It is easy to love monkeys because their faces look familiar. This species, the noisy night monkey, the only nocturnal primate in the neotropics holds a special place in my heart. I've had several memorable encounters with night monkeys in both Ecuador and Peru. After ten encounters with 5 different family groups in the field I achieved a remarkable image of these elusive primates. They're pictured here in their daytime roost in a dead tree, high above the water during the wet season, in seasonally flooded rain forest, within the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, Loreto, Peru ("Aotus vociferans").
The lines are moving insects. The night I snapped this pic it was pitch black and hundreds of insects were swarming around my headlamp. So I took their picture! Inevitably I swallowed a tiny one. Another flew in my ear. The insectivore that night was me. Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, Loreto, Peru.
I thought I was taking a picture of the bumble bee foraging on Carolina rose. In the end I also got a lovely shot of a caterpillar that had been eating this gorgeous native rose. Look for the evidence near the caterpillar: chewed petal margins, and a nice piece of pink frass!
