Harpy Eagles of Brazil

Woke at 430am for an early start. The plan was to reach the tower before sunrise. Too much overcast by 530 to get a good sunrise. Hopefully the evening will be better. Harpy mother and chick are in a clear site in a courbaril tree 25m above the canopy floor. Mother is surveying the area while the chick is tucked deep within it’s nest trying to escape the cold. The sounds of the forest are omnipresent; blue and yellow macaws squawk as they fly overhead, black capuchin monkeys scurry along the branches 300m away, and minimal light escapes the clouds failing to illuminate the landscape.

As the chick awakes it chirps towards it’s mother asking for an early breakfast. No food comes. The mother hops from branch to branch calling for the male. A couple hours later the males arrives with a freshly killed 6 banded armadillo, the “grave robber,” a colloquialism as it’s known to burrow deep in graves and feast on human remains. The father gathers fresh branches which are brought to the nest to repel insects. Soon it lands adjacent to my platform inspecting it’s temporary neighbors. For about 5mins it poses for shots while surveying the area for it’s next kill. Backlit, I had to overexpose the scene by 1 stop to recover the details in the shadows. It visits other trees away from its family prior to venturing off for the rest of the day.

The chick is still hungry. 40mins after the meal arrived the mother decides to prepare breakfast. It tears chunks of steamy flesh from the victim. At first large portions are given, but the young’n quickly refuses. Mother soon dissects the morsel into smaller bites which the chick hungrily accepts. I grab my z7ii and start recording video. I’m totally a novice and just choose 4K 60fps 16:9 crop. I remembered to turn off auto white balance this time. No clue what I’m doing, but at least it’s a start. Belly full, it rests for the hotter part of the day while the mother stands guard. Later I learned that the vibration reduction was disabled which led to a very shaky video at 800mm focal length. This won’t be a problem for the remainder of this trip.

Midday to late afternoon was very quiet. The cacophony of macaws and monkeys was replaced by crickets and the leaves rustling from the cooling breeze. The short showers were replaced by ever present sunshine as the dense layer of clouds passed by. My plan was to stick around for sunset as the forest returns to life. Macaws passing by, Soft light, and the rebirth of nature. Last Night, while at camp, I was treated to the most beautiful sunset. Hopefully I get the same light this evening while on the platform.

Last day in the platform was clear and sunny. Mist covering the forest was captured in 4K. Humidity rising and bugs biting made the morning less favorable. No morning shower to cut the heat. However the golden glow of the morning sun afforded rich photos and cinematic videos. The mother and chick were awake nibbling on the remnants of yesterday’s armadillo. No father in sight to delivery fresh breakfast so instead of saturating my clothes with sweat and risking dengue I called it a day on the platform and moved on to “explore new heights.”

A lot of my South American trips have been organized by Charles. He’s familiar with my photo gear and likes to embellish on the magnitude of several pieces of my equipment. According to him my drone is a “super drone as big as his car.” Prior to connecting with him in Alaska last year he made sure to tell all the guests in a welcoming email that I’ll bring my “super drone” to the lodge. Upon meeting my guide Marcos, his first question was, “when will we whip out this super drone?” To be honest, it’s not the super. It’s just another toy. My South African dive master in Xcalak, Mexico, said it best, “boys never grow up.. our toys just get more expensive.”

Most countries I visit have very strict drone laws. Rwanda refused to let me bring it into the country as I travelled from DRC to Kigali . Matter of fact, airport security confiscated it at the border and drove it to the airport themselves. In Ethiopia I fortunately had to store it at the airport as I had crashed it several days earlier in the Republic of Congo while terrorizing forest buffalos in Odzala. I guess that’s karma. Anyway, Brazil doesn’t have strict drone laws and Charles said it was cool as long as I don’t fly beyond the property. However he did warn me that the harpies might perceive it as a potential meal and try to pull it out the sky. Actually it didn’t, It totally ignored the buzzing and watched curiously as I gathered pre-dusk video of the rainforest flying to and from the sunset as I ended with a sideswiping view of the platform.

Project complete and we drove 5 hrs back to Cuiaba to prepare for the next destination starting the following day. I met Charles at a gas station along the way and went to the airport hotel. Upon transferring of equipment Charles, without hesitation, grabbed my largest piece of luggage, a 50lb pelican case concelaing the “super drone,” and lifted it with ease to the trolley at the hotel. No grunts or complaints. I was surprised. Didn’t think the old man had that type of arm strength. I thought for sure he’ll be hunched over complaining about a lumbar back strain the next day.

March 2022