My only sighting of this peculiar species was along the Tuichi River, so I never saw it hunting. Its peculiar beak is used as a kind of fishing rod, and it flies close enough to the water surface for the mandible, or lower beak, to be sufficiently submerged so that it will hit fish in […]
Unfortunately I have lost a few really great photo opportunities in regards to this species, and I was about to miss this one as well, as the boat driver was in such a hurry, and in no way heeded my requests to slow down. In my few days in Madidi I saw only this one. […]
My boat trip from Chalalan back to Rurrenabaque presented an even greater amount of bird species than my trip upstream! Also species I didn’t see on my way to Chalalan. That’s what’s so great about a place like the enormous Madidi National Park – it’s so diverse that even boat 100 trips would present new […]
A very common mammal, and perhaps the most abundant in Madidi. My trip out of Madidid provided the most sightings, and several resting as seen here. This is another family a little further down Tuichi River.
It’s a relief to see many fledglings of a species that is under pressure from human activity, and they are most likely present in all the rivers in low-land Madidi. It sounds like this:
This was my farwell to Chalalan, and even though it was raining some butterflies were out feeding on urine or naturally occuring salts. Please help me identify it – leave a comment.
Sometimes you can see quite large gatherings of this species on the riverbanks, and urine is particularly irresistible.
A large and quite common butterfly on the riverbanks of Madidi.
On all the riverbanks you’ll see many different species of butterflies and bees, licking salts – either from human and mammal urine, or the natural occurring salts.
A juvenile on the Tuichi riverside and where the trail to Chalalan starts or ends. It sounds like this:
If you’ve got a sharp eye and know what to look for, you will see a hawk watching you! It sounds like this:
Drying its feathers after a dive. It sounds like this:
My first sighting of this species! And not the only one – there were many of them here, both fledglings and adults. The species is listed as near threatened. It sounds like this:
The 4-5 hour boat trip from Rurrenabaque to the Chalalan lodge provides excellent fauna opportunities, as the river is the only all-year natural clearing in the density of the Madidi jungle. Desipte being a bird who can easily outfly the bloodsucking insects, they are constantly bombarded with horseflies, as you can see here. It sounds […]