I saw a few of these great black hawks while in Amazonian Peru. They are large hawks that range from Mexico down through South America as far as northern Argentina. In April of 2018 one got lost and ended up in Maine where it was caught in a snow storm and eventually captured and brought to a rehab facility. It was ranked as the “#1 Craziest Vagrant of 2018.” Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

Here’s another of the pygmy marmosets I photographed while in Peru back in late October. They like to suck the sap out of holes in tree trunks, making the occasional tongue shot possible. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

Here’s another photo from my ocelot encounter when I was in the Peruvian Amazon back in late October. This exposure seemed to be a bit brighter than the first one I shared. As mentioned previously, this was one of the more exciting sightings of my years in the wild — spotted along a river bank while heading back to the lodge late at night. I didn’t actually see the ocelot from the boat, but my guide did, so we set out on foot and after searching around for about five minutes, we saw it again in the rainforest where it posed for a few portraits. Note the three porcupine quills stuck in the ocelot’s right shoulder, no doubt a lesson learned. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/8 at 1/125th of a second, Godox V860iii flash on a remote bracket.
*Some wild cat experts saw this post and believe it to actually be a margay, an even more rare cat to see in the wild. It looks very similar to an ocelot, but smaller and with bigger eyes. The definitive way to tell the difference is the tail, but I didn’t get any shots of the tail.

Always good to see trogons when hiking in the tropics. This collared trogon was photographed on my recent trip to the Peruvian Amazon. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/40th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

The boat-billed heron, or boatbill, is a nocturnal heron living in Central and South America. We saw one or two of these large birds each time we took the boat out at night in the Peruvian Amazon. They obviously get their name from that oddly shaped scoop-like bill. They feed on everything from smaller mammals to frogs, insects, crabs and fish. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/6.3 at 1/125th of a second, Godox V860iii flash.

Potoos are known for their comically cartoonish mouths and big yellow eyes. Neither of which you can see when they’re asleep. Which is when this photo was taken. The large owl-like bird was in a tree just outside my room in the Peruvian Amazon, and doing exactly what potoos do — sleeping during the day. I was hoping to get another glimpse when the potoo woke up at night but my timing was off and I missed the opportunity. Until next time. And by the way, you can see the closed eye and beak if you look close (head is in profile and facing toward the right edge of the frame). Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

I saw a couple of these tiny toads (about half an inch in length). They live in the leaf litter on the ground in the Amazon rainforest. For this image, the toad is almost right up against the front element of my wide-angle macro lens. That shelf behind the toad is a tree root. Nikon D850 with Laowa 15mm lens, ISO 1600, unrecorded f/stop at 1/125th of a second, Godox V860iii flash with Westcott soft box.

This little guy is called the collared puffbird and was photographed on my recent trip to the northern Amazon basin of Peru. Not too much to say other than they prey upon frogs, lizards, snakes and larger insects — your usual Amazonian cuisine. That, and they have quite a large head in relation to body size. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

I had mentioned in a previous post that pygmy marmosets are only five inches in length, not including the tail. Here you can see the additional eight inches of tail. This guy was out doing what they do — gnawing holes in trees to eat the resultant tree gum. They also eat nectar and fruit, and insects that are attracted to the sap holes they produce. Photographed in the northern Amazon basin of Peru. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

Here’s another mushroom landscape from the Peruvian Amazon using my wide-angle macro lens. I couldn’t identify the exact species of fungi, but to me they kind of looked like potato chips. Nikon D850 with Laowa 15mm wide-angle macro lens, ISO 500, f/22 at 1/5th of a second, Godox V860iii flash with Westcott soft box.