As the sun hits the Delaware shore, the high tide is on its way out. Horseshoe Crabs scurry about to take advantage of the high waters to lay their eggs. Egg density historically was 40,000+ per square meter. Today, there is less than 5000 per square meter. This rocket fuel is so important to shroebirds migrating north in the spring, like the Rudder Turnstone. The edge of the bay where it’s foraging suffers from erosion, so man has interceded with a broad cloth to hold in the soil back. This has created a trap for the small egg of the Horseshoe Crab that the Turnstone searches for a meal. They are literally for those eggs, in search of gold.

I closed my eyes for a second to rest them, and when I opened them, there was the Long-wattled Umbrella bird. What an amazing and super cool bird! A little bit bigger than your average crow, they are resident of the Andian Highlands in Ecuador. That wacky headress is how they got part of their name. That massive pile of feathers on their head opens up, coming down to cover the sides and hiding their bill. In the breeding season, as many as fifteen males gather on a lek, open their umbrella, sway their wattle, and make a low, cow-like single note call.

We had multiple opportunities each day to be with this incredible bird! They could perch like a statue for as long as they liked. It would float in and land without making a sound. When it left, though, its wing beat are so powerful we witnessed it breaking its perch on launch. They would perch and stare right at us and then slowly, cock their head back and forth, rotating it every so slowly. I would love to know what it saw, what it was thinking as it just stared. All totalled, I’m sure we had hours with them over the week and I still was left wanting. It was the Ecuadorian forest star!

Just look at that tail! Would you believe it’s a cavity nestor?! It gets all twenty inches of itself into and out of a cavity and in near silence. The Rufous Motmot is the second largest of the motmots, and they are all very secretive. They can perch for incredibly long periods and not even blink an eye. Their call is a single, low note, a kind of haunting call of the rainforest. They are common, very common, but with that said, this large bird is rarely seen. Often, because it is holding so still, your eye doesn’t catch them perched there watching you. They also love the dark pockets of the rainforest. The Profoto A10 was at 10 and screaming from pain trying to bring life to the color of this amazing bird, perched there in silent eloquence.