8 March 2013. The last half day of
birding at El Jaguar (more than a week ago already) brought us 3 new Nicaragua species and 2 more life
birds. The Strong-billed Woodcreeper
looks like a giant-on-steroids version of North America’s Brown Creeper, but my
favorite bird of the trip was the last lifer, Bat Falcon. A stunning black, white, and orange bird,
this small falcon zoomed through the sky like an aerobat, catching and eating
insects and—was that a bird it just ate?—other creatures on the fly. For a moment I thought the falcon was a
white-collared swift, but no, it was bigger and had those cool looking orange
legs and belly that flashed at us when it banked the right way. It flew around and around above the openness
of the coffee plantation, giving us plenty of time to enjoy the show.
In all we found 15 new life
birds and another 23 new for Nicaragua.
With so many others remaining on the reserve's list, we left El Jaguar with lots of reasons to go back again someday. The fact that the chigger bites did not
exceed the total number of new birds was an added bonus.
By the way, if you shop at Whole Foods in the US, you can buy El Jaguar's coffee. It is sold under the Allegro brand name and is labeled "Nicaragua El Jaguar." If you try it, you'll be drinking the same delicious and bird-friendly coffee we heartily enjoyed during our stay at El Jaguar. The birds will thank you for it.
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