One early morning while in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador Kongo found scarlet macaws. He is part of a Fancy Girl/Street Boy photography expedition with Joe McNally to the Amazon. Photographing these birds in their natural habitat was one of the highlights of the trip.
To get to the birds, we left our jungle headquarters at La Selva Jungle Lodge and traveled down the Napo River for a few miles and then hiked inland a few miles into the Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. There is a clay lick there where the macaws come to eat the mineral rich clay to supplement their diet. A clay lick, otherwise known as Collpa (the Quechua word for a clay lick), are patches of earth that are abundant in minerals – particularly sodium – that help neutralize the toxins that develop as a result of a bird’s diet.
There are many clay licks in the Amazon rainforest. The one Kongo visited is a small cave in a clay cliff deep in the jungle. There is a small cabana built about fifty yards from the cave where you can sit, stay out of the rain, and wait for the birds. You have to be very quiet. Macaws are skittish. You also have to be patient. Sometimes the birds don’t make an appearance. And you have to get there early. If you’re a late riser you won’t see the birds.
Kongo’s group settled in quietly and set up their tripods and long lenses and waited. We could hear the birds screeching in the surrounding trees. We whispered to each other about camera settings, focal lengths, ISO settings, and so forth. Passing the time.
Finally, after about thirty minutes the first macaw made an appearance above the clay lick. He was the brave one. He eyed us warily and waited and called out to other unseen birds in the foilage as they evaluated whether it was safe for them to approach the collpa. We all collectively held our breath while taking the first of what would be hundreds of photographs of these birds.
Finally, the first bird comes to the clay lick and begins eating. It is hard to describe how vibrant these birds appeared against the shady backdrop of the cave.
Soon more birds appeared.
So the monkey took lots and lots of images of these birds. It was an amazing experience. After about forty five minutes, another group arrived at the cabana and made noise. The birds left. We were happy with what we had and moved on to other adventures.
Hope that all the monkey’s gentle visitors like the images.
Travel safe. Have fun!
