Between 2 and 18 July, 2013 we went to the first expedition of the Southern Amazonian project. Wiith a great help of Jason Weckstein's long-time collaborator and friend Dr. Alessandro Aleixo from the Emilio Goeldi Museum in Belem, Para State, Brazil, we finally obtained all necessary collecting permits and research visa, and embarked on our field trip. Before heading to the field we needed to do some preparatory work in Belem, pick up a lot of supplies and process paperwork that required a lot of coordination and stamps in various governmental offices. The Field crew included my collaborator and co-PI on the project Dr. Jason Weckstein, Josh Engel (with both of them I previously worked in Malawi) and Heather Skeen (all from the Field Museum), members of Alessandro Aleixo's a team from Emilio Goeldi Museum, several amazing ornithologists ffrom other Brazilian institutions, and myself. We surveyed birds and their parasites in Reserva Biologica do Gurupi in Maranhão, which is one of the largest remaining tracks of Amazonian forest in the Belém area of endemism. To reach the field site wedrove for about 10 hours one-way (with an overnight stop) south of Belem and stayed at a house of park ranger. The expedition was quite successful. A brief photo report is below, not in a very organized manner.

The field crew before departure	Classic VW Beetles in working condition can be still seen in Brazil
Brazilian version of the Statue of Liberty in Belem	One of the first birds I saw in Brazil on my first day
We saw many birds even before leaving the city	Almost ready for departure
Flat-screen TV does not protect from malaria!	Humming bird landed on a branch above my head
Just before sunrise in forest	Better to not climb this tree
We had to work until late every day	Termites on the surface
We surprisingly few flowers	Dragonflies were common near marsh
A short rest after setting nets	I do not know what this plant was, but it was pretty
You can notice differences between different colony members	Wherever I go I look for my favorite jumping spiders
Vultures are always on the lookout for food	Alex at processing table
Macaw always flew very high	This scorpion was sitting under the lab table right above Jason's knee
Team at work	Heather filling the field book
Screamers are large and loud	Parrots were common, but not easy to see.
Nightjar on the ground was not afraid of light	Howler monkeys are the loudest creatures in the forest
Sunset	A very small kestrel species
Guards at the entrance to bee nest	Park ranger's cat was friendly
There is little doubt that so brightly colored caterpillar is not tasty	Marsh
Forest at the adge of marsh	Capybara feces in shallow water
Enjoying nice weather after breakfast	Vultures always walked around hoping for a handout. Did not get any.
A true gentleman has to shave independently of the conditions	Whip scorpions are members of arachnid order Thelyphonida
Ranger's house where we stayed	When we forgot rope we used lianas to fix mist net poles
After several hours in hot, humid and dusty forest everybody is tired	This beautiful little flower was about the size of a fingernail
The shape of beak suggests this birds likely eats insects	I need to ask my colleagues what bird this was
Fearsome bullet ant infamous for its sting	This is a robbery! Well, nectar robbery
Our driver Esmeraldo was freezing when I felt it was a T-shirt weather	Jason in the forest
Collecting bird lice	Antonita at mist net
Fresh mandioca (cassava) roots	Mandioca ready to grill
Sidnei at work	Josh recording bird songs
Last photo before departure	Josh ready to go to airpot to fly home