Gray-Capped Flycatcher
What better way to experience the rainforest than to have a downpour? As I sit here in Chicago cooling off from the outside heat and we have no rain in our immediate forecast, maybe I can channel enough rain thoughts from the Amazon to send the clouds our way.
I am still trying to get caught up with a reality that seems to shape-shift daily, making the photo processing project one of fits and starts at best. But one must find a way to cope.
The first day we stragglers joined the rest of our group was for the latter part of the day, and it must have been rainy for the most part because that is all my pictures seem to reflect. There was a short hike and a boat ride. The only form of transportation to and from the lodge is by canoe.
You can see the clouds building in the photo above. At some point we passed a Cayman in the water.
Coming or going, I’m not sure. But the little video below these pictures is of one of my favorite tropics occurrences – that of a procession of leaf-cutter ants busy at work through a gap in the boardwalk.
Not many bird pictures taken that day, but there were a few, like the very wet Hoatzin below.
And a Striated Heron.
Wet flycatchers, like the Boat-Billed Flycatcher on the left and the Gray-Capped Flycatcher on the right.
The late afternoon produced the downpour which is documented in one of several videos below.
There was always a Blue-and-White Swallow or two perched on the railing around the fenced-off “swimming pool” in the Napo River, accessible from the daytime dining area.
Blue-and-White Swallow
It’s hard to leave even a rainy day in the Amazon but I will have to continue this later.
Rain in the Amazon Rainforest is a serious matter. It feels like being under a waterfall, doesn’t it? I’m glad that you could get some shots in a dark rainy day! 🙂
Hi, H.J. Thanks so much for your input. Your description of the rain is spot-on. For sure nothing ever felt completely dry the whole time. 🙂
The canoe shot, the luggage along the boardwalk and the downpour video help one get a better picture of where you are and what you get to see. Well done.
Thanks, Bob. As I recall now several years later it was a rather convoluted procedure getting to the lodge but one we repeated just enough times to get used to it.