I had never even heard of a Jacamar, let alone seen one, before my trip to the Amazon in April.

These hummingbirds were the most numerous of all the hummingbirds I saw in Costa Rica. They were present at Turtle Beach Lodge on the East coast and in the central highlands on those hotel grounds.

Here is another shot of a Collared Aracari which I thought was merely another Toucan until I later researched it.

Throughout the trip, the brown boobies were too distant to be photographed, even from a boat. I felt lucky to photograph this one while the boat sped past it in the rain.

The guide on the second trip told us these little bats lined up to resemble a poisonous snake. They remain motionless until threatened, then wiggle their bodies and that motion re-inforces their masquerade act. As our boat drifted close to observe them that was exactly what they did! The boat, of course, backed off right away because we didn't want to upset these little guys any further.

Safari West held two kinds of giraffes, the reticulated and the masai. Reticulated giraffes have almost-white lines between large blocks of color. Masai giraffes have more leafy shaped spots and the space between them is light tan.

This photo was taken just before sunset and the light was perfect.

He seemed alert and happy and was savagely attacking his lawn.

Black-necked swans are not from Africa, but South America. Sadly, Africa does not have any indigenous species of swans at all.

The swan may look graceful and elegant, but his raised wings actually tell onlookers that this is his territory and don't even think about coming any closer.

If only our north american cities were populated with flocks of these beautiful Nicobar pigeons. I wouldn't object to them at all.

By contrast, in Costa Rica we saw a few sloths but each one looked like a large ball of moss.

The first day of the river cruise and we were just south of Iquitos on the Amazon. Someone spotted dolphins ahead of us and we had a great time watching them leap in and out of the brown water. I was extremely lucky to catch this one in mid-air.

We were told they were River Dolphins but after research it seems more likely it was a Tucuxi (pronounced too-koo-shi).

I saw a large family group of about 5 adults and many young ones. Looking like guinea pigs on steroids they still managed to be adorable.

This is a very young green iguana hiding in a green tree. When I first looked I saw nothing but green leaves but after focusing I started spotting many of these little guys.

They start off cute but grow into some grotesque looking creatures.

I saw many of these impressive birds during my week in the Amazon and this is the closest I got to one. I was in a skiff with a dozen other people and we motored slowly along the shoreline spotting wildlife.

We saw at least 20 different species of birds and animals in one outing and we went on at least two outings a day so we saw a riches of wildlife in that short week. And it was hot, oh so very hot.

This is another photo of the vulture I posted yesterday.

The Oropendola nest in large colonies and their woven baskets provide a wonderful photo op. I have many good pictures of their nests but not one decent one of the bird itself.

I took many photos of this flycatcher and this was the only one that turned out to be even close to being in focus. It didn't sit still very long and the boat I was in moved constantly and that was a tough combination. When I finally took this good picture I felt I had really managed to accomplish something.

Little green parakeets, about 9 inches long, perched in a green jungle. This species is very wide spread in South America.

I think the eye stripe gives this bird a very dashing appearance.

I found these two small blue butterflies in a screened outdoor butterfly exhibit. I can't identify them, but I believe these are called "pretty".

This photo is of a beautiful, lively woodpecker we saw from the skiff. A very Woody Woodpecker shaped head.

This Trogon is a gorgeous bird and I'm pretty certain it's a White-tailed Trogon. Unfortunately the front of the bird has most of the identifying marks and I only saw it from the back.

A bird in flight against an overcast sky framed by jungle trees. A memorable moment.

I just wanted you to know that I chose this most wonderful photo as the background of my work desk top: I looked at a lot of your photos in the past half hour.. it was not an easy choice!! This one worked best because I can see my short cuts on the dark back ground on the bottom-. Thank YOU!!!!!

I had never seen a woodpecker in colors other than black and white and red. So it was quite a surprise to see this gorgeous "blonde"!

The name of the game is find the monkey. I didn't even know I had this shot until I was home a week later. It pays to look at those blurred photos before you delete.

This is the boat on which we toured the Amazon. The crew were wonderfully helpful and knowledgeable. It was our second GAP (Great Adventure People) tour and we weren't disappointed.

Here are two Blue-and-yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna) and a scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) perched on top of their outdoor aviary on the hotel grounds. They were free to come and go as they pleased and a couple of them were high overhead in the trees.

I think this is one of the handsomest birds I saw in the Amazon. Not flashy but splendid.

The boat was tied up next to these cheerful yellow flowers. I don't know what kind they are but appreciate their existence.