Unlike the record-setting, warm and sunny day we had yesterday in Estabrook Park, today was cloudy, cool, and a little raw. Worse, nobody wanted their picture taken this morning, and I was reduced to capturing these two robins, who were intent on finishing their bath even if I was standing nearby. Oh, well.
Luckily, I haven’t yet reached the bottom of the Nicaragua barrel, so here are a few more sights. First up are a couple of white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) we saw on a hike around the rim of the Mombacho volcano caldera. They were probably tamed, so not my ideal wildlife photo subject, but they were completely unconfined and definitely native to the area, so I’ll take what I can get.
As we waited to board the ferry to Ometepe, I noticed these nests dangling from the fronds of a royal palm, and my sources tell me they are Montezuma oropendola nests. I figured I had to be near a similar colony in Granada, simply because of the number of birds I saw there and how frequently I saw them flying to and from a particular spot on the horizon. That spot was behind a chain link fence, however, so not really an option for me, since I prefer to stay out of jail, and these will just have to do.
Once we got to our cabin on the island, we found that it already had a guest. This is reported to be a Stauffer’s tree frog (Scinax staufferi), and I bet it could have sat comfortably on a US quarter, but it was on the back of our sink the morning I encountered it. The little rascal could really hop, and it took me a couple of tries, but I was eventually able to corral it and set it free to hunt for bugs in the great outdoors.
I’ve shown you several pictures already from the little mud puddle behind our cabin, but this gives you a better idea of the density it attracted. From left to right, that’s a little blue heron, a young jacana, a pair of common gallinules, a black-necked stilt, and another young jacana. Holy cow, right?
Here’s another, zoomed-out look at the little colony of proboscis bats we saw roosting on the underside of a leaning tree during our kayak ride. They’re pretty well camouflaged against the tree bark, but I count eleven individuals.
Finally, here’s one more look at one of the gorgeous black-necked stilts that I saw every morning on that little river in Granada. In the low light, it was super handy that they would sometimes stand perfectly still.
I see were in for some rain overnight, but it is supposed to wrap up and clear out by sunrise, so here’s hoping that somebody will want to perch in the sun as they dry out tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 