For a human in the jungle it’s mostly about looking up to the canopy where much of the life resides. Adding distance and high contrast (fauna is dark against the very bright background) it’s usually very hard to see what’s moving. It’s often hearing and not seeing.
Every now and then you will see trees that tower above all other trees. They stand as beacons of power. The Ceiba tree! If only one could stay up in a Ceiba!
Fortunately Napo Wildlife Center has made a modern tower besides a huge Ceiba tree, and once on the canopy plattform you can see where the sounds are coming from, as you have a 360 degree vantage point 40 metres above the ground.
Many of the birds will also visit the very same tree you are in, so close encounters are much more likely when in the canopy! In this case this Aracari regarded us as harmless and went on with the business of pruning.
Even though visibility is excellent in the canopy one still has to cope with distance. This Aracari is 17 metres away, so close-ups are not necessarily that easy. Even with a 500 mm telephoto lens.
It sounds like this:
Yasuni National Park
-0.509722,-76.436944
Last updated on 8 December 2020
