The Andean Cock of the Rock males display at a Lek early in the morning in the rainforests of Mindo. One of the most spectacular displays in the bird world, the males fluoresce blood red constantly flapping their wings and calling to attract the females. They are so bright, that even though there is very little sunlight, they are still incredibly bright. Angel Paz, who owns a small farm near Mindo, built a blind making it possible to view this spectacle up close. At 5 am, we had to hike down to the blind to view the display. Flash cannot be used since it will disturb the birds making this a very challenging scene to photograph. The low light requires long exposures. However, the birds are often moving. I never could get a good shot in Ecuador with the 300 mm F5.6 lens that I had. Many years later, with major upgrades to my photo equipment (e.g. 300 mm F4 and 500 mm F4, EOS 7D capable of shooting at high iso) and better light in Peru, I finally saw this fellow in good light. In many ways, this experience motivated us to upgrade our equipment because we felt we should be able to capture such a spectacular sight properly. More pictures can be seen in the Peru section.  

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