One of the most common birds I've known so far besides vultures and tanagers. The Rufous-browed Peppershrike is one that is first heard before seen. Small and secretive. One that is joining other tanagers, euphonia's and flycatchers. When sitting exposed, you get only several seconds to photograph it or observe it, 'cause afterwards it disappears into the dense vegetation. Still one of those birds that I am willing to put some extra effort to see and photograph again and again. Can't get enough of its brown brows.

This was a lifer but I am pretty sure that I've missed it several times since it resembles a Swallow-winged Puffbird from a distance. Only when you pay more attention to this overall dark bird you will notice the white stripe on its chest. After I finally met them, I also noticed that they like to sit on top of the canopy. They favor small seeds and will come back to the same spot if there is more to be found.

I saw this Common Potoo a couple years ago but wasn't in the beginning quite certain if it was the Great or the Common Potoo. The description in the birdbooks weren't quite clear so I had to do some research just to be certain. Especially since it didn't make any noise at all or opened it's eyes completely. But finally, here is the Common Potoo of Kabalebo. I've heard it calling several times during the night and the first time when I heard it, I was just wondering which kind of bird was making such a weird sound. Here it stands, motionless, on top of branch. During the night it will go out and hunt.

This small bird let me work to just get a photo of him. This is the third time that I've seen him but the first when I finally succeeded in taking a picture. Not shy at all but he kept moving straight back into the dense bushes. Since he is a small bird, he had no problem but meanwhile I had to crawl my way through the vegetation. But I am very happy with the result.

The Bobolink is a migrant bird from the north. At least once per year I see one female eating seeds of the grass. The whole area of Kabalebo is covered with these seeds, but only one Bobolink is present yearly. Not sure if it is the same female. Not a shy bird at all, you can easily approach her till a certain distance but close enough to take good pictures of her. It is possible to miss her sometimes because of her secretive behavior on the ground.

Some birds like to play hide and seek. Let you know where they might be, by calling from time to time. This Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaner is one of them. On this day I heard two calling but this one was closer to the open area. I waited several minutes before it appeared right in front of me but when it showed up I only got several seconds to photograph it. That difficult bird it was, but happy to have met him.

This is the Wing-barred Piprites. It is not a lifer for me BUT these are my first pictures that I managed to take from this strange bird. It was moving above me, about 3 meters high, but since it was a in the shades I only saw movements. When the bird sat still for some seconds I decided to take several shots first. After it flew away I checked the photos and my first thought was that it is a weird bird. Colors were seen divided on different places. Glad to have finally shot him.

This small flycatcher is best known for its call; 'free beer". Likes to play hide and seek between the branches and from time to time you will see one looking at you. But what is even more difficult to see, is their yellow crown patch. Most of the time it is concealed and makes you sometimes wonder if you have the right bird. Today this Tyrannulet was nice enough to reveal the yellow patch to me. It was also that we were at almost the same level.

The Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet is already a small flycatcher. So imagine my surprise when I noticed a juvenile Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet. Smaller in size but also look at the plumage. It was sitting pretty quiet while both parents kept coming back to feed it. 

It just stopped raining when I went out to see if I could photograph anything right before darkness. Just when I wanted to return back I noticed these 3 Black Curassows close to each other on top of a branch, soaking wet. At least they got a nice shower for the day. 

This photo was taking during a rainy day. It was a bit misty too and not a lot of sunlight. But these 3 Capped Herons did brighten up my day. Perfectly aligned on top of this log. Not sure if they were siblings or just 3 strangers that could get along with each other.

This Lesser Anteater or Southern Tamandua was seen crossing over the airstrip during broad daylight. For months this area was flooded and now slowly but surely it is recovering.

This Black Hawk-Eagle was on the hunt explaining why its was perched so low. Since it was aware of its surroundings I couldn't get any closer so this would have to do. After I posted this photo on social media, many of you noticed its remarkable striped 'pants'. 

This photo of a Puma looking straight at me went viral. This is the story.

During a night hike inside the forest of Kabalebo, we stumbled upon this beautiful snake known as the Neotropical snail eater (Dipsas Indica). It was moving between the branches in search of snails. It didn't stay long for a complete photoshoot but I was happy with the end result and this encounter.

The Rufous Potoo is the smallest Potoo of the Nyctibiidae Family and are in general a rare bird. Suriname finally can join the club that also inhabits this poorly known small nightbird. This is the story:

This rare bird was first spotted and photographed on October the 6, 2021 by Keiran and Simon. When we noticed that the Rufous Potoo wasn't even mentioned in the Fieldguide of Suriname, we were excited to share about this 'discovery. To confirm a new bird species you need either photo or audio proof. Well, did we take more than enough photos. Here you see an adult female resting on top of a stick, but later it was revealed that she was actually sitting on a nest. A new bird for Suriname that is also nesting!! Since there wasn't much known about the whole nesting process of the Rufous Potoo, I decided to observe her this whole time, by visiting the area once per week and using trap cams during my absence.

On October 18, 2021 I went back with Keiran right before nightfall. When darkness appeared she disappeared for several minutes. Probably taking a break. And the moment she left the stick we both saw one blotched egg resting on top of the stick. Amazing to see a Rufous Potoos egg for real. How did she manage to lay the egg perfectly into that tiny hole?

Every week I went to check on the egg if it had hatched. That meant that I had to go there by boat, walk at least 15 minutes before it got dark, wait on the spot until she would leave. Whenever we saw the egg, we left immediately, but finally on November 14, 2021 we saw one little hatchling sitting on the stick after the mother left. Camera photos revealed that it was actually born on November 10, 2021. The mother didn't give me enough time to take a great picture because after 3 or 4 minutes she sat down on top of the hatchling. Great to know is that the father is also in the neighborhood. The mother is doing all the sitting and feeding while the father is keeping an eye out. Whenever she left, she made like a light butterfly like fluttering with her wings.

On November 25, 2021 I went back to check on both of them. By this time the nestling was 15 days old. Since it was revealed that the egg had hatched I didn't had to go back during the night. Here I visited them in the afternoon. Both mother and baby were on the stick. Try to find the nestling. I know that there is something odd on her left side but if you didn't know better you would think that her plumage had grown out a bit weird.

On December 1, 2021 the nestling has grown up so fast that there wasn't room for both him and his mother. But when I checked on the trapcams I did see that the mom was still sitting with her baby during nighttime. I guess that during daytime she is resting on a nearby branch keeping watch. It would have made them both visible and vulnerable when she was there daytime. I also noticed that the nestling is only fed during nighttime. Here it was 21 days old.

On December 17, 2021, I went back to check how the nestling was doing. It started to get the same color just like his mother and finally a tail started to grow too. Here he was 37 days old.

On December 24, 2021, I went to check on the Potoo again. 44 days old and I already started to mentally prepare myself the day he will fly out of the nest. When I arrived he was sleeping but right before 18.00 he woke up and looked straight through the lens. My heart melted when I saw this. This is the reason why I went back to check on him. Seeing this potoo grow up is a great experience.

On December 31, 2021, the last day of the year 2021 I went to check on him again. A little panic when I saw an empty nest. Where is the potoo? Was I too late? He was 51 days old that day. Luckily it was his first day out of the nest, so when I looked up, I saw him balancing on a thin vine. All grown up with a nice long tail just like his mother. Still a bit curly and insecure but a big world is waiting for him. I felt a bit sad and happy when I took this photo. Sad because this wonderful experience came to an end but happy because I witnessed something unique. A new confirmed bird for Suriname and I was able to follow the whole nesting process. 

Hopefully I will be able to find him and his parents again and see where they roost.

This Ornate Hawk-Eagle paid us a visit right before dark. Out of nowhere it just landed in this tree. He didn't have to announce his arrival since all the small birds did that for him. Tanagers, flycatchers, martins and puffbirds were making a lot of noise. Soon after they started to harass him so he would leave the area as soon as possible. His visit wasn't welcome at all cause even the Grey-lined Hawk joined forces with the small birds. So I had only a couple of minutes to quickly photograph him before he left. Time was running out as the lights started to get dimmer and the birds became restless at the same time. But somehow I managed to take several good shots.

Capybaras are known as the largest rodents in the world. It had been a while when I last saw a group of capybaras. Usually only one who ran quickly into the bushes. So when the water had risen quite a lot and covered part of the airstrip, it also brought this family closer to us for a while. 

This is a Black-tailed Tityra. A bird quite often seen in Kabalebo. These birds have also a recognizable sound; a quacking sound heard high in the trees. When I photographed this Tityra it was right in front of his nest. The eggs had already hatched and he was feeding the hatchlings with insects. By the time you read this article, the hatchlings already fled out and already young adults. 

Golden-handed Tamarins are small agile monkeys living in groups. When noticed they move quite fast before you even noticed them. So when you want to take a picture of them, you must always be prepared for the worse. When I noticed a group of Golden-handed Tamarins I was already too late. This one just gave me a quick glance before departing. So it looks like it was peeking through and I didn't manage to get a full body shot. 

Somehow this Blue-and-Yellow Macaw had no problem with all the thorns from this palm tree. It even looks like it is having a great time up there.

I have seen ocelots passing by in front of the trophy cams. During the night in front of the feeder when I was feeding them. Daytime is quite unusual but I did have seen them several times crossing over open places, but always very quickly. This time it was my lucky day. While I was observing a couple of becards, this female ocelot decided to pass by. She was in no rush as she was hopping instead of running. 

Hawk-Eagles are one of my favorite predators. Most likely because they are seldom seen. This Black-and-White Hawk-Eagle is one of them. At least 4 or 5 times I have seen one of them. This one surprised both me and the birds. I guess it was soaring above the area, saw a potential prey and just dived down. It caught a Crested Oropendola but somehow the Oropendola managed to escape. I also managed to photograph this predator before it left again, 

This is the female White-faced Saki, also known as Guianan saki or Golden-faced Saki. When looking at her you won't find any White-faced or Golden-faced on her, it is referred to the male. But like all wild animals in the jungle, they are unpredictable. You never know what to expect from them, just be prepared for anything. In this case, I wasn't really prepared as I accidentally cut out her tail.

In general are woodcreepers a challenge for me. They like to sit on the wrong side of the tree most of the time and sometimes the light isn't working in your favor. This was my lucky day, even if it lasted only a couple of seconds. Here I spotted the Cinnamon-throated Woodcreeper on top of a palm tree.