Potoos are known for their comically cartoonish mouths and big yellow eyes. Neither of which you can see when they’re asleep. Which is when this photo was taken. The large owl-like bird was in a tree just outside my room in the Peruvian Amazon, and doing exactly what potoos do — sleeping during the day. I was hoping to get another glimpse when the potoo woke up at night but my timing was off and I missed the opportunity. Until next time. And by the way, you can see the closed eye and beak if you look close (head is in profile and facing toward the right edge of the frame). Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

I saw a couple of these tiny toads (about half an inch in length). They live in the leaf litter on the ground in the Amazon rainforest. For this image, the toad is almost right up against the front element of my wide-angle macro lens. That shelf behind the toad is a tree root. Nikon D850 with Laowa 15mm lens, ISO 1600, unrecorded f/stop at 1/125th of a second, Godox V860iii flash with Westcott soft box.

This little guy is called the collared puffbird and was photographed on my recent trip to the northern Amazon basin of Peru. Not too much to say other than they prey upon frogs, lizards, snakes and larger insects — your usual Amazonian cuisine. That, and they have quite a large head in relation to body size. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

I had mentioned in a previous post that pygmy marmosets are only five inches in length, not including the tail. Here you can see the additional eight inches of tail. This guy was out doing what they do — gnawing holes in trees to eat the resultant tree gum. They also eat nectar and fruit, and insects that are attracted to the sap holes they produce. Photographed in the northern Amazon basin of Peru. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

Here’s another mushroom landscape from the Peruvian Amazon using my wide-angle macro lens. I couldn’t identify the exact species of fungi, but to me they kind of looked like potato chips. Nikon D850 with Laowa 15mm wide-angle macro lens, ISO 500, f/22 at 1/5th of a second, Godox V860iii flash with Westcott soft box.

I posted a wide-angle shot of this frog a few weeks ago. Here’s more of a macro look. The scientific name for this frog is Ranitomeya flavovittata and surprisingly it doesn’t have any common name. The guides simply referred to it as the yellow one. They live inside bromeliad plants where water pools at the center of the leaves. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/60th of a second, Godox V860iii flash with Westcott soft box.

Even with all the colorful birds in the Peruvian Amazon, this guy was one of my favorites — the appropriately named slate-colored hawk. For the first few days, I thought my guide was saying slight-colored hawk, which I found amusing until I realized the actual name. We saw quite a few of them as they like to perch in trees along the river’s edge, always on the look out for frogs, snakes, crabs as well as small mammals to hunt. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/50th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

Of the four species of monkey I photographed on this recent trip to Peru, the red howlers were the only species that I’ve photographed in the past. I saw them in both Bolivia and Brazil. This is a mated pair, the male in the front. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/1600th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.

This photo might not look like much because it’s hard to tell perspective. That said, the white witch moth grows to 14 inches wide. This one appeared to be at least that. Photographed early morning in the northern Amazon basin of Loreto, Peru. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second.

The one type of animal more conspicuous than any other in the Peruvian Amazon were the butterflies. They were everywhere in every possible color combination. This is a Doris longwing. They were active around the grounds of our lodge and kept me busy while waiting to go out on my next excursion. Doris longwings are particularly interesting scientifically because they exhibit polymorphism — which means within the same group of the same species living and mating in the same area, the traits of a gene can manifest in two or more different possibilities. In the case of the Doris longwing, they come in several different color combinations. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.