One of my favorite spots on our Guyana tour was the Atta Canopy Walkway, a series of sturdy platforms connected by stable walkways 100 feet above the forest floor. The view down was dizzying,
but the whole structure is supported by some tremendous rainforest giants. The duct tape inspired confidence, too.
But we weren’t there to be looking down or looking up, and the view out was as birdy was it was beautiful. Black-necked Aracaris fed from the tops of the trees.
Hummingbirds were not abundant, but they did include a couple of Black-eared Fairies, elegant monochrome hummingbirds stretched at both ends.
Hoping for the arrival of a very special target bird, we lingered until after sunset.
And just at darkfall we heard the strange, sad whistles of a White-winged Potoo. The bird fed around the platform and eventually perched not far away, where its wing patches showed bright in the beam of the flashlight, giving every one of us a lifer to end the day.
