It was another gorgeous morning in Granada, but Deb and I didn’t have much luck before breakfast today, so when she and Anne went to class, I went back to the river that had been so fruitful yesterday. There, I didn’t see any more species that were new to me, but I did finally get a picture of a green heron, which we get to see all summer in Estabrook Park, and which I kept chasing in vain yesterday. It looks as though it may be a youngster, and perhaps it hasn’t yet learned that it’s not supposed to let me see it.
As with the lapwing just yesterday, I needed eyes on the back of my head while I was searching the river because of the action right behind me. This time, it was an Inca dove strutting around on a basketball court, and I haven’t seen one since my first visit to Guatemala, nearly a year ago.
With no new sights there, I continued along the lake shore and discovered a whole new biome on the other side of the river with lots of tall trees creating a pretty good canopy, and it didn’t take long for this beauty to appear in it. In case you don’t recognize it, this is another Montezuma oropendola, which we first saw in Guatemala just this past fall. As I was reading a little more about it, it was fun to learn that “in total body mass, the males are 100% bigger than the females, which … makes [it] one of the most sexually-dimorphic birds in the world.“
Luckily, there were also some openings in the canopy, and one was big enough to let me catch sight of and even sneak a picture of our very first wood stork (Mycteria americana). I had hoped to see one this trip, and its plumage resembles that of the white stork we saw in South Holland, but its face looks more like that of a pale vulture with a very long beak. I read that “it is the only stork species that breeds in North America,” and maybe I’ll see one there someday, but today I’m thrilled just to see one at all.
Finally, I spotted another large bird in the canopy, and it reminded me of the brown jays we saw in Guatemala, which I somehow failed to show you, but this one turns out to be our first ever white-throated magpie-jay (Cyanocorax formosus). Sadly, I cannot find anything definitive on how they got the “magpie-jay” moniker, other than the suggestion that their heads are “jay-ish”, and their long tails are “magpie-esque”. It is a little hard to see in this picture, but its tail is about as long as its head and body together.
Tomorrow, as soon as class is done, we’re heading off to the Apoyo Lagoon Natural Reserve, which is supposed to be rife with wildlife, so if I come up empty in the morning, I might still be able to get something to show you by dinner. Keep your fingers crossed.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 