Return to Canopy Camp...

Day 7

Today is our last chance to capture the returning adult Harpy and as everyone else sets off into the pre-dawn darkness of the Darién jungle, I remain behind once more. Although the mango leaf foot-bath treatment has had a dramatic effect and I can now stand and walk slowly around, it's still too gruelling a journey to take and would no doubt set me back again.

I fly the drone little more and wander to the edge of the village where I pick up Gray-breasted Martins, Black Vulture, Tropical Knatcatcher, Crimson-backed Tanager, Chestnut-crested Oropendola and Collard Aricari.

As I'm watching the Tanager I see Marco, one of the village porters who have been helping to carry all the gear to the site each day. He gives me a thumbs up and I soon discover that the adult male returned to the nest with food. You'll have to watch Wild Central America when it comes out to see this as it happened. It's great news and I'm delighted for the rest of the team - it was a long time coming and their persistence paid off.

I also found this incredible Treefrog Trachycephalus typhonius, sometimes known as the Pepper Treefrog. It was enormous, around 12 cm long and when handled oozed a sticky, slimy secretion from all over its body, which can cause extreme irritation if it comes into contact with the eyes or mucus membranes.

Tree Frog

Sat on my arm - you
can get a rough idea of scale.

I saw loads of great butterflies too but very few identified yet.

A large, unidentified skipper.

Banded Peacock, one of the commonest butterflies
and one of the few I could ID

That evening we pack up all the gear, load the 4 x 4s and make our way back to the river for the return boat journey to Yaviza. We are tired, hot, sweaty and really looking forward to spending our last full day in the luxury of the Canopy Camp.

The last boat out. The police here can stop you leaving for Yaviza
if they feel it's getting too late to make the journey safely.
We are right on the cusp and it will be dark as we reach
our destination.

From left to right: Rafa, Mike Hutchinson, Nigel Marven and myself

Even the remote parts of the Rio Tuira have plastic waste floating by.

Fishing bats and Plumbeous Kites were some of the last
creatures to be seen this day.

Tomorrow we would be filming around the camp and making the most of its incredible wildlife viewing opportunities.