It turns out the Golden Bellied Flycatcher catches more than flies. A moth attracted to the light at the hide at Sachatamia Lodge in Ecuador fell victim to the Flycatcher. It’s scales, falling off as the bird shook its prey, fill the air.
The Pale-mandibled Araçari was my second favorite bird in Ecuador, after the tiny, charming and adorable Booted Racket-tail. The Araçaris were gregarious, raucous, and voracious eaters, consuming great chunks of banana when they arrived, often in twos and threes, dominating the feeders. Bananas were always on the menu. Their long, serrated tongues helped maneuver the huge chunks of fruit down their gullets, usually after they’d flipped it up in the air to reposition it.
Slaughter Beach in Delaware was a bit rocky and the peeps had lots of stones and crevasses to check out as they searched for Horseshoe Crab eggs, the seasonal delicacy. Most of the peeps I photographed the day we went beach panning there were Semipalmated Sandpipers, small shorebirds on their spring migration north. I was disappointed to see that, according to Cornel Labs All About Birds, Semipalmated Sandpipers have been added as an Orange Alert Tipping Point species, birds that are showing long-term population losses and accelerated recent declines within the past decade. I was glad to be able to photograph so many of these adorable little peeps while I have the chance.