Sorry this is so late today, but Anne and I finally arrived at our initial destination, Managua, Nicaragua, just after midnight this morning. We hustled to our hotel by the airport, woke up my sister, Deb, who had arrived earlier yesterday, and hit the sack as fast as we could.
This morning, we were woken right around sunrise by a wonderful cacophony of great-tailed grackles, melodious blackbirds, and white-winged doves, which we’ve seen plenty of already.
The hotel grounds, as is often the case, was wonderfully jungly, and look who we found there in addition to our alarm clocks: my very first rufous-backed wren (Campylorhynchus capistratus), which appears to be very local to the Pacific side of central Central America. Cool.
With so much habitat and so many birds, I had my fingers crossed for a raptor, but secretly of course, so as not to jinx it. Well, my gambit paid off, in spades, with my very first, and aptly-named gray hawk (Buteo plagiatus). These are a little more wide-spread, and their range reaches from Panama into the southwestern US.
Then we had to break for breakfast, go pick up our rental car, and drive down to Granada, where Anne and Deb will be taking Spanish lessons all week. Before classes start tomorrow morning, however, we got to stroll around the beautiful, old Spanish colonial city. The bird life wasn’t quite so rich, if only because it was mid-afternoon, but we did spot this darling little cinnamon hummingbird (Amazilia rutila).
I have glimpsed at least one before, but this is the first one to allow a decent picture. In fact, I was a little surprised by how it just sat there and let me take pictures, but as we watched it, we came to learn that it was probably a recent fledgling who appeared to be still being fed by a parent, who would pop in for just a few seconds every few minutes. Amazing!
I hope to get back to a more normal schedule tomorrow, while Anne and Deb are busy with their lessons, so wish me luck!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 