I’m always trying to find solid green backgrounds for my wildlife subjects, but when in the rainforest, the skies are often overcast and the wildlife is often high in the canopy. A nice splash of color amidst that white sky is a common sight and I certainly embraced it on this trip with the toucans and macaws. We saw several species of macaw, but the blue and yellow was the most common — usually flying in pairs overhead, or perched on high. Nikon D500 with 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second, Godox v860iii fill flash.

On my first trip to Iquitos, my main target was the world’s smallest monkey, the pygmy marmoset. I got lots of images so wasn’t concentrating on them on this recent trip. That said, I did make a few visits to areas they’re known to frequent. They love to eat tree sap, which this guy was doing when he took a look around while licking his chops. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 3200, f/5.6 at 1/80th of a second.

This was a good find on my Peru trip — the pavonine quetzal. Quetzals are in the trogon family. Sometimes the pavonine quetzal is called the peacock trogon. It also goes by the red-billed train bearer and a few other choice names. We watched as two different males (including this guy) tried attracting a nearby female. Nikon D500 with 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second, Godox v860iii fill flash.

While exploring a tributary of the Amazon, we came across a troop of Ecuadorian squirrel monkeys crossing from one side of a river to the other. Single file, they took turns launching themselves from a higher branch on one side, to a lower branch on the other. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

When I first got back from my trip to Peru, I posted a rare dark morph of the southern tamandua. Here’s what they usually look like. Also known as the collared anteater, the lesser anteater, golden anteater, and my favorite, the vested anteater. They get the latter nickname because their coloring often looks like they are wearing a vest. You can’t really tell in this picture, however, because of the angle and the tree being in the way. What you can see is the tamandua’s tongue lapping up termites. You can also see those huge middle claws that help climbing and digging under the bark for insects. Nikon D500 with 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/7.1 at 1/400th of a second, Godox v860iii fill flash.

During high water season in the Peruvian Amazon, most of the caiman have dispersed into the flooded rainforest. But there are always a few around, still in the main tributaries. At night it’s easy to spot them due to their glowing eye shine. This caiman was pretty small, but they can grow to more than eight feet long. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/8 at 1/160th of a second, Godox v860iii flash.

I only managed one photo of a coppery titi monkey on my 2022 trip to Peru. This time I got good looks at a couple more. These guys unknowingly play an important role in the health of the rainforest. They are messy eaters, making them excellent spreaders of seeds. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second, Godox v860iii fill flash.

I saw four different species of woodpecker while in Peru. This is the not-so-imaginatively named, cream-colored woodpecker. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.

Here’s another new species for me — Geoffroy’s saddle-back tamarin, a subspecies of the brown-mantled tamarin. Tamarins are squirrel sized monkeys. They can be difficult to photograph because they’re pretty quick and usually high in trees. This one stopped for just a second to take a look down at me below in a boat. Captured in Loreto, Peru. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second, Godox v860iii fill flash.

Here’s another one I could be completely wrong about. I think it’s a giant broad-headed tree frog. It was spotted hanging around our lodge one night and I think my guide called it the jungle tree frog. It’s a large frog and it was very accommodating, allowing me to use a simple head lamp worn by my guide to do all the lighting. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 2500, f/5.6 at 1/30th of a second, off camera head lamp.