Wattled Jacana

Wattled Jacana, near the Amazon River, Peru

We entered a maze of oxbow lakes off the Amazon River (assessable by boat only in high water season) to look, mainly, for Hoatzin birds, perhaps the most emblematic of the birds of the Amazon. Along the way we found giant lily pads, and this Wattled Jacana with a chick feeding in the water plants. There are advantages and disadvantages of shooting from a skiff…the advantage is that you can sometimes get relatively close, as in this case, and the disadvantage is, of course, that the boat is never still, no matter how calm the water. Getting on active birds from a moving boat is one of the most difficult things a wildlife photographer can attempt. Just saying 🙂 

The Wattled Jacana was a life bird for me. It reaches as far north as Western Panama, and is one of the most common wading birds of tropical wetlands, but I have only been to Eastern Panama. I was happy to see on our Amazon River Boat adventure. And with a chick. What a treat. And, while we had glimpses of Hoazin in these oxbows, we had much better sightings later in the week in other oxbows. 

Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent. Program Mode. 1/250th @ f4 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr on my iPad Pro and assembled in Framemagic. 

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