It is rare to see such a pristine forest. There are so many birds.   I was watching the macaws and parrots eating the clay when suddenly they all flew off. We soon spotted an ornate hawk eagle in the tree: this is the macaws main predator. The macaws presumably eat the clay because it is rich in sodium.   I saw beautiful manakins in a lek, and several mixed flocks of birds. There are toucans and red-necked woodpeckers; beautiful tanagers and plenty of antwrens. The researchers here study the development of the scarlet macaws. This involves climbing 30-meter high trees and taking the chicks out of nests and measuring them. The baby macaws look like plucked chickens, but with cute macaw faces.

The sounds at night are incredible and at dawn the howler monkeys begin their roaring. In the dark, there are always some lighting flashes in the distance, and wonderful spiders and butterflies. Of course there are fungi everywhere and the biting insects. I didn’t get attacked by bullet ants, but there were plenty of sandflies to keep me itching for a few days.

A high point was swimming with a group of students in the fast flowing Tambopata river, with a rainbow overhead. Four nights at the field station was not enough, and I promised myself to return sometime, and begin some research projects there in earnest. Here are some photos from the rainforest. Unfortunately, I do not have the right type of camera equipment to get good photos of birds, but I did see plenty. The rainforests of South America have a chance. I cannot say that I feel the same way about the rainforests of Africa, where the deforestation and poverty is so rampant. Take a deep breath and think about the rainforests.