Saw the first of two Spectacled Caiman shortly after we left the checkpoint. These gigantic alligator type amphibians are not particularly aggressive toward humans, but clearly have their differences with each other, and perhaps other local wildlife. This one is missing a big chunk of it's tail for example, but doesn't seem to be much bothered by it.
Not long after we saw the Caiman, Terry made a classic birder mistake. He pointed toward the bank and said "what is that... a snake?"
A mistake many of us have make when we see an Anhinga in the water for the first time. This long necked bird frequently walks on the bottom with it's neck sticking out. It is a rather tall bird, and this neck is really slender. Total length of the bird is about 3 feet.
Among the many raptors on the river is the ubiquitous Black Vulture. A relative of the Turkey Vulture (with the naked red head) of North America, this version has a naked black head, and is also about 26" with a wingspan of over 5 feet!
Other raptors which are seen on the river include the Caracara family. These falcon type birds are fairly common in the Amazon basin and are omnivorous scavengers. This pair was actually fishing on the shoreline from some beached snags. These are 34" or so birds with a wingspan about equal to the body length.
After grabbing a fish out of the water, this individual was caught drying out it's wings.
One of the most interesting sights on the river was this Otter family. It looked like Mom and a bunch of kids. The smaller ones were really curious.
After watching for a bit, it was very interesting to see the adult pull a large crab off the bottom of the river, tear the legs off, and chomp down on the shell. Notice the legs on the log near the bottom of the picture.
After they were all fighting over the crab, this little one just looked at us like maybe we could help him get his share!
Though you don't see it too much from the boat, the river is teeming with life. This Cocoi Heron was fishing very carefully on the edge. I can't imagine what the bill of this 4' spear fisherman looks like coming at you from above!
One of my favorite birds anywhere in the world are the swallows. On the Tambopata, the Blue and White Swallows are beautiful whether stationary or swooping. These little 4 inchers are really striking.
One of the rare finds as we travelled up the river was the very hard to see and shy Sunbittern. Unfortunately this one was on the edge of the river directly between us and the sun and very hard to photograph. The bird is very distinctive with it's "BUICK" white portholes on the side. Only a little over 2 feet long, it is very elegant both in appearance and walk.
One of the most entertaining of all the birds along the river is the Yellow=Billed Tern. Often seen soaring, they are always looking for food.
These little 10 inch birds look much larger as they swoop right overhead. They have little fear of man it seems, and are great fishers.
Often looking straight down at the water, they must have incredible eyesight.
And here he is with his catch, making sure that he does not get it stolen!
Among the most elegant of all the river birds in flight is the Snowy Egret, easily identified by it's black bill, black legs and yellow feet. This little 2 footer is so pure white that it is dazzling.
I don't know the names of the butterfly's, but they are just as beautiful as the birds. I finish this post with a picture of what greeted us on the bank of the river when we landed at TRC.
In the next post i will show some of the amazing birds at TRC.
3 comments:
Huh, it didn't take my comment before so I'll try again. I love all your pictures. Keep them coming.
So Kenni had a good idea, You should send into National Geographic with some of these pictures. The Otter with the crab is a pretty cool shot, and I know everyones always saying bird watching's lame but the White bird that's flying is equally as cool
Noah lives for these pics. Every time you have an update, I gather him to my computer and he takes a little quiz to see how many of them he can identify. You'd be impressed by how many he can identify.
He's pretty excited because some cow birds and some american goldfinches have been feeding at the neighbor's seed all week.
And while we were in Utah last week we went to the Tracy Aviary. I think the other folks there were a little taken back by how enthusiastic he was about all the birds and what countries they were from. An employee/volunteer tried to tell him about a lazuli bunting, but he knew more than she did.
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