Observations by bgolden

Hovering over upland bog and heath in the Wicklow mountains of east coast of Ireland just south of Dublin. In bright sunny conditions. Smallish bird of prey. Yellow hooked beak and yellow legs. Greyish brown underside. Dark bars across tail (tail sometimes fanned in when hovering otherwise straight when gliding and flying). Brown speckles on chest and wings.

Hovering about 20-40 feet in the air over upland bog in Wicklow, Ireland, and dropping quickly into the heather, moving up and down the bog. Dropped suddenly into the heather and came up with something small and green in one claw .. it flew onto a rock protruding from the bog and started to pull apart this green thing. As I approached taking photos it flew off.

long slender bird about 10cm long pecking at the bark and holes in an algorrobo tree in a small village called Playa Rica in the Amotape hills near Tumbes in the north of Peru. Adopting a low posture tight against the tree turning head from side to other as if inspecting all crevices as it move up the tree. Reddish brown body with brown and white striped head.

Very dark crab (black, dark green) with chestnut coloured legs and edgings with lots of white spots/markings all over. Lots of these moving around rocks on a pier wall at a small harbour Las Delicias near Trujillo, northern Peru on Pacific Coast. Some kids were picking these up and they were producing frothy bubbles around their mouths which the locals referred to as 'cólera' which translates as 'anger' in English.

Spectacular bright green, yellow and black caterpillar crossing upland heath/bog path. Black stripe down back with vivid yellow stripes alongside then on the sides green and black almost geometric patterns. Vivid

In bright sunshine on a dandelion flower, red wings with purple and black 'eye' markings on each wing .. light brown fringe to the wings .. thick furry body. Seen in woodland in the hills of south Dublin.

In the long wet grass of Wicklow uplands in Ireland on a pleasant August afternoon. Long yellowish body with segments. Mostly transparent wings with veins but some solid olive and brown patches. Six spindly long legs hence as kids we called them Daddy Long Legs.

These bright pinkish orange crabs were all over the beach at Punta Sal in Tumbes in the north of Peru. Just at the start of their summer, the crabs are in their hundreds, digging holes in the soft sand in broad daylight and watching you as you approach with their eery tall eyes that are cylindrical and appear to turn through 360 degrees so they can watch you with their backs turned or sideways. As soon as you approach within a 10 or 15 feet they move cautiously to their hole in the sand and with each further step you take towards them, they take another sideways step down their hole until they disappear completely. Sometimes they will try to hide down another crab's hole and, while sometimes it appears tolerated, on other occasions one crab will get driven from the hole and will suddenly find himself unprotected out in the open and so will just run as far as possible. With some patience one can wait near a hole and the crab will come up and continue about its business of digging a hole but with extreme caution.

A very early start by canoe through the rivers of the Santa Elena conservation area near Rioja, in San Martin, Peru. The area of the reserve covers several thousand hectares and is accessible only by canoe via rio romero, rio negro and rio mayo. The area is covered in dense jungle with lots of vines, bromeliads, orchids. This morning we saw squirrel monkeys, tamarins, and one other species that I dont have an id for yet - we also heard howler monkeys. All the monkeys were quite timid but the squirrel monkeys were by far the least so - although it was still difficult to get a clear shot in the low light.