Cloud Forest V

Milvus 35/1.4 @f4, Nikon D600 Noon, low cloud; moving through the forest turns human into a hopeless ant but unlike on flat ground, the hilly terrain can briefly peek through an opening in the maze and flash a bird's-eye view of the place.

Bee Nest

Sigma 100-400 OS C @150 mm, f5.3, Nikon D 600 Morning; active bee nest above clear water of Zabalo River (NP) (upper reaches) Amazon basin

Amazon II

Sigma 50/1.4 A @f6.3, Nikon D600

Fluvial Forest IX

Sigma 50/1.4 A @f5; late evening, Nikon D600; tranquillity descends on the forest; Amazon

King Vulture

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 200 (+1.3 EV); Nikon D750 Amazon

Aracari III

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @440mm, f8, ISO 1800; Nikon D750 Pale-mandibled aracari; Choco/cloud forest foothills

Banana

Sigma 100-400 OS C @180mm, f7.1; Nikon D600 A wild banana that peels back when ripe is sought after delicacy by birds and other forest creatures. The flesh is sweet though seedy. It was introduced to Ecuador from Assam/adjacent Himalayas. Choco/cloud forest foothills

Plumbeous Kite

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 180 (+2/3EV); Nikon D750 Slight crop; popping fast into the view. The shot has got the moment in it. I take the angle (light) and the hint of the motion blur over the technically sharper shots of the sequence. Monotypic species, as for the genus, the closely related migratory mississippi kite is the only other species. Amazon

Forest Vulture II

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 200 (+1EV); Nikon D750 Greater yellow-headed vulture; eight seconds later; Amazon

Forest Vulture

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 220 (+1EV); Nikon D750 late afternoon; greater yellow-headed vulture; Shadows sliding over the ground give away patrolling birds commonly known as forest vultures. They feed inside the forest whereas the other vultures like to watch more open spaces. The focus isn’t perfect on neither of the birds but I am happy with this shot (first of the series of twelve). Amazon

Vulture

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 160; Nikon D750 Black vulture Ladies and Gentlemen, Times moved. This planet has become a single village. That’s all that changed. It takes the whole village to survive. It always had. Amazon

Evening River

Milvus 35/1.4 @f6.3; Nikon D600 The local communities benefit from tourism substantially (NP). Our boatman's father transporting a family from another community. They are just having supper. It is the only boat we met during the whole day. Our canoe isn’t this fine looking and carries more stuff. The tourist activities are a day’s ride upstream. Amazon

Sword Bill

Sigma 100-400 C OS @400mm, f6.3, ISO 2200; Nikon D750 sword-billed hummingbird; the long bill is the species trade and limitation; especially the male’s bill is very long. Cloud forest (3200 m)

Spix's Guan

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 1600; Nikon D750 rarely seen, heard more often, high in the canopy most of the time named after naturalist Johann B. von Spix Amazon

Striated Heron

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @550mm, f8, ISO 720; Nikon D750 noon, Amazon

Woolly Tapir

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @600mm, f8, ISO 1100; Nikon D750 3450 m, showers, a pair of Andean woolly tapir very close from where http://tinyurl.com/this-shot was taken Paramo

Sylph II

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @550mm, f8, ISO 360; Nikon D750 Violet-tailed sylph Despite what the idealistic tendency would make us believe, the forest niches are pretty tough places to live in. The size of these tiny birds is an example of one of many adaptations the creatures adopted to successfully occupy a niche (in this two-way interaction). There is a parallel and actual case when the body size tends to get smaller and smaller under extreme environmental pressures today. The effects it can have on species can be rapid, from the evolutional perspective almost immediate, and not dissimilar to those that took place in the past (Chicxulub asteroid impact). Cloud forest

Red-headed Barbet

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, high ISO image (4000); Nikon D750 late morning sun; you can just make out a bill and parts of head of a larger toucan barbet that is also looking for a snack (right below its foot). Choco/cloud forest foothills

Toucanet

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 1800; Nikon D750 Crimson rumped toucanet Cloud forest

Slate-coloured Hawk II

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 1600; Nikon D750 Another hawk sitting low in the thickets of the bank; from the prey’s point of view Not that D750 is particularly prone to moiré but here I had a hard time removing it without side effects Amazon

Cordillera II

Sigma 50/1.4 A @f9, Nikon D600 contre-jour, Western Cordillera equatorial Andes

Bat Falcon II

Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 320; Nikon D750 minute trim, petoensis ssp.; The female bat falcon in the same tree as the male shot previously (on a lower branch). Cloud forest

Paramo Deer II

Sigma 100-400 OS C @400mm, f6.3, ISO 220; Nikon D600 early morning; seconds later, against brighter background equatorial Andes