot the grassy landscape, and Saffron Finches love to sit on them for an easy snack. Large groups of social Guira Cuckoos play on them, moving to and from the few remaining trees. Wait! Is that a Toco Toucan flying across the sky?

Toco_Toucan2_Jason_Polak
Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 140, 1/2000, f/5.6

Up the Moutain

Butterflies surround us on the mountainous trails. There seems to be an endless variety of them. A friendly one in the genus Diaethria likes to land on me and my backpack. Butterflies of this genus are known for their distinctive wing pattern, part of which forms a numeral like “88” or “80” as you can see below.

88_Butterfly_Jason_Polak
80 Butterfly. Panasonic G9 + Laowa 2X Macro @ 50mm, ISO 1600, 1/125, f/7.1

And yes, there are birds, too. Now, a white stream is emerging from one of the many waterfalls, providing some cool comfort for my wife and I against the hot sun.

But it seems that we’re not the only ones taking refuge amongst the spray. A Sooty Tyrannulet comes to bathe and play amongst the rocks. This little grey bird loves the forest and will never come near the farmland. I’m looking through my viewfinder and somehow, despite the strange light, I get a shot.

Sooty_Tyrannulet_Brazil_Jason_Polak
Sooty Tyrannulet is a forest species that sometimes comes to streams to eat and bathe. Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 640, 1/250, f/5.6

Later, and higher up the mountain, we hear a dozen bird calls. I’m six kilometers into a hike that the trailhead said would be five kilometers, surrounded by dense forest. Still, there’s a Diademed Tanager in the high bushes and some sort of Antshrike below it. While the birds prefer to remain hidden and taunt us, I don’t need to take a photo to be happy.

The trails are starting to exhaust the two of us, so we take a stop at the Lavandário Mantiqueira to look at their lavender fields and try some local coffee. They’ve got jam without any sugar or sweetener, too. And I think I see a Bare-faced Ibis in the field…

Saying Goodbye

I may never see the species of this region again, and I have a sinking feeling that the world may lose them too, although I hope not.

WhiteChinnedKingbird_Jason_Polak
White-throated Kingbird. Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 3200, 1/500, f/5.6

Every time my wife and I see a new species of bird, I look it up in the scientific literature. Unlike many North American species, at least half of the birds we’ve seen here have virtually no research at all done on them. Even though birds like the Serra do Mar Bristle-Tyrant are safe for now in their remnant forest, how fragile is their ecological niche? Most of the time, nobody has the answers.

After some days, it’s getting hard to keep track of all the birds. I set out on this trip having photographed 644 species of birds; now, I’m at at 692. And what about insects? Someone could spend two weeks on the first trail and never run out of different species.

Yellow_Insect_Leaf_Jason_Polak
Pansonic G9 + Laowa 2X Macro @ 50mm, ISO 400, 1/125, f/6.3

What an incredible display of biodiversity! But in truth, one of my fondest memories of this trip is the joy on my wife’s face from experiencing such a wild area for the first time. I think that if everyone could just experience this joy, our planet might not be in so much trouble.

I feel immensely priveleged to have seen some of the animals of Brazil’s remnant Atlantic Forest. Over time, experiences like this have also led me to a new understanding of my own wildlife photography. I think fundamentally, I enjoy wildlife photography because it gives me a way to connect and share my experiences with nature in a world increasingly devoid of nature.

Green_Ibis_Jason_Polak
Green Ibis. Nikon D500 + 500PF @ 500mm, ISO 500, 1/2000, f/5.6

I love wildlife photography, and I’ll probably never stop shooting. Even so, if I could exchange my camera for a world where natural ecosystems would be safe and we could live amongst plants and animals in harmony, I would give up my photography in a heartbeat.

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Filed Under: Essays and Inspiration Tagged With: Essays, Landscape Photography, Travel, Travel Photography, Wildlife Photography

About Jason Polak

Jason Polak is a bird and wildlife photographer from Ottawa, Canada. He has been interested in photography ever since he received a disposable film camera as a small child. His career as a mathematician led him to move to Australia in 2016, where he started seeing colorful parrots. A few casual shots with a lens completely unsuitable for birds got him hooked, and now wildlife photography is his biggest passion. Jason loves to show the beauty of animals to the world through photography, and one of his lifelong goals is to photograph five thousand species of birds. You can see more of Jason's work on his website or on his YouTube channel.

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vsevolod struk
vsevolod struk
January 3, 2024 1:02 pm

Please forward to Jason

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SteveK
SteveK
January 3, 2024 11:02 am

Great article and inspiring photography!

0
Reply
Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  SteveK
January 3, 2024 5:45 pm

I appreciate the support, Steve! Thank you.

0
Reply
Alfred Fickensher
Alfred Fickensher
January 3, 2024 8:54 am

While I’ve never been off the North American continent, I do home grow plants of several species of orchid that grow only in that area of Atlantic Forest, Sophronitis. (Many images on Google) Fingernail-size delicate flowers in several shades of reds on small thick leaves on thumbnail-sized pseudobulbs. So your essay and photos was of interest to me for providing some context about where my orchids originated.

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Reply
Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Alfred Fickensher
January 3, 2024 5:47 pm

Thank you very much! I would be very curious to see some photos of your orchids. Is it difficult to cultiave them? It must be very rewarding to see them flower.

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Reply
Alfred Fickensher
Alfred Fickensher
Reply to  Jason Polak
January 7, 2024 9:18 pm

Just google “Sophronitis”. Also search that word on YouTube for som vids that show them growing on trees in the wild in hillside fog in the coast region you visited.

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Reply
Rogério Peccioli
Rogério Peccioli
January 2, 2024 4:49 pm

How cool that you and your wife got to know this endangered paradise. I live in Rio de Janeiro and the Atlantic Forest is part of my backyard.

0
Reply
Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Rogério Peccioli
January 2, 2024 5:46 pm

It was indeed very nice to see it. You must see a lot of animals if you’re so close to the forest!

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Victor
Victor
December 24, 2023 8:06 am

Hello Jason,

I’m curious how you liked 500pf in the Atlantic Forest. It is quite dark there and I can imagine that sometimes you need a brighter lens.
Sometimes the birds are in the undergrowth.
Next year I will also go to part of the Atlantic Forest near San Paulo, but I have not yet decided which lens I will take with me; 500mm pf, 300mm pf, 300mm 2.8 with teleconverters, 70-200mm 2.8 with teleconverters and of course my macro.

1
Reply
Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Victor
December 25, 2023 3:23 am

The 500PF was indeed quite dark and there were a handful of shots that just got too noisy. A 300 f/2.8 would have been useful on some occasions, but not too many. Most of the time birds were a bit far away and 300 would also have been too short but 300 + 1.4TC would probably have gotten some decent shots. I think a 400 f/2.8 would have been idea for those cases.

It might also depend on where you are thinking of doing your shooting. If you’re going to go out on your own into the forest on trails then you won’t get a huge number of opportunities with 300 f/2.8 or even a 420 f/4. The only types of creatures I ever saw were birds and insects/spiders so a macro is a must. Honestly, if I had your choices I would still go with the 500 simply because most of the time, the birds were very far away and so the advantage of something like a 70-200 f/2.8 will be negated by the distance.

2
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vsevolod struk
vsevolod struk
Reply to  Victor
January 3, 2024 10:05 am

Dear Jason
Amazing article and report about Mata Atlantica.
I’m Brazilian living in Ann Arbor. Michigan and photo hobbyist
Thank you for your interest and detailed report about the area very close to disappear
I suggest next trip : Pantanal
Um grande abraco
Walter

0
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Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  vsevolod struk
January 3, 2024 5:52 pm

Obrigado pela sua mensagem! The Pantanal would indeed be a very nice trip and I do hope to go see it very soon!

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PRG Lagarde
PRG Lagarde
December 23, 2023 4:40 am

Beautiful and indeed inspiring. Thank you for all that beauty Jason.

1
Reply
Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  PRG Lagarde
December 25, 2023 3:17 am

You are welcome! I appreciate your comments and encouragement!

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malcolm
malcolm
December 23, 2023 3:00 am

fantastic…

0
Reply
Abhinav
Abhinav
December 22, 2023 9:51 am

I feel you Jason…..I absolutely do!!!!

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Reply
Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Abhinav
December 22, 2023 7:08 pm

Yeah, I love seeing animals in the wild but at the same time knowing their plight also breaks my heart.

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Reply
Pieter Kers
Pieter Kers
December 22, 2023 4:10 am

Very inspiring! That 80-butterfly is like a modern painting- incredible!
I always think my camera gets stolen in South America… no problem?

2
Reply
Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Pieter Kers
December 22, 2023 7:07 pm

Thank you! It’s a very nice butterfly.

You should be fine in South America, as long as you make sure to stay away from certain areas. If you go to smaller towns and near parks, you should have no problem. But you definitely have to be careful in big cities in Brazil for example.

Of course different countries will be different. It’s a matter of research and being a bit more cautious than you would be in North America/Europe/Australia.

2
Reply
Gary
Gary
December 22, 2023 1:11 am

Excellent story and photos. Thank you.

1
Reply
Jason Polak
Jason Polak
Author
Reply to  Gary
December 22, 2023 7:05 pm

Thank you so much for the encouragement!

0
Reply

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