Mon Sept 16; The sun peaks over the horizon, and we're in the boat at 4:30am for some early bird watching. No time for breakfast -- but our guides pack eggs, juice, coffee, toast, sandwiches and more, and we'll enjoy a picnic-style boat meal after sunrise. In the meantime, we're headed to a spot along the river to see colorful parrots and macaws. Apparently there's a cliff along the river where the birds come once a day as a 'salt lick' -- to get important salts and minerals from the clay there. But we have to arrive before the birds, so we don't scare them away.
Arriving at the cliffs (center of photo in distance), we're not the only ones here to see birds. We turn off our engines and wait; keeping far from the cliff so we don't scare the birds. Eventually they show up -- although I can't say for sure if it was the birds, or our boats that was the more colorful spectacle.
A variety of parrots show up -- some big, some small -- all brightly colored. Different varieties of birds stay together in their own groups, and there seems to be a definite 'pecking order', with some birds getting first choice of location while others wait their turn.
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