Species: Scarlet Macaw | Location: Clay Licks, Amazon Basin, Ecuador
This photo was taken in the Amazon basin on an excursion which brought us to the Clay Licks, a place where scarlet macaws sometimes come to drink the naturally enriched water. Parakeets and parrots sometimes also come down together after the macaws. On this day, I was lucky to see all three. The ritual goes something like this. One scout bird seems to take the lead for the group and slowly but surely works its way down from the tree tops to within a short distance of the ground. As it works its way down the trees, it looks around as if to be making sure it's safe to proceed. On this day that process for the lead macaw took at least half an hour. Finally once the lead bird is on the ground, the rest of them follow. On this day there were 11 of them in total.
I captured a series of shots of these 3 macaws drinking from the water directly below them behind and around the rock they are perched on. This particular frame captured the two birds in the back swallowing a gulp of water they had just scooped up as the third bird is getting ready to bend down for another sip. I like this shot because it captured the unobstructed heads of all three whereas with most of the other shots that was not the case. I also like how the breathtaking bright colors of these beautiful birds are in stark contrast to the naturally blackened mini cave background. It almost makes it look as if they were in the dark with a spotlight shining on them.
About The Photographer
I have been a passionate photo hobbyist on and off for over 50 years. My primary interest has always been nature and wildlife. After retiring in 2013, following a 39 year long career at Warner Bros, my retirement gifts to myself were a new set of golf clubs, a fancy new road bike and some new Nikon photo gear. I have been playing golf 3 days a week for most weeks of the past several years. I rode my bike about a half a dozen times and it has been gathering dust in my basement ever since as I still think about taking it out again but never do. And photography remains a dear hobby passion growing more satisfying than ever as I move on into my seventies. Over the past couple years I updated my Nikon gear again and found my interest in photography take another leap. I found myself devoting more time with it as I became more critical of what it took to satisfy my vision of what defined a "good shot" for me. At my local Marin County Fair in Northern California this year I entered a photo competition for the first time and got 2 honorable mention ribbons. And for the first time one of my photos went up for sale and sold (for $250). A little validation can go a long way, and yet like my bike that I think about riding again but never do, I continue to think about setting up a photo website of my own, or an Instagram page, or a Flicker page, or even a Facebook page but never do. Maybe one of these days, just not yet, not today, maybe tomorrow. This summer my wife and I went on our first Natural Habitat trip and it was the best vacation a photo hobbyist who loves taking pictures of birds and wildlife could possibly imagine. We spent nearly a month in Ecuador and Peru, visiting The Cloud Forest, the Amazon, The Galápagos Islands and Peru. I literally took almost 20,000 photos. I have spent the past month going through them all, deleting most, and trying to find the "good ones". The ones where good natural lighting, good camera settings, good subject and a special moment in time and place all converge, Today I am submitting 5 of those that I think are amongst my good ones from that trip in this contest.Vote for this photo, and you’ll be entered for the chance to win a $500 Visa Gift Card or a $500 WWF Donation!
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Vote for this photo in the Nat Hab's 2024 Guest Photo Contest People’s Choice Awards! You can vote once per day, and each time you vote you’ll be entered for the chance to win a $500 Visa Gift Card or a $500 WWF Donation.
