Spined Finds

I think from now on I’ll stop forecasting when my next blog post will be as I don’t seem to be hitting many deadlines! Although slightly delayed, today I’ll be sharing some of the more “cuddly” creatures that we encountered during our 2 weeks in the Bolivian Amazon.

Related to a species that’s found in the pet trade, this Ceratophys sp. has one of the largest mouths in relation to overall body size I’ve ever seen!

This spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) had trouble holding it’s head up apparently and needed some help from a clump of mud! These crocodilians were frequently seen sunning themselves along the river banks.

I came across this skink deep in the jungle as it was sunning itself in a spot of sunlight that had broken through the canopy. This photo appeals to me because of the fluid lines and the depiction of the fight for light in the lower reaches of the jungle.

We didn’t come across too many snakes in the jungle, but this vine snake had such an interesting body position that it asked me to take a shot!

These strange-looking birds are Hoatzin. They were extremely common along the edges of an oxbow lake where we stayed our first night. Hoatzin are as close to Pterodons as you’re likely to find today and have some downright weird morphology and behaviours. For example, the chicks, when threatened, will jump from the nest, land in the water below and then use special claws on their “elbows” to climb back into the nest once the danger has passed!

One of the largest draws to the lodge we stayed at for the duration of the course was this clay lick that was a simple 20 minute boat ride up river. We enjoyed a freshly packaged fruit breakfast while floating in a comfortable hide in the middle of the river, allowing us to view the numerous species of parrots and macaws that came in to get their daily quota of natural antacid.

Perhaps some of the most stunning birds I’ve seen in the wild, Red-and-Green Macaws (Ara chloropterus) were almost always flying into the area in multiples of two.

Red-and-green Macaws mate for life, and this couple appeared to be sitting and enjoying the morning together.

Plain and simple, my favourite image of the trip.

This Roadside Hawk (Buteo magnirostris) was keeping a close eye on our boat as we floated by.

We saw many capybera (Hydrochoerus hydrochaerus) as we traveled deeper into the jungle. These giant rodents are great swimmers and were once classified as fish by the Catholic church so that early European explorers could satisfy the requirements of Lent without starving!

To finish off tonight, I leave you with the most spectacular animal find of the trip. This jaguar had been sunning itself along the bank of the river and as we left our Amazon adventure, it came out to say farewell. The chance to see such a shy yet majestic creature was fantastic, and to get photographs that I’m proud of was the icing on the cake for an already amazing trip!

I’m not going to try and predict when the final post in this series on the Bolivia will be, but expect it soon! I’ll showcase the places we stayed and provide a first hand review of the accommodations, habitat, and anything else you might need to know to book yourself a trip to this wild wonderland!