During the night, around 7:00 p.m., accompanied by 4 travelers, Glhemm, one of our Explorer Guides, was on the "Rainforest by Night" excursion along a trail in the search of animals. They had only walked about 800 yards from the lodge when they heard strange sounds within the vegetation. It turned out that in the rainy season, this trail floods and so frogs come to take advantage of the still waters in order to reproduce. As Glhemm and his group approached they saw that there were more than one species of mating frogs and where able to identify the sound they had heard as that of courtship. The predominant noise came from the Dendropsophus koechlini; frog named in honor of the Inkaterra's CEO. It was a privilege to be there and be part of that spectacle. We hope you enjoy the photo Glhemm took that day and shares with us today.

Here, a spectacular bird of prey spotted in the Southeastern Amazon due to the fact it's a very rare boreal migrant to this area. What makes the sighting even more interesting is that photographs were taken while eating its prey right by the Madre de Dios River shores. It took a while to identify the bird so imagine my surprise when I finally realized it was a juvenile Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) right in front of me. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did!

Mr. Daniel Collao and his wife had chosen to visit Lake Sandoval that morning. What we never anticipated for was that the boat ride towards the lake would be so interesting. Right before we reached our destination we saw a group of 3 regular sized birds at a distance. They were walking along the shores of the Madre de Dios River. To avoid disturbing the birds we decided to wait on the boat and observe them by using our binoculars. Imagine my amazement when we identified the birds as white faced whistling ducks (Dendrocygna viduata) - species that hadn't been reported in this area for several years. Even more amazed when we got the great photo that we took and we are now sharing it with you!

On the morning of October 11th we decided to go on the lookout for birds. What a great surprise to see that among the common river bird life there was a migratory juvenile American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica). Not only is it an uncommon bird for the area, but it is also has one of the longest migratory routes (some of it done on open waters with no possibility of stopping for food or rest). Here a picture for you to enjoy the sighting as much as we did!

On the morning of September 16th Wilson, Explorer Guide at Inkaterra, accompanied by 6 travelers decided to visit the Inkaterra wetland bridge system. As Wilson his guests walked through the bridge in search of wildlife he heard movement among the branches of a nearby tree. Thinking that maybe it could be an interesting bird he decides to stop and take a look. Imagine the surprise when he saw in between the trees a moving tail and a pair of big eyes staring at him. It was an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)!! The feline was resting on a branch of a tree about 30 feet high, intrigued by the group of humans who walked among the palm trees at the flooded ecosystem. Fortunately the ocelot stayed long enough, before jumping into the rainforest and disappearing, so that everyone could spot it.

On Saturday June 18th, interpreters Percy and Elias with 12 guests took off on the "River by Night" excursion. After traveling for approximately 30 minutes, while spotting caimans (Caiman crocodilus) on the river banks, a Capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) was seen in the distance. The animal, swimming in the dark waters of the Madre de Dios River, appeared to be fleeing a predator. That's when suddenly; at the edge of the river they saw a relatively large animal. As the boat got closer the animal was identified as a Jaguar (Panthera onca). The group attempted to reach a safe distance to appreciate it a little better but it disappeared slowly into the vegetation. The sighting lasted an average of 20 seconds and luckily all the passengers got to see it very clearly. AMAZING!