“Eye Contact” - Mother and Baby Jaguar – We got to spend an incredible half hour with this mother and her 4-month-old baby on an open beach in the Pantanal. My favorite image of the whole experience is when they both paused for an instant to look up while drinking side by side.
“A Touch of Blue” – Blue Hyacinth Macaw – One of the largest macaws in the world, the blue hyacinth mates for life. There are only a few thousand of these birds left in the wild. They are threatened mainly due to habitat loss, caused by lack of large old trees which they need to nest. People are using nest boxes with some success.
“A Jungle Jewel” – Red-eyed Treefrog – This charismatic frog is relatively common throughout South and Central America. Most people don’t realize that these frogs are actually mostly nocturnal during the day they pull in their legs close their eyes and simply look like nothing more than a bump on a leaf. You would never know there was such a fantastic creature under there.
“A Different Perspective“ – Rhinoceros Beetle – I used a wide-angle macro lens to photograph this beetle. Being a 15mm wide-angle this unique lens gives me the ability to show this small insect closeup while including its jungle habitat as well.
“Morning Walkabout” – Tamandua – Also known as the collard anteater this mid-sized mostly nocturnal anteater. Is not often seen during the daylight hours. The very best time to find one is very early in the morning.
“A Very Good Mother” – Orangutan with Baby – Orangutan mothers are considered to be some of the best in the animal kingdom. They can spend over nine years raising their babies. Teaching them everything from what to eat, where to sleep, and how to stay safe. Their offspring will even return to visit their mothers years later.
“Lord of the Leap” – Horsfield Tarsier – This is a Tarsier a 5-inch-tall nocturnal primate that feeds mostly on small reptiles and insects. Its large eyes help it to see in the darkness. This tiny 5-inch-tall primate has the amazing ability to leap up to 30 feet. This is how they move through the forest by leaping from tree trunk to tree trunk.
“Old Blue Eyes” – Toco Toucan- In my opinion one of the most striking Toucans in the world is from Brazil. With it’s splashy bill and striking blue eye ring the Toco Toucan is at the top of my “Toucan list”
“Dance in the Tree Trunks” – Golden-crowned Sifaka – One of the more interesting lemur families in Madagascar. The Sifakas are made for a life in the trees. In fact, they were not designed to move well on the ground. To move on open ground, they must leap and dance sideways. But to see the effortlessly leap from trunk to trunk in the forest is truly magical.
“A Splash of Color” – Eyelash Viper – This beautiful but deadly serpent will often hangout on a flower in the jungle waiting for a hummingbird to stop by for a sip of nectar. If one stops by it may very likely be the last stop of its life.
“The Monarch” - Mountain Gorilla – This is the Silverback of a family of Mountain Gorillas in Uganda. It is such a privilege to be able to spend time with these gentle giants, looking into their eyes is truly a life changing experience.
“A Moth Larvae Nurery” – Three-toed Sloth_- If you look closely, you will see this sloth’s fur has a greenish cast to it. This greenish cast is caused by a moss that grows in its fur. This moss is the only food of a particular larvae of a moth. Without the sloth this moth may cease to exist.
“Turtle Tears” – Amazon Butterfly and Terrapin – Minerals can be surprisingly difficult to obtain in the Amazon jungle. This butterfly has found a reliable source of minerals in the tears of this turtle. I love how the backlighting combined with a dark background makes the butterfly glow in this image.
“Getting Chicks” - Milk Frog - These frogs gather in a small pond once a year to sing and attract a mate. They not only attract female frogs with their singing, but they also bring around the deadly Far-de-lance viper who come to feed on the frogs during their frenzy.
“A Touch of Blue” – Blue Hyacinth Macaw – One of the largest macaws in the world, the blue hyacinth mates for life. There are only a few thousand of these birds left in the wild. They are threatened mainly due to habitat loss, caused by lack of large old trees which they need to nest. People are using nest boxes with some success.
“Lord of the Jungle” – Jaguar – This large male Jaguar in absolute peak physical form seems to know his place in the jungle hierarchy. As the top predator he can be comfortable lounging along the edge of the water watching the morning pass by. Because HE is what makes everything else in the jungle nervous!